Page 91 of Guarding Bristol
It broke Cassie’s heart to see her like this, to think of all she’d been through.
“Can you tell me what happened?”Cassie asked gently once Tristan was driving for the exit.“Or do you need time before we talk about it?”
“No, I can talk now.”She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.“I was at the condo waiting for someone from CPS to come—”
“Tristan and me.”
“Oh.Well...A stranger walked in.At first I assumed he must be with CPS, but at the last second, I realized he wasn’t.And by the time I got to my bat—”
“You and that stupid bat.”
“It’s agreatbat, but I was too late.He secured my hands behind me, put duct tape over my mouth, and yanked a hood over my head.Next thing I knew, he was practically carrying me down the stairs to a car.He drove for a bit, put me on the boat and then...”She paused, seemed to gather herself before continuing.“I heard another boat approach.Then it left.Soon after that I heard talking.One was the kidnapper, and I’m pretty sure the other was TJ.”
Cassie was still livid that he’d put her in danger.
Bristol pressed her lips together as tears filled her eyes.“Another boat came.It shot at us.I heard the bullets hit the back of theSea Siren.Then the other one sped away, and it was just quiet.I didn’t hear anything or anyone.When I finally got untied, I could smell and see the smoke.I went up on deck, but there was no one there, just a bloodstain near the bow.The other boat was still racing away.I spotted someone in the waves.I don’t know if it was TJ or not,” she finished hoarsely.She looked down at her hands, twisting them in her lap.
It was clear she felt something for TJ, and it was more than obligation or gratitude for him trying to rescue her.“Then what?”Cassie asked.
“My boat was sinking.I called the Coast Guard.”
“You did?”
She nodded.“Figured out the radio, but the smoke was too thick.I went out on deck, and that’s when the helicopters came.So I found a flare gun—”
Cassie laughed softly.She couldn’t help it.“Look at you, you dark horse little badass.”
Bristol’s lips quirked in an ironic smile.“Took me three tries to figure out how to fire it.”
“But you did it.”
“Yeah.And guess who was on the helicopter?”
“Who?”
“My friends Travis and Brandon, from the hospital.They’re both PJs—”
“I know.”She shook her head.“That’s incredible.”
“Yes.”She twisted her fingers some more.“They got me onto the Coast Guard cutter.Travis and Brandon got called out right away on another mission.There was another helicopter out looking for TJ and...the other guy, but no one would tell me if they’d found them.”She searched Cassie’s eyes anxiously.“Have you heard anything?”
Cassie took a deep breath.“Our information is that they pulled two people from the water.”
Bristol stiffened.“Alive?”
“I don’t know.”
Tears flooded her eyes.She looked away, blinked fast, but tears dripped onto the blanket.“I want TJ to be okay,” she whispered.
“I know.I’m so sorry, babe.”She rubbed Bristol’s back, not knowing what else to do or say.Tristan, thankfully, wasn’t saying a thing, and she trusted that the only other person he would tell about any of this was Gavin.
But there was more to the story than Bristol knew.“The boat you heard?We think the guy driving it took TJ out to you initially, then left him there.But when he got back to the harbor, someone shot him dead just after Tristan and I got there.Then the shooters took off back after you.”
Bristol frowned.“Do you know who it was?”
“The victim?We’re not sure yet, the cops and DEA are dealing with it now, but he died a few minutes later at the scene.And from what I’ve heard, one of the guys who attacked you might be a cartel lieutenant he was working for.”
Her eyes widened.“What?And who was the guy who kidnapped me?”
