by Hart, Eve R.
Then she attempted to help me up. I did most of the work myself because I didn’t want to break her.
Inside her condo, she led me to a bedroom in the back. She closed me in and told me she’d come and get me when she was able. As she shuffled off, she mumbled something about cleaning up the blood I’d left behind really quickly.
I had no idea if I was safe or not. However, it didn’t really seem to matter because I could no longer hold it together. My eyes closed as my head seemed to submerge itself underwater.
Her face was the last thing that flashed in my mind.
Jessica.
I had no doubt that it was her.
And there was something in her that recognized me too. At least I was pretty sure about that. I mean, the shock on her face could have been because I’d just shot the man right in front of her. I wondered if I’d ever find out.
I woke up with a groan. Someone was touching me. That couldn’t have been good. From the softness still under me, I knew I wasn’t in an ambulance or hospital bed. My best guess was that I hadn’t been moved from the old woman’s house or even the bedroom she’d shut me up in.
“Grams,” a voice that my brain didn’t reorganize said with a hint of irritation. “I’m a vet. I can’t do this.”
“Just sew him up. Get him to stop bleeding everywhere.” That voice I did remember.
The grandson, so I assumed, let out a heavy breath. He poked me some more, then he was feeling me up.
“Not injured there,” I said as my eyes shot open.
His face instantly flushed red.
“There’s blood everywhere, I was just trying to make sure there isn’t something I’m missing,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’ve never done this sort of thing on a person before.”
“You have supplies?” I asked and he nodded to a bag sitting beside me on the bed. “Clean it out like you would with a dog or whatever. Then sew it up the same. That’s all I need.”
“Okay, but I could get in big trouble for doing this.”
“Pretty sure he’s not going to say anything,” the old woman chimed in.
I gave him a look letting him know that she was spot on with that statement.
With an unhappy look, he got to work. I tried to keep my cringe face to a minimum but that shit fucking hurt. And since he was nervous, his hands weren’t the steadiest.
“What happened?” I asked the old woman.
“First, I’d like to know your name. I’m tired of calling you Balcony Boy.”
“Forgive my manners, it seems I’ve forgotten them with all the pain,” I said with as much of a smile as I could muster up. “I’m Silas. Thank you for everything.”
“You can call me Grace and this is my grandson, Harry.”
I studied Harry. He was deeply concentrating on cleaning me up. My guess would have been he was younger than me by maybe ten years.
“The police came by since I was the one that called,” Grace said capturing my attention once again. I wanted to know what she’d told them but I had a feeling I shouldn’t interrupt her. “They asked me if I knew anything. I told them I heard a bunch of crashing and gunshots coming from upstairs. Then they asked me if I saw anyone. So, I told them that I saw that man go flying beyond my balcony. That was all.”
“You didn’t tell them about me?” I asked needing her to really spell it out. I knew I couldn’t hide the suspicion from my face.
“You know, my memories not as good as it once was. There’s no telling when I might recall something I forgot about.” Her eyes pinned me with a twinkle.
“Okay, I get it. But why?”
“I need to know what happened,” she said like it was something that was easily explained.
“What did the cops tell you?” I asked.
“That they got three dead bodies upstairs and one on the street below. And they took the woman from up there out of here in cuffs.”
I attempted to sit up at that.
“Don’t move,” Harry said sharply.
“I have to get to her,” I said as I tried to push him away. But I was weak and though he wasn’t that built, he managed to hold me down.
“I don’t think you’re in any condition to go anywhere. Not to mention, it’s not all that wise to walk into a police station looking like you do.”
Just because she had a point didn’t mean I was happy about it.
“What was she doing there?” I asked more so to myself.
“Jessica is a wonderful woman. I’ve often asked that question myself.” Grace shook her head as if she couldn’t comprehend the answer.
“I’m going to guess that you have somewhat of a clue about your upstairs neighbor.”
“I do,” she said and there was a world of knowledge in her eyes. “I’ve lived here a long time. I know this city like the back of my hand. He is a bad man with a charming face. It doesn’t get more dangerous than that.”
Before she realized that I wasn’t talking about what happened when I was up there, I started shooting off questions.
Grace told me that Jessica moved in about five months ago. She went on about how much a delight Jessica was and I almost felt weird learning about her through this woman. For a second I was angry because I should have already known all this stuff, and perhaps I did. The picture she painted wasn’t much different from the little girl I’d known. She sounded as if she was tough, but still sweet.
“Now, tell me why you came here,” she demanded clearly wise to my stalling tactics.
“That is something I can’t discuss, I’m sorry. It’s safer for you if I don’t.” It was only partially a lie. I mean, I didn’t usually go around telling people what I did for a living. And I was still unsure of what she was going to do with me, so there was that.
“I’m going to assume you are responsible for the mess up there. But what I can’t figure out is why and how you know Jessica.”
“I never said I knew—”
“You didn’t have to. It’s written all over your face. But what I can also see is that you didn’t expect her to be there.” Grace paused and pinned me with her eyes. I could see her trying to work it all out in her head. “So you were there for another reason other than to save her. Am I right?”
“Yes,” I answered shortly.
