by Joe Pascente
I had to accept their newly found love…now they will do the same for me.
“Don’t take another step, asshole!”
CLICK.
From the backdoor window of their blacked out van, Bows was now pointing Rocky’s handgun at Ace’s head. She was covered in Rocky’s blood and had a crazed look in her golden brown eyes. She meant business and Ace knew it. He put his hands up, gun still in his right hand, and spoke as calmly as he could to her.
“Bows, listen to me…”
“I’m not listening to shit. Rocky’s been shot because of you!”
“I’m sorry that happened, but—”
“But nothing! You caused this whole mission to go down in flames and you’re not dragging us to Hell with you! Put your gun down and wait for Boulder to get back here. He’s going to kick your ass for what happened to his brother.”
“You don’t understand what’s going on. Let me explain!”
“Put your gun down, NOW!”
Ace didn’t have a choice but to obey Bows’ order. He placed the gun down by his feet and continued to raise his hands above his head.
Bows continued to say, “You can explain everything to Duke…if he doesn’t kill you on the spot.”
Bows shook her head in disapproval, all the while pointing the gun at Ace’s head. She was mad with rage, so she wasn’t thinking as clearly as she should’ve been. She was ready to shoot her ex-lover square in the head and she wouldn’t have felt an ounce of guilt. But Ace was on an entirely different level of emotional wreckage. He wasn’t enraged; he was alert and playing this as coolly as possible—for the time being.
“I want you to understand why I did this, Bows. Please listen!” Ace shouted, still holding his hands above his head. Worm was watching this happen from beside the parked car. He wanted to run away and be anywhere but the very spot he was standing. If this went down the way he envisioned, he’d be caught directly in the middle of countless bullets flying nearby.
Ace spoke up, one last time to try to get through to Bows and said, “When you and I took Pure out of curiosity, we didn’t feel true love between us. You felt it with Rocky, as messed up as that was. It killed me at the time and I didn’t understand it, but I get it…now.”
Bows squinted her eyes trying to detect Ace’s facial expression as he spoke these words. She couldn’t figure out why he was bringing this up to her at this moment of all moments. And then it hit her like crushing weight; Ace was purely in love with Dr. Haven—their target.
“No…it can’t be,” Bows whispered.
Ace put his hands back down to his sides continuing to look into Bows’ eyes from across the stretch of pavement between them.
“I have to stop Boulder from killing her, Bows. Please, put the gun down.”
“You’re too late,” she said, pointing towards the dock.
Ace glanced over to the direction she was pointing at but couldn’t see anything, due to the high fence blocking his view. He walked over to the open dock gate and saw, with his own eyes, the last of the fiery flames and the black trail of smoke coming from the destroyed boat.
Ace dropped to his knees letting out a maddened exhale, as if he suddenly couldn’t take in a single breath. This was the moment he also saw Boulder walking down the dock with a rocket launcher over his shoulder. Boulder was amused at what he had just done. He had an accomplished look in his beady eyes for a job well done.
This was the moment Ace’s serene attitude took a turn for the worse transforming into an enraged fury.
III. Bargaining
Angela could feel the scrape on her shoulder and her arm stinging with a blistering pain, as she made the final strokes to the furthest dock she could swim to, with Jacobi right by her side. She reached up, and grabbing the wooden spokes, pulled herself up, with the help of Jacobi’s well-built arms lifting her as best he could. Once Angela was on the dock, she reached for Jacobi’s hand and helped him up as well. They both collapsed onto their backs and looked up at the blue sky above. Out of breath, soaking wet, and beaten to hell, they were in mutual shock of what had just happened moments ago.
Not only did they survive a rocket launch attack, but also shared a passionate kiss. Jacobi, with his head still throbbing in pain from his deep cut, turned his head to face Angela’s. She felt his glance upon her face and turned to look into his squinting eyes. Inches apart from one another, they gasped for oxygen and out of pure adrenaline and disbelief, they started giggling. Like young children, their snickering quickly turned into bellowing laughter, as they both couldn’t believe their luck.
No words were exchanged for over a minute, as they caught their breath and contained themselves. Jacobi reached for Angela’s face with his hand and brushed a few wet strands of hair out of her eyelashes and tucked them behind her ear. This sweet gesture caught Angela by surprise, and she sat up with a panicked movement.
Jacobi, of course, pulled his hand back and sat up slowly, realizing the romantic moment had now passed and he had to clear his head and direct himself back into survival mode. He unwrapped the pink shirt Angela had put over his head to stop the bleeding.
“I don’t think that son of a bitch saw us swim away from the wreckage, but with artillery like that, he’ll be coming for us again once his team realizes we aren’t dead.”
Jacobi was now back in bodyguard mode and was thinking out loud to comfort Angela.
“What do we do now?” She traced the large scrape on her arm with her shaking fingertips.
“We continue to run. Get somewhere safe. I’ll call my boss and let him know what’s happening. He’ll direct us where to go.”
“Aren’t you glad I put our phones in the waterproof pouch?”
“What? Oh, yes, you saved the day.” He said with a slight smirk.
