by Matt Rogers
King ducked into the driver’s seat and dove out of the line of sight. The portion of seat above him rattled suddenly, accompanied by the sound of tearing cloth. He swore. The sniper had his aim locked on. He was hitting each target with remarkable precision. As King hesitated, a fourth shot struck the front of the sedan.
Once again, he shook his head in surprise. Now that the marksman knew both targets were out of sight, the engine had become a priority. The sniper was improvising as the altercation unfolded. It would only take one well-placed shot to immobilise the vehicle.
And then they were stranded.
King clicked the safety off the Beretta and fired three times out the open windscreen, keeping his head well below the dashboard. The shots were blind, but hopefully they would achieve their intended effect. He had no time to deduce whether they had paid off or not. He simply had to act, and hope the sniper had been rattled by the returning gunfire.
He had to hope he didn’t catch a bullet in the brain.
He’d left the car running, so all it took to get moving was a quick change of gear and a vicious stamp on the accelerator. He felt the tyres spin. It took a second or two for them to find purchase. Then the sedan shot off the mark.
King kept his head low, turning the wheel in a sharp arc, aiming for the path they’d come through by memory alone. He felt the pressure in his stomach as they rocketed toward the other end of the clearing.
Convinced the sniper would have difficulty hitting a moving target with precision, he sat up and got his bearings.
Lucky he did.
They had drifted off-target. Their sedan wasn’t on track to enter the path anymore. He panicked as he saw the bonnet rushing straight for one of the pine trees. Neither he or Kate were wearing seatbelts. The collision would throw them through the open windscreen, almost definitely killing them given the speed they had picked up. He swerved hard, throwing Kate against the passenger door. He heard the metal groan, but the door held. The sedan lost traction on the gravel and skidded. He held firm on the wheel, battling for control. In the middle of the manoeuvre, a fifth bullet shattered the rear window and sunk into the dashboard, sending a cloud of sparks flying.
Kate screamed.
Finally the wheels regained control and King gunned the car back up the path. The forest enveloped them once more. Now they would be harder to hit, but the first stretch of the trail was dead straight. Perhaps two hundred feet in length. There was still an opening for the enemy sniper. He waved at Kate to stay in the footwell and ducked again.
Twin jolts shook the chassis as another pair of bullets sunk into the sedan’s rear, threatening to find their mark in one of the tyres at any time. If one of them burst, King knew they would be incapacitated. It would take little effort to ambush them at the top of the path.
He left it until he felt they would hit the trees on the far side of the bend at any moment. Then he gave the steering wheel a quick pump in either direction, swerving the car from left to right. Any aim the sniper had settled on would be rendered useless. Following the move, King righted himself in the driver’s seat.
This time, he’d judged their position better. The car was just about to reach the turn. He heard the displacement of air as a final shot whisked past the driver’s side door, but that was the last chance the marksman would have to hit them. King gripped the wheel with both hands and took the car round the corner at breakneck speed.
And just like that, the trees blocked them from view.
They’d survived.
CHAPTER 17
‘You can get up now,’ he said.
‘Oh my god,’ Kate muttered, crawling back into the passenger’s seat. She looked at King for a long period of time.
He turned and met her eyes. ‘What?’
‘You … reacted so fast. I don’t know what happened, I’ve never been in a situation like that before. I felt so weak. Like it was hard to move.’
‘That’s shock. Don’t worry, I’m not inhuman. We all experience that.’
Her face had become pale and clammy. ‘How are you so calm?’
‘That kind of thing used to be my job.’
Kate didn’t know what to say to that. She paused, looking at him. Deep in thought. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’
‘Not really.’
She nodded. ‘Figured as much.’
They sat in silence as King drove back up the path, towards civilisation. The wind beat at their faces, howling in through the windscreen’s frame. He let his heart rate slow. It was a trick he had practiced in the midst of combat many times in the past, when staying calm and level-headed was the only means of survival. Now he could recover from the adrenalin rush of a life-or-death situation at will.
Kate was not handling the sensation well. Her hands shook violently as she stared out the passenger window. King remembered back to the first time he’d been shot at, to the sheer terror he’d experienced. There was something otherworldly about the feeling, when your life lay in the hands of how accurate your enemy was. So he wasn’t surprised by her reaction. Not at all. Coming close to death was a horrifying experience. Which perhaps made it worse that he had grown so accustomed to it.
On a whim, he reached over and took her hand. ‘Hey.’
She looked at him. Tears in her eyes.
‘I know what it feels like,’ he said.
‘Do you?’
‘I felt that way once. Everyone does. I hope you never see enough of that stuff to find it normal. I wish I hadn’t, but I have.’
‘How can that be normal?’
He sighed. ‘I’ll tell you later. Now isn’t the time.’
She shrugged through tears. ‘I’ll get over it.’
‘It’s not something to get over. It’s natural. Trust me, I wish I could feel that scared again.’
‘Why on earth would you want to feel like this?’
‘Maybe I’d try harder to avoid these type of situations.’
‘We’re getting close to the road,’ she said.
