Killing Time

by John Kerr

  ‘You’re beginning to piss me off Silverman.

  ‘Take a good long look at my face Demarco because it’s the last face you’re ever going to see. You’re a dead man talking and I’m sending you straight to hell.’

  Demarco shuffled his feet slightly as he prepared to make his move. Jake saw it and knew the situation was about to explode.

  ‘I’m going to kill you Silverman and piss on your dead corpse.’

  ‘There’s only one of us getting out of here alive and it certainly isn’t you.’ Jake never took his eyes from Demarco. He stared at his massive frame and knew within the next 5 seconds he would make his move. The anger was all over his face and Jake watched for the slightest movement of Demarco’s right hand. Demarco Salis was indeed a practiced killer and showed no emotion in his eyes as he moved. Jake Silverman was ready. The Colt flicked out at lightning speed. Jake dropped his centre of gravity by four inches and felt the butt of his weapon force itself back into his shoulder three times. Four loud cracks were heard inside the small room. Vicky closed her eyes and let out a scream that was almost as loud as the shots. The three warheads slammed into the centre of Demarco’s face, all three almost passing through the same entry wound. His head exploded as his life expired and he lost his grip on Vicky.

  ‘Arrgh,’ she screamed hysterically, and was only prevented from following Demarco onto the floor by Jake’s arms as he grabbed her. She collapsed completely into his arms and pushed her face deep into his chest.

  ‘It’s over, babe… It’s over… It’s done now… It’s finished,’ Jake said over and over as he held her tightly to him. He felt her shake with fear and pulled her even closer. He could smell her hair and took a large breath as he slowly closed his eyes.

  Demarco Salis lay dead.

  Suddenly the overpowering sense of relief gripped him deep inside. It was a feeling he had never experienced before and never wanted to feel again. Without saying a word they remained locked together for what seemed an eternity. Minutes seamed to pass slowly and then even more came and went. Gradually, Vicky stopped shaking and lifted her head from his chest. She looked deep into his eyes. Neither of them spoke… they didn’t have to. He pulled her head back onto his chest and embraced her even harder…

  Finally, they turned to leave and, as they neared the broken door, Jake looked over Vicky’s shoulder. Without a sound he mouthed the word…‘Two.’

  SIXTY

  They picked their way through the old house and towards the front door. The first light of the morning flooded in through the broken glass panel above the door. They stopped and again faced each other. Jake was totally overwhelmed by her beauty.

  Finally he heard himself speak.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Yes,’ she answered in a very soft voice, and he could see her thinking a thousand thoughts.

  ‘Jake… what is this all about? What are you doing here? Where did you get that gun from, and how did you know I was here?’ she asked.

  ‘It doesn’t matter… none of it matters. All that matters is that you’re safe.’

  ‘Yes, but that in there,’ she pointed to the room they had just left.

  ‘Jake that was a living nightmare. It was like something out of a horror movie. I really can’t believe that I saw you do that.

  Jake… What was it? What was it, Jake?’

  Jake could see the need for answers grow in her eyes, but he closed his and dropped his head. Vicky grabbed him by the side of the head, shook him vigorously and forced his eyes open.

  ‘No, Jake… No, Jake… Not this time… Not any more. You have hidden this from me for far too long. I always knew that there was something… Was this it…Was this what it was Jake?’ Suddenly he felt like a frightened school kid who had just been caught stealing apples from the church orchard and was waiting to be punished. He felt the adrenaline begin to slowly dissipate only to be replaced by the fear that this person standing before him instilled in him. He couldn’t look her in the eye, he was terrified of her. She captivated him so completely that, if she so desired, she could make him do anything she wanted. Jake felt very vulnerable in her presence.

  Vicky lifted his head and said in a very soft voice.

  ‘Jake, you should have told me…You should have told me, Jake.’ He nodded very slowly.

  ‘Yeah, I should have.’ He backed off and slumped hard against the wall, searching for the right thing to say but feeling totally lost. He knew she would never understand. She waited patiently. She began by simply looking at Jake with those deep-brown eyes, trying to draw him back into a conversation he knew he really didn’t want to get into. It seemed an age before her words jolted him back to reality.

  ‘Jake Silverman…I’m waiting,’ she said forcefully.

  ‘Yes… Yes… Yes…’ Jake finally said with complete resignation. His shoulders dropped before he filled his lungs ready to speak. He lifted his eyes and they met hers. Jake began, knowing that she would accept only the whole truth and would listen to nothing less.

