Devil's Pact

by Brook Wilder

  Suddenly, the monitors he was hooked up to began to beep and ring wildly and fear filled Olivia.

  “Nurse! Someone! Help him! He needs help in here!”

  The words were barely out of her mouth before a whole group of people rushed in and she was shooed out of the room. She couldn’t understand everything that they were saying, but it sounded serious and so were their expressions. No one looked at her. No one said a word to her as she stood there, going numb all over again.

  Preston was suddenly by her side, hurrying her away from the room. But Olivia’s eyes were glued on Jonathan. She could just see him through the door and the emergency nurses. Blood was coming out of his mouth with every hacking cough.

  “Fuck!”

  Olivia didn’t register Preston’s sharply uttered curse until he grabbed her and dragged her out of sight behind a corner. Then, she finally saw them.

  Two men stationed in front of the main elevators, wearing nearly identical expressions of arrogance and boredom. Two of Capone’s men.

  Her first reaction, her gut reaction, was to go after them. To hit them and beat them and to hurl the accusations that burned inside her. Had they been the ones that had hurt Jonathan? That had tried to kill her and Preston?

  But she’d barely taken a step before Preston’s strong arms were pulling her back towards him.

  “Not yet, Olivia. There will be more. Too many for us to take on here.”

  Prestons’ words were whispered in her ear and she hated them. She hated them because they were right and logical. But also because they meant she had to stand there and do nothing while those men walked free.

  Olivia couldn’t see Jonathan anymore, blocked as she was by the wall. But she could still hear. She could hear the doctor as he ordered a defibrillator. Wait, didn’t that mean his heart had stopped?

  She listened as the nurses complied and there was an electrical sound followed by a thud that sounded like a body hitting concrete. It made her want to vomit.

  “Still no pulse,” one of the nurses said.

  Or maybe it was a doctor. She didn’t know. All the voices were mixed up and muddled in her head as they tried again and again. But still there was the same report every time. No pulse. No pulse. No heartbeat.

  The next thing they said, though, Olivia heard loud and clear. The thick moment of silence, followed by the pronouncement of time of death.

  She collapsed against Preston’s chest. He held her so tight she couldn’t breathe, and it still wasn’t tight enough.

  “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’m so, so sorry,” Preston whispered against her tear-stained cheek. “But we have to go. We have go, Red. Now.”

  Olivia didn’t know how she got from the fourth floor of the hospital to the passenger seat of her car. She looked over in surprise to see Preston talking to her.

  She couldn’t hear his words for the longest time. They just sounded like ringing in her ears.

  After a moment he fell silent, and they both just sat there as the time passed like the last breath of autumn passing into the chill of winter.

  “They burned your house too,” Olivia said after a moment.

  And then it hit her like a punch to the face.

  “Bowie. Your dog.”

  And for some reason, that just seemed like too much. The last straw. The last ounce of pain that she could take. After everything they had taken, after all the hurt the Devil’s Martyrs had caused, the loss of such an innocent life was too much to bear.

  Olivia felt something snap inside her, and then all she felt was numb.

  Chapter 14

  Preston held his breath as he gunned the car away from the hospital. The large building had disappeared behind the rear-view mirror before he dared a look over at Olivia. She was curled up in the passenger’s seat, and he was sure he’d never seen her look so small, so fragile. So defeated.

  Through everything they had been through, all the crazy shit that had happened, she’d always had that same fire alight inside her, that spark that drove her to keep fighting no matter how dire things may seem.

  He could practically see the flames guttering before his eyes as she stared out of the window, unblinking at the Texas landscape that passed in a blur on either side. His chest ached when he saw the look on her face, as if someone had pressed all the air out of his lungs and he wouldn’t get it back again until that haunted expression was gone from her emerald eyes.

  Preston turned his gaze back to the road in front of him as he drove them towards Charlie’s apartment. He didn’t know where else to go.

  He couldn’t go back to Olivia’s place. They might now where she lived now. They might have her address.

  Can’t go back to my house, he thought wryly. It didn’t exist anymore.

  He tried to block out the image that rose in his mind. His house going up in flames. His dog, Bowie… He shook off the thought, his hands tightening like twin vises on the wheel.

  They were still alive, for the moment at least, and that was all that mattered. If they were lucky, Capone and his gang of goons would think they were dead and gone. If they hadn’t given themselves away at the hospital. If Charlie was alone in his apartment and if he would take them in for a few nights while he figured out what the hell they should do.

  So many ifs. And it wasn’t just his life on the line. Preston snuck another sideways glance at Olivia, but she hadn’t moved. She still sat there in the same spot as if frozen. He had to protect her. He had to keep her safe.

  He knew she blamed herself for what had happened, despite what he’d said to her, but Preston knew it wasn’t her fault. She had just gotten caught in the crossfire of a war that wasn’t hers, in a world that she didn’t belong in.

