Vanguard Security

by S. J. Bishop

  “Hey, hey, no need to push. I already said I was going to help you guys.”

  “Doesn’t mean you aren’t a criminal. You aren’t getting off the hook completely, you know.”

  Emil groaned. “I should have known.”

  A part of me felt bad for Emil, but I knew that now was not the time for that.

  Together, all five of us piled into the car. Ned and Emil were in the front while I was sandwiched between Franklin and the leader – Cruz, I found out.

  Sitting there, my body quickly filled with nervous energy. I knew this was insane. If I had been smart, I would have taken the escort back to Lisa’s house, but here I was, about to follow a bunch of ex-Navy Seals into the battleground.

  Why couldn’t I just have a normal life for once?

  25

  Ned

  Where are we going?” I barked at Emil.

  “Take a left here.”

  The tires groaned as I took the turn a little too sharply, leaving skid marks in my wake. I knew that things would go much better if I only took a deep breath and calmed down, but I just couldn’t – not with Stacey’s ex-boyfriend sitting right beside me. It made me sick to my stomach. A part of me just wanted to beat him to a pulp – to make him suffer for everything he’d done to her.

  “Alleyway.” Emil pointed. “Should take you right down to the spot. They are taking a boat out of the river,” he explained.

  “Why didn’t you tell us that from the beginning? They could be miles down the Thames at this point!” I growled, starting to lose my patience with this man.

  Even though the alleyway was narrow and the terrain was made of cobblestones, I sped up. I couldn’t let them get away. I just couldn’t. This nightmare ended today.

  Eventually, the alleyway ended in a dock. There was a tiny motorboat on the water, bobbing idly. No one was there. I turned and grabbed Emil by the collar. “I swear to God, if you lied to me, I’m going to make you regret it.”

  Suddenly, however, the boat’s engine came to life. A rugged man with a full beard, dressed in a prison jumper, hopped onto the deck and started to unravel the rope from the beam.

  Oh no, you don’t.

  Without thinking, I flew from the car and drew a gun. It felt heavy and wrong in my hand, but I nonetheless wrapped my finger around the trigger and fired.

  Pop!

  The world stopped for a moment, everything working in slow motion. My shoulder ached with the recoil. I ignored it and blinked, trying to make sense of the scene, trying to get the ringing out of my ears.

  Pop!

  A bullet whistled past my ear, narrowly missing me.

  And then, everything came back to its lightning-fast pace. Leticia was on the boat, firing at will. I rolled onto the deck, avoiding injury. Once I reached Shadow, I grabbed him, holding him against my body like a human shield, my knife against his throat. “Come on, Leticia, shoot.”

  She stared at me, hatred in her eyes, her gun still in hand, trying to point at my head. She considered it, but she eventually put down her weapon.

  Shadow, having received a blow to his abdomen, was in too much pain to put up a fight. I guess his time behind bars had made him soft.

  “What do you want?” Leticia called out.

  “Turn yourself in.”

  “Fat chance,” she screamed. “I’m not going to rot in some prison cell for the rest of my life.”

  “Well, it’s the only choice you have.”

  “No. It’s not.” She smirked, grabbing the gun and pressing it to her temple. “Goodbye, Ned. Too bad we never got the reunion I was hoping for.”

  “No! Don’t!” I yelled, dropping Shadow and running toward her. Before I could get there, Cruz had tackled her to the ground, effortlessly disarming her and throwing a pair of handcuffs around her wrists.

  “Let go of me!” she snarled, fighting back like a wild animal. She managed to headbutt Cruz pretty hard, disorienting him. In a last-ditch effort, she tried to jump off the side of the boat, but Franklin caught her, holding her in an impossibly tight bear hug.

  Her eyes were wide and full of panic. She spotted Emil. “Don’t just stand there! Do something, you idiot!”

  To my surprise, he just shoved his hands into his pockets and said nothing.

  Maybe there was still hope for him after all.

  I walked up to her. “Tell me,” I said. “Why did you do all of this? How do you know who I am?”

  “Don’t act like you don’t know,” she spat out.

  I looked at her, trying to figure out the mystery. I didn’t know this woman.

  “Oh, come on.”

  I tilted my head in confusion.

  “High school,” she finally said, her rage disappearing into depression.

  High school? Was she one of my classmates? I think I would have remembered someone like her.

  “I’ve since dyed my hair.”

  Leticia Black. I repeated her name in my head, and suddenly it hit me. My eyes widened, and I stared at her with a newfound curiosity. No, it couldn’t be. Leticia Black had been in the grade below me. Blonde. Petite. Usually kept to herself. I had been her math tutor, managing to boost her grade from a C- to an A. She had adored me for a while, but I had never paid her much attention. At that age, all I’d really cared about was leveling my MMORPG characters and going on fake quests. Girls weren’t really in my vocabulary.

  “What happened to you?”

  “What happened to me?” She laughed. “Everything.” She shook her head. “But I don’t expect you to care. You didn’t then, and you don’t now. Some of us are just unlucky, I guess. We fall into the wrong crowds because there is no one to pull us back out of the darkness. I guess that’s what happened to me.”