  ‘What you witnessed in there was Jake Silverman… It’s what I’ve trained for all my adult life. I work for Military Intelligence… I kill people… People who need to be dealt with because they don’t give a shit about anybody or anything. They are people who want things, but don’t want to work like the rest of us. They prefer to just take. They are not normal criminals - they use guns and bombs, or anything else they can lay their hands on. And they kill…They kill, Vicky, and they don’t ask questions, they just do it. But this country of ours can’t act like them because we are ‘civilised’. The eyes of the whole world are constantly watching us, and we must act accordingly. But it was decided that enough was enough, and we started to fight back - fire with fire. The reason I didn’t tell you was because I knew how much you detested violence. But what I’ve learned, Vicky, is that these people are very good at what they do. They are very professional. I know you’re not going to like this, but the only way that I could do my job and walk away from it time and time again was to be more violent than them. To attack them with such ferocity that they knew their little world was about to come to an end. So how could I possibly tell you? You, who always told me how much you hated violence. How could I tell you that I used to kill people for a living? That I was a government-backed killer who almost no one in the government knew about. Anyway, I had left all that behind. I had moved on and had a new life, and I was happier than I ever thought possible. But now...’ Jake paused, lost, not knowing what to say next.

  ‘Now you’ve gone back… Has this got anything to do with us not being together anymore?’ she asked. Jake felt a large knot grip his stomach. ‘I don’t know…I don’t think so. Listen, Vicky, I was lost. What I had - what we had - had been taken away and I didn’t know what to do. When I was asked to go back it just seemed the best and easiest thing to do. They needed me, Vicky, they really did. You’ll never know how much. It’s that simple, and whether you hate me for doing it or for not telling you, well that’s up to you. But I had to go back… I just had to go back.’

  The talking stopped and Jake could see her desperately trying to make sense of all the information bouncing about inside her head. The seconds ticked past slowly. Suddenly the panic in her eyes startled Jake and she screamed.

  ‘Justin… Justin was taken away to the bank to get money, Jake! They’ve taken him away.’

  ‘It’s okay…Justin is okay, he’s alright.’

  ‘But Jake, how do you know?’ she asked.

  ‘They are dead… They’re all dead, Vicky… I killed all of them. Justin told me where you were. If it wasn’t for him I may never have found you.’ Jake pulled her to him and held her tightly. He just didn’t want to ever let go.

  She whispered quietly in his ear,

  ‘Thanks, Jake… Thanks for saving me and for saving Justin.’ Vicky pulled Jake to her and they kissed like they were the only two people left in the world. It was a long, slow, soft, lingering kiss…a kiss that said hello,
but also said goodbye.

  Jake felt it end too soon. She pulled away slowly and he looked into eyes that said everything and nothing.

  ‘Let’s get you out of here,’ Jake finally said, as he pulled the door open. The brightness flooded over them and they stepped into the crisp morning air. Jake had his arm around her and quickly fired his mini flare skyward; Vicky jumped at the noise as it cracked high into the air.

  ‘It’s okay, babe, just letting the guys know everything is secure. They’ll be here soon.’ She snuggled close to Jake, somehow knowing that this would the very last time they would be together. She wanted to remember the feeling always.

  ‘Jake, before they get here I want to tell you something. I want you to believe me when I say this. There is nothing in this world that I would do to hurt you… I’m really, really sorr!…’

  ‘NO!’ Jake threw his hand up to her mouth before she could finish her sentence. ‘NO! Vicky, I don’t want to hear that.’

  ‘What?… You don’t want to hear what?’ she asked, bewildered. Jake shook his head, mouthing the word

  ‘No’, over and over. His head dropped onto his chest once more. Vicky lifted his head one last time and ran her fingers through his hair. Slowly she clasped his face in her hands and kissed him softly on the mouth. Jake almost buckled into a heap; it was the softest kiss.

  ‘You know, Vicky, I can almost accept anything from you…

  I can very nearly accept you not wanting to be with me, even you wanting to be with someone else. It’s very hard, but I can almost accept it. But the one thing that I can never, ever accept, and I never want to hear from you, is that you’re sorry… Don’t ever be sorry for something that you’ve done, and that way we will always be friends.’

  ‘I’d like that, Jake… I’d like that very much,’ she said, and she watched the effect her words had on Jake as his face suddenly brightened.

  ‘Well, if you ever need anything - and I don’t need you to answer this because it’s a statement, not a question - but if you do ever need anything from me, then all you need do is look up there.’ He pointed towards the hills, just as the clouds overhead decided they could hold their contents no longer and the rain began to fall.

