by Kelly Moore
“What’s the plan?” Jake asks, coming to sit in the recliner next to me.
“The plan is for you two to stay far away. I’m doing this alone.” He stands and walks to the kitchen. Jake and I both look at each other, and it’s like we read each other’s minds because we both stand and follow after him at the exact same time.
“You’re crazy if you think we are letting you do this alone,” I tell him, placing my hand on my hip.
He pours himself a drink and spins around to face us, pressing against the counter. “And you’re crazy if you think I’m taking you to him. He wouldn’t bat an eye killing the both of you just to get back at me.”
“So what’s your plan, huh? You’re just going to walk up in there and start shooting?” Jake’s holding his hands out at his sides, clearly getting annoyed with John’s “I have to do this alone” attitude.
John’s jaw flexes again before he lifts the glass to his lips and takes a sip. “Yeah, something like that.” He takes a deep breath, and his stare locks on mine. “I’m doing this…tonight.”
“Tonight? John, you don’t even have a plan!” I rush to his side.
He sets his empty glass on the counter and places his hands on either side of my face.
“Everything will be okay.” He places a kiss on my forehead. “I’m going to get him out of our way once and for all, and then, me and you,” he pulls away enough to look into my eyes, “we’ll run off to Hawaii and live out the rest of our lives on a beach somewhere.” He pulls me against his chest, and I wrap my arms around his waist, needing to feel him.
I hear Jake let out a long breath. I turn to see him shaking his head and walking out of the back door. I look up at John, pain evident on his face.
“I’m going to go talk to him.”
I take a step back and watch as he follows after Jake. I lean against the counter and look out the window. I watch him as he walks across the sand to stand beside Jake. From here, it looks like they are just watching the waves, but I know a lot is being said. John barely escaped Miles the last time. He could’ve died from that vaccine. And now, he wants to go after him again? I don’t understand why we can’t just run away. Miles thinks that John is dead. Even if he does decide to come after Jake and me, we will be long gone.
I feel tears sting my eyes. I wipe them away before they have a chance to fall. I hear the floor creak behind me, and I spin around. I’m face to face with Miles.
I press myself against the counter, trying to get as far away as I can from him and his gun that’s pointed on me. “What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t think I would actually let you and Jake go just because John is out of the picture, did you?”
“What do you want? Knox is out of the picture. The vaccine will be released.”
He shrugs. “I never cared about the vaccine. That was just a job I was hired to complete. What I care about is my best man being turned against me because of you.”
Before I can process what is happening, Miles jumps toward me, grabbing me and pulling me against his chest with the gun placed at my head. I try to fight him off, but he’s no match for me.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” He looks out of the window, seeing John and Jake.
“The vaccine didn’t kill him.” He cocks the gun and pushes it even harder into my temple. “Why not?”
“Because he had cancer,” I say with a shaky voice.
“Walk!” he yells, shoving me toward the door.
He throws me down the steps out onto the sand. When we’re out in the open, he raises the gun to the sky and squeezes the trigger. Jake jumps and spins around to see us. But John, I see his back and shoulders tense up before he slowly turns, his gaze landing directly on Miles, and then me being held against his chest.
Chapter Twenty
John
Rage surges through me when I see Miles with Brook pressed against him and the gun sharply being pushed into her side so hard that she winces.
“Let her go, Miles. I’m the one that betrayed you, not them.”
He pulls Brook’s hair as he moves her forward a couple of steps. “You seem to have nine lives, John. I can’t seem to get rid of you.”
“How the hell do you keep finding us,” Jake asks, raising his hands in the air.
“I own people you don’t even know about,” he snarls.
“Evidently not enough people to give you heads-up on the president taking down Knox.” I want to piss him off and make him move toward me.
“Yeah, that was a mistake, and the person responsible for it has already been taken care of, but that is none of your concern.” He takes two more steps, pulling Brook’s hair hard. “I want to know if she was worth it?”
