by Joe Pascente
Rocky answered, “Let’s get out of here.”
Rocky took Bows’ hand and they walked out of the hotel and into the intense heat. They kept their eyes open, in case they were to pass Dr. Haven as they made a perimeter walk around the hotel grounds. Bows smiled to herself, knowing she had given an award-winning performance back inside the hotel and considered asking Worm to get footage from the hotel cameras so she could examine her work.
From high above their heads, Ace was watching the two lovebirds walk outside the hotel entrance and around the side of the hotel through the scope of his gun.
It would be so easy to just take that asswipe out right now…
But of course, he wouldn’t do that. Still, it was entertaining to think about while he continually tried to find Dr. Haven in his gun sight.
She has to be out there somewhere.
While Ace was patiently waiting for any sign of Dr. Haven, Boulder was laying down on the comfortable sofa in the hotel suite. He decided to flip the television on and kick back for a few minutes while he waited for Dr. Haven to come back. He didn’t see the harm in enjoying the air-conditioned suite while he waited for her to return.
Back in the ocean, Angela was fully relaxed. She was in cheerful spirits knowing this was exactly what she needed and didn’t regret her escape for a millisecond. That was, until she squinted towards the shoreline and saw her two bodyguards standing beside her beach bag with their arms folded in front of their chests. She couldn’t see their faces from as far away as she was, but she knew they weren’t smiling. Funny enough, she felt like a little child who was about to get in trouble from her parents for being a bad girl.
Well, it was fun while it lasted…
Taking her sweet time, Angela swam back to the shore enjoying her freedom. She felt so miniscule in the vastness that was the ocean. Like a singular grain of sand on the beach, she felt almost insignificant. If only she could hold onto this feeling.
She swam back to the first sand bar and stood up, revealing her pale body—for she hardly had a tan being indoors most days. Angela waved to her bodyguards, who she could now see, were not smiling in the slightest. They looked pissed off, rightfully so.
Unknowingly for Angela, this was the exact moment Ace had his gun sight scanning the shoreline and Angela’s waving just happened to catch his eagle-eyed gaze. Centered directly in his gun sight, Angela was waving, as if she was blatantly signaling Ace to shoot her down.
Angela continued to walk steadily back to the shore, and then began to run, splashing as much water around her torso as she could. As Ace held his steady finger on the trigger of his sniper rifle, his eyes squinted and blinked, as everything in his line of sight suddenly went dark.
There she was in all her glory. Dr. Angela Haven, a.k.a his target, centered in his sight and ready to be taken out. But in this one whimsical instant, Ace’s perspective had been altered significantly. Everything, including the ocean and the people on the beach, was now a dark gray washed-out tone, and the only colorful light that was remotely visible was the gleaming illumination shining from Dr. Haven’s essence. Much like Dorothy and Robert, Ace understood there was nothing more destined in this universe than his overwhelming love for this person.
It was as if Ace was in a hypnotic state watching the woman of his dreams walk to the sandy shore and out of the water. He could see the droplets of water cascading down her smooth skin and was completely mesmerized by her gorgeous glowing face. He had always seen this woman on television and in magazine covers prior to taking Pure, but seeing her magnified in his gun scope—now after he had taken Pure for himself—was a new experience he couldn’t even fathom.
His target, the woman he had been hired to assassinate, was the love of his life. He knew this to be true with every fiber of his being. His finger gently released the trigger as he started to hyperventilate. He couldn’t catch his breath because he knew what he had to do next. It wouldn’t be an easy task, but he had had no choice in the matter. He had to act fast. Ace began to concentrate on his breathing and heard Bows’ voice coming from his earpiece.
“We’ve spotted her, Ace. We’re ready to take her out if you don’t have a shot.”
II. Make Your Move
“What in the devil were you thinking, Dr. Haven?” Mr. Hicks shouted, grabbing Angela’s arm with a firm grip as she stepped onto the sandy shore.
