“That’s awesome, dude. We can double date,” she said with a grin.
“Yeah, let me figure out exactly what’s going on first,” he said with a slight chuckle.
“I’m happy for you. It’s funny to think, we went into The Fringe lonely and single and ended up bringing home our partners,” Lucy said. They both chuckled a little.
The cheery mood didn’t last long as they arrived at the Casket. Jacques didn’t bother to park out front. The mercs weren’t happy with the capture. Glass had been like a little sister to most, so he wasn’t going to drag her past them. Instead, he instructed Lucy to park out by the loading dock. He messaged Ava and Hamish, and within moments, the heavy metal shutters were pulled up. Both of them stood on the other side. Jacques went to get Glass out of the back of the car.
“Let me do it. She’s my girl,” Hamish said as he pushed past the others to take Glass from the back of the car. It was easy to forget this was his little girl, the daughter that he’d taught to walk, to talk, to read. The daughter who had gone rogue. “You leave this to me, Jacques. She’s mine.”
Hamish headed through the shutters, clutching the unconscious form of his daughter close to his chest. The rest of them stood outside a little awkwardly. Everything had come to a head only for Hamish to disappear before they knew what was going to happen next. Jacques turned to Lucy, Zane, and Caspian.
“You guys can head off if you want. I can forward your money from Hamish when he’s done,” Jacques said awkwardly. He really was lost with what to do.
“I don’t want your money, dude. I was helping a friend,” Zane said, clapping him on the back. He appreciated the gesture, he really did.
“I do,” Caspian whispered as he leaned in close. Jacques couldn’t help the chuckle. It started small and grew into a belly laugh. Now that Glass was in her father’s hands, maybe he could start getting his life back together.
“Let me get you guys a drink before you go back,” Jacques said, leading them into the bar.
“Well, I’ll have to take Zane’s cause y’know he has to drive,” Cas said, wrapping an arm around his brother’s neck.
“Yeah, Cas will need the extra beer to keep him warm when he’s walking home.” Zane smirked as he nudged his brother.
Jacques listened to the brothers bickering, but he didn’t care much about that right now. He moved to walk in step with Ava, slowly snaking his arm around her shoulders. When her arm wrapped around his waist, he let loose a small sigh. There were so many things that he wanted to say, but he just didn’t have the words right now. Plus, there were far too many people around.
When they got inside the main area, they slipped into a booth at the back of the room, and Jacques ordered them a round of drinks. The conversation was light and pleasant, but he couldn’t really focus. All he could think about was what was going to happen to Glass. What was Hamish going to do to fix her? Was anything going to stop him caring about her?
*****
As soon as Glass had been brought into the Oaken Casket, Ava had felt more on edge than she had since she dragged herself in after her beating at the other woman’s hands. There was something about her being here that made Ava feel unsafe, not just for her but for everyone else as well. It was like inviting a ticking bomb into the building. Hamish understood what she had done, but at the same time, Glass was his daughter. If he showed her too much compassion and let her go, then Ava was expecting to have to go through round two with her. Seattle’s drugs had helped her to heal up reasonably quickly, but she still wasn’t sure that she could fight against that augment. She could never be as fast or hit as hard as Glass unless she got enhancements herself.
“Are you okay?” Jacques asked. An hour had passed, and she only just realized that she hadn’t really spoken since they sat down at the table. She hadn’t noticed that so much time had passed.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired,” she lied. If it had been just the two of them, maybe she would have said more, but with the ex-Fringe Rider brothers here, she felt the need to keep her feelings to herself.
Hamish emerged from the back room. The look on his face was one of sorrow, thoughtfulness, and confusion. She may not have known him long, but the intense thinking face was one that she had quickly come to recognize.
“You alright, Hamish?” Jacques asked before she could.