“Okay,” Harry said cutting in. “I’m done and it seems like the perfect time to leave. I want nothing to do with any of this.”
He looked at me and I could tell he was a mix of mad and scared.
“I did the best I could but I recommend going to a hospital. Though, I’m assuming that won’t happen. Whatever you choose, we never met.” He stood as he finished his words.
“Thank you, Harry,” Grace said as he placed a kiss on her cheek.
Then he was gone.
“Rest. If I hear anything new, I’ll let you know.”
“I can’t do that,” I told her.
“I promise to warn you before I call the police on you. How does that sound?”
“Fair enough,” I breathed out with a sigh. It wasn’t like I had much of a choice. I’d be lucky if I made it out to the street before collapsing. Plus, I had a good idea that there were still cops around. I didn’t know how long I’d been out, but I imagined they hadn’t finished processing the crime scene yet. There was quite a lot.
One huge fucking mess.
That was what this had turned into.
But I found her.
The whole thing had been unexpected and strange.
As much as I wanted to downplay the feelings that shot through me the moment she looked into my eyes, I realized that I couldn’t. And it certainly wasn’t anything that I felt when she’d been nine. I didn’t know what I expected when I found her. I didn’t see her as a woman in my mind. Not even after I’d seen that picture. But the moment it all became real right in front of me, it was like it slapped me in the face. She was a grown woman now. She was twenty years older and it was almost like my brain couldn’t even put the two togeth
er. Like the nine-year-old girl I’d lost wasn’t the same as the twenty-nine-year-old one I’d found.
Fuck, my body hurt.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this bad off. I never got rattled on a job. I was fucking good and never got taken off-guard. I suppose that the situation wasn’t really a normal one though.
Actually, nothing like this had ever happened to me before. Not even fucking close.
I fumbled in my pockets searching for my phone. It’d be a miracle if the thing still worked after that beating I took. The screen was cracked to hell but it still lit up. The combination of my blurred vision and the spiderweb lines made it hard to see what was going on. I tapped my messages. I instantly saw that I had a few from Hunt but I couldn’t really read anything.
Oh, now he was trying to get a hold of me. A little fucking late. I was ready to call him back and tell him that I beat him to it.
“It looks like I’m an even better tracker than you are,” I said as soon as I heard him pick up.
“I didn’t know you had a job,” he said. The speaker on my phone was fucked up and his words seemed to echo and crackle.
“I take it you’re here, then?”
“I followed her to the police station. I’ve been trying to get up with you for hours.”
“She’s still there?” I asked with anger laced in my tone.
“As far as I can tell, yeah. What the hell happened? When I saw you go over that railing, I was sure you were a goner.”
“Don’t even ask. Shit went sideways. I didn’t know she was there. Well, I didn’t know the woman was her until I got up close.”
“Not like you to get in that kind of trouble,” he said and I could have sworn he sounded like he was disappointed in me.
“Yeah, it turned out to be more than I bargained for.” Or something like that.
“You fucked up,” he said pointedly.
“I saved her, didn’t I? Target is down. That’s all that matters.” Even as I said those words I knew it was bullshit.
“So, how bad is it?”
“What, are we friends now? Watch yourself, Huntsmen, it almost sounded like you were concerned there for a second.” I tried to laugh but I just ended up coughing, which led to me moaning in pain. I knew he hated it when I used his last name. Not many people knew it, but right now it was perfect for that reason. It showed we did actually have a kind of closeness that he didn’t have with many other people.
“I am,” he said but it didn’t sound sweet or friendly. “You’re twenty percent of my business. If you die, I’ll have less to do. And you know how I get when I’m bored.”
“Oh, yeah, I do. Hey, do you remember that time down in—”
“Nope,” he said cutting me off. I huffed out a laugh trying to smother it as much as possible.
“You must be getting old, you use to remember them all.”
“Think you hit your head too hard and now you’re making stuff up.” Oh, he knew damn well that I wasn’t. “So what are you going to do now?”
I let out a long, controlled breath. What the hell was I going to do now? I couldn’t exactly move so great at the moment. Not to mention that my damn DNA was all over that crime scene. A crime scene that was already being processed. Yeah, it was too late to call Mr. Clean in. I’d have to work it from another angle, or pray that I never got caught for anything. I didn’t have a record and nothing to link the DNA they find to an actual person. I didn’t like that it would stay in the system just waiting for a match, but I wasn’t all that sure how to fix that.
“Give up the jobs and go live in the cabin,” I said but I was only half-joking. Really, it was the smartest idea. Live as closed off as possible and never put myself out there to get noticed for anything.
“We need to get you somewhere safe.”
“Yeah, I don’t think this old lady is going to let me leave. I mean, she was nice enough to pull me inside her place when she saw me crash onto her balcony. And she even called her veterinarian grandson to come and patch me up. But I’m not sure if she is going to turn me in or not. I don’t think she’s made up her mind yet.”
“I’m calling Nadya,” he said and I knew he was about to hang up and do just that.
“No!” I yelled trying to catch him.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to argue. And it’s not like you have that many friends. I’d come get you, but I figured you wouldn’t want me to slack off on the job.”
