PREGNANT FOR A PRICE

by Kathryn Thomas

  I rooted through my bag until I found the scrap of paper with the numbers on it, and dialed Lily.

  “Hello?” She sounded confused. “Who is this?”

  “Hi, Lily, it’s me,” I replied.

  “Why are you calling from a number I don’t recognize?” she asked cautiously. “Everything alright?”

  “Everything’s fine, I’m just going out of town for a few days, going to get my head straight,” I explained. “Are you okay to run the restaurant until I get back?”

  “Of course.” I could practically see her tossing her hands in the air at the ludicrousness of my question. “You take as much time as you need.”

  “Thanks, Lily,” I sighed. “Love you.”

  “Love you too. Keep in touch!” she ordered, and then hung up the phone.

  “Are you sorted?” Anthony turned to me, and I could see that he looked unnerved - his eyes were wider than normal, and his entire body looked tense.

  “Yeah, I’m ready.” I nodded. “Are we leaving?”

  “I think we should.” He came over and sat on the bed next to me. “I know this is a lot, but I just want to get you somewhere safe.”

  “I know.” I nodded again, and he leaned in to kiss me. For a moment, I forgot about everything we’d been dealing with, and simply lost myself in him. It was becoming distractingly easy to do that of late.

  “Okay, let’s get packed, and we can go.” He stood up, and I gathered what little belongings I’d spread out and stuffed them back into the bags.

  “What about all that money that you gave the woman at reception?” I asked. “That’s good for a couple of weeks, at least.”

  “Yeah, well, it means we can come back here if we need to.” He twirled his key around his finger demonstratively. “And it might throw anyone who’s looking for you off the trail.”

  “Who do you think is coming after me?” I asked bluntly, but he deftly avoided the question.

  “Have you got everything?” He glanced over his shoulder with his eyebrows raised.

  “Got everything.”

  “Good. Then let’s go.”

  We made our way out of the room, down the stairs, and into his car. I noticed he was doing his best to keep me shielded from the sight of anyone we passed by. I felt like a criminal, even though I’d done nothing wrong, and it was an unpleasant sensation.

  As soon as we were out on the road again, I felt my eyes drooping shut. I had never had a life as exciting as this - and not the good kind of exciting either. This was the kind of exciting people paid money to watch over popcorn and soda in the cinema so they didn’t have to live it themselves. I couldn’t say that I blamed them - this was hellish, worse than anything I’d ever imagined. Even with a man who seemed to care about me, and just so happened to be dynamite in bed, life wasn’t easy or fun like this. No, it was hellish, difficult, and pretty fucking terrifying.

  I woke from my snooze as we pulled into a gas station, and Anthony quickly topped up the car and went inside. It was still dark out, and I looked around the dim, shadowy space around me fearfully, half-expecting someone to leap out of the dark and drag me away there and then. But no one did, and a few seconds later Anthony re-emerged from the small building. And he was carrying something.

  I stretched and craned my neck to see what he had in his hands, but the night was too heavy around us to see before he got into the car.

  “Hey,” he murmured softly as if worried that I was still half asleep.

  “Hey,” I smiled back, and he handed over what he was holding.

  It was a bunch of flowers - small, slightly wilted, but undeniably sweet. I couldn’t help but beam as he placed them carefully in my hands, and I lifted them to my nose to catch a smell. They were peonies, my favorite.

  “How did you know?” I joked.

  He shrugged “Lucky guess, I suppose. I don’t know where we’ll keep them, but…”

  “They can just live on my lap for now,” I suggested, letting them sit on my knees. It felt good to have something comforting and normal, even if it was completely out of the blue.

  “You get some more sleep.” He leaned over and caught my chin in his hands, tilting my face so he could look at me. “We’ll be there soon.”

  “You want me to drive?” I offered.

  “No, you need to catch up on your sleep,” he replied, starting up the car. “Trust me, you’ll probably need it.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  We pulled up outside the house, and I paused at the wheel. How long had it been since I’d come here? Years? Probably. I had never thought I’d need it again, not after I retired.

  Before I had a chance to mull any further, Sabrina stretched and sighed next to me.

  “Are we here?” She peered outside.

  “Yep.”

  “Where are we?” she asked, furrowing her brow.

  “We’re at an underground house,” I explained, getting out of the car then opening her door.

  “Huh?”

  “I brought it a few years back, call me paranoid.” I shrugged. “It’s safe, though. No one knows it’s here, and no one will be able to find you. Us.”

  “An underground house?” She got out of the car. “Is that just what it sounds like?”

  “Yeah, pretty much.” I shrugged again.

  “And we won’t have to go hide anywhere else after this?”

  “I can’t see why not,” I replied. “Come on, let’s get you in.”