  No, he knew who was to blame. Capone was at the heart of this whole fucking mess, and Preston swore silently to himself as he drove that he would do whatever he needed to, to make sure the president of the Devil’s Martyrs got exactly what he deserved.

  Preston had to bite back the rage that welled up inside him and he snuck another peek at Olivia. She hadn’t said a word since everything that had happened at the hospital, and he didn’t know what to say either.

  ‘Sorry’ just didn’t seem to be anywhere near enough to make up for the heartbreak that he could see swimming in her gaze.

  So, he just drove. He took a circular route to get to his best friend’s apartment, finally pulling into an overgrown parking lot of the three-story brown brick apartment building. Preston found the darkest corner of the lot and braked the car to a stop before finally speaking.

  “Charlie will let us stay here for a few days. We can lay low and figure out our next move. We’ll be safe here.”

  Preston’s voice sounded oddly loud after the long silence, but Olivia just nodded, still not speaking, as she moved to get out of the car and he hastened to follow.

  Preston grabbed hold of her cold hand in his, trying to keep an eye on every shadow that surrounded them as they made their way to the front of the building.

  He didn’t let go of her as he pressed the button next to Charlie’s name three times in quick succession. He waited, holding his breath, feeling every hair on the back of his neck stand on end from being so exposed.

  He nearly jumped out of his skin when a beep sounded a second before Charlie’s voice.

  “Whoever the hell you are, you better have a damn good reason for waking me up so early.”

  Preston nearly let out a chuckle of relief at hearing his friend’s grumpy voice.

  “It’s me, Charlie. Can you let me up?”

  “Preston? Is that really you?”

  Charlie sounded shocked over the crackling intercom and Preston rolled his eyes.

  “Fuck, yeah, it’s me. And I really don’t like standing out here in the open. Are you going to let us up, or what?”

  “Oh, shit. Yeah. Hang on a sec. I’ll buzz you in right now.”

  Preston threw another paranoid glance behind him as the door latch unlocked and he barre
led inside, bringing a still silent Olivia through with him. He shot her a worried look as he pulled her along behind him up to the second-floor apartment but didn’t speak his misgivings out loud as he stopped in front of a door. It opened before he had even raised his fist to knock on it.

  Charlie’s head popped out from behind, his shaggy hair swaying as he looked up and down the hallway to make sure it was empty before waving them both inside.

  Preston didn’t let out his breath until Charlie closed and locked the door behind them. And, even still, he was on edge. It felt like he was walking on a cliff, and he couldn’t see how far down the bottom was but he knew it was there, just a misstep away.

  “Shit, man. I thought you were dead for sure,” Charlie said after along moment.

  Preston shrugged.

  “I’m hard to kill, I guess.”

  “Jesus, that’s the truth.” Charlie shook his head, sending his shaggy hair flying before giving Preston a guilt-laden look. “Hey, Pres, you have to know that I did everything I could to get you guys out of there. When Capone ordered the trailer lit on fire, I just… I didn’t know what else to do.”

  He gave Olivia a weak smile.

  “But looks like you two made it out just fine, right?”

  His smile faded when Olivia didn’t say anything, and Charlie turned a questioning look towards Preston.

  “Right, Pres? You guys made it just fine.”

  “We’re still alive, if that’s what you mean,” Preston answered, then let out a sigh of a breath. “I know you did everything you could, Charlie. Capone would have killed you on the spot if he thought you were trying to double-cross him.”

  Charlie’s shoulders relaxed in relief, but it was short-lived as Olivia turned on him.

  “What about Johnathan?” she demanded, her green eyes as hard and brittle as glass. “Did you even try and help him?”

  “The lawyer guy?” Charlie said with a cringe, “I didn’t find out about him until after the fact. That was Capone and his little group of thugs. No one else in the gang even knew what they were going to do, I swear it.”

  Olivia’s eyes didn’t soften an ounce at Charlie’s pleading words. Preston opened his mouth to try and break the sudden tension when a sound caught his ear. He turned, tilting his head to try and catch it again. This time, there was no mistaking the muffled cry and a moment later a big, black furry shape launched itself from the apartments single bedroom.

  “Bowie!” The name shot from Preston’s lips in shock as the goofy dog came bounding towards him, stopping to wriggle excitedly around Olivia before flopping to the floor on his back for a belly rub. “How… How did you…”

  “I was able to get him out before Capone burned your place. It was close, but he was a good dog, didn’t make a sound at all as I snuck him out of the back.”

  Charlie shrugged again, this time looking abashed, but Preston was so glad to see his dog alive and well that he didn’t see it. Olivia was staring at the dog in wide-eyed surprise and she even cracked a small, watery smile as the big dog whined and licked her hand until she gave him a scratch behind the ears.