“Yeah, don’t fucking leave there. I need to know when they release her.” If they release her. I knew it looked real bad her being the only one in that room still breathing. But there was no way they could think she did all that. Then again, sometimes I knew the justice system was fucked up. “Just call me if something changes. I’m not asking here.”
He grunted, then hung up. I took it as he heard me loud and damn clear.
I couldn’t shake off the dizziness any longer. As much as I didn’t want to close my eyes, it seemed like my body didn’t give me a choice.
Interview
Part 6
“Miss Fowler, let me tell you how I see it. You come home. For whatever reason, Mr. Ramos gets angry and takes it out on you. But I don’t think it was just the five of you in the apartment. And I’m having a hard time believing that you didn’t see whoever it was.”
“I can’t tell you what I don’t know. I passed out when he hit me. I woke up scared, saw that he was dead, and I feared for my life, so I grabbed the gun that was laying on the floor next to me. But everyone was already dead and the cops were coming off of the elevator.”
“So you want me to believe that you saw absolutely nothing?”
-14-
Jessica
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I told the detective with the perfectly cut golden blonde hair. I shrugged and leaned back in the chair. “Check my hands for gunshot residue. You won’t find any. I didn’t shoot him. And I have no clue if there was someone else in the condo or not. I didn’t see anything.”
I was getting tired of this. I’d been here for hours, left to sit in this stupid room for far too long before someone even came in to talk to me. I was no stranger to this type of situation, though I’d tried my hardest to avoid them. It might have been a few years since I was in a room similar to this but I didn’t think I was out of practice.
His nostrils flared and I gave not one fuck if he was getting irritated at me.
“You’re telling me you were right there and you didn’t see anything?” he asked in a gritted tone.
“No,” I answered with a shake of my head. “We were talking and he wasn’t happy. He hit me. I passed out. When I came to, I barely had a moment to take in what was around me before you guys started hounding me.”
“You’re not giving me much to go on.”
“I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m telling you what I know.”
Yes, it was a lie. But I was well practiced at lying and I knew he couldn’t tell anything.
Was I sad that Ray was dead? Hell no. Not after everything I found out. Not after he hit me. I was so close to doing it myself but I never even got the chance. I might have been a little sad about that part. I think I rightfully deserved to get at least one good shot in.
However, it looked like someone took care of that problem for me. And even if I didn’t recognize those eyes, I still wouldn’t have ratted the person out. He’d done me a favor, I didn’t take that lightly.
I had been wishing for a way out and it looked like I got it.
But what the hell?!
Silas.
His face was one of the few that I’d tried for so many years to forget. The only happy time in my childhood. Now all the memories were flooding in and it was threatening to throw me off-balance. Which I couldn’t afford right now. I’d have time later to let the feelings take over.
“Why don’t we take a break? Are you hungry? Want something to drink?” he asked and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was as frustrat
ed as I felt.
“Sure, fine,” I told him as I looked pointedly at the wall beside him and shook my head.
It was clear he wasn’t going to let me go anytime soon. I was so done with this but I knew I just had to sit through the whole thing. I tried to keep my temper in check, but it was hard. I mean, it would be for anyone, I guessed. Question after question and no matter what I said he wasn’t going to believe me. It was his job not to. He had to dig through everything to find the truth and since I was the only one left alive in that condo, I was the one with all the answers. Or that was how he saw it anyway.
Really, he wasn’t wrong. I did have a lot of them, not that I was going to share that with him. I just had to be believable enough and tell the same story over and over again without it sounding rehearsed.
I wondered how long he would leave me in here this time. Hell, I had no clue what time it was. The walls of the small interview room were starting to close in on me. I had no doubt that he was behind the mirrored window watching me. Yeah, I had things to hide, but I wasn’t guilty. Knowing this, I didn’t let my guard down.
But that didn’t stop my mind from drifting.
I knew this wasn’t the time or place, but I was still in shock from seeing Silas. Not only seeing him, but witnessing what he did.
There was something about the way he took care of Ray that led me to think that wasn’t his first time for something like that. It was like Silas was waiting there just to kill him. Like it was his job.
I’d always wondered what happened to him. Though I did try hard not to think about him or Irenna or their mom, there were times I couldn’t help it.
The nine-year-old girl in me cried for joy. From the moment I met them, I’d felt loved. I felt special and accepted just the way I was. It didn’t matter that I had a junkie mom and an abusive father. It only mattered that we all made the most out of the situation we were handed. That was one thing they taught me. And I carried that with me through every shitty situation I landed up in.
Silas had always been smart. I looked up to him back then. He was only sixteen, which was old to me at the time, but he had so much on his shoulders. They were barely scraping by, just like everyone else around. Elaine was a single mom that worked all the time it seemed. I remember the day Silas came back excited that he’d found a part-time job after school. He was so happy that he’d be able to help out. Many nights I saw him through my bedroom window studying late at night after he’d gotten off from his job. He was determined not to let his grades slip. And from what I’d heard, he was good in school. He took it seriously, thinking that he could get a scholarship so he could go to college, and one day, be able to take care of his mom and sister.