  I hitched her bags over my shoulder and walked towards the door opposite the parked vehicle. There was a large metal entrance that led down to the house, and I keyed in the code and made my way down. She followed me in and jumped when the door slammed with a sharp crack behind us.

  “This feels like some kind of doomsday bunker,” she muttered as we made our way down the stairs.

  “It’s not that bad,” I countered as I got to the main part of the house. I flicked the light on and turned around to lend her a hand - she was still a little shaky on her feet from her recent sleep.

  “Yeah, actually.” She looked around. The place was small. It had a tiny living space with a kitchen attached, a bathroom next door, and a bedroom with a double bed that pulled down from the wall. She turned to peer at me carefully as I plopped her bag down on one of the chairs.

  “Should I ask why you have this place?”

  “Probably not,” I admitted. I had it because it was a safe place to hide out from the cops when things got too hot around the collar back in the city. I had purchased it early on, with the cash from one of my first hits, and it had come in seriously handy over the years.

  “Am I safe here?” she asked, approaching me slowly. And I knew she wasn’t just asking about this house - she was asking me, directly, if she could trust me. She was in less danger now, with me, than she had been back in the city.

  “I promise that I’ll keep you as safe as I can,” I replied honestly, gripping her arms tightly. She stared at me for a moment longer before stepping back.

  “Okay,” she agreed. “I’m going to go get settled in. Where’s the bedroom?”

  “Right through here.” I led her through and pulled the bed out. “Bathroom’s through there when you need it.”

  “Thanks.”

  I stepped out to give her some privacy and checked my phone. Shit, a message from Leo.

  I scanned it quickly, and my heart dropped as I realized what it was. It was in our code - he was assigning me a hit. And I needed to work with someone - the very person who I knew for a fact was targeting Sabrina.

  Saffron.

  Fucking shit. I ran my hands through my hair, panic coursing through my system. How was I going to get out of this? She would find my location quickly enough, I knew that, and the guy we had to take out was a crime boss, as big as Leo. This was going to be trouble on all kinds of levels. But first, I had to make sure that Sabrina was alright, and try to keep her oblivious to everything that was going on. She was safest when she didn’t know anything
.

  I plastered a smile on my face and made my way through to the bedroom.

  “Hey!” She smiled as she looked up at me, her face relaxed for the first time since I had picked her up the day before.

  “What’s your favorite food?” I blurted without thinking.

  “Huh?”

  “Make a list for me, all your favorite foods.” I gestured at her vaguely. “I’ll go out and get them.”

  “You’re leaving me here by myself?” Her face dropped.

  “You’ll be safe here,” I assured her. “I just need to go out for a few hours, get this place stocked up with stuff to eat so we can hide out here for as long as we need to.”

  “Okay.” She observed me with a hint of suspicion. “Give me a minute.”

  I went back out to the living area and paced back and forth. I had received the text maybe two, three hours ago, and the hit was in a city a half-hour drive from where we were now. I was meant to be meeting my partner there in less than an hour. I had a location and everything. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, something was off. Or maybe that was just my intuition screaming at me not to go see Saffron again if I had half the chance. I could dump this whole thing now and run away. Sure, it would put Leo on my tail for the rest of my life, and make Sabrina and me public enemies number one and two as far as he was concerned, but it would mean I didn’t have to do this or see her again.

  Before I could dwell any longer, Sabrina’s voice floated out from the bedroom.

  “I’m done!”

  I hurried back in, managing a quick smile as she held the list out to me.

  “I put everything I could think of,” she sighed. “And now I’m starving just thinking about all of it.”

  “I won’t be long, I promise.” I planted a quick kiss on her forehead, then glanced down at the list. I could stop by a supermarket on the way back, get everything she had asked for. But right now, I needed to leave if I wanted to have any chance of getting to the meet-up point in time and keeping Leo off my tail.

  I made my way up to the car, hopped in, and tore off towards the meet-up point. So many questions were whirling through my head that I could barely keep on top of them. What would it feel like killing someone for cash after all this time? Would I feel dirty and shitty, or would it feel like slipping back into my old shoes? How would Saffron react seeing me back in the game? Where would my next hit be, and would Leo catch on that something was amiss?

  As soon as I arrived at the meet-up point, I slipped out of the car, popped the boot, and clicked open the mechanism that removed the false bottom. Inside was a collection of my work stuff, wrapped in a large sports bag so as not to attract attention. I glanced around and, upon seeing no one, slung it over my shoulder.

  I looked at my phone again. The meeting point was around here, but I was early, and I wanted to get ahead before anyone else arrived. Peering up at the building over me, I saw a large ladder leading up onto a secluded rooftop balcony - yes, that would do perfectly. Securing the strap of the bag, I went for the ladder and began to pull myself up.