Jacobi stood up and held his hand out for Angela, but she snubbed his gesture and stood up on her own, quite proud of her courage and determination to keep the two of them alive. She grabbed her beach bag and checked to see if it was still there—the picture of her and Jeremy. It was wet, but it was still in the bag. She led the way, trying to pretend there wasn’t an awkward presence between Jacobi and her, but Jacobi knew she was being avoidant. They both had many thoughts to process.
I’ve made this awkward. If I could take the kiss back, I would... Shit. If I could take this whole day back, I would. I’d never let Angela go down to that damn pool. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to her. Please, god, I’ll do anything to keep her safe.
They walked down the dock, side by side, hoping they were out of sight from the hit men who were after them. Between the two of them, they covered a truckload of thoughts through their heads from survival options, to what a first kiss means after surviving an explosive boat attack? Angela was especially confused and thought about her life with each step she took.
I wish I could go back in time and destroy my research on Pure. I should never have developed it into fruition…if you truly do exist God, please let us get out of this alive. If you do, I swear I’ll let everyone know the truth…
The truth was, Jacobi was the only man standing between Angela and a bullet to her head, or quite possibly, a rocket. Her life depended on his professionalism and focused mind.
Sitting on a bench beside the entrance of the dock they had swum up to, was a young married couple watching the smoke billow out from the ocean waves. The concerned couple asked questions about the explosion they had witnessed moments before, but Jacobi and Angela didn’t answer them. The couple didn’t push it, as the wife looked in her purse for any Band-Aids she could find for any of their numerous cuts and scrapes.
Jacobi grabbed his cell phone out of the waterproof pouch and called his boss, Mr. Hornsby. The phone call didn’t last long and Jacobi looked a little bit more relieved.
Jacobi reached for Angela’s hand once again and she accept
ed, knowing he was her safety net for the time being. He didn’t say a word to her, as they walked hand-in-hand in silence, keeping their eyes peeled for anyone that looked suspicious. Neither Angela nor Jacobi were particularly religious individuals, but at the same time (unbeknownst to one another), they prayed to the heavens above…bargaining with whomever was optimistically listening.
But regardless of who was listening to their prayers, their journey wasn’t going to be an easy one. In fact, at that very moment, the events that were taking place would lead to quite a disruptive path for the two of them.
IV. Depression
According to Ace, Boulder had completely destroyed any chance of happiness he could’ve had. He shot the love of his life with a rocket launcher. There’s no coming back from that. And so, Ace moved on from his shock and quiet disbelief, skipping sadness all together, and maneuvering directly to extreme anger and hostility.
Boulder was getting closer and closer to the entrance of the docking gate, and Ace was still on his knees…waiting for his chance to exact his revenge. He had to play this out carefully because he knew his team would be prepared for anything.
And now, Bows knew his truth. He had fallen in love with Dr. Angela Haven and that’s why he had called the mission off. Ace couldn’t hide from this truth, and he didn’t care to. He wanted every single one of his crewmembers to know why he was about to kill Boulder.
In all reality, Ace couldn’t really blame Boulder for doing his job because he couldn’t have known Ace had fallen in love with Dr. Haven; however, he did disobey Ace’s orders to stop and desist the mission. And since Boulder was the one that pulled the trigger, he was also the “someone” who had to pay.
The old man that was pushed into the water was struggling to swim to shore. He was mumbling angry insults at Boulder as he walked beside him on the dock. Boulder continued to smile looking down upon the old man in his furious state. The old man resembled a wet dog paddling to shore at an even slower speed than his walking ability. Boulder was a few feet from the dock gates when he spotted Ace on his knees, in between the blacked out van and the stolen car.
When their eyes met, Boulder knew this was going to turn into a showdown with Ace. Boulder sneered at Ace looking him dead in the eye. The maddening look in Ace’s eyes frightened Bows and she knew if she didn’t stop this soon, everyone on this dock would be dead.
Ace managed to get to his feet and puff out his chest as Boulder placed the rocket launcher beside the van. It clunked down with a loud bang against the pavement.
Boulder sighed and said, “You caused this madness, man. Don’t blame me for getting the job done.”
Ace didn’t respond vocally, he just stared his opponent down ready for a battle to the death.
Ace and Boulder were now a meter away from one another with their fists clenched. Bows still had her gun pointed at Ace, but now that she put everything together, she couldn’t possibly shoot him. She had to distract her team members before one of them did something they’d regret forever.
Boulder laughed and responded, “You think I’m afraid of you? You’ve always been a punkass. You’re lucky Rocky is going to live. It’s time you learned there are consequences for your actions.”
Ace’s gun was still at his feet, but he didn’t bother trying to kick it up to his hand, although it would have been easy for him to do so. He wanted to beat Boulder to death with his fists. In a split second, they both propelled their bodies towards one another in a fit of ruthlessness. Ace was faster than Boulder and struck his nose with a powerful blow, but not without taking a brutal jab to his lower jaw.
They each backed away and raised their arms up in defense. This was going to be an old-school fist-a-cuffs battle to the death. They circled one another slowly, reading each other’s faces. Boulder went in for another strike, this time driving his fist into Ace’s gut with an intense force, knocking the wind out of Ace’s lungs.
