Whiplash: A Sports Romance

by Tabatha Kiss

  “I could have told him that,” I joke.

  “He’s a stupid dog. What do you expect?”

  I smile and look at my feet. “I’m sorry about bringing you into this, Mrs. Clark. I had no right—”

  “I’m going to stop you there, kid,” she says, pushing herself off the chair. “I don’t need an apology from you, so save it.” She points a stern finger at me. “You take that energy and you put it to good use out there. Those girls are counting on you.”

  “Thank you. For everything.”

  “You’re welcome.” She pauses, smiling up at me with wrinkled eyes. “And besides… it’s about time this old bird saw a little action.”

  I laugh. “You should get downstairs.”

  “On my way. Come on, Sammy.”

  “And don’t come out,” I add. “Please.”

  She looks back at me and chuckles. “This ain’t my first rodeo, kid.”

  I furrow my brow. “Remind me later to ask you to tell me that story…” She leads Sammy into the back of the house. I wait until I hear her feet on the stairs, echoing down into the cellar below.

  “Fox!” Darla calls. “I think they’re here.”

  I go outside and the helicopter comes into view. “Put your glasses on, Darla,” I tell her. She slides them onto her nose with shaking fingers. “Try to relax.”

  “I’m fine,” she says, her voice quivering. “You know, I just realized… We probably should have agreed on payment first.”

  I smirk. “You’ll be generously compensated for your time, Darla.”

  “Good.” She inhales deep and shakes out her arms as the helicopter lands in the field.

  “Come on.” I step off the porch and Darla follows closely.

  The helicopter door slides open and Mercer steps outside. I stop in the center of the driveway and stand over the area where the bottle was. It should give Dani the best shot.

  An agent steps out, his face concealed by a mask and turns back in to grab my mother’s arm. Her hands are tied behind her back and she nearly stumbles to her knees as he pulls from the helicopter. Bennett follows behind her, his own hands tied. A fresh bruise hovers over his eye. I guess he got mouthy.

  Mercer stops several feet away and crosses his arms over his chest. “So, this is… nice,” he mutters, glancing around the farm. “Not my cup of tea but it suits you.”

  I look behind him at my parents. My mother makes eye contact with me, her gaze full of love and relief with a justifiable bit of fear mixed in. Bennett looks more pissed off than I’ve ever seen him, even more so than the night I kissed his daughter under his own roof. Not only did I kidnap his daughter, I chopped her precious, trademark hair off.

  My eyes float to the helicopter again. “Just one other agent, Mercer?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “It’s a simple trade. Never take more men than you need. You know our ways, Fox.”

  I nod. Mercer has a gun strapped to his hip. The other guy has one trained on my mother.

  Something isn’t right here. I have every single one of Snake Eyes’ secrets in my damn pocket. One wrong move out here and their entire organization is revealed… and they only send two guns?

  “I’ve taken out four of your squad, Mercer,” I say. “They didn’t send any replacements?”

  “Fox…” he drones with impatience. “You’re stalling. Let’s just get this over with.” His fingers tap against his bicep, an obvious tell.

  “You’re off the books, aren’t you?” His brow twitches. “The boss would have sent more than this—”

  “Fox—”

  “This is personal, isn’t it, Mercer?”

  “You made a fool out of my squad, Fox,” he seethes. “I trained you. I turned you into the man you are today and how do you repay me?”

  “I guess the boss isn’t as heartbroken as you are,” I note.

  “The boss told me to put a bullet between your goddamn eyes.”

  “But quietly, am I right?” I ask. “I assume executing a presidential candidate and cutting up a movie star on live television wasn’t what she had in mind.” Mercer flexes his jaw in anger. “I’m willing to bet you are in far more hot water with her than I am right now.”

  Mercer raises his gun to my face. “Make the damn trade,” he growls, “and get on the fucking chopper with the file.”

  Now, Dani.

  I wait for the bang of a bullet.

  The masked man pushes my mother forward and Bennett moves in closer. His eyes fall on Darla’s face and he furrows his brow in confusion.