“She’s an augment addict. That fucking gang has corrupted her, Jacques,” Hamish said, dragging his hand down her face. “They forced her to get that arm to be part of that gang. She has eight augments already, and they are all black market shit. She’s only been gone eighteen months! She shouldn’t have half as many Augs in a year. She could have psychosis for god’s sake. All to fit in with some low life scum.”
The group around the table had gone silent as Hamish had started to rant. He was getting angrier by the second. He paced back and forth, his hands curled into fists as his eyes were mainly focused on the floor, but occasionally looking back to the table.
“What does that mean?” Ava asked. She felt like an idiot right now, but she didn’t understand much about augmentation. It didn’t interest her, so she’d never looked into it.
“Black Market means the implants she have are either ‘second’ hand from unwilling donors, poor quality, or recalled models. It would explain her attitude change; it could be the start of cyber psychosis,” Jacques said as he dragged his hand down over his face. She could see the concern there.
Jealousy was starting to bubble up in her. Through everything Glass had done, he still cared about her. How could she ever compete against that? She had opened herself up to him, and she had done it knowing it was probably the worst mistake that she was ever going to make. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing thoughts. The jury was still out on that. Just cause he cared didn’t mean he was going to go running back to her.
“What’s cyber psychosis?” Caspian asked. She was just glad he did so she didn’t have to.
“It’s when someone gets too many augments too quickly, or when the augments aren’t properly made. People who got prototypes back in the beginning were prone to it,” Hamish explained. “I’m gonna have to get her to a shrink. We need to investigate the implants and find out what the hell she has had done. Fuck, that girl has a habit of getting herself into trouble.”
“Tell me about it,” Jacques said.
Ava sat there, not entirely sure what to say. She’d come all the way to the other side of the wall to meet a guy who was still in love with somebody else. Her life was a mess. She wanted to finish her drink, say her goodbyes, and get some space, but all her stuff was at Jacques’ apartment. She couldn’t even escape this one easily.
Before she could figure out what she was going to do, the door to the Oaken Casket slammed open. The noise was so loud that all the patrons of the bar turned to see the source. One by one, a line of gangers started down the stairs. Each one had at least one chrome limb, and they dressed in leather and shiny silver clothing. Ava felt pretty sure these were the Chrome Razors, and the name seemed to fit.
Hamish straightened as he saw the new people in his bar. He glanced sideways to Jacques before heading forward and going almost chest to chest with the leader of the column. Ava was analyzing the body language. The gangers’ shoulders were tight, and their faces were set. They were prepared to attack. She looked over to Caspian.
“Under the table now,” Ava demanded quietly.
The kid didn’t even question the demand. Taking his drink with him, he slid down, disappearing beneath the booth. Lucinda and Zane slid closer to disguise the gap that had been there before.
“Hello, Gentlemen, how can I help you?” Hamish asked, using his kind proprietor voice.
Ava looked across the bar to Sherrie and Keith. Both of them were watching the group with concern. Look at me, Ava thought. The two of them were standing there like rabbits in headlights. Fuck! She really regretted her position right now.
“Help us? Well, you can give Gla
ss to us now, and then we’ll be on our way,” the lead guy said, sneering. There were two silver teeth on one side and one missing on the other. She was starting to wonder whether she hadn’t left The Fringe at all.
“Glass? We have plenty of them under the bar; how many do you need?” Hamish asked facetiously.
“You know who we are talking about, old man. We tracked her to the alley,” the lead man said, obviously becoming annoyed.
Jacques was on edge next to her. He had a pistol on his belt, but that wasn’t going to offer enough of a threat to make them leave. There were a couple of shotguns under the bar, and they would make a lot more of an impact. She was now glad they had chosen the booth tucked away in the corner. Everyone was focused on the action in the center of the room.
She slipped out of her seat, using the shadows as cover to move across to the bar. She slipped through the hatch on the bar. Keeping low to remain out of sight, she moved to the first of the concealed weapons; they were meant for moments such as this. The tight cylinder choke shotgun would do exactly what she needed. She carefully and quietly popped it out of its hold. She knew for a fact that it was already loaded and well maintained. Hamish insisted on it.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Hamish lied. She knew he wasn’t going to give up his daughter that easily.
