The Protector

by Stormi Lewis

  “Not short enough,” Sophie chuckled as she wiggled nervously in her seat.

  “I’m sorry,” they said in unison, turning to face each other, and laughed at the awkwardness between them.

  “I’m sorry,” Sophie tried again.

  “Me too,” Tina smiled.

  “I’m still trying to get used to trusting people,” Sophie confessed playing with her fingers in front of her.

  “Well, I haven’t exactly earned it lately, either,” Tina admitted mimicking Sophie’s gestures. “I’m sorry he’s gone,” she whispered.

  “Well, he’s not really gone, and kind of more of a pain in the butt now,” Sophie gave a nervous chuckle.

  “Oooo, I did not think about that!” Tina said suddenly in surprise.

  “Mario did say he was Team Tina,” Sophie smiled at her nervously.

  “I knew I liked him for a reason,” Tina laughed as she sat back to relax a bit.

  “I think I have a bigger problem,” Sophie professed quietly.

  “Oh?” Tina replied, turning to her friend and giving Sophie her full attention.

  “I’m not sure I’m always the one in control,” Sophie started slowly.

  “I don’t understand,” Tina stated confused.

  “I think ‘he’ is inside me somehow,” Sophie whispered in a strangled voice.

  “Oh, Sophie!” Tina said quickly pulling Sophie into her arms.

  “I can’t explain it, but I’m not okay,” Sophie sobbed softly as she pushed the words out.

  Tina pulled her back immediately. “You ARE okay,” Tina demanded.

  “But I’m NOT!” Sophie stated more firmly. “And doubting myself is causing me to doubt people closest to me, including you,” she added full of guilt.

  “You’re going to have to give me more than that,” Tina stated. “And we only have 58 minutes before we have to get off, so just start from the beginning.”

  Sophie looked around nervously. They were seated right in the middle of the bachelorette party who had already begun to “get their drink on” as they sang songs and exclaimed how exciting it will be to see Thunder from Down Under at the Excalibur. Tina sensed her hesitation.

  “They will not notice,” Tina giggled. “And if we can get to the bottom of it before we get off the plane, I’ll take you to the show,” she said winking.

  Sophie looked at Tina with shock.

  “What the boys don’t know won’t hurt them,” Tina shrugged casually forcing Sophie to giggle herself.

  And for the first time, not even with James, Sophie started to confess her darkest fears to the girl who had long forgiven her for accusing her of working on the other side. Mostly because Tina had a secret of her own. She just wasn’t ready to share it just yet….

  Chapter 20

  T he girls didn’t make it to the show, but Tina insisted they would be returning to do so at a later date. Sophie just laughed and rolled her eyes. It felt good to have her friend back.

  The boys arrived sooner than expected, but they wouldn’t spill the beans on how they achieved their success. Sophie would have been annoyed at the secrets if she didn’t have more pressing matters to deal with. She needed to find Eddie.

  Vegas was an awful place to try to hide in. Especially when it came to the casinos. There was no way of getting around the endless cameras that security monitored constantly looking for thieves, drunks out of control, and sins being committed 24/7. It was the city where people gave into their deepest and darkest desires no matter the cost. The perfect place for the man with the cane, but not the Eddie Sophie remembered.

  “So, where was he last seen?” Sophie asked keeping her head down and walking as quickly as possible to get to the safety of their room.

  “Walking out of this hotel,” Ben smiled with satisfaction, even if he had to keep his head down.

  “Nice,” Sophie smiled with pride.

  “I thought you’d like that,” Ben added. “Meet you in a bit!” he announced before suddenly veering off to the left and into the crowd of men playing craps.

  Tina sighed heavily. “I’m going to smell like so much smoke,” she whined before turning on her heels and heading for the slots.

  “I think I will try my luck at Blackjack,” Sophie smiled wickedly.

  “Aren’t we going to the room?” James chuckled.

  “You are,” Sophie said with a wink before she headed for the tables, leaving James to go to the room alone. At least on camera.