  “That’s not my daughter.”

  Fucking idiot.

  “It’s just the hair, Bennett…” I mutter at him with purpose. Darla slinks a little farther behind my shoulder.

  Take the shot, Dani.

  Mercer takes a step closer to her and squints. “What’s that now?”

  “That’s not my daughter,” Bennett repeats.

  I stare him down. “Yes, it is.” My eyes flick towards the barn.

  He nods at her face. “I don’t know who this impostor is but she’s not my daughter! My Roxie isn’t nearly as… generic.”

  “Generic?!” Darla spits. I deflate as Mercer reaches out and snatches the sunglasses off her face. “Hey—!”

  I glare at Darla and she winces apologetically.

  Mercer’s lips curl but he’s far from amused. “Where’s the girl, Fox?”

  Bennett bares his teeth. “Where’s my daughter, you son-of-a-bitch?!”

  Now would be great, Dani…

  Mercer shifts his pistol towards Darla.

  I grab her wrist and reach for the revolver in my belt while pulling her behind me. “Put it down, Mercer. You’re outgunned here.”

  “Fooooox!”

  Dani’s scream echoes through the field.

  I turn to the barn, feeling a shot of adrenaline charge through my heart.

  Mercer chuckles. “Sounds like my squad is a little bigger than you thought.”

  Chapter 20

  Dani

  You can only see one target at a time through a scope.

  I had him in my sights. I had Mercer’s ugly mug right between the crosshairs. My finger was on the trigger. I just had to wait for the right moment to take the shot.

  I missed him sneaking in behind me.

  His fingers squeeze around my throat.

  “Foooox!” I choke as I dig my nails into his hands. I break skin and he growls in anger but his grip doesn’t cease. I kick my legs up to strike but I can’t reach him. He leans forward to dodge my knees, bringing his masked face closer to mine.

  I reach out and dig my nails into his face, slicing down across his eye.

  He shrieks. As he releases me and falls backward, I keep my grip on his thick, black mask. It pulls off his face and my heart sinks.

  “Smith?!”

  No wonder he was a horrible bodyguard.

  He charges forward and kicks me in the stomach. I double over as the wind hurls out of my lungs.

  Smith steps forward and bends over me. “I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I heard your damn voice.” He purses his lips and spits at me. I heave in a breath, barely able to hold it in, as he reaches down and snatches the rifle off the floor. “Get the fuck up,” he growls.

  I roll onto my knees and take a clear breath. My eyes drip with tears. I look out the window and my vision blurs.

  Smith lays the rifle’s barrel against my cheek. “I said, get up.”

  I hold up my hands and stand slowly. We climb down the ladder and walk out into the field together. He keeps the weapon trained on me from several feet behind.

  “You’re in Snake Eyes?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder.

  “Sure,” he mumbles.

  I think it through. Snake Eyes murders Senator Lamb and attacks me to bring Fox out of hiding. They need to keep an eye on me to find Fox. What better way to do that than to plant someone on the inside?

  My skin crawls. He was alone in my apartment with me. “Yo
u let Mercer into my apartment, didn’t you?”

  “Just keep walking.”

  “You faked your attack—”

  “Shut up!” He slams the butt of the rifle against the back of my neck, sending me down to my knees. I wince in pain as he grips my arm and pulls me back up.

  I start walking faster, feeling the hard barrel against my back. We reach the driveway and I see them much clearer now. Mercer has them all on their knees, Fox included.

  Fox meets my eyes and they twitch when they fall on Smith. He pieces it together himself and anger spreads across his face as Smith kicks me to my knees in front of him.

  “Let them go, Mercer,” he says. “You have me and the drive. Let’s do the trade and leave.”

  “I think we’re way passed that possibility, Fox,” he replies. “Although, it’s cute you suspected this would end that way at all. What part of secret underground organization don’t you understand?”

  “Let them go—”

  “They know too much. You know the rules.” Mercer’s lips twitch. “You’ve done it before, after all.”

  Fear plagues Fox’s eyes. “Mercer…”

  “Let’s take them inside,” Mercer says. “I don’t feel like dragging bodies around today.”

