by Jerry Moore
Jenny seemed shocked. “Lisa! What are you doing?”
I threw open the bedroom door and ran out of the room, even as I felt Jenny reaching for me. I made it to the back door and rushed out into the night air. It was the stupidest thing I could have done. The only reason I wasn’t instantly gunned down was probably because it was so stupid that no one expected me to run out that door.
I made a bee line for the back fence as I felt a bullet whiz past my neck. I dove over the chain link fence and rolled to my feet. I glance behind me and saw the man they called Flores coming out of the back door. The house and back yard were well lit but the area beyond the back fence went from light to pitch dark in a matter of ten feet. I was trying to escape into the darkness and then maybe I could turn the tables on any of my attackers that were stupid enough to step into the light.
I was almost in total darkness when I heard the gunshot and felt my left shoulder explode in pain. The bullet passed through my shoulder with such force that it spun me completely around and I screamed as I went down. I could barely think through the pain but I knew my attacker would be on me any second. I got to my feet and tried to run toward the cotton field behind the barn. I remembered Allison teaching me to shoot in that field.
Flores must have wanted me alive, at least long enough to question. He certainly could have killed me before I reached the field. I tried to run into the field but my legs gave out and I was getting weaker by the second. I had no doubt I was losing a lot of blood from the bullet wound in my shoulder. I fell and rolled over onto my back, still holding my gun. I could see Flores’ silhouette against the lights that were behind him. He was walking slowly toward me.
I lifted my gun and pointed it in his direction. His body straightened up as if he was daring me to shoot at him. Of course he was. We both knew that I could probably hit him with every bullet in my gun and still not kill him. What did he have to fear? Here was an immortal assassin against a mortal girl who was already injured and probably bleeding to death. What chance did he really think I had?
Well, that bit of arrogance was going to cost him. He should have killed me while I was still an easy victim. I focused and aimed at my target, even though it was hard to make out in the dark. I squeezed the trigger and felt the gun kick in my hand. The bullet passed right past Flores’ left arm and found its true target. The gas tanks next to barn and only a few feet from Flores exploded. I saw the flash and felt the heat wave rush over me. Take that Mr. arrogant.
I heard Flores scream in pain as he was thrown ten feet by the blast and his whole body was on fire. I might have been knocked over as well if I had been standing up. Already laying on the ground had worked to my advantage and I really didn’t suffer anything worse than some singed hair. Not only did I take out my attacker, I took out half the barn and the half that was still standing was on fire. I made it to my knees as I saw someone running my direction and calling my name. It was Jeff with Jenny right on his heels.
He paused to look at Flores as his body was still moving but he badly burned. “Are you okay, babe?”
I winced. “Not exactly. He shot me in the shoulder and I think I’m about to pass out from losing too much blood.”
He went down on one knee and looked at my shoulder. He put his hands on my arm and I saw an explosion of light from his hand and felt a flash of heat run through my body. Suddenly, my shoulder was fine.
He looked at me in the eye. “You better now?”
I smiled. “Yeah I am. I guess the old age excuse of ‘not tonight honey, I have a headache’ isn’t going to fly with your magic hands around.”
He turned to Jenny. “You have handcuffs?”
She reached behind her and took her handcuffs out of their case on her belt. “Here, don’t tell me that guy is still alive.”
Jeff gave her a chuckle. “I told you we’re not so easy to kill.” He handcuffed Flores, who was already starting to show signs of recovering but was still too stunned to resist.
The rest of our group slowly started making their way out to the field. I noticed that everyone was still with us. Although now that my eyes were more adjusted to the light, I could tell that Jeff and Allison had both been shot at some point. There was blood on their clothes but as Jeff said they are hard to kill.
Jenny looked down at me. “As for you young lady, if you ever pull another stunt like that, I’ll shoot you myself.”
I just nodded my head. “Yes, Aunt Jenny, I’m sorry.”
“Well, I think we’re all aware that I’m not really your aunt,” she said.
I stood up and hugged her. “Maybe we’re not related by blood, but you’re Aunt Jenny to me and you always will be.”
Flores rolled onto his back. “Whoa, my whole body hurts. I can’t believe I fell for that whole gas tank thing. The rest of my men?”