  After an hour, Sophie caught up with everyone in the room. They had adjoining rooms again this time. The boys were sitting on a king-size bed watching tv, while Tina was working on the laptop at the desk per usual.

  “Took you long enough,” James muttered but couldn’t hide his happiness.

  “I got distracted,” Sophie shrugged casually as she pulled her hands out of her pockets and tossed her winnings on the bed at them.

  Ben gasped. “You card counter!” he yelled, pointing at her accusingly.

  “I am no such thing,” Sophie said defensively, but no one seemed to be buying it.

  Tina was engrossed in the computer screen before her.

  “Whatch ya looking at?” Sophie asked her noticing her withdraw.

  “How old did you guess Eddie to be when he was here last?” Tina asked her husband without moving her eyes from the screen.

  “Probably seventeen or thereabouts,” Ben offered. “Why?”

  “How would you describe Clarice?” Tina asked Sophie as she continued to stare at the screen.

  “What did you find?” Sophie asked in a panic as she walked towards Tina.

  She just pointed to a young man with short brown hair, wearing a pair of jeans, and an old black Metallica t-shirt and worn tennis shoes. He was standing in front of a limousine with a woman who had on black high heeled shoes, black stockings that emphasized her athletic legs, a black short skirt, and a red silk short sleeved blouse. It was unbuttoned far enough to show her perky breasts in a black lace bra underneath. She had long blonde hair that was curled just past her shoulders.

  “Wait for it,” Tina whispered, and as if on que the boy looked directly into the camera before him and mouthed, ‘Help Me,’ before getting into the limousine never to be seen from again.

  Sophie threw her hand over her mouth before dry heaving violently. She had nothing on her stomach to give up which was her only saving grace at the moment. She fell to her knees gasping for air in between trying to throw up. Her eyes quickly filled with tears that ran down her cheeks.

  Eddie begged for her, and Sophie never came. Her gut was now attacking itself, because she never bothered to keep looking for him. Sophie had the occasional memory, but never bothered to follow through on checking up on him. Her parents told her to keep him safe, and she did nothing. Nothing.

  The room spined violently around her. James grabbed Sophie, and she hung on for dear life as guilt completely consumed her. He had him. The man with the cane had Eddie, and it was Sophie’s fault.

  “Stop it!” she heard Tina yelling in her ear.

  “I can’t,” Sophie cried out.

  “You can and you WILL!” demanded Tina.

  The room started to slow down a bit, but Sophie continued to gasp and try desperately not to throw up.

  “You are no good to Eddie acting like a dramatic princess!” Tina commanded.

  The room stopped spinning almost immediately, and Sophie started slowing down her breathing.

  “Okay, Mario,” Sophie retorted once her senses calmed the heck down.

  “I thought you’d like that,” Tina beamed suddenly.

  “I think we’re going to have to find a better way to not go on overdrive,” Sophie said with a slight chuckle as she shook her head. The more she learned about herself and her “gifts” as her parents would say, the more they seemed to spiral out of control and knock her to her knees. There had to be a better way.

  “Okay,” said James taking charge. “Clarice clearly targeted him, and convinc
ed Eddie to go with her somehow,” he started to state the facts.

  “And he knew he still needed to leave you one last message,” Ben interjected.

  “But it wasn’t one last message,” Tina declared loudly. Everyone looked at her in question. “Look,” she said. “I didn’t feel comfortable about the messages either, and I knew someone had been watching Sophie all these years for the team to be able to track her like they did.”

  “Eddie,” Sophie whispered.

  “I think he believed Mario was in trouble and directed everyone to Kansas City,” Tina continued. “I think that’s why he told us to leave last time, too.”

  “But why wait so long?” Ben asked.

  “It’s not exactly like they would let him communicate without consequences,” James offered. “He probably has to make sure he’s always covering his tracks.”

  “We need to find him,” Sophie said in desperation.

  “Or not,” Tina cut in.