  “Fox—” I whimper as Smith grabs my arm and pulls me back up again.

  “I have to hand it to you, Fox,” Mercer says. “They do look awfully alike. Well done.” Fox says nothing as he rises to his feet. “I’m excited now. I get to make you watch her die twice.”

  Fox closes his eyes and walks beside me towards the house with his hands behind his head.

  “I’m sorry, Fox,” I whisper.

  “This isn’t your fault, Dani.”

  We walk up the porch stairs and Smith holds the door open for us. The other masked man nudges us forward with his gun.

  I look over my shoulder. Darla’s behind me with her head down. Tears of panic fall from her eyes. Cora also weeps quietly while my father seethes with anger.

  Everyone in the world I care about is right here, following me to our deaths.

  “On your knees,” Smith says.

  We line up in the living room and Mercer gestures us down to the floor.

  “Which one will it be first, Fox?” he asks, licking his lips. He points the gun at me. “The real one? Or the plastic one?” He shifts the barrel towards Darla but she’s in too much shock to react.

  Fox doesn’t answer. His eyes shift behind Mercer and the others, following the silent movement coming from the kitchen.

  Mrs. Clark sneaks in, her feet shifting ever-so-lightly on the carpet beneath her. She raises her shotgun and points it at Smith.

  “Me,” Fox says. “Me first.”

  “Fine.” Mercer points his gun and lays it against Fox’s head.

  Mrs. Clark pulls the trigger and a spray of bullets drop Smith to the floor in a blood-red heap.

  Mercer flinches in surprise, his eyes growing wide. Fox snatches his wrist and twists his arm to make him drop the gun. Mercer’s finger slides across the trigger, firing a bullet right passed Fox’s ear before it slips from his hand and clatters to the floor.

  My father lets out a roar and rushes forward to slam against the masked man before he can spin back around. They tumble to the floor but he can’t do much with his hands tied behind his back.

  “Dad!” I scream. I grab Mercer’s gun off the floor, fueled by adrenaline, and point it across the room. My nerves lock with my finger on the trigger but I don’t dare pull it with my father so close to the target.

  Mercer lashes out and punches Fox, knocking him against me. I feel Fox’s expert grip on me as he pushes me away from Mercer. He punches again and lands his knuckles against Fox’s jawline.

  Mrs. Clark pumps her shotgun and points it at the man on the floor. “Don’t move,” she warns him.

  He reaches out to take her gun from her but Sammy leaps into the room. He clamps his teeth around his neck and I turn away as his screams pierce my ears.

  I shift my focus back to Fox. He and Mercer trade blows, each one so evenly matched I can’t tell who’s winning. They spin and bash and dodge and kick. I can’t keep my gun on Mercer long enough to fire a clean shot—

  Mercer lunges for me and wraps his hand around my neck. He takes complete control of me and forces the gun next to my head with my own finger on the trigger.

  “Dani—!” Fox freezes, his chest heaving for breath. “Mercer, don’t—”

  He pulls me backward with him, passed the others and my father, and drags me outside to the porch.

  Fox bends over and grabs the rifle from Smith’s dead hands. “You’ve got nowhere to go, Mercer,” he says, following us outside. “Let her go.”

  Mercer doesn’t stop. He digs the gun into my temple and shifts me even closer to him while leading me farther down the driveway. “Go ahead, Fox,” he chuckles. “You think you have a clear shot?”

  Fox raises the rifle and stares down the sights. “At this range, I don’t need one.”

  Mercer laughs. “I doubt I’ll go down before getting off just one shot at her. You can spend the next few hours separating chunks of our brains.”

  “Fox—” I cry.

  “It’s okay, Dani.” He grabs the bolt and pulls it back to reload.

  “Come on, Fox!” Mercer growls passed my ear. “Take the shot. I dare you! You can end this now. Just shoot her through the heart and you’ll hit me, too!”

  Fox blinks with hesitation.

  I quiver with fear as his eyes fall on mine. “Fox…”

  He exhales slowly. “Dani… close your eyes.”