Jacobi stepped beside Mr. Hicks, and pulled Mr. Hicks’ hand off of Angela’s arm straightaway. With just a scowl of his brow, Jacobi made sure Mr. Hicks knew this was an inappropriate move on his part. Like he had told Mr. Hicks before, they weren’t transporting a prisoner; they were Angela’s bodyguards and they shouldn’t grab her in any state, unless it was out of harm’s way.
As Jacobi and Mr. Hicks settled down, Angela sulked over to her beach bag and wrapped her beach towel around her slim body to dry off.
“I’m sorry, but you two didn’t give much of a choice. I needed this.” Angela calmly said, continuing to dry her body and soaking wet hair. She was at total ease, even though the two men in front of her were throwing shade at her.
They were all bickering over the situation at hand, not noticing Bows and Rocky were now just a stone’s throw away from the trio.
“Ace, do you copy? We can take her out if you don’t have the shot,” Bows was informing Ace. “She’s with her two bodyguards and at least one of them is packing. Rocky spotted one of them with a gun hidden tucked into his belt.”
Ace hadn’t stopped watching Angela through his gun sight, unable to take his eyes off this beautiful woman he felt so deeply connected to now. With his hands trembling and his focus completely askew, Ace had to communicate to his team in a composed manner.
“Everyone, listen up. Do not do a thing. I have this under control.”
But the truth was, Ace didn’t have any control over this predicament. He couldn’t possibly shoot down the love of his life, and he couldn’t let his crew inflict any harm upon her either. He knew if he told his crew what was really happening, they’d assassinate her anyways, because they had a mission to complete; regardless of Ace’s newfound feelings.
The sweat was pouring down his face now, thinking of every possible outcome of how this could all go down. He didn’t like any of the potential aftermaths.
What am I going to do? I can’t watch her die. I’ll kill them all before that happens.
And then it happened.
“Screw this,” Rocky said to Bows under his breath. “If Ace had the shot, he’d take it. He’s hesitating and I’m not going to miss our one opportunity to get it done. I want you to run back to the church, Bows.”
“You heard what Ace said, Rocky! He has it under control! There must be a reason he’s taking his time. Don’t be a fuckup!” Bows argued.
“He’s a perfectionist, Bows. He wants the credit for the textbook shot and I don’t give a damn. He’s wasting our time on a perfectly good day, so I’m getting this done. Now, go!” Rocky demanded with a stern tone, pointing Bows back to the church.
Bows took a step back from her lover, watching him spin the silencer onto his gun as tight as it could go. He looked all around him, making sure there weren’t too many witnesses around to see what he was about to do. Bows turned around and began to stomp away in the sand.
Rocky was a rebel and didn’t care if he was going to break a direct order from Ace. Bows knew this to be true all too well and realized this would cause major drama if Rocky went against Ace’s orders, so she made a judgment call of her own.
“Ace, if you don’t take the shot now, Rocky is going to step up and take it. You have about ten seconds to make your move.” Bows pleaded.
Of course, Rocky heard Bows on his earpiece as well, and watched as she turned her back to him literally and figuratively through this minor betrayal. But, he wasn’t phased by her warning Ace; he was going through with this if the
mission leader couldn’t handle it. Rocky put one foot in front of the other and made his way to the trio. He only had one thing on his mind: assassinating Dr. Haven and taking out her bodyguards all in one fell swoop. No one was going to stop him.
“Rocky! I’ll shoot you dead in your tracks if you take another step forward!” Ace shouted.
“Are you really threatening me?”
“You’re damn right, I am. I’m not playing around here.”
“You sure about that? By not wanting to take out our target, I couldn’t be sure what type of game you’re playing. What the shit is going on?” Rocky asked, now needing answers.
After hearing all of this commotion, Boulder opened his lazy eyelids from the hotel suite couch and turned the volume up a few notches on his earpiece. He was half-asleep a minute ago, but now he was wide awake and running out of Dr. Haven’s room. He needed to make it to the beach quickly so he could stop his idiot brother from making a bad decision and getting shot by one of their own crew members.