  Preston had to clear his throat before he could talk.

  “Thanks, Charlie. I mean it. Thank you.”

  “Couldn’t let them hurt a poor dog. He didn’t do anything,” Charlie said, still abashed.

  The man was even more embarrassed when Olivia walked towards him and gave him a spine-crushing hug. Charlie’s cheeks were flushed a bright, beet red when Olivia finally let go and went back to kneel beside the excited pup.

  Preston took advantage of Olivia’s distraction to take a few steps closer to Charlie. He didn’t want her to overhear him.

  “Tell me what’s going on, Charlie. What’s Capone’s next move?” Preston asked softly, and Charlie gave him a wary look before answering.

  “You’re not going to like it…”

  Preston interrupted the other man with a sarcastic snort, but Charlie continued after giving him a look.

  “After the fire at the trailer, Capone started to get really paranoid. Even more crazy than normal. He started a rumor that Knox was dead, that you had killed him. He said he wouldn’t rest until their fallen member was avenged.”

  All Preston could do was shake his head. He knew that Capone was losing it, but that was pretty insane, even for him.

  “There have been some other rumors, about going after people close to you. That’s how they found that lawyer guy, Johnathan. And… they found something else.”

  Preston’s stomach sank to the ground at the look in Charlie’s eye.

  “Just tell me. I need to know exactly what that bastard is planning.”

  “Well… there was a rumor that maybe you have someone else, a family member… a daughter.”

  “Fuck.”

  “There’s no proof, Pres,” Charlie hurried to say. He was one of the only other people who even knew he had a daughter, besides Knox. “Capone was rabid for more information, he even put out a reward. Ten thousand for anyone who came forward. No one did. Knox knew that someone on the Grim Riders had found out about her identity. That’s why Knox had killed that informant. He’s been waiting for someone from the Devil’s Martyrs who was going to try and buy the information, but Knox stopped the deal from ever going through.”

  Preston’s mind reeled from everything that Charlie was saying. He kept trying to land on a thought, but they kept sliding away, too slippery to hold on to.

  He took a step back, processing everything. In the end he knew there was only one thing he could do.

  “Knox isn’t dead,” Preston said softly after another long moment. “He escaped into the woods just before Capone and everyone showed up at the trailer. I knew Capone wouldn’t want to leave any witnesses alive and Knox had been compromised.” Preston shook his head as he frowned in thought. “I have to find him. If Knox shows up alive and well, then Capone has no reason to keep going after me or Olivia.”

  Preston knew it was a long shot, but it was the only shot they had at the moment. He clapped Charlie on the shoulder.

  “Thanks for letting me know, and for saving Bowie.” He couldn’t put into words how grateful he was, but he knew his friend understood. “I need a few things. Some water, a bag. Do you still have that extra motorcycle you were fixing up? Did you ever get it running? I don’t know when I’ll be back but, if you could watch Olivia for a few days, I’d appreciate it. I’ll call from the nearest payphone once I get out of town and we can figure out your next move...”

  “Excuse me?” Olivia’s soft, broken voice cut right through his words and Preston turned to her in surprise. It was the first time she’d spoken since he’d dragged her from the hospital.

  “You’ll be safe here, Red,” Preston said.

  But she was already shaking her head.

  “I’ll be safer with you. I’m going with you, Preston.”

  It wasn’t a question. She was just stating the facts, but unfortunately for her, he wasn’t about to change his mind. Not on this.

  “You can’t come with me, Olivia. It’s too dangerous.”

  She let out a harsh, bitter laugh that made him want to cringe.

  “Too dangerous? Too dangerous? Are you kidding me?” She scoffed, shaking her head, “I’m not some child for Charlie to keep an eye on. I don’t need a fucking babysitter, Preston. I need to do something! Johnathan’s dead because of that monster. I’m not just going to sit here and hope that he gets brought to justice! I’m going with you!”

  “No, you’re not! I get it. Believe me, I do. But you’re not going to change my mind.” Preston made his voice firm, biting back his own frustration.

  “Fine, then give me my car keys,” Olivia demanded, holding out one hand. “I’ll go on my own. You can take Charlie’s extra motorcycle. I don’t need you.”

  Those four words cut through him like the sharpest knife and he lashed out, unthinking.

  “You think you don’t need me? You think you’ll last a minute
against Capone and his thugs? Do you have any idea what they would do to you if they got their hands on you? Besides, what do you think you’d be able to do against them anyway, talk them to death?”

  Preston turned to Charlie with a scowl.

  “Give me the keys to your extra bike. I’ll call in a few hours and be back as soon as I find Knox. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”

  Charlie swallowed hard, obviously uncomfortable with the thick tension suddenly filling the small apartment, but he didn’t hesitate to toss Preston the keys to the bike.

  “Just watch your back,” Charlie said softly.