by Joe Pascente
Jacobi had called him just 20 minutes prior, and informed him one of his agents was dead. Mr. Hicks, one of Mr. Hornsby’s first hires, was a loyal agent; did his job better than most. Mr. Hornsby had owned his bodyguard protection agency for over 20 years and Mr. Hicks had been his first agent to die on the job. He was a fine agent, but an even better friend and confidant. The risk of death was always a formidable consequence of this profession, but it had never become an actuality in all the years of his owning the agency.
Through all the years of owning this company, Mr. Hornsby had made a significant amount of connections. Even before he owned his own agency, he had made connections, propelling him into the position and wealth he had always desired. The first connection he had made, contributed the money to start up his own agency. This was from the man he didn’t want to contact at the moment. He wasn’t necessarily a friend of his, but he was a man who he owed his wealthy lifestyle to. This man’s name was Duke Harrington.
Mr. Hornsby had worked for Duke Harrington back in the day and when he started his own company, Duke had lent him the start-up money to help him create a successful business. Mr. Hornsby had always been a reliable source for Duke and vice-versa. They were never particularly great friends, but they understood one another. Duke was on the wrong side of the tracks and Mr. Hornsby had made a legitimate business, but they both needed one another’s assistance from time-to-time to get their “jobs” done.
This was one of those times.
When Duke heard Dr. Angela Haven had bodyguard protection around her, he immediately called Mr. Hornsby on a secure line, to see if he was hired to protect her. Normally, Mr. Hornsby wouldn’t be able to divulge this information to anyone, but he never kept information from Duke. He told him his best agents were on the job. He was in a compromised position; being hired to protect a celebrated scientist, but also being a loyal associate to the man who he owed so much to.
He didn’t have much of a choice at this point, he had to give Duke the details he had requested. He gave up some of the information, including the hotel they were staying at. In his guilty-conscious mind, he thought if they wanted her, they’d have to work for it in some regard, so he kept the room number to himself as well as other bits of knowledge—as if keeping these small details from Duke and his team would absolve him from being the traitor he was.
He gave up this information under one condition: his agents would never be in danger, in any way. Duke had agreed to this, not knowing how out of control his team would be once their mission was under way. It should have been no problem for his team of assassins; but that was before Ace had gone rogue.
Mr. Hornsby called Duke again, but still, there was no answer. He was starting to get quite vexed, knowing Duke was avoiding his call. Duke had promised his agents would be safe during the mission and now one of them was dead, while the other was seriously injured. He called Duke once more and when he still didn’t answer, Mr. Hornsby downed his glass of whiskey and whipped the empty glass into a cluster of rocks by the steps of his home. Just then, his phone began to ring and he answered it.
“You screwed me, Duke.” He said, grating his back molars together.
“I know this wasn’t part of the arrangement. I am utterly apologetic by the events that have taken place and—”
“Shut the hell up! One of my best friends is dead! He didn’t deserve to die because of your team’s screw-up!”
“I apologize profusely. That should never have happened and there will be consequences for their actions…”
“Damn right, there will be!”
“And of course, retributions will be made to you and your agency. I would hate to see our partnership ruined by today’s catastrophic events.”
“What happens next, Duke? I can’t even think straight right now. I betrayed my agents and our client, and if this comes back to me—”
“It won’t; let’s calm down. It’s done. I’ve spoken to my team and they have everything under control again. We had a rogue member of the squad that was put down, and a rocket launcher, of all things, was used to execute our target. So, you see? Everything worked out in the—wait. Did you say only one of your bodyguards was dead?”
“Yes. And what are you talking about, Duke? Dr. Angela Haven is still alive. She’s still with my other bodyguard as we speak.”
Duke was quiet for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. He thought Boulder had killed them both when he had fired the rocket launcher onto the boat they were on. Duke paused and took a deep breath. He accepted the mission wasn’t quite over yet and continued to speak to Mr. Hornsby, for he needed more information to continue moving forward.
“No shit? They survived that attack? I’ll be damned. I guess this mission will be tougher than I had anticipated.”
“Your mission is over, Duke! I’m not putting my agent in danger again.”
“Listen, we are so close to completing this operation. Don’t lose faith in us now. Just tell us where those two have run off to and we will end this once and for all.”
“Duke, I can’t be—”
“You owe me this one last favor. Just tell me where they are going and you won’t hear from me again.”
Mr. Hornsby gave this a moment’s thought while contemplating all the intellectual pros and cons he could make in his semi-drunken state. By the end of the phone call, he caved in and gave Duke the whereabouts of the safe house. But not before getting a large sum of money transferred to the offshore account in his name.
Mr. Hornsby walked back up the porch steps and stepped on a piece of broken glass by the rocks. His foot was bleeding, but he could barely feel it as he walked inside and poured himself an even larger whiskey. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and didn’t recognize the man looking back at him.
What have I done?
For a brief moment, he contemplated playing both sides and warning Jacobi that he was in danger from the same assassins that had almost killed him earlier. He wanted to reach out, especially on behalf of Mr. Hick’s. But he didn’t.
