The Protector

3

Cavanaugh put the phone in his jacket. Having finally accomplished everything that needed to be done, he glanced around the forest. Finding a depression in the ground, he covered it with dead branches, satisfied himself that the camouflage looked natural, and crawled beneath the branches into the shadowy hollow. There, amid the not-unpleasant smell of earth, he leaned back against the slope. He had a temporary sense of relief. Now all I have to do is wait for Jamie, he thought.

Despite the shade of the branches spread over him, the day became warmer. Conscious of how awkward the Kevlar vest felt, he removed it. Only then did he become aware of the shrapnel embedded in it: fragments from one of the fire extinguishers that had exploded.

He frowned at the shrapnel for almost a minute. Then he tested the duct tape on his wound, which throbbed where his shoulder met his neck. The thick silver strips continued to provide a tight seal, no blood escaping. The swelling made it painful for him to turn his neck.

He stretched his legs, or tried to-no sooner had he extended his legs than they retracted, bending toward him. Here it comes, he thought. It was happening much sooner than he anticipated. As long as he'd been in motion, working to get away from the fire, making arrangements with Jamie, finding a safe haven, his adrenaline had been his friend, fueling his weary body, spurring him on.

But now that he had nothing to do for the next few hours, adrenaline no longer served a purpose. It made him jittery. Not only did it cause his knees to bend toward him but it also made his arms want to fold over his chest. Already he felt the urge to yawn, partly because he lacked sleep, but mostly because his muscles needed to release tension. You want the high of action, you pay the price, he thought.

He hugged himself and shivered. Waiting for his body to still itself, he assumed something like a fetal position, which was fitting, because he often thought of adrenaline withdrawal as a preparation for rebirth, and birth couldn't happen without pain.

His eyelids felt heavy. Close to drowsing, he adjusted his cell phone so that it would vibrate instead of ring. He placed it under his jacket, then withdrew his handgun and held it in one of his crossed hands. Finally, all preparations complete, he drifted into sleep.