Her persistence was starting to wear down my self-pity.
“I suppose you are right. And besides, I can only control what is in front of me, right?”
“Yea, that’s right. And, hey, don’t you think the fact that you feel bad about what you did already makes you less of a bad guy than someone who never questions the morality of their actions?”
I smiled a tight-lipped smile at her. I wasn’t sure I agreed. I think feeling that what I did was wrong and doing it anyway might make it worse. But I didn’t want to feel bad about it anymore. I wanted to move forward with Claire and forget about the darkness we were leaving behind.
“I don’t agree that things would have been better if neither of us had gotten involved with Kovalev.”
Claire furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to protest, but I beat her to it.
“Otherwise, I never would have met you.”
It sounded so treacly sweet that I was surprised it was able to make it out of my mouth. I meant it, sort of. I was ecstatic to have met her, to have her here to light up the dark world. But, of course it would have been better if she had never gone through what she had suffered. It was a silly thing to say.
Not that she seemed to mind. Her face, tinged orange by the setting sun, melted into a warm smile.
The sunlight faded and the desert around us turned silver under a full moon. The inky black meteor crater at Amboy was barely visible in the distance. Supposedly, the crater was a hotspot for UFO activity. I didn’t see anything but stars in the sky around us, though. I had to admit, if there were going to be flying saucers around, this was the kind of place it would make sense. There was something otherworldly about it. Being in the SEALs, I hadn’t been privy to all the fancy toys the Air Force had, but I knew that a lot of the new aircraft were tested out of various bases in the Southwest, so the concentration of UFO activity was probably related.
Growing up in Las Vegas, then tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, then back to Las Vegas, I was just about done with deserts. I wanted to go somewhere wet, somewhere with plants that had thick, broad leaves instead of hard spines.
As if she were reading my mind, Claire broke the silence.
“Where do you want to go when we get out of this?”
“What do you mean?”
“We can’t stay in Vegas, obviously. Not that I want to, anyway. So where should we go?”
I smiled at the realization that she said ‘we’ so easily, as if it were assumed. The fact that we came together in such strange and unpleasant circumstances, that our future was entirely uncertain, it didn’t seem to faze her. It occurred to me that something had been laying dormant in that corner apartment. I had seen the beautiful shell, but the woman who was coming to life beside me was completely unexpected.
“I don’t know, someplace near the water, I think.”
“That sounds good to me. Maybe the Caribbean?”
“I’ve never been.”
“Me neither, but who cares. It is sun, sand, and turquoise water. We can just pick out an island, a small one where there aren’t many tourists, and just hang out.”
“We could get a little sailboat, go snorkeling, and drink rum punch.”
“Yea.” She laughed. “Do you know how to sail?”
“I was in the Navy, wasn’t I?”
She twisted her mouth into a wry smile and arched her eyebrow.
“Ok, no, I actually have never driven any kind of boat, but I’m sure we can learn.”
“That all sounds great. I’m ready.”
For the first time in a long time, I started feeling good about the future.
I reached over and placed my hand on Claire’s thigh. I could feel her toned muscle through her jeans. I started squeezing, kneading her leg, slowly making my way up and in. She opened up her legs, inviting me to continue. With one hand on the wheel and both eyes on the road, I felt my way along her leg, finally coming to rest where they came together. I could feel heat radiating under my fingers. She rocked her hips forward, opening up further. I pressed down, putting pressure on her sex through the thick denim.
Her hand reached over and started stroking my leg, searching for my cock, which was laying down my leg, straining at the restrictive material of my jeans.
“We need to pull over,” Claire said in a throaty voice.
I obliged immediately. There was nobody on the road, nobody anywhere nearby. I hopped out of the car and walked around to her side where she was already undoing her pants. She placed her arms against the roof of the car and leaned forward. I furiously undid my jeans, unleashing my rock-hard erection. Her skin glowed in the moonlight, making her ass look like two pearls. I stepped between her legs and reached down to finger her sex. She moaned as my finger slid easily inside.
She reached down between her legs and wrapped her hand around the shaft of my cock and tugged it forward. I didn’t need any encouragement. I leaned forward and let her guide me inside her. She wrapped around me like a fist. I let out a groan of pleasure, knowing there was nobody around to hear. I stroked in and out with a steady pace. She leaned against the car with one arm, using her free hand between her legs. She alternated between gently tickling my balls and enhancing her own pleasure.
The stars shone cold overhead, but I was wrapped in her warm, wet embrace. My breath started to come ragged. I knew I wasn’t going to last long. I tried to focus, to draw out the moment. But then she started to cry out in pleasure and I felt her spasming around me.
My orgasm exploded. Our voices echoed around the empty desert.
Chapter 19 - Jason
The park entrance was open, no ranger there to take our money so we drove straight in. Claire directed me to a few campsites, but there was no sign of her father. The night was wearing on and I began to wonder whether we had made a mistake in coming here. Finally, we tried a site a ways down a dirt road. There was only one car, one campsite occupied.
“That’s him!” Claire shouted.
I pulled to a stop a few yards away.
There was nobody there.
“Dad!”