‘I know. Get in the footwell. There could be more of them up here.’
Kate swallowed hard, her hands still trembling. She sunk below the dashboard, away from the line of sight of anyone aiming weapons at them. King didn’t want to emphasise how close they had come to death back in the clearing. In fact, he found it hard to believe himself. But there was no time to dwell on the past.
The path opened ahead, spilling out onto the main road. There was little visibility in either direction. King wouldn’t be surprised if there were ten men waiting on either side of the forest, weapons up, ready to fire at any moment.
He wouldn’t let them hit their shots.
He pressed the accelerator into the floor and the sedan picked up speed. Travelling at close to sixty miles an hour, it rocketed off the gravel path and its wheels spun on the asphalt. King shot a quick glance in either direction, scouting for any sign of trouble.
Nothing.
No men.
No weapons.
Just empty road for as far as the eye could see.
He slowed to the speed limit and turned sharply, putting them on track to return to Jameson. Kate stayed in the footwell, eyes squeezed shut, knuckles clenched. He tapped her on the shoulder.
‘All clear,’ he said.
She scrambled back into the seat. ‘No-one there?’
‘No-one.’
‘This doesn’t feel right.’
‘I agree,’ King said. ‘Maybe there’s not as many of them as I thought.’
She returned to chewing her nails. ‘So what the hell do we do now? We don’t know anything. That didn’t give us any answers. All I know is that they want to kill me.’
‘They’re eliminating any possible witnesses. I have a video of the two hitmen picking up the package you dropped off. Did you get a look at it?’
‘It was just a box. They left it at my front door and I dropped it off. I didn’t look. I just wanted it over and done with. I knew they were doing something
shady.’
‘Was it heavy?’
‘Reasonably.’
‘Kate, I’m going to need more than that.’
She turned to him. ‘I don’t know anything else. I don’t know how we get out of this, and I don’t know why we’re being attacked. Do you have any reason that people might want to hurt you? Because I don’t.’
He drummed his fingers on the wheel, deep in thought. ‘No-one knows I’m here.’
‘So what is this?’
‘It doesn’t have anything to do with us. We’re pawns. Something bigger is going on here.’
‘You’re saying we can just leave? Forget about all this?’
‘You can if you want.’
‘I don’t want to.’
He looked across. ‘No?’
She didn’t respond. Turned away. Looked out the window again, deep in thought. He stayed quiet and let the sounds of the forest take over. They passed her street once again. Her Subaru was still there, parked in the middle of the road.
‘We can’t go back to my place,’ Kate said. ‘They know where I live.’
‘I know.’
He kept driving, heading for Jameson.
‘I left England a year ago,’ she said suddenly. ‘My whole life I lived in this tiny flat in Brixton. My older brother fell in with the wrong crowd. Bunch of thugs, always coming in and out of our home. Drugs, guns, you name it. It didn’t take long for them to start harassing me. Threatening to rape me. And as soon as I got scared, I up and left. Bought a plane ticket and chose the smallest town in a country as far away as possible. Left my friends behind. Left my family behind. Just told them I was going.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ King said. He reached across and gripped her hand.
‘So I’m not just going to leave again,’ she said. ‘I really don’t care what happens. I’m sick of getting rattled and just backing away.’
‘This is different, Kate. You could die.’
‘Whatever. I have no work experience, nothing to start a new life with. Everyone around here has come to know me. I can get by on odd jobs. If I leave here, I’ve got nothing. I’m staying.’
‘I’ll do my best to make sure it’s safe for you to stay.’
The sedan trawled into the town centre just as the sun disappeared behind the trees. Old streetlights scattered along the main road flickered to life, casting a warm halogen glow over the footpath on either side.
‘Where are we headed?’ Kate said.
‘I think I can get us a safe place for the night.’
He pulled Billy’s sedan into the lot of the same motel he’d stayed at the night before. The same small light shone above reception, inviting them in. There were no other cars around them. A quiet night of business. He made sure to tuck the Beretta into his waistband before heading in. Best to keep the gun out of sight.
The same elderly lady manned the front desk. She gave a genuine beam as the pair stepped in through the front door, accompanied by the tinny jangle of a bell overhead.
‘Mr. King!’ she said. ‘I wasn’t sure if I’d see you again.’
‘Hi, Yvonne,’ he said. ‘Nice to see you.’
‘And who’s this?’ she said with the hint of a wry smile.
‘This is Kate, one of the locals. Would we be able to stay the night again?’
‘Of course. I fixed up your room earlier today. You can use the same one. If I’m not mistaken, you still have the key.’
King tapped the pocket of his windbreaker and smiled. ‘I do too. Sorry about that. It’s been a busy day to say the least.’
‘That’s quite alright,’ Yvonne said. ‘I knew you’d return it at some point.’
King reached into his other pocket and withdrew a pair of fifty-dollar notes from the stack tucked away. He slid them over the counter. ‘The extra is for your generosity last night.’
Yvonne smiled. ‘Thank you very much.’