  Mercer’s arms go tense around me. “You shoot me and the boss will come after you, Fox! She’ll come after everyone you’ve ever cared for!”

  “No,” Fox says. He lays his finger over the trigger. “I’m pretty sure I’m doing her a favor.”

  I squeeze my eyes closed and the shot rings out.

  The bullet strikes me first, sending both of us back and to the ground. Pain rips me apart from the inside. I open my mouth to scream but no sound comes out. My ears ring. I see nothing but red…

  Until it all fades to black.

  Chapter 21

  Fox

  All I ever wanted to do was protect her.

  In the end, I almost killed her.

  The doctor says she’ll be fine. Mrs. Clark’s skills are quite possibly the only thing about her that hasn’t aged. Her methods are a bit old-fashioned but there’s a reason why a hot iron is a staple for cauterizing wounds.

  Bennett drove us into the city, shouting loudly as he often does. I sat in the backseat with one finger on her pulse, wondering if she was going to die in my arms. She did the same for me, I guess.

  I look at my hands, still stained red with her blood. No one has said a word to me since I sat down in this chair next to her bed. I think the nurses are scared of me but that’s okay. Maybe they should be. I’m the one that put Roxie Roberts in the hospital.

  I knew what I was doing. Mercer never expected me to take the shot and I doubt he considered their height differences when he dared me to do it. Dani’s shoulder lined up perfectly with his heart. Guess which one I let bleed out in Mrs. Clark’s driveway.

  “Fox?”

  I pull my eyes away from Dani to see my mother standing above me with a vending machine cup in her hands. “Hey, Mom.”

  She offers me the cup and I take it from her. Her eyes graze my hands for a moment. It takes everything in her to keep her from flinching. She sits down in the chair next to mine and her hands fidget in her lap. “I know this is probably a weird time to say this but… it’s really nice to see you again, Fox.”

  I chuckle slightly. “I’m sorry you had to think I was gone for so long.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I never wanted to put you through that…” I bring the cup to my nose and breathe in the warm fumes. Hot chocolate. She always used to bring me this after a bad day. Some things never change.

>   “I feel like I knew,” she says.

  “What?”

  “I knew my son was still alive.”

  I look at her and she smiles at me. “Yeah?”

  She shrugs. “You’re my little boy, Fox. Whatever you’ve done— whatever you’ve had to do— it doesn’t matter to me. I’m still going to love you.”

  “Don’t be too sure about that, Mom,” I mutter.

  She stands up and leans over to kiss my cheek. “Try me.” I smile. “If you must leave again, check-in every so often. For me.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  She wanders from the room and I take a slow sip from my cup before setting it down. I stand up and move over to the bed.

  Dani.

  You’re free now. Free to go home and forget. Free to walk around in public again without hiding your face. Free to move on from all of this.

  From me.

  I lean down and lay my forehead against hers. I don’t have to worry about waking her. She’s so sedated right now, she won’t wake up for several hours but I shouldn’t wait that long. There’s just one thing I have to do first; something I swore I’d never do to her again.

  “Goodbye, Dani.” I kiss her soft lips. “I love you.”

  I reach into my pocket to feel for the flash drive as I step outside into the hallway.

  “Leaving again, I hope.” Bennett stands near the door with his arms crossed. I don’t blame him for the hostility. He watched me shoot his daughter. He also watched Mrs. Clark and I save her life afterward but this is Bennett, after all.

  “Yeah,” I say.

  “Good riddance to you,” he mutters, passing around me to enter Dani’s room.

  “Bennett.”

  He pauses in the doorway and I hold out my hand. His eyes fall and he stares at it for several moments before giving me a silent handshake.

  I turn around and head for the exit.

  ***

  I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been sitting here. It has to be more than twelve hours.

  At least twelve hours of sitting in this chair with my hands locked in cuffs attached to the metal table in front of me. Seems a little overkill for dealing with a man that turned himself in but I’m not about to voice the complaint. Not that I could since I’ve spent the last three hours staring straight ahead with no one to talk to.