“Worth what?” I take a step toward him.
“Don’t move another muscle or your pretty little redhead here will be dead.” He makes a slicing motion across his throat with his gun. “You were the best agent I’ve ever had, and you threw it all away for her.” He yanks her head hard, and she screams out.
My fists are balled up so tight, I feel blood drip down from my nails cutting into my hand. “You fucking changed the rules when you took a contract out on an innocent woman,” I grit between my teeth.
“That’s where you’re wrong. I have the right to change the rules at any time. Other agents have been assigned to innocents for the right dollar amount, but you with your high and mighty morals—I fed you only the worst of the worst criminals.”
“Then why did you contract me to kill Brook?” My anger is so deep I can feel my blood pressure rising, and my heart is beating a fast tantrum. Any and all calmness has left my body.
“Obviously because you were the only one that could have done it and not gotten caught. Instead of doing your job, you’ve managed to bring down one of our biggest players that’s funneled money into my company all these years.”
“What? What other cures has that bastard eliminated?” Brook yells as her eyes grow big. “Are you fucking kidding me! He killed Dr. Martin. He claimed to have the cure for Alzheimer’s!” Brook’s face is full of anger.
“He was an easy mark. Everyone thought he suddenly died of a heart attack. My men were able to get close enough to him to put a deadly dose of a drug in his drink.” He points the gun in my direction, and Brook screams.
“That’s how you do a job, John. You were the only one that could get close to her.”
“How the hell did you know that?”
“I’ve had your house bugged for years. There is a tiny indiscernible camera in the computer that we gave you to use.”
“Son of a bitch!” I lunge forward, but Jake drags me back.
He laughs as he holds Brook back by her hair. “I’ll tell ya, me and the boys have had fun all these years watching you march in whore after whore, but we were all surprised when our facial recognition had Brook identified after the first two minutes of her being at your place. I knew you had morals, but I didn’t count on you falling for her.” He yanks her backward, causing her to stumble. She tries to get up, but he uses his foot to push her to her knees, with the gun at the back of her head.
“If you kill her or any of us, her father will know it was you.”
“Where are the agents?” Jake asks.
“Well, one of them is dead.”
I have a really sinking feeling. “And, the other one was one of your payroll.” It’s not a question. I already know the answer.
“Bingo! Smart boy. Her father may know who did it, but he will never find me.”
“You’re just going to walk away from your business?” I scowl. “Knox paid you a lot of money, didn’t he?”
“So much so, that I will never have to work again.”
“That won’t be enough for you. I know you. You like playing God, choosing who lives and who dies. It’s in your blood.”
“It’s in your blood too, John. You’re crazy if you think you would have given it up for her. Do you really think her father would have ac
cepted you with open arms? You’re a criminal, just like I am.”
“Don’t listen to him, John. You know how my father feels about you. And, yes! He would have given it up for me!” Brook yells before he pushes her into the sand.
“Alright, alright, you win.” I throw my hands up in the air in surrender. “Leave them alone, and I’ll go with you. I’ll work for you again and take out whoever you want me to. No questions asked.”
“John, no!” Jake pulls at my arm, and I yank it away from him. “You can’t do this, man.”
“I have to,” I say, turning to look at him. “I can’t let him kill either one of you. I don’t give a shit what he does to me, but the two of you have done nothing to deserve this. I made my choice years ago. I knew there would come a day that it would bite me in the ass. Please, let me pay for my own sins.” Jake’s eyes cloud with anger. I walk slowly up beside Miles. He pulls Brook out of the sand and shoves her at Jake, all while his gun is trained on me.
“Relish in your cure, Brook. I don’t give a damn now that I’ve been paid and Knox is in prison. Go save the world, but you will never save him. Now go. Go get in my car.” He waves the gun toward his vehicle. I see the agent sitting inside on the driver’s side. When I make it to the car, Miles opens the door. I glance back and see Jake holding Brooklyn back. She’s screaming out my name. All I can think about is how much I love this woman, so much so, that I’m willing to trade my life for hers.