Claire’s shouts echoed around the piled-up boulders that surrounded the small campsite. She bounded forward. I came a few steps behind. The site was clearly occupied recently. There was an LED lantern throwing shadows onto the rocks around. A nice backpacking tent was set up, along with a camping stove, backpack, and a few plastic containers with food. If this was her father’s campsite, he had definitely been here not long ago.
“Dad!” Claire shouted again, eliciting no response.
“Well, he was here,” I offered.
“He must be around. Wait here in case he comes back. I will go look for him.”
A cold feeling crept into my stomach.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Claire.”
“Well, I don’t want him to freak out when some guy comes up on him out of the blue.”
“You think it will be better if he comes back and sees some stranger in his campsite?”
“So, go wait in the car,” she said, growing exasperated. “I am going to look for him, alone. That’s it.”
She stalked off without another word. I was left in the campsite alone.
I sat down on the edge of a boulder, shifting my weight in an unsuccessful attempt to get comfortable. The lantern’s light drew my eyes, blinding me to the night around. It was hard to look away, the single point of light in the darkness, but I forced myself to look away, keeping my eyes adjusted to the soft moonlight instead. I turned my back to the camp and gazed up into the brilliant starlight. There were so many out here it was impossible to fathom. Instead of small points of light, they looked like an iridescent foam on the surface of an inky ocean.
Claire’s voice had disappeared. The only sound was a light breeze whispering around the rocks.
And footsteps.
Tension shot into my spine, and I moved my hand back to the pistol in my waistband.
The footsteps were heavy, definitely not C
laire.
I couldn’t tell where they were coming from. The acoustics in this campsite were confusing; the sounds seemed to bounce around and come from all angles. I spun around, trying to see who was approaching.
The footsteps stopped with a crunch.
I stepped back away from the light, trying to find some cover in the dark.
“Not another step. Hands over your head,” a low, tight voice commanded.
It was either Claire’s dad or it was whoever had gotten to him first. Either way, I couldn’t take the risk that they were holding a gun. I spread my hands out and lifted them up.
“Ok. I am not moving. Come into the light so I can see you.”
The footsteps restarted and moments later a tall, lean man entered the campsite. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, but otherwise in fine shape. He was pointing a pistol at me.
“Are you Claire’s dad?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Step forward; let me take a look at you.”
I took a step forward. Something about the man seemed familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“I know you.” The man’s voice hardened. “You work for Kovalev!”
He raised his arm, pointing the pistol straight at my chest, and stepped further into the light. Then it hit me. I had seen him before. I had met him in the course of business, as it were. It was early on in my time with the crew. Jax had taken me to rough up a debtor. He looked like he had aged a decade since then.
“Look, I know you won’t trust me, but I am here with Claire. I helped her get away.”
“Bullshit! I know who you are, what you are. I don’t know how you found me, but there is no way I am letting you bring me in.”
He was getting agitated. I knew it was only a matter of time before he snapped and maybe pulled the trigger. I needed to get out of his line of fire. He was too far away for me to close the distance. I looked around to find cover. There was a boulder just to my left.
I was about to spring when Claire’s voice rang out from the tall rocks to the side.
“Dad! Stop!”
I saw her father’s eyes shift to Claire. I took my chance and leapt forward. In an instant, I had the pistol in my hand and Claire’s father on the ground. Claire scrambled down into the campsite with an expression that made me wish I still had a gun pointed at me.
Chapter 20 - Claire
I caught myself on a rough outcropping of granite. The rock I planted my foot on had looked solid, but as soon as I put weight down, it shifted forward, almost spilling me into a very unpleasant cactus. I had hiked these boulders as a kid, but never at night. Even the full moon didn’t provide enough light to make all the potential pitfalls visible. So, I made my way slowly.
The light from the campsite had disappeared behind me a few minutes ago. I planned to walk in an arc around the camp. I didn’t know what direction my father had gone, so I had to cover as much ground as I could. While not killing myself or ending up with a face full of cholla cactus, that is.
My father had to be out here. His car was here, he had been in the camp at least a day. He had to be nearby. I didn’t want to imagine the alternative. No, I was going to find him, healthy and whole. And then we would get out.
I wondered if I was making a mistake with Jason. We had a connection, that was undeniable. I felt so good around him that it seemed like I might burst from thinking about him. But was I tricking myself? I mean, I had only been around him during this mad time. We had been on the run and fighting for our lives. And the contrast to my life in that apartment might be coloring my impression of him. After all, I was feeling great because I was breathing free air, I was not struggling for breath under Kovalev’s sweaty bulk. And the sex with Jason was, well, a revelation.
But what did that all mean for us? Did we really have the basis of a relationship? Was he someone I would want to be with in six months? A year? He had clearly done some bad things. While he seemed to be regretful, he had still done them. Was he really trustworthy?
His face swam up in front of me, tinged silver by the light of the full moon. Yea, he was worth the risk. I just wish I knew how much of a risk I was taking.
I was halfway around my half-circle when I heard a shout. I couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was unmistakable. It was coming from the campsite. I turned and made my way there as fast as I could.