  Sophie jerked her head to stare at Tina with her mouth open in shock.

  Tina threw her hands up in the air so that Sophie knew she wasn’t trying to cause problems.

  “I just mean, we let Eddie find YOU. If he’s always the one watching you, he would see you were here, and he would know you’re trying to find him,” Tina shrugged.

  “Not a bad idea,” Sophie contemplated.

  “Except the man with the cane will also know you’re here,” James pointed out with a frown hoping she would see the whole picture.

  “Eddie’s priority right now,” Sophie declared without hesitation. “But we need to prove we’re looking for him, so where all was he seen in the last week of being here?”

  “I’ll make a list,” Tina said sitting down again and let her fingers type feverishly. She used facial recognition software to locate Eddie in the sea of people who were here to try and get lucky without getting caught doing their sins.

  “This doesn’t help find him now,” Ben pointed out nervously.

  “Showing him I’m looking for him will encourage him to reach out again,” Sophie said.

  “And possibly get killed,” James warned.

  “We’ll have to take the chance,” Sophie said. She’d already left Eddie once. She couldn’t afford to do it again.

  “Stop making a list,” Ben ordered Tina, making them all freeze at his sudden outburst.

  “Why?” Sophie demanded.

  “It won’t take a list,” Ben said quietly.

  James knew exactly where he was going.

  “If you sent him a message the same way, we would get to him faster,” James said slowly.

  “We’d have to move immediately,” Tina warned. “And we don’t know where to head to.”

  “I hear Utah has some amazing skiing this time of the year,” Ben shrugged.

  “We just got here!” Tina sighed dramatically.

  “I thought you said we were coming back,” Sophie laughed.

  “Yeah, but it’s not like we can go plan a bachelorette party right now,” Tina pouted.

  Ben looked at James, but he just looked at the floor and blushed. Sophie tried to hide her smile but failed miserably.

  “We’ll make the time for it, if the time is needed,” Sophie replied winking to Tina.

  “Deal!” Tina yelled clapping her hands as she jumped up and down. Sophie didn’t know what Tina had planned, but she convinced herself she’d be in good hands.

  “Book the tickets, Hun,” Ben told his wife. He shook his head and laughed at Tina’s need to interfere.

  “On it!” Tina called out and went back to the laptop.

  “Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” James asked Sophie softly.

  “It’s overdue,” Sophie whispered back.

  “Then let’s go find him,” James said smiling at her.

  “Done!” Tina called out.

  “Ready?” James asked everyone.

  Everyone nodded eagerly except Sophie who looked lost in her thoughts. She tossed her bag to James.

  “I’ll meet you on the bus,” she said with a Cheshire smile.

  James suddenly felt a little panicked and unsure of what was to come, but he knew he could trust her with his life and for him…that was good enough.

  Sophie waited for everyone to have a safe enough distance ahead of her since she was unsure how close the latest team had been hunting for her. She walked into the bathroom and sighed heavily. So much for keeping her vibrant hair a secret.

  She peeled off her jacket and tied it around her waist. She pulled the scrunchy off her wrist and pulled her hair into a ponytail.

  “Are you sure?” she heard Mario ask her nervously inside her head. Sophie’s smile grew wide and determined.

  “More than ever,” Sophie said as excitement coursed through her veins.

  “Be careful, Kid,” Mario whispered defeated as Sophie turned to walk out the door.

  For the first time in years, she took her time strolling through the hallway. She ran her fingers lightly on the faded wallpapered walls. She smiled and waved at every camera she passed.

  When she reached the craps table, Sophie took the dice from a man’s hand, blew on it, and rolled as she smiled at the people in shock around her before grabbing a drink off the cocktail server’s tray and waltzing past them all. She did absolutely nothing to hide.

  Sophie wiggled her fingers and winked as she said hello to every security camera in her path. When she finally stepped out the front door and onto Freemont Street, she held her hands up high and breathed in the stale air of alcohol, greed, and despair before dropping her arms and turning to face the same camera Eddie had.