Ace knew Boulder had him beat if they continued to go at it this way, due to his large size. He quickly caught his breath and swerved out of the way from another powerful swing from him. Ace crouched down and swung his leg around in a swooping sidewinder kick, knocking Boulder on his back. Of course, Boulder was caught off guard by this move but dodged out of the way as Ace tried to slam his elbow into his windpipe.
Bows put her gun down and crawled to the front seat of the van. The sun was at a perfect position in the top of the sky for her to cause some distraction. As Ace and Boulder hopped back up onto their feet, they were both ready to go in for the kill. They had sparred countless times before in the training facility beneath Sway, so it was difficult to maneuver a solid punch when they each knew what to expect from the other. Somehow, Ace managed to get two solid punches in before Boulder side-kicked Ace directly in the chest, knocking him down on the rough pavement.
Ace acted like he was in more pain than he actually was, writhing around on the ground. Boulder came by his side and kicked him in the stomach, waiting to land another blow to his chest with a forceful stomp of his right leg. But before he could strike down on him, Ace kicked him in the groin causing Boulder to lean over in extreme pain. Ace had him right where he wanted him.
This was his chance to strike him and not let up. Arching his back and pushing off the ground with his hands in bridge position, Ace did a kick-flip to get back onto his feet. Ace was positioning himself to assault Boulder’s red face with a spin-kick, but right as he was about to spin, Bows positioned the van’s driver-side mirror to catch the sun’s bright rays and temporarily blind Ace.
This sneaky tactic worked, letting Boulder capitalize on this without any hesitation. He wasted no time in delivering a dominant uppercut, sending Ace flying into the air resulting in his body landing hard on the pavement once again. Ace was now knocked out cold lying on the ground like a rag doll.
Boulder took this second to gain his composure. He didn’t want to stop this fight until Ace was dead, but Bows shot off her gun letting him know this fight was over for now. He sneered over at her and she just shook her head in a motherly way.
“Grab him, tie him up and put him in the van. We all now how dangerous he can be,” she said. “We need to take Rocky back to Sway for some medical assistance, otherwise he won’t make it. Then we’ll take care of Ace. Inform Duke we are on our way.”
Bows wasn’t usually the one in charge, but Boulder and Worm knew she meant business. This was a slight moment of self-satisfaction she let herself revel in. She had stopped the fight before anyone was killed, and took charge of her team. But, just as soon as that feeling crept up on her, she felt a more formidable feeling of depression.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same again. Her lover had been shot and was in critical condition; her ex-boyfriend was being tied up and would most likely be killed by the end of the day, and the rest of her team was falling apart. If only she could put this day away in a box forever, with a lovely bow on top.
V. Acceptance
There it was. Right when they needed it the most. It was as if the heavens above had dropped a gift on Jacobi and Angela’s laps. A motorcycle, fit for two, was parked right outside the Boardwalk ice cream shop. Clearly, they would have to steal this bike, as fast as possible. Luckily for them, the key was still in the ignition. Outside the shop, people were staring at the bloody, shoeless and bruised pair as if they were extras in a zombie horror movie.
Jacobi was leading the way and nodded his head towards the bike. Angela had never been on a motorcycle in her life and felt very uneasy about this. Her feet were stinging and had started peeling from the searing pavement. The cuts on her shoulder were aching terribly. If getting on this deathtrap meant safety and medical care, then she knew she had no choice in the matter.
They both climbed on and Jacobi started the bike. The owner of this bike was walking out of the ice cream shop with two ice cream cones in h
is hands. He ran after the duo still clutching onto the ice cream cones and managed to throw one directly at Angela’s back. Jacobi sped off onto the street with zero reluctance.
The ice cream splatter on Angela’s back dripped down her spine and actually felt quite soothing on her cuts, but then began to sting with a fiery fierceness. She bit her lower lip, holding onto Jacobi’s waist hoping his motorcycle driving skills were better than his boating skills. Not knowing where they were speeding towards, Angela placed her head on Jacobi’s back and squeezed her eyes shut. The beach bag was still wrapped around her shoulder and swayed slightly as the bike zoomed around the cars in a speedy frenzy.
Once again, her life was in his hands and strangely enough, she felt comfortable with this fact. If anyone was going to get her through this day, it was going to be Jacobi.
The safe house Mr. Hornsby told Jacobi about was 45 minutes away. Jacobi stepped onto the accelerator zooming through the traffic. Angela held onto Jacobi tighter as she watched the beach pass her squinty eyes. She thought she was going to spend her day in the ocean; but instead, she was running from assassins holding onto her bodyguard, zigzagging through the traffic, to an unknown location.
At least we’ll be safe…
Funny how things don’t always go the way you think they will.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hornsby was walking down his porch stairs to his private beach along the ocean. Fifty-four years old, but looking much younger with a full head of brown curly hair and good looks, Mr. Hornsby looked like a modern day movie star. He held a glass of expensive whiskey in his hand and sipped on it, as he searched through his recent phone calls. He found the name he had called just moments ago, except no one answered.