Rocky stopped moving towards Dr. Haven, and turned to face the church tower. Ace had Rocky directly in his line of sight now. He was going to shoot him (or at least shoot damn near close to him) if he continued on his path towards Angela and her two bodyguards. Rocky was mad as hell now.
“Why haven’t you shot her yet, Ace? Admit it; you’re freezing up! I’m getting this operation done unless you take the shot—right now!”
“I’m the mission leader and it’s my call. I’m not giving you the go ahead. We are aborting this mission,” Ace kept Rocky in his line of sight as he communicated to everyone. “Does everyone copy?”
“What the hell are you talking about? Why would we abort the mission? This is our opportunity to take her out!” Rocky was shouting now, without realizing Angela and her bodyguards were now watching him talk to himself in a loud voice.
Jacobi was the first one of the trio to see this oafish strange looking man holding onto a gun, and instinctively knew Angela was in immediate danger. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shouted one word, “Run!”
Understandably, Angela was confused beyond words, but she knew Jacobi wouldn’t shout this in her face without meaning it, so she started to run down the shore line with her beach bag over one shoulder and her towel over the other. But she didn’t make it very far before she heard a single gun shot. It wasn’t loud—due to the silencer—but the sound still sent a chill down her spine.
She spun around and witnessed the strange stocky man holding out his arm pointing the gun at Mr. Hicks. In an instant, Mr. Hicks collapsed on the sand, laying flat on his back. Angela’s eyes squinted in the bright sunlight, and she spotted a circular formation of blood beginning to soak through his white crisp dress shirt near his heart.
And then, there were two more shots fired. This time, much louder, causing Angela to jump in a startled fashion. The shots fired were from Jacobi’s gun. The first shot whizzed close by Rocky’s body, while the next bullet hit Rocky square in the upper chest, causing him to tumble backwards into the sand, squirming around in agonizing pain.
With all the impulsive commotion happening at once, Ace was keeping a watchful eye on Angela, along with watching Rocky painfully rolling over on the sand. He then watched Jacobi run towards Rocky’s body, and knew Jacobi would shoot Rocky dead (if he wasn’t already), so Ace finally pulled the trigger on his sniper rifle, hoping he had his downrange distance correct, as well as the right amount of clicks on his scope due to the light breeze coming from the ocean.
Ace was a sharpshooter and rarely missed his target, unless he intended to, as was the case in this setting. He fired a shot just a few feet from Jacobi’s feet, taking him by surprise, stopping him from pointing his gun at Rocky’s head. Jacobi searched for the shooter who had barely missed his foot, but he couldn’t see any other hit men on the beach aiming for him.
Jacobi wanted to finish the job with Rocky, but he got the message loud and clear from the unidentified shooter, and quickly tucked his handgun into the back of his pants. He searched the beach and realized the woman—with two bows in her hair—was watching all of this upheaval happen with her hands over her mouth. She looked terribly distraught. Bows and Jacobi made eye contact at once, and then they both ran with furious speed towards the two bodies on the sand. While Jacobi ran to Mr. Hicks, Bows ran to Rocky, each hoping the other wasn’t too badly incapacitated.
Angela couldn’t comprehend any of this, standing still like a frozen statue in the confusion of this horrendous moment. She didn’t know whom these people were that had shot Mr. Hicks, but she didn’t have time to reflect about it at this moment. All she was concerned with was keeping Mr. Hicks alive.
A shot fired directly in his heart from Rocky’s gun had killed Mr. Hicks almost instantly; he was a casualty of war, and Jacobi didn’t have time to grieve for his partner. He stood up and watched Angela’s eyes react to the understanding Mr. Hicks was now gone. And once again, he shouted the word, “Run!”
III. Behind You
“Grab my hand!” Jacobi shouted into Angela’s face while she tried to keep up with her freakishly fast bodyguard.
Running barefoot through the soft white-hot sand, Angela kept tripping herself up with her beach bag slung over one shoulder and her towel draped over the other. She considered dropping her bag and towel on the sand, but her purse and cell phone were inside her bag and she didn’t want to be without these essentials.