King leant on the counter with both elbows. ‘Yvonne, listen. I have a favour to ask.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I already know. I won’t tell anyone.’
Silence. ‘What?’
‘I already had a couple of police officers pop in today. They were looking for you. I said I’d never heard of you.’
He was momentarily taken aback. At a loss for words, he cocked his head. ‘Why did you do that? I could be anyone.’
‘I’ve been on this earth a long time, son. I know a good man when I see one. You don’t mean anyone harm. Whatever you’re doing, you’re trying to help.’
He smiled. ‘Well, I’m not sure how you know that, Yvonne, but thank you.’
‘You two lay low for as long as you need, dear.’
King nodded his thanks and led Kate out of reception and upstairs to the same room he’d stayed in the night before, the number ‘4’ still scribbled on the door. He unlocked it and stepped inside. The room had been cleaned to perfection, the type of job that could only have been accomplished after years of experience. The bed had been made, the toiletries replaced, the curtains straightened, the floor vacuumed. He guessed Yvonne had been in the motel business for a very long time. Perhaps why she was able to work out his intentions so effortlessly.
‘You stayed here last night?’ Kate said, following him in.
He nodded. ‘First night here.’
‘What did you see on the way into town? What got you wrapped up in all of this?’
King sat down on the bed and pondered his next move. It would do no good to keep secrets from her. They had to combine what little information they had if there was any hope of working out what was happening behind closed doors in the town of Jameson. He wasn’t sure if she would react well to what he had done. But after a long moment of consideration, he decided he wouldn’t hold back.
So he told her everything.
Kate sat in the chair opposite the bed, listening to what had transpired the night before. She gave nothing away in her expression as King spoke. He told her of how he’d watched the construction workers die, and how he’d retaliated against the killers, eventually murdering them both. Still, she did not react. When he finally finished she sat completely still, mulling over what she had heard.
‘You killed them?’ she said.
‘I’ve killed a lot of people, Kate.’
‘Bad people?’
He ran a hand through his hair. ‘I wish I could sit here and tell you that I’m some kind of hero, but if you add up everything I’ve done I can’t be. I always try to do good things, but over my career I’ve killed far too many people for it to be acceptable. No matter how bad they are.’
‘Were you a soldier?’
‘A very specialised one. I operated off the books, outside the boundaries of the law. The division of the military that I worked for officially doesn’t exist. And sometimes I found myself in situation where if I didn’t succeed, the consequences would be enormous. So sometimes I went above what is right. To get the job done. And I don’t know if I can stop.’
‘You mean with what’s happening here?’
‘I think I might go too far. If something terrible is going on behind closed doors here, it might make me revert to my old ways. And I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of monster.’
‘You’re not,’ Kate said. ‘Not at all.’
‘You sure?’
‘I’m sure. You saved my life.’
‘That doesn’t make me a good person.’
‘Your intentions are pure. I’ve spent less than a day with you and I can already tell that.’
He smiled. ‘Didn’t you tell me to fuck off this morning?’
‘I’m not telling you that now, am I?’ she said.
He looked at her and saw a woman who had spent much of the last year in isolation, dealing with her issues, attempting to forge a new life out here in the woods. He saw much of himself in her. That had been the whole point of his journey to Australia. To escape the demons of his past. To try and find some kind of normality.
He leant in and pressed his lips against hers. Briefly, he thought he’d made the wrong move.
But he hadn’t.
She kissed back with a passion King hadn’t anticipated. Her lips were soft and as they fell back onto the bed he found himself wondering when he’d last enjoyed a moment as much as this. For as long as he could remember his life had been a whirlwind of pain and hostility. Now he let everything slip away and just focused on Kate, the way she moved against him, the way she touched him, caressed him. They locked eyes and King saw years worth of pent-up frustration in her green irises. He knew his probably showed the same, or worse.
As they tugged at each other’s clothing he noticed she was lithe, fit from physical exercise. He reached back, eyes closed, still kissing her. He pulled the bedsheets free. They slipped underneath and let the tension of the day dissipate. Nothing in the outside world mattered at that moment, not the killers in the forest or the imposter at the police station or the ten years of carnage King had wreaked across the globe that came back to him in night tremors. All forgotten. They moved against each other, naked, gasping, finding relief in the madness.
When it was over they lay back, out of breath. Kate rested her head against his chest and draped a bare leg over him and closed her eyes, relishing the calm. King felt his eyes grow heavy. Then his stomach grumbled, reminding him to eat. He rolled over and looked at her.
‘Dinner?’
She nodded. ‘I know a place.’
They went down to the main strip together, hand-in-hand. King stayed wary for any signs of trouble, but it seemed whoever wanted them dead had called it a night. Kate led him into a deserted diner near the end of the strip, sporting a handful of two-person booths pressed against the dirty front windows. The tabletops were scratched and the checkered tile floor looked like it hadn’t been washed in some time, but the owner was kind and the food was good. King ate and talked, and before he knew it the sky outside had fully darkened. When they finished they paid for the meal, scurried back to the motel and fell into bed.