Ignoring a scrape on my elbow and a bump on my knee, I scrambled up the low wall of boulders surrounding the campsite. My father was there. Pointing a gun at Jason.
“Dad! Stop!” I shouted.
He turned to look at me and then was tackled by Jason almost instantly. By the time I had hopped down onto the pounded sand of the camp, Jason had disarmed him and was now pointing the gun at him.
“What the hell are you doing? Put that thing down this instant!”
Jason dropped his arm to his side, but he didn’t let go of the gun.
I raced over to where my dad was lying. By the light of the lantern, I could see that he had a trickle of blood running down his arm from a nasty looking gash.
“Go get the first aid kit!” I shouted at Jason. His footsteps receded quickly as he ran to the car.
“Claire! I can’t believe it is you. You’re safe! Thank God.”
“I’m ok, Dad. I’m ok. Jason helped me escape.”
His face hardened. Shifting himself up with his good arm, he shook his head violently.
“You have to get rid of him. He’s no good, Claire. If he got you out, he’s got some other motive.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know him, Claire. He works for Kovalev.”
“Oh, I know that. But he’s out now. We had to get away from Kovalev’s thugs to get here. They were waiting for us at your house.”
“He is one of Kovalev’s thugs, don’t you understand?”
“He used to be one. Not anymore.”
My dad grunted, clearly not convinced. He lifted his hand, palm upward, displaying the thin line of a recently healed cut from what appeared to be a very sharp knife.
“Nobody who would do this is anything but a thug. I don’t care if he doesn’t work for Kovalev anymore, he is who he is. He is what he’s done.”
I was gobsmacked. Silent. How could he have done this? I knew he was an enforcer, and I guess I thought I knew what that entailed. But, seeing the evidence on my own father was like a kick to the gut.
At that moment, Jason reappeared in the campsite, black zippered first aid kit in hand. My face must have been expressing exactly what I felt because he recoiled from me as if I were a rattlesnake.
“You…you…” A list of insults flew through my head, but I couldn’t settle on one. “How could you?” I pointed to my father’s scarred hand.
Embarrassment flickered across Jason’s face, but was quickly replaced by a blank, guarded expression.
“I didn’t know he was your father.”
“Oh, and that makes a difference? How could you do that to anyone?”
He knelt there, silent, his face as hard as the granite around us.
“I don’t want to see you right now. You need to leave.”
“Claire, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I don’t give a shit! Just get out of here.”
Without another word, he stood up and stalked back to the car. The engine roared to life and, in an instant, the sound disappeared into the empty desert.
“You did the right thing,” my father said, slowly getting to his feet.
“Come on, let me get this cleaned up.”
I washed the dirt out of his wound and wrapped it in gauze. He refused to let me take him to the hospital, insisting that he would be fine in that inexpressibly frustrating faux machismo.
“I just need to rest,” is all he would allow.
Suddenly the events of the day seemed to catch up to me all at once and I felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over me. We both climbed into the tent. My father insiste
d I take the sleeping bag, wrapping himself in an extra coat. I started to tell him about all the things that had happened since I was taken to the auction, but I had barely gotten started when I dropped into a deep sleep.
Chapter 21 - Jason
I put the accelerator down as hard as I could, wishing I was driving something with balls, not this sensible sedan. Still, the empty desert highway flew under my wheels as I put distance between me and Claire.
How could she have overreacted like that? It isn’t like she didn’t know what I did. We had spent the whole ride over to the park talking about it. She had been supportive, trying to make me feel better about my choices and the things that I had done. Then all of a sudden, when confronted with the reality of what had only been words, she completely flipped. It was infuriating.
I drove with no destination in mind, just to drive. I didn’t want to head back to Vegas, so I turned west and drove toward Palm Springs. I could hole up in a little hotel there for a few days while I got things figured out. Claire was back with her father, maybe the two of them could get somewhere safe together. It was unlikely that anyone would find them there. And besides, how far would Kovalev go just to get some girl and a degenerate gambler? He was a vengeful guy, but at some point the cost wouldn’t be worth it. And he had already paid a fair bit. I had made sure of that.
Claire would be okay. They wouldn’t keep coming after her. She was smart enough to leave town for good, find somewhere safe, and make a new life. She deserved that. She probably deserved better than me, too. As I drove, the deep black of night gave way to a slate gray, the first signs of morning. Soon it would be purples and pinks and then the harsh, bright desert sun.
Something wasn’t sitting right with me, and it wasn’t just that the girl I thought I had connected with was sitting back in the park, angry with me. I went back to the night I had met her father. Something about it didn’t make sense.
It was early in my employment with Kovalev. I had been on the job a week or so. Jax took me out on a few assignments. He said it was to show me the ropes, but I knew it was to get the measure of me, to figure out how far I was willing to go and whether I could be trusted. We had gone on a few of these little outings and I could tell that Jax was starting to question my level of commitment, whether I had the stomach for the job. I knew I needed to show him something if I was going to get taken on. It also occurred to me that the termination policy in an outfit like Kovalev’s might be something more unpleasant than two weeks with pay. So I resolved myself to go above and beyond that night.
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