He poured another drink for himself and stared out into the ocean from the inside of his glass house. He had accepted he was just as bad a person as Duke was. He let everyone down. Especially himself.
CHAPTER 7
DOWN THE BEATEN PATH
I. Business is Business
Ice-cold water splashed Ace’s face waking him up to the dull pain in his head. It felt like his skull was put in a vice grip and was squeezed to the max. His right eye was swollen shut and his body was aching from the hand-to-hand brawl he had just lost to his fellow team member. Out of his left eye, Ace could see Boulder sitting in front of him straddled on a wooden chair. His face was also swollen from the fight and his knuckles were still bloody, but he didn’t show any signs of pain.
Using all his might, Ace tried to move his arms from behind his back, but couldn’t because his hands were tied with rope, secured around his wrists. His feet were also roped to his chair and there was a long piece of duct tape wrapped around his head covering his mouth. He was not in a good position to escape, fight or maneuver out of this predicament.
Bows was standing behind Boulder tapping her foot on the dusty cement floor. There was a soft echo from the patter of her high-heeled shoes, and even though Ace was in immense pain from the fight, the sound of this constant tapping was causing him more annoyance and discomfort than his physical pain. If only he could say what he wanted to. He’d let his “team members” know exactly where they could go.
“It didn’t have to come to this, Ace. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Why would our team leader go through all this trouble to stop our mission? It didn’t make sense. But Bows has an interesting theory…”
Oh, Jesus, listening to Boulder’s condescending speech is agony. Please just shoot me in the head.
“Stop talking, Boulder. Let’s just sit in silence while we wait for
Duke to call us back with our instructions,” Bows quipped, without looking Ace in the eye.
She purposefully looked down at her feet because she was ashamed of what she was saying. Everyone in this room knew what Duke’s orders were going to be. Worm was hunched over on the floor resting his head against the concrete wall. He couldn’t look Ace in the eye either.
Ace couldn’t figure out what this small space was until he tried focusing his eyes—even the swollen shut one—and realized they were in a mausoleum. As mausoleums went, this one was on the larger and more expensive side. Whoever was buried here, it seemed as though they were of a lofty and lavish family that dedicated quite a bit to their final resting place. He focused his line of sight on the only stained-glass window in the concrete box. He could tell not much time had passed since he was knocked out since the sun seemed to still be shining brightly.
Mumbling, Ace tried to let his team know he had something to say. Boulder just smirked from his chair and cupped a hand to his ear trying to make out what he was saying.
“Oh for God’s sake!” Bows shouted. She began to walk over to Ace, but Boulder grabbed her forearm.
“What are you doing?”
Unbeknownst to Boulder, Bows had a pocket knife in her other hand, which she slipped right under Boulder’s neck.
“Get your hand off of me…now.” Bows was not in the mood for this and pressed the blade of her knife with just enough force to let Boulder knew she meant business.
Boulder let go of her forearm and Bows put the knife by her side once again. She kept her beautiful brown eyes on Boulder, as she walked over to Ace. She cut the piece of tape that was wrapped around his head and threw it on the ground.
“Thank you, Bows,” Ace said in a barely audible voice, as he needed a drink of water. “As I was trying to say before, this whole situation has gotten completely out of hand.”
“Understatement of the year, buddy boy,” Boulder said with a laugh.
“I can explain my actions and maybe then, you’ll see—”
“We’ll see what? How you betrayed the mission? Or how you betrayed us?” Bows asked.
She was ready for Ace to explain himself, even though she knew quite well what his explanation would be.
“Funny that you, of all people, would feel betrayed, Bows. After what you did to me.”
“I didn’t do anything to you, Ace. You know how the drug works! It’s not—” Bows immediately shut her mouth. She knew he had tricked her to say exactly what he needed her to.
“It’s not, what? It’s not our fault that Pure changes the way we feel for certain people? Like the way you fell for Rocky,” Ace paused for a second, and looked directly into her eyes. “Or the way I fell for Dr. Haven?”
Worm stood up now and was fidgeting back and forth like he was trying to solve an intense mathematical equation.
“So, it’s true, then? You fell in love with our target? Pure affected you, too. But don’t you see? This is why we have to kill her, Ace. Her drug causes massive problems. Look at the situation you’re in now! Duke is going to kill you because of this. And we can’t help you.” Worm was saying this from afar, because he didn’t have the fighting skills like his other team members and even if Ace was tied up, he couldn’t trust being close to him.
“You are all cowards. Especially you, Bows. I thought of all people who would understand where I’m coming from, it’d be you.”
Now Ace was the one that couldn’t look his team in their eyes. Not because he was ashamed of himself, but because he was so ashamed of them. He always knew this group of people would never be considered humanitarians of the year, but he thought he was part of their dysfunctional family. He now knew he was wrong.
Everyone sat in silence for a moment or two before the mausoleum door creaked open. And there standing in front of the bright sunlight was their boss. Duke walked in wearing his traditional trench coat and nodded his head signaling for the team to get lost. Worm was the first to exit. Boulder followed next, but not before Duke grabbed him by the shoulder leaning in close.