“Head back to my yacht,” Miles barks as he shuts the door. He keeps his gun pressed into my side. “That went better than I had planned. I really didn’t want to be responsible for murdering the president’s daughter. I don’t like my hands to be dirty. That’s why I have scumbags like you to do my dirty work.”
I see the driver’s eyes cut to Miles in the rearview mirror. “Is he one of your so-called scumbags too?”
“Shut the fuck up!” He rears back, and the butt of his gun catches me square in the temple.
“Damn my head hurts.” My eyes slit open, and I try to focus in a dark room. I’m on a bed, but I can’t make out anything else. Sliding to the edge, I place my feet on a wooden floor. I reach to feel for a side table. There is one, but there is nothing on it. I put my hands out in front of me in the pitch-dark room. I feel the panel walls for a light switch, but there isn’t one. I find the knob to a door, and I rattle it. It’s locked. I use my hands to feel around the room. There is nothing on the walls and no windows. I ball my fists together and beat on the walls with all my might. “Damn you, Miles. Let me out of here!” My hands throb from pounding them so hard on the wall.
I make my way back over to the door and place my ear against it. I can hear the faint sound of music. The fucking Napoleon is probably sitting there drinking tea and eating cheese and crackers. I turn my back to the wall and slide down to the floor. I hold my head and tug at my hair. Bastard. I wonder how long he plans on keeping me locked up. I’ve already told him I would do whatever he wanted. He probably doesn’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me either if I were him.
As the hours pass, I’ve felt the yacht leave port, not knowing where it is heading. All I can do is think about Brooklyn. My mind flashes to the bar the first time I laid on eyes on her. How incredible that night was. I’ve wanted her more and more every time I’ve touched her gorgeous body. The day we made love on my bike was one that I will never forget. God, I don’t think there is a part of me that isn’t in love with her. I don’t know how the likes of me got a woman like her to fall in love with me.
I’ve got to find a way out of this mess. A way back to the woman that I love. I know I said that I would work for him again, but now that he is away from Jake and Brook and can’t hurt them, there’s no way that will happen. I will get out of this or die trying. I stand when I hear feet patting on the wood floor.
“John, get away from the door. There is no escaping. There are two armed agents outside your door.” I hear the sound of a gun being cocked. “I didn’t bring you all this way to kill you. I have food for you.”
I step away from the door as it opens. Lights are flashed into my eyes. I stumble backward, landing on the bed. An agent walks in with his gun pointed right at me, then Miles comes in holding a tray of food and water. “You need to eat. We have a long journey ahead of us.” He places the tray down on the bed.
“I can’t eat in the dark,” I tell him.
“Give me your flashlight,” he orders the guard behind him. He takes it and throws it on the bed. “Until I can trust you, this is all you get.”
“Why don’t you just kill me already?”
“I don’t want you dead, John. I have more use for you alive than dead. Now eat. We have plenty of work to do when this boat docks.” The three of them back out of the small space. I grab the flashlight and turn it on. I don’t care about the food, but I’m so thirsty. I guzzle down the entire bottle of water, holding the bottle up until the last drop falls down my chin. I wipe it with the back of my hand.
I get off the bed and start pacing the small area. I’ve got to come up with a plan. My head starts feeling a little light. “Damn it, he put something in the water.” I lie down, trying to keep my head from spinning.
The door busts open. “Get the fuck up and follow me!” One of Miles’s agents yanks me up out of bed and shoves me through the narrow doorway. His gun is firmly planted on my back. I keep my hands raised in the air so he can see them. We walk down a long corridor until we reach a set of stairs. He presses the gun into me hard. “Don’t try anything,” he barks.
The sun is blinding when I reach the top deck. Miles is standing by the railing, looking out with a pair of binoculars.