  “But… you were so smart. You were going to go to college.”

  “Sure. I was. Then I discovered a funny white powder. Fucked up my life. Then I was taken by that creep.” She tilted her head toward Shadow. “He was the only one who looked at me like I was a person.”

  “But… you could have asked for help.”

  “Yeah, from who? You? You didn’t give two shits about me,” she growled. “But you know what? I don’t even care. Lock me up. Let me rot. I’d rather do that than spend another fucking minute talking to you.”

  She stepped forward. Franklin followed, towing her toward the car.

  Cruz lingered for a moment before he picked up Shadow, arresting him as well.

  Emil got into the car of his own accord.

  Stacey and I were the only ones left.

  26

  Stacey

  Franklin and Cruz drove away, leaving us on the dock. As soon as they were gone, Ned crumbled to the ground as if his body had just given up on him.

  Slowly, I walked over to him and sat down, wrapping my arm around him, my head on his shoulder. We had both been through so much, and it was hard to accept that it was all over now.

  “Are you okay…?” I finally dared to ask, looking up at his face.

  “I caused this…” he answered, a haunted look in his eyes. “If I had only paid more attention, maybe she wouldn’t have gotten caught up in this mess. I could have saved her.”

  I shook my head. “There was nothing you could have done. Everyone chooses how they live, and the mistakes people make are never your fault.” I took his hand in mine. “But I think this is a good time for us to start fresh. You’ve made your mistakes, and I’ve made mine…”

  Our faces gravitated together as I spoke. His nose touched mine, and our foreheads pressed together. “Stacey…”

  “I just want you to know…” My words felt like rocks lodged in my throat. I wanted to tell him, but I was getting nervous. What if he didn’t feel the same way?

  He took my cheek into his hand. “What is it?”

  “I love you,” I finally whispered.

  His eyes widened for a moment before he broke into a wild grin, his face lighting up with joy. Before I knew what was happening, he pulled me close and k
issed me, letting a fire burn behind his lips that nearly scorched me. I melted into it, feeding off his passion. Soon, we were both lying down on the dock, kissing intensely. After everything we had been through, Ned was my anchor – the only thing keeping me afloat. So I clung to him, never wanting to let go.

  It was only when we were both out of breath that we broke away.

  “To a fresh start?” I asked.

  “To a fresh start,” he nodded, getting to his feet. He offered me a hand, hoisting me up with ease. “And… next time I tell you to stay put, will you please do it?”

  “No promises.” I chuckled.

  “Why do I feel like I’m going to have my hands full with you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “That’s because you are.”

  He shook his head. “I’m starting to think I should have stuck to video games.”

  “Oh, come on, you know you love me…” I prompted, wanting nothing more than to hear him say those words.

  He smiled. “I do.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “More than anything in the world.” With that, he took my hand and laced our fingers together. “We should probably start walking back. You must be dying to see Missy.”

  “She’s in good hands,” I said. “Plus, I’d rather clear my head a little bit more before I get back to my baby.”

  He nodded. “So, what do you want to do?”

  “Can we walk along the river?”

  “Of course.”

  We made it up to the boardwalk, acting like any other couple, but I knew we were so much more. After what we had gone through, our relationship would be stronger than anything else.

  We walked in silence, both of us trying to parse through the events. I couldn’t believe that Emil had come back to help us. I had been so convinced he was a bad guy that it had seemed impossible that he would ever feel regret for what he’d done. Maybe, with a little bit of help, he could still turn out okay. He would definitely need some anger management classes, though, that was for sure.

  “Do you want anything to eat?” Ned asked.

  Now that he mentioned it, I was starving. “Sure.”

  “Cotton candy?”

  “You know me so well,” I said with a smirk.

  He laughed. “It was just a lucky guess. After all, who doesn’t like cotton candy?” We waited in line and soon emerged with two ginormous things of cotton candy.

  “These are huge!” I exclaimed. “I’m never going to finish this.”

  “Don’t worry. Whatever you don’t eat, I’ll gladly consume.” He chuckled.

  “Come on, let’s sit down.”

  Together, we settled on a bench, nibbling on our sweet treat. It felt surreal to be here. Like it was all some sort of dream. I was scared that I would wake up at any moment and Ned would be gone.

  When we were done, we tossed away the paper cones and continued to walk. “You know, this is our first real date,” I said.

  “Hmm, I guess it is.” He frowned. “I’m sorry that it’s not much.”

  I squeezed his hand. “We are both safe and sound. That’s all I could ever ask for.” I kissed his cheek. “And for you to stay by my side forever.”

  He chuckled. “That much I can do.” He stopped in the middle of the boardwalk.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Suddenly, he leaned down and kissed me.

  I was aware of people staring at us, but I didn’t care. All that mattered to me were those sweet, sweet lips. I tangled my fingers in his hair, pulling him closer, savoring every moment because you never know when it might be your last.

  27

  Ned

  After a few months, things were back to normal. I went to work every day, nine to five. I debugged code and sipped on copious amounts of coffee.

  But one thing had changed.

  Now, every time I came home, I had a loving girlfriend who would greet me at the door. We had decided to move in together almost immediately. I couldn’t stand being Stacey’s neighbor. I wanted much more than that.