Phil knelt down beside him. “They’re all dead, kind of like you would be if I had my way. I never really liked you, not even when you were pretending to be one of the good guys.”
“Are we really going to start this whole good versus evil crap again? Both sides are the same,” Flores said.
Phil just shook his head. “It’s a good thing Jeff owed you a favor or you would already be meeting your maker.”
Jeff looked over at Flores. “By the way, we’re even now. You saved my life once upon a time. Consider that debt paid. The next time we meet, all bets are off.”
I looked at Jeff. “You’re just going to let him go?”
Jeff shook his head. “We’ll leave him chained up when we leave. He’ll eventually figure out how to get loose. By that time, we should be long gone.”
Flores managed to sit up. “Just because I’m curious, did you ever find the evidence they want?”
“Oh yeah, we found it and made copies of it. Either the mob negotiates or it goes viral on the internet,” Jeff said.
Flores did a double take. “You already made copies? Then this mission was a failure before it ever started. My information was that you didn’t have the evidence or at least didn’t know that you had it.”
I looked at Jeff and Flores in disbelief. “How can all of you sit around and discuss this like the weather? This man tried to kill me and he dang near succeeded.”
“It wasn’t personal,” Flores said.
I glared at him. “It felt pretty personal to me. You talk like you and Jeff are friends, but you tried to kill all of us.”
Flores shrugged. “I didn’t know Jeff was involved until it was too late. I was working for the kind of people you don’t cross, even if you are an immortal. I guess it will be time for me to disappear for a decade or two. As for trying to kill everyone, actually I was just trying to keep everyone else busy. You were the only person I was paid to kill. Apparently, my employers felt that eliminating you would stop the threat. Clearly, they were mistaken.”
I was disgusted. “Why would one of the apostles pick someone like you to make into an immortal? You’re not even a nice person.”
Jeff reached out and took my hand. “Roberto used to be a good person. I still hold out hope that he’ll find his way back to being that person.”
Flores sighed. “I wouldn’t hold my breath on that. Me and the man upstairs haven’t been on speaking terms for quite a while now.”
The farm house was a total wreck. The house had been riddled with bullets and there were at least fifteen men lying dead near the house. Jeff sent me and Carl inside to pack everyone’s things while the rest of the group disposed of the bodies. Jeff said they were going to bury them all in a temporary grave. It sounded a little too gruesome of a task for my tastes.
By the time the sun came up, we were ready to leave the farm behind us forever. We left Flores chained up in what was left of the barn. Jeff planned on coming back in a few days to make sure Flores had managed to get free. Since Flores was an immortal, no one was worried about him starving or dying of thirst.
Chapter Twenty
We pulled into the mall parking lot just be
fore ten o’clock in the morning. I knew that within the hour, I would find out whether we were going to be able to walk away without the mob hunting us or whether we would have to live on the run for the foreseeable future. It was time to face the biggest dragon of them all.
I had called the head of the Demarco family, Tony Demarco. He also happened to be the father of my ex-boyfriend, Tommy. So, I knew him but I never thought I would ever be having another conversation with him. I had threatened to upload all the files I had to the internet and tell every news organization I could think of where to find them.
I walked through the mall by myself. Walking slowly, I pretended to window shop on my way to a bench outside the Sears store. That’s where Tony Demarco was supposed to be waiting for me. As I approached him, it looked like he was alone. I knew he never went anywhere alone. Some of his boys would be nearby but out of sight. It looked like I was alone, I was sure they knew I wasn’t. Phil was still in the parking lot with Carl and Jenny. Jeff and Allison were following me at a distance, but would pounce on any threat to my safety.
I sat down on the bench, next to Mr. Demarco. Naturally, he was wearing his trademark three piece, charcoal suit. “Hello, Mr. Demarco.”
He glanced over at me. “You’re looking well, Kathy.”
“My name is Lisa,” I replied.
“Yes, of course it is. So, I assume you’re wearing a wire?” He asked.
“No and what would be the point in doing that anyway? You and I both know the government won’t touch you. If I just wanted evidence against your family, I wouldn’t be here. I already have enough evidence to convict you ten times over.” I handed him one of the thumb drives with copies of all the files on them. “Here is a copy of the files we have in our possession. I get that you are untouchable as far as the government in concerned.”