Jacobi held Angela by the hand and was all but dragging her, being a couple strides ahead of her. He only looked back every so often to make sure they weren’t being followed by the gunmen who were, without a doubt, after Angela.
“Jacobi, stop running so fast! We have to go back and try to resuscitate Mr. Hicks!” Angela was breathing hard and freaking out, barely able to yell at Jacobi, who wouldn’t slow down.
“He’s dead. We have to keep running until we’re at a secure location. Keep up with me! We can’t slow down!” Jacobi responded with not one hint of panic in his voice. He only shouted this because the beach was now in a frenzied panic from the commotion they had just left behind. The screams from the pedestrians were echoing off the waves and as Jacobi looked back, he saw a group of people surrounding Mr. Hicks’ body—but he wondered why there wasn’t another group of people surrounding the stocky gunman’s body…
Shit. I should’ve aimed for that prick’s head instead of his upper chest. It might only be a bad flesh wound for him.
It only took a split second before Jacobi came to the conclusion that the woman with bows in her hair must’ve helped the gunman get to his feet, walking him away from the scene of the crime. They could be anywhere right now. They could be with more gunmen, ready to blow Angela’s head off at any given opportunity.
There was at least one more shooter…the one who shot at my feet…
As Jacobi quickly relived the experience in his head, he thought about the gunshot that nearly took his foot off. He couldn’t place the shooter at the time, but since no one else was at close range to him—except for the woman with bows in her hair—he concluded it must’ve been a far-range shooter.
Probably a sniper from the hotel rooftop…
“Jacobi! Are you listening to me?” Angela shouted with intense fury. Her face was scrunched up grimacing in pain as she tried to pull away from Jacobi’s death grip.
“What is it, Angela?”
“My foot…I stepped on a goddamn jellyfish! It stings so badly! We have to stop!”
“We can’t. We have to keep going.” Jacobi replied, still, with no emotion in his voice whatsoever. It wasn’t as though he didn’t empathize for Angela’s badly stung foot, but he had a job to do. He had to protect her, no matter the circumstances.
Angela ripped her hand away from Jacobi’s and collapsed on the sand. They were a few yards away from the boardwalk—which would lead them off the beach and onto the bike path
, but Angela couldn’t take the pain any longer.
“I can’t run anymore! Mr. Hicks is dead! You’re suddenly a robot man and I’m not moving from this spot until you pee on my foot!” Angela’s tone couldn’t be more serious, trying to catch her breath from running such a distance on the sandy shore of the beach that was, just moments ago, so peaceful.
Jacobi considered himself to be a somewhat simple individual, but he did know various things about life; such as urine did not help a jellyfish sting. It was a rumor perpetuated by a “Friends” episode. While Angela was trying to convince Jacobi to urinate on her foot for much needed relief, Jacobi explained to her that time, and time alone, would be the only cure for the piercing pain on her foot.
There was a small lifeguard tower just a little ways from where they were quarrelling on the beach. Jacobi noticed a bathroom facility attached to this lifeguard tower and took Angela’s hand once again, lifting her up on the sand and into his arms. He carried her to this secluded spot. Once they were inside the family bathroom, Angela hobbled over to the sink. The stinging pain began to slightly subside as the adrenaline of being chased by ruthless assassins distracted her from the marginal pain she was still feeling.
Jacobi took his cell phone out and dialed the boss of his agency while Angela put her foot under the faucet, running cold water on the center of her sting. Although, the water was pouring loudly from the faucet, Angela could hear Jacobi express the upsetting news of Mr. Hicks’ death to his superior. She wanted to cry just thinking about it, but she looked at her reflection in the mirror and decided she should find the courage she needed to get through this awful scenario.
Mr. Hicks gave his life protecting her, and she wasn’t going to lose control now. She had to start acting as brave as possible, for the sake of staying alive. She also knew it would make Jacobi’s job easier if she wasn’t a frantic mess.
She washed her face after cleaning her throbbing foot, and looked at Jacobi through the mirror’s reflection. He had just wiped his eyes with his hand and placed his cell phone back in his pocket.