  So we put a down payment on a house. We were still living out of boxes, but I honestly couldn’t ask for a better life.

  I was happy.

  Today, I came home with a bouquet of flowers. It was our three-month anniversary, and I wanted to make it special. I had already called the babysitter, and she was due to arrive at any minute. For a bit extra, I had convinced her to stay with Missy overnight so that Stacey and I could enjoy some quality time together.

  Even though I could have walked right in, I rang the doorbell.

  Missy screamed as she usually did whenever she heard someone at the door.

  “Shh, it’s just the mailman,” Stacey guessed.

  Soon enough, she opened the door, a look of surprise on her face when she saw me standing there, flowers in hand.

  “Hello, beautiful,” I smiled, kissing the top of her head before giving her the flowers.

  “What’s this?” she asked, looking down at them. Since dating her, I had learned that tulips were her favorite flower and that they were especially hard to find when they were out of season. I’d had to special order these.

  “Our anniversary is today. I thought we could do something special. What do you say?”

  She blushed. “You really didn’t have to…” she whispered, as modest as ever.

  “Of course I did. You’ve done nothing but make my life better.” Finally, I stepped into the house, wrapping my arms around her waist. “You’ve made me into a better man, and I can never thank you enough for that.”

  “You’ve always been a good man,” she said, laying her hands on my chest.

  I grinned. “You think so?”

  “I know so.”

  Just as I reached down to grab her ass, the babysitter pulled up in the driveway. “Ah. Perfect.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “Monica. She’s agreed to take care of Missy for the night.”

  “Oh?” Stacey cocked her head to the side. “The whole night?”

  “The whole night,” I said with a wink. “It’ll just be you and me for once.”

  She giggled. “I wonder what kind of trouble we’ll get ourselves into.”

  “Lots.” I leaned down and stole a few kisses before Monica showed up at the door. She was a college student who babysat in order to afford her textbooks. She was a nice girl.

  “Hey,” she said, standing a bit awkwardly by the doorway, not quite sure what to make of our position. “Should I… um… come back in a bit?”

  “No. No.” I pulled away from Stacey. “Might as well take her now before we get too ahead of ourselves.”

  “Right. Is everything ready?”

  “Just give me a minute,” Stacey said, about to rush into the nursery when I grabbed her by the wrist.

  “Hold on.” I walked over to the couch and pulled out the spare baby bag. “I’ve already prepared everything.”

  Stacey looked at me, her mouth agape. “When did you manage to do that?”

  “Last night. While you were asleep.”

  “I thought you just had the midnight munchies.”

  I chuckled, a smug look on my face. “Anyway, everything should be there. Diapers. Formula. Changes of clothes. There’s also some money in one of the side pockets in case I forgot something. Just use the money to buy it. If anything is left over, it’s yours to keep.”

  Monica took the bag, slinging it over her shoulder. Then she grabbed Missy’s carrier, instantly making baby-faces at the infant, who giggled with glee. “Well, I hope you two have a nice night. When tomorrow morning do you want me to drop her off?”

  “We will give you a call,” I said. “Wouldn’t want you to walk in when we are still, you know.”

  “Right…” She blushed, looking away. “Just call me, then.”

  “Thanks again, Monica.”

  “Not a problem.” She waved as she left the house.

  I waited for her car to pull away before I grabbed Stacey and rammed her into th
e wall.

  She gasped with the suddenness of it, but I just couldn’t help myself. I wanted her. I wanted her bad. My lust had been building throughout the day as my mind had thought about all of the things I could do with her tonight.

  My hips locked with hers as my tongue slithered into her mouth. She kissed me back, just as hungry for me as I was for her.

  Her hands ran up and down my body, tugging on my shirt.

  I pushed against her even harder, letting her feel my hard-on against her thigh.

  She moaned and her head tilted back, exposing her neck.

  I took my chance and leaned down, nibbling on that sweet flesh. Her moans grew louder as I sucked on her a little harder, decorating her neck with love-bites.

  My lust intensified as her smell invaded my senses. God, she smelled divine. My hands dug into her hips right before I lifted her off the ground and into my arms.

  Naturally, her legs wrapped around my waist, her ankles locking behind me.

  I smirked, seeing the desperation in her eyes.

  She wanted me.

  Good.

  Because tonight, she’d get her fill.

  Literally.

  I carried her up the stairs to our bedroom. There, I plopped her onto the bed before pouncing, pinning her into place. “Oh, I’m going to have so much fun with you…” I whispered, my voice soft and seductive. “You’re going to be begging for it by the time I’m done.”

  She bit her lip, her hips thrusting into the air, her body silently begging for mine.

  I loved it when she was needy.

  Gently, my lips traveled along the side of her neck, venturing lower and lower until I reached her collarbone. I followed it to the hollow of her neck, my hand grabbing her tit and squeezing hard.

  She screamed, her lips frozen in a cute little ‘o.’

  God, she was perfect.

  My other hand slipped under her skirt, feeling the silkiness of her thighs. If I weren’t careful, I might end up taking her right here and now, and then we’d miss our dinner reservation.