Duke whispered in his ear, “Get it done this time, no matter what. I’ve texted you the address.”
“Yes sir. How’s my brother doing?”
“I called Dr. Peterson as soon as you all took him back to Sway. My doctor is the best there is concerning gunshots. He’ll pull through.”
Bows was the last to make her way towards the door, but before she walked out, she made her way back to Ace and bent close down to his face and kissed him on the cheek. They looked into each other’s eyes longingly and then she walked away from him, leaving Duke and Ace alone.
“Well, my boy. I never thought it would come to this.” Duke stepped around the dusty cement surface in front of Ace. He wanted to look him directly in the eyes at this moment.
“Duke, please—”
“Oh no. Don’t embarrass yourself, Ace. Begging won’t get you anywhere with me, as you know damn well who I am and how I handle betrayal,” Duke was now a foot away from Ace, as he held his face in his hands. “You were my favorite. I’m telling you this because you need to know I don’t find any pleasure in killing you. But, business is business.” Duke fished around in his trench coat and found his handgun. He cocked it and held it close to his hip.
“That’s bullshit, Duke. You don’t have to do this. I took the drug; when Bows and I were together. We wanted to prove it to one another we were meant for each other, but as you know, it didn’t work out that way. But, I found her today. The love of my life!”
“Yes, I know, the doctor, Angela Haven, also known as, our target. And, what a shame that is. Life can be so cruel.” Duke said this in a condescending manner.
Without any warning, Duke struck Ace in the face with the back of his hand. He held his gun up to Ace’s forehead and exhaled.
“That damn drug…I just want you to know, I am sorry for this, but I did warn you to get the job done.” Duke said this with tears in his eyes. He looked genuinely sad about what he was about to do.
Little did Duke know, Ace had been cutting through the ropes on his hands the entire time Duke was chatting it up with him. Before Bows left the mausoleum, she had kissed Ace on the cheeks and secretly placed her pocketknife in his hand. Ace was shocked by this turn of events, but didn’t question her motives. Maybe she pitied him or maybe she realized he was in the same boat she was when she couldn’t control whom she loved once upon a time.
Either way, Ace made the most of his time with that knife, and just in the knick of time, cut through the ropes and maneuvered out of the way, as Duke shot the gun off, hitting the tomb inside the mausoleum.
Ace used all his might to stab Duke right in his left shoulder, causing them to fall back against the cement wall. With his quick reflexes, Ace twisted the knife in Duke’s shoulder and wrestled the gun out of his hand. Duke wasn’t the type to beg for his life, but he knew Ace had him cornered. Holding his right arm up, he silently pleaded for Ace to back away, but Ace wasn’t having this. He pointed the gun up to Duke’s temple and wiped the bloody pocketknife on Duke’s jacket, then put it in his front pant’s pocket.
Leaning his head close to Duke’s face, he whispered, “I just want you to know, I’m not sorry for this…”
WHACK!
It happened so fast; Duke didn’t have time to be scared. Ace spun the gun around in his hand and pistol-whipped him in the side of the head, knocking Duke unconscious.
Ace didn’t waste a second dragging Duke to the chair and tied his boss up with the same rope he had just cut off from his hands. The rope was shorter now, so there was only enough length to do a quick knot, but this would give Ace some invaluable time to find his team and save Dr. Haven in the process.
Before leaving Duke, he checked his coat pocket and found his phone. He looked up the latest text message to Boulder, and now he knew the exact address of where
his team was going. They had a bit of a head start, but nothing was going to stop him from going down the beaten path and righting the wrongs that were happening on this day.
He didn’t want to kill any of his team members, but he would do what was necessary, if it came down to it. Ace contemplated killing Duke right then and there, but he knew his team members would hold that against him. If he was in a real bind, maybe that’d be the ticket to have in his back pocket, to convince his team members to let Dr. Haven walk away from all of this.
If only he could convince them how he felt about her. They were assassins, but they had hearts. Look at how devastated Worm was today. Maybe they weren’t exactly his friends, but he could appeal to their humanity, and hopefully, they would follow some municipal assassin rules: such as, don’t kill your other team member’s love interests.
After all, business is business.
II. Cry Just a Little
The wind was whipping through Angela’s hair as the motorcycle twisted and turned, propelling the two down the highway pavement. The sun was still shining down on Los Angeles, but the temperature was holding at a sweltering 94 degrees. Never in a million years did she think she’d be on the back of a motorcycle on this day, let alone ever. Jacobi shifted gears and drove off the next exit of the highway. He seemed to know exactly where he was off to, like he’d been to this location a few times before.
Driving down what looked to be a typical suburban road, where every house looked exactly the same, Jacobi was doing his job of looking for any suspicious activity. But to the casual eye, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Children played in their front lawns and neighbors were cutting their grassy lawns.
Angela didn’t feel so out of place here, as she was still wearing her swimsuit underneath her jean shorts and crop top. Most of the neighbors they had passed by were in their bathing suits as well. Lighting off fireworks that were leftover from July 4th on their driveways. The popping sounds made Angela jump a few times thinking it was the sound of gunshots.