“Here he is, sir.” The agent shoves me again.
“Ah, there is something I want you to see.” He hands me the binoculars. I hesitate. “Go ahead, see for yourself.”
I lean on the metal railing and place the binoculars on my face. I scan out into the water until I see a boat moving in fast, skimming over the water. Brooklyn is steering, and Jake is loading his Glock with bullets. I exhale deeply.
“The idiots actually think they can take me down by themselves.” He turns to the agent. “Tell the captain to slow down and let them board us.”
“Wait, no. Let me talk to them.” I hand him the binoculars.
“The time for talking is over. I’m bored with them, and this needs to end now.”
“Look, I can make them go away. I will convince them that I want to work for you.”
He heads down the stairs to the lower deck, and I follow on his heels. “I will be the only one doing the convincing here. I’m going to kill you, and then they will have nothing left to fight for.”
My head starts spinning again. I have to stop and bend over to suck in some air. “What the hell did you give me?”
“You will find out soon enough. I knew your pesky brother and girlfriend would show up sooner or later. I needed to subdue you to take you down.” He takes a pistol from one of the agent’s holsters. He orders him to hold me in a closet until he says the word. He shoves me inside and shuts the door with him inside with me.
“One word and I end it here and now for you,” says the agent with his gun against my chin.
I hear shooting and a scream from Brooklyn. I lunge forward, and he pushes me backward into a wall. I wrestle with him for the gun, and it goes off. The agent looks at me and brings his hand up covered in blood. He slowly goes to his knees, and then he hits the floor at my feet. The hot gun is still in my hand.
I quickly unlock the door and run out onto the deck. Jake is lying on the ground with a bullet in his leg and Miles has Brooklyn on her knees again, with a gun to the back of her head. Two agents stand on either side of him.
I slowly lower myself to the ground and lay the gun down. I stand back up and kick the gun with my bare feet in his direction, within Brooklyn’s reach. The motion has made me dizzy again, and I see two of Miles.
I hear the gun go off. I feel the bullet tear thro
ugh my skin, and the last thing I see is horror on Brooklyn’s face.
Epilogue
Brooklyn
Two years later…
“Where’s John?” Jake asks as he walks up behind me.
“He’s asleep. Are you ready to go?” I pull my gaze away from the ocean and spin around to face him.
He offers me a nod. “I’ll go wake him up.” He motions toward the house before walking away, leaving me alone in the sand.
I watch as the sun descends in the sky, lighting up with pink and orange. John was right. Hawaii is beautiful, and I love living here.
“He just woke up,” Jake says from behind me. I spin around to see him walking closer with John in his arms. He’s smiling despite his sleepy eyes, and when he sees me, his hands fly out, wanting me to hold him.
“Hi, baby. How was your nap?” I ask as I take him from his uncle Jake and curl him into my chest.
“Dada,” he says, touching my face.
“Are you ready to go see Dada?”
He giggles as a response and I sit him down, holding his hand to walk across the sand.
We walk to the edge of the property, where the sand meets the grass and old wooden fence. I kneel down in front of the polished headstone and place my hand against the engraved picture of him.
“Dada,” John says as he does the same as I do.
We were never able to recover his body since we barely made it away with our own lives. When I found this property, I had the headstone made, and Jake and I buried John’s most personal possessions. Jake put in a bottle of bourbon and his leather jacket, while I put in the black shirt I made him buy and a key to his MV-Augusta bike. The one we made love on, the one he left for me.
Looking at his face on the headstone, the memory of that day plays out in front of me.
It’s as if everything is moving in slow motion. I see John come through a door. The moment he sees me with a gun pointed at my head, he slides the gun over, but it’s not quick enough. I scream at the top of my lungs when I see that bullet pierce through John’s chest. He falls to his knees as blood pumps through the wound and stains his shirt. I feel tears stinging my eyes before his back has even hit the wooden deck.