  As soon as I arrived at the top, I dumped the bag and looked down at the ground below me. A few people were strolling by. I wondered if one of them was Saffron, waiting at the meeting point for me. I rustled around in my bag and pulled out a sniper rifle - a big, heavy thing with telescopic sights that would allow me to make out anyone who wandered past on the street below. I heaved it up on to my shoulder, and pressed my eyes to the sights, scanning the ground underneath my vantage point with care. I couldn’t see anything untoward, but then, why would I? If there was one thing I knew about Saffron, it was that she would be discreet. She’d been doing this for longer than I had, at least now. After all, I had taken a few years out while she had continued to work and gain experience. Even despite my time away from the job, I was disturbed by how easily the gun fit in my hands, how natural it felt to be back here pointing a weapon at innocent people on the street below me.

  I heard a footstep behind me, and I launched myself around, my heart thumping hard in my chest. The gun was still held up to my eye, but I let it drop when I caught sight of a flash of red hair through the sights. Of course. It was her.

  “You always were easy to sneak up on,” Saffron commented flippantly as she strode towards me across the balcony. Her hair was cropped short, as far away from the long, flowing locks she’d had when I’d known her as it could be, and he clothes were dark and loose to make for easy movement. Her eyes flashed as she made her way towards me, her footsteps almost silent, and I wondered how many people had this image imprinted on their brain as their last.

  “How did you know I was-”

  “Saw a fancy car, assumed it was yours, then tried to figure out where I would have gone had I parked down there.” She shrugged. “It’s not rocket science.”

  I stared down at her for a moment - even in the gloomy light that made its way onto the rooftop, she was still undeniably striking.

  How long had it been since I saw her last? Seven years, maybe more? The last time had been when we split up for the last time, when she slammed the door in my face and threatened to kill me if I ever came back around to see her again. I remember walking away from her dingy apartment, feeling numb, and downing a few shots of whiskey at a local dive bar not long after.

  We met in training, both of us learning out craft alongside each other. We’d worked together on countless missions, and eventually, the mixture of the adrenalin and her good looks led to us ending missions at home together, clothes on the floor as we fucked like animals. I fell for her, hard. She was the first woman I’d ever really fallen for at that point in my life, and I was pathetically in love with her. And then the troubles started.

  “I’m surprised they still let you work after all the shit you put Leo through,” I commented, scanning her arms for track marks and her face for the sallow complexion I had grown used to over our last few months together, but I couldn’t find any.

  “I’m clean now,” she snapped. “I have been for years. No thanks to you.”

  “You know I tried to help you,” I replied curtly. “You wouldn’t have any of it.”

  “Yeah, well, maybe I didn’t want my fuck-buddy trying to tell me how I was supposed to live my life, did that cross your mind?” She tilted her head at me, her eyebrows raised. Her hazel eyes were outlined with a little liner, and now that she was facing me head-on, I was surprised by how healthy she looked.

  The heroin had taken her slowly at first, and then all at once, just like I fell in love with her. She started off small, enjoying the money we earned going out on hits and taking a few too many highs on a night out, the way it got started for a lot of people. And then, before I knew it, she was smoking heroin. Then snorting it. Then injecting it. And then she was too far-gone for any of us to pull out. She dropped out of work, unable to keep her hands steady enough to hold a gun, and ended up avoiding the cops for a completely different reason. I tried to help her, but in the end, she was the one who kicked me to the curb and decided to lose herself to her worst impulses.

  Before I had a chance to say anything more, she pulled the sniper rifle out of my hands and peered through the lens. Her brow furrowed slightly, and I noticed a few more lines on her than I had the last time I saw her. Well, this work would age you - I knew that better than anyone else did.

  “There he is,” she murmured and handed the rifle to me.

  “I only have a name, not a face.” I shrugged at her, and she sighed and pulled a photo from her pocket. On it was an older guy, with maybe a couple of decades on me, in a nice suit, hair thinning and combed over. I glanced through the sights at the guy Saffron had been looking at - yeah, it was him. Undeniably him. He was walking alone, and his face was smug. He was stumbling slightly, as though he’d been drinking, and was moving slowly down the darkened alley.

  At times like this, I had to remind myself that the people we picked off weren’t innocent. This guy, for example, L
eo had mentioned him to me, describing him as the head of another crime syndicate that worked in trafficking women. I wondered if that’s why he’d put Saffron on the case with me - if she did it, then at least he knew he had someone who would have a personal vendetta against this guy for what he did to her gender.

  “How’s your aim after all this time?” she murmured urgently, and I immediately handed the rifle over to her. I knew there was no time for pride at a time like this - we had one shot to get it right, and she was probably the one to nail this. She lined up the shot and fired.