Salient Secret

Chapter 38

I lied to Kai about needing to find one of my rings at TJs place, I just needed an excuse to see Arlo, I have questions for him. We're driving there now, the car ride is accompanied by small chatter. We finally get there, I knock but no answer, Kai takes the lead and walks in, this house seems too quiet for my liking. As we're walking down the hall, some guy points a gun at Kai's head, panic takes over, not because I'm scared but because for a split second I imagined a world without Kai... I'd rather have him shoot me. 

This boy tells us to move into the living room, and I cannot believe what I'm seeing...

"Avery Shaw."

"Malachi Crimson," joy overtakes my entire body and he walks towards me and gives me a hug. "I can't believe it's you," I say looking into the eyes of my long lost friend. 

"Mal we're kind of in the middle of something," the girl with braids says while still pointing a gun at Kai's family. 

"Yeah well so am I,"  Malachi barks at her and she backs off. 

"Avery, how do you know someone like Malachi?" TJ asks, the truth is him and I were best friends in the hospital while I was doing my chemotherapy, I forgot what he was there for but it wasn't cancer, he was having some other treatment with a hard to remember name. We had only known each other for a few weeks but we were inseparable, until he had to leave for some reason. I was heartbroken, I didn't even get to say goodbye. 

"We ummm," I start but then realize I can't be honest because these people don't know I had cancer. 

"Family friends," Malachi says after noticing me struggling to explain, I give him a thank you look.

"I really want to talk to you but ummmm, can you not do that..." I say looking at his gun and then the girl. 

"Oh right," he says putting his gun in his back pocket and telling the girl to do the same. 

"You have got to be kidding me, are you that whipped?" the asshole still holding a gun to Kai's head says. Malachi says something in Spanish to him and he puts the gun down. Kai then starts untying Lorenzo and the others. 

"You have some explaining to do mister," I say to Malachi in a playful yet serious way. 

"Okay but not here, how about dinner tomorrow?"

"And give you a chance to bail on me again? No ways. I'm not letting you out of my site until I get my explanation."

"I'd say let's go for lunch but I don't think loverboy would appreciate me hijacking his date," he says looking at Kai.

"I'll talk to him, we're going for lunch." I start walking to Kai trying to figure out a nice way to approach this subject. He is busy talking to his dad but when I come his dad smiles at me, pats Kai on the arm and walks away. 

"Soooooo..." I say while he just stares at me.

"You realize if you didn't know that guy then we'd be in a very different situation right now. So thank you," he says hugging me.

"Yes well ummm, you could repay me by taking me out to lunch..."

"Done," he says a bit too quickly, 

"...with Malachi," I continue giving him the best cute smile I've got.

"No ways. He had a gun to my brothers head 10 seconds ago."

"Well he didn't shoot."

"We should give him a medal then. Here you go, you've earned it for not shooting your hostage in the head," he says sarcastically.