“I will kill you if you don’t tell me where she is,” the lead man said, anger dripping from his voice.
Ava took a deep breath, pressed the butt of the shotgun to her shoulder, and stood up, cocking the weapon so that she had their attention. All eyes in the bar flickered to her, and that was exactly what she needed. With calm and collected movements, she stepped back out from behind the bar and kept the weapon trained on them. She wouldn’t look away for a second. If they wanted to mess with this bar, then they would have to mess with a Fringer too.
“How about you boys pack your shit and crawl back into whatever hole it was you slunk out of,” Ava said ferociously.
She walked slowly forward. The trick to pulling a move like this was to let them know that you were dangerous and wouldn't be intimidated. This situation didn’t scare her at all as this was just another day back home. Stupid men throwing their weight around, hoping to get their own way.
“Aww, darling, how about you get back behind that bar and pour me a drink,” the lead man sneered. Without hesitation, Ava lowered the barrel and shot the shell into the floor at his feet. There was an almighty shout as a few of the buckshot buried themselves into his foot. She snapped the weapon straight up to cover the rest of the crowd.
“Pour it yourself,” Ava said as the guy dropped to the floor, clutching his foot. “Now where were we? Oh, yeah, get out of here?”
Ava felt a little smug. For the first time since she had crossed the wall, she felt like she held some power. She felt like the person that she was supposed to be. Not some weak ass female who was hiding from a world she didn’t know, or a woman who pined over a man even though she had done that only five minutes ago. Well, no more. She was Ava, and that was who she was going to be.
“You just couldn’t stay away, could you?” came Glass’ voice from the doorway.
Ava’s head snapped around to see Glass standing in the back doorway behind the bar. She held a pistol pointed directly at her. Ava’s heart started pounding faster. There was no way she could move this shotgun and fire before Glass could pull the trigger.
“Glass, put the gun down,” Jacques said as he slowly got to his feet with his hands raised.
“Oh, you’re on her side? Is that how it’s going to be?” Glass said, hate dripping from her voice. “That’s it, after all those years, you replace me?”
“You left. You fucked off,” Jacques said, the anger so obvious in his tone.
“Well, I’m back now. We can forget all the shit that happened,” Glass said. There was an odd note to her voice, and her head tilted slightly to the side. There was something about her jerky movement that was very disconcerting. Ava gripped the shotgun tighter as she prepared to shoot if she needed to. “I’m back for you and for this bar. We can go back to how things used to be. Just you and me.”
“Glass, I’m not interested. I’m with Ava now, and I’m happy,” Jacques said. The words made Ava’s heart leap with a giddy happiness, but the effect on Glass was obvious, and now was not the time. The other woman’s face turned a deep red. Ava saw her re-grip the pistol. Her hands were shaking with poorly suppressed fury.
“Well, if I kill her then you’ll have to have me,” Glass said with a maniacal grin.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Even from this distance, she saw Glass’ finger twitch, and heard the explosive sound of the gun echo through the room. Ava shut her eyes, waiting to feel the harsh pain of the bullet tearing into her skin. Moments later, when nothing came, she opened her eyes. A body was blocking her. Hamish. His large form dropped to his knees, and his hand clutched a wound on his chest. What the hell had he done?
Chapter Eighteen
The second that Glass had emerged from that back room, Jacques knew that everything was going to go to shit. He just sensed it. Where Glass seemed to go, trouble always seemed to follow her, and now everything about her was wrong. She wasn’t the girl that he’d fallen in love with all those years ago. She was a psychotic mess that hid in her pretty physical shell. He’d never expected her to take that shot.