  “I’m coming my friend,” Sophie said smiling and showing all the love she could show through her eyes. She turned around and whistled while she walked down the crowded sidewalk without a care in the world about being caught.

  Eddie nearly fell to the floor at her blatant declaration, and he hurried to blink the tears that had filled his eyes. Sophie was coming to save him. After all these years, she was finally coming for him. Panic quickly set in as Eddie realized he was not the only one in the room. He wasn’t the only one watching Sophie pretend to suddenly be free.

  Clarice stood in the corner and held her breath. She clinched her fist tightly as anger quickly warmed her blood.

  “You stupid fool,” she breathed out.

  She didn’t know what Sophie was up to, but it was already too late. The switch flipped inside Clarice, and the deep hysterical laughter that grew louder by the second made everyone shiver that stood before her. Revenge never tasted sweeter inside her mouth.

  “I’m coming for you, too,” Clarice cackled before spinning on her heels and heading to her room to grab her travel bag.

  “Well, well,” the old man sneered from above them all. “Look who’s decided to finally come and play,” he said tilting his head and watching Sophie’s display meant to taunt him. He would do such great things with her finally at his side.

  The old man absentmindedly tapped his ring against his cane, losing sight that the boy before him was no longer broken and had switched to the side he had always been destined to be on. Sophie’s.

  James watched Sophie from afar. He couldn’t help but enjoy her humming all the way to Bakersfield a couple of seats ahead of him on the bus. Sophie was back to being hidden under her hood by the time she arrived on the bus, but whatever she had done, she was definitely proud of herself for it. James smiled and shook his head. God, he loved that girl.

  Sophie occupied herself with the latest book she had found, The Pearl in the Darkness by Santana Saunders. She found the story of the world coming to an end due to giving up religion to be quite relatable. Although James encouraged her to stick to rom coms considering they had enough thrilling suspense going on to last them a lifetime.

  Sacramento was a thirteen hour ride, and Sophie was far too excited to sleep. So, she hummed and read sitting next to an elderly woman who was thankfully keeping to herself.

>   When the bus finally arrived in Sacramento, Sophie stood in the isle to stretch.

  “Need a break?” she heard James whisper from behind her.

  “I wouldn’t mind stretching my legs,” Sophie smiled as she grabbed her bag and headed off the bus.

  They wandered separately around the convenience store close by.

  “Do you have some change?” she heard Tina ask her from behind.

  “Actually, I do,” Sophie smiled and went to reach into her bag for some money. Just as she did, her body began to weaken, and she suddenly felt nauseous.

  “You okay?” Tina asked her in alarm.

  “I’m not sure,” Sophie replied honestly.

  “Let’s get a room and you can lay down,” Tina said, grabbing Sophie by the waist and leading her out immediately.

  James had to fight the urge to rush towards her. There were too many cameras on them, but the sight before him had him sweating. Something wasn’t right.

  Tina carried Sophie to a taxi. “I think we need a room nearby,” she declared loudly for the boys to hear her. “My friend over did it. Do you know what’s by?” The large Hispanic man rattled off a couple of options and Tina made sure to repeat which one they were headed to before helping Sophie into the car.

  “What’s wrong?” Ben asked behind James while he hid is face from view with a magazine. James leaned on a pillar near where the taxi was speeding off.

  “I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good,” James said uneasily as he forced himself to keep staring at the ground as they rode past them. “We need to get there asap,” he said tensely before flagging down his own cab. Ben went in a separate car while keeping a safe distance.

  When they got to the room, James burst through the door first. “What’s wrong?” he asked without stopping as he rushed to the bed Sophie was currently laying on.

  “I honestly don’t know,” Tina said concerned as she kept a cold washcloth on her, now, feverish head. “Something’s going on inside for sure”

  Ben slammed the door closed and opened the medical bag immediately to take her vitals, but there would be nothing they could do for her. Sophie was no longer the one in control…