“Oh really, then how do you explain all the arrest and trials that are about to start which involve members of my alleged crime family?” He asked.
I stared into his eyes. “Look, we both know how this game works. Sure a few prosecutors will be allowed to pursue members of your family as long as they don’t get too close to the top or the truth about what is really going on. After all, you have to make it look good for the other East Coast families. You wouldn’t want them to figure out that you’ve sold out to the government.”
He held a hand up. “Okay, I’m convinced that you actually have the files. What exactly do you want?”
“First of all, Tommy’s trial is coming up. Obviously, I’m not interested in testifying. He has to plead guilty and take whatever prison time is offered. However, there must be prison time for him,” I said.
He gave me an icy stare. “He’s my son, my flesh and blood. I thought you used to love him. Are you such a petty woman to want him to go to prison just because you don’t think he treated you right?”
I stared off into space, I didn’t want to look at him. “Your son is a monster. You may be a big deal in the mob, but you failed as a parent. At least you failed with Tommy. He beat me and then he pimped me out to his friends. However, that’s not the reason he has to go to prison. You took my parents away from me. You murdered them and now I don’t have them. You’re going to lose your son to the prison system or I’ll release the information I have and take my chances.”
His shoulders slumped. “That’s an awfully steep price. But it’s a price I can live with. Maybe prison will teach Tommy some humility. What else do you want?”
“Me and my friends walk away from this without you chasing after us. We live and let live. But if any convenient accidents occur, we will release the information,” I said.
“If you ever release one word, you’ll be hunted down like a dog. You of course, can’t stay here. I can sell everyone else on the idea that you got away but aren’t really a threat to us anymore. I can’t sell that idea if you’re still here in Lubbock and in plain sight,” he said.
I nodded my head. “I know. If we have a deal, I’ll be out of Lubbock before lunch.”
“We have a deal,” were the last words I ever heard him speak.
I simply got up and walked away from him. I walked toward the exit and my new life. I wasn’t Kathy Reynolds anymore. I also couldn’t be Lisa Wilson anymore. Maybe Jeff would let me keep Lisa as a first name. I kind of liked being a Lisa.
Aftermath
One month later
Jenny was looking through the books on the shelf in the library while Allison was helping me into my wedding dress. The three of us were in the tiny library at the Springtown Church of Christ. I still couldn’t believe how much my life had changed or that today was my wedding day.
Jeff and I had moved to Springtown, Texas. Jeff had changed his last name to Sinclair. Springtown was a tiny town about thirty miles from Fort Worth. Jenny had also moved to Springtown, once her resignation from the marshal service had become official. Now, I was her full time job again. Jeff had hired her to keep an eye on me when he wasn’t around. He had taken a job as a police officer in Springtown.
Phil, Allison, and Carl had all moved to Fort Worth but Phil spent a lot of time in Springtown with Jenny. They seemed to have a budding romance and I wondered how long it would be before they started hooking up. Allison and Carl were busy making wedding plans of their own. I still didn’t see what she sees in him.
Jenny turned her attention away from the books and back to me. “It’s almost time, are you guys just about ready?”
I looked at myself in the mirror, still not sure that the flowing white dress was really appropriate for me. “Yes, I think so.”
Allison smiled. “You look beautiful. Jeff’s a lucky man.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m the lucky one. I’m about to marry a wonderful man and I have the two best friends in the world. I love you guys. Thanks for everything.”
Jenny took me by the hand. “It’s time to go. C’mon let’s go change your name again. Do you think it would be too much trouble to keep your new name for more than a couple of weeks?”
I laughed. “This time I want to change it. Goodbye Lisa Simpson, hello Lisa Sinclair.”
Phil met us at the back of the church auditorium. “You know, I’ve never gotten to give the bride away before.”
I kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for doing this. You’re the coolest professor ever.”
I stood there with Phil, waiting for the music to start. I could see Jeff standing at the front of the church with his best man, Carl. The music started and I began the slow walk with Phil toward the man I planned on waking up next to for the rest of my life.
The End
2