The second the trigger was pulled, he felt his world crumbling down. He was going to lose Ava, and he wasn’t close enough to do anything. Then Hamish threw himself forward, the old man’s body taking the lethal shot that had been intended for Ava. He hadn’t expected Hamish to be the one taken, but the emotional impact still hit him like a hammer blow.
Jacques ran to Hamish’s side and dropped to his knees. Blood was pouring from the bullet hole in Hamish’s chest, and his face was quickly turning pale as the puddle of blood grew on the floor. Jacques panicked and pressed his hand on the wound. That’s what you did to stop the bleeding, right? His breath was coming faster and faster.
“Hey…it’s gonna be alright,” Hamish said as he grabbed Jacques’ wrist. His voice was pained and weak, and Jacques didn’t like that.
“We’ll get an ambulance; you’ll be fine,” Jacques said in a panicked tone.
“We both know it’s too late,” Hamish said. A cough came from him which made his entire body shake. Blood seeped from the corners of his mouth.
“No…no…it can’t be,” Jacques said. Hamish was the closest thing to a father figure that he’d ever had. The man had truly cared for him every fucking day, even when he was being a complete asshole. Hamish’s hand grabbed for Jacques’ lapel and pulled him in close, Hamish’s lips close to his ear.
“You marry Ava, you put a bunch of damn babies in her, and you lead a good fucking life, you hear me?” Hamish said in a quiet tone. Jacques felt his throat closing as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. “Promise me.”
“I need you,” Jacques whispered so only Hamish could hear. In this moment, he felt like a child. He felt the smallest he had ever been.
“Promise me,” Hamish repeated.
“I promise,” Jacques said back. “I promise.”
“You’re a good kid,” Hamish said.
The grip on his jacket loosened as Hamish seemed to lose his strength. He was as white as a sheet, and his breathing was growing steadily slower. Jacques stared at him, praying someone would do something, that a miracle would happen, but nothing came. He watched as moments later, his chest stilled.
Jacques couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. Anger started burning deep down inside him, cutting through the sadness until it filled every part of him. There was never a time in his life that he’d felt like he did in that moment.
He looked up from Hamish’s body, and his eyes instantly connected with Glass’. The look of shock and horror on her face was worlds away from the psycho who had taken the shot. Not that that mattered to him. Any semblance of ca
re or concern for her had been lost the second she pulled the trigger.
He stood straight up. Ava had been standing over them still holding the shotgun, defending both him and Hamish. Anger and pain was pasted on her face. Hamish had been her friend, too. She glanced to Jacques before her eyes jumped around the room, surveying the situation.
“Get out of this bar,” Jacques said, his voice low and dangerous. He just wanted Glass and her lackeys out of the bar. He needed them to leave before he did something that he would come to regret.
“Jacques. I didn’t mean it. I meant to kill her,” Glass said. The hardass seemed completely lost now, the voice that of the naive girl that he first met coming from the mouth of a killer. Only moments ago, he thought he could save her, but now she had killed her own father, there was no chance. As she edged closer to him, she placed her pistol on the bar. It seemed like she was trying to look at the body of her father. He was sure that he could see a hint of tears in her eyes, but he didn’t trust how true they were.
The movement was so quick that Jacques didn’t see it coming, and neither did Ava. A knife was suddenly in Glass’ hand, and in one quick movement, she buried the weapon in Ava’s side. There was a cry of pain from Ava. Jacques went to grab Glass, but he was restrained from behind before he could reach her.
“Defend the Casket!” came a cry from somewhere in the room.
That was when everything descended into madness. The mercs who had been watching intently from around the room went on the offensive, causing the gangers to spread and start fighting back. Jacques didn’t care about them. All he cared about was getting to Ava; he had to know if she was alright. He couldn’t lose her and Hamish in the same day. He just needed to make sure she was still standing, but a mass of people were fighting between them. He caught glimpses of Glass, but he couldn’t see Ava. A pit of sickness rolled in his stomach. He had to find her.
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