  ‘That’s where I’ll be… Up there somewhere in the night and I’ll be watching over you always…You will always be able to find me, no matter what.’ They embraced. Knowing it to be for the very last time, Jake gathered her to him like never before.

  EPILOGUE

  The sound of the vehicles made Jake turn his head; three off-road vehicles and one police car slid to a halt at the bottom of the overgrown garden. The team vehicles were emptied by the time the police officers’ boots squelched into the mud by the broken gate. The guys made their way into and around the house as Peter stopped beside Vicky and Jake.

  ‘You two okay?’

  ‘Yeah… It’s done. You guys got through the water okay then?’ asked Jake.

  ‘Eventually, but it wasn’t bloody easy,’ said Peter, as Justin ran up the garden path… Jake stepped back and grabbed his pack from Bob and threw it over his shoulder.

  ‘Where is he?…Where is he?…Is he dead? I need to see the bastard’s dead body,’ Justin shouted, as he ran past everyone and into the house.

  ‘No!…Get him out of there, someone.’ Jake shouted to anyone who was listening. The clear-up guys rushed in after him and reappeared moments later carrying Justin. He almost fell through the door, clutching his mouth, and he threw up all over the step. Peter turned and looked at Jake.

  ‘It’s a little bit messy in there,’ said Jake. Vicky took Justin by the arms and they embraced.

  ‘His head’s not there!.… Vicky… His head’s not there,’ he mumbled like a deranged man.

  ‘Jake blew his fucking head off.’ Jake handed Justin his water bottle.

  ‘Here, mate, get some of this down your neck.’

  ‘You’ve taken his head completely off his body, Jake,’ said Justin, almost whispering.

  ‘Yeah… I ruined his day, that’s for sure,’ Jake answered, as he turned back to Peter.

  ‘Right, boss. I can leave the rest of this to the lads. I think it’s probably time I wasn’t here.’ He looked skyward and took a deep breath.

  ‘Smell it - this rain is on for the day and I’m going to get rather wet,’ Jake said to no one in particular.

  ‘But at least the skin is waterproof,’ answered Vicky quietly under her breath. Jake turned and their eyes met. She gave him the faintest of smiles… A smile that said ‘When it was good it was the very best, and we were untouchable.’

  Jake was suddenly overcome with the desire not to be there… He had to leave this place and it had to be now. He started to get himself in order. Automatically, he felt in all his pockets to make sure he had dropped nothing. Deep inside his breast pocket he felt his lucky silver heart and suddenly it just didn’t feel like his any more… He took a last lingering look at the small talisman attached to his compass. It had kept him safe out there in the dark and in all kinds of bad weather. Slowly Jake drifted over to Justin and Vicky. He removed the heart from the compass. Justin, handed back the water bottle.

  ‘Thanks,’ Jake said, putting it back in his belt kit as he gathered his thoughts.

  ‘Justin, let me see your hands, mate,’ Jake said, and Justin, with a slightly bewildered look, slowly lifted both hands out.

  ‘Okay, mate, I don’t know if you can see it or not, but in the centre of your hands, if you look closely enough, you will see what looks like a heart. If you watch it long enough, and keep very quiet and very still, you will see that it beats very slowly and very precisely… Now that belongs to a very dear and special friend of mine. What I want you to do is make sure that you take great care of it and look after it… Now don’t you hurt it or damage it, and most definitely don’t break it. If you can do that for me, Justin mate, then you and I will always be on the same side…okay?’ Jake, without waiting for a reply dropped the small silver heart into Justin’s cupped hands and turned to Vicky. He placed his hand on her cheek.

  ‘You,’ he said.

  ‘You just stay the very best there is, and you better be the happiest bloody teddy bear at the picnic.’ He turned his back and walked slowly down the garden path as the rain started to fall harder. Justin and Vicky followed till they reached Peter and Bob. They all watched as Jake crossed the road and jumped the boundary wall opposite the house. The ground before him lifted sharply. Two and a half thousand feet above was the summit of Tirry Pike, which now became his next target. Jake opened his legs and his pace drove him further and further upwards. They all watched the figure of Jake Silverman grow smaller and smaller in the distance as the rain fell. No one said a word as Jake Silverman moved ever further away…

  Finally, the silence was broken.

  ‘Do you think he’ll ever come back?’ asked Justin.

  Vicky dropped her head onto his shoulder. No one could see her tears as they mixed with the rain. The last words belonged to Victoria.

  ‘Come back………..

  ‘He won’t even look back……….!’

  THE END

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