by Alice Cooper
“I’m… I’m…I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t watching what I was doing.” The man had the day off and decided to do some chores around the house. He certainly wasn’t expecting to find this buxom young thing parading herself down the sidewalk. He didn’t mean to turn the hose on her, but she had literally taken his concentration away from what he was doing. He wasn’t the only one and even the three horsemen had decided that they could take a break from what they were doing.
“You men are all alike. You think that that we dress this way to get some kind of attention. Have you ever thought that maybe we just like feeling good and it’s not all about the man’s needs” She had raised her voice and that brought several other women out of their house to confront the man that was ogling her chest without even trying to hide it. “I would tell you that my eyes are up here, but I don’t think that you are going to give a damn.” Lila made sure to make quite the scene. It was possible that the horsemen would recognize her, but it was something that she felt she had to do.
Jordan heard what was going on and decided to give her enough rope. She was good at improvising. She probably didn’t know that she was going to shoot Dylan, until it actually happened. It was her unpredictability that made her care for her. He was in love, but he wasn’t about to say it out loud. He wanted no part of that kind of danger. His heart needed to be closed off, but she was breaking down those walls. She was chipping away bit by bit and he didn’t even realize it.
“I don’t know why you are getting hot under the collar. I didn’t mean anything by what I did. You caught me by surprise and I made a mistake. I apologized. I don’t know what else you want from me.” Billy didn’t like this kind of ambush. He had always been progressive. He opened doors and made sure that his wife wanted for nothing.
Chapter 3
Jordan knew what was going on and he was slightly impressed by Lila’s ability to improvise on the fly. He could almost imagine them working together, but she didn’t seem the type that would want to get blood on her hands. He had thought that one time when they first met, but he was beginning to see that she was able to adjust to just about anything. He didn’t know that she was going to take that kind of approach with Dylan. Deep down, he thought that she would kill him, but instead she maimed him in a way that would be remembered throughout history.
He got over to where the stairs led to the balcony and the balcony door of the house. He bypassed that altogether and went to the basement door underneath the balcony. He decided to see how predictable this family could be. He searched around for anything that would indicate a secret key. He found what appeared to be a rock, but it wasn't a rock. He smiled to himself, as he opened up the hidden compartment and found the key. He was not going to have to break out his lock picking skills, although he knew that he could probably make short work of that lock within minutes or even seconds for that matter.
He heard Lila in his ear. “I don’t know what it is about you men that think that you can objectify the women in your life. I look around at these women nodding their head and I can only assume by their reaction that it’s not the first time that they have felt this way in their lives. It may have not come from you, but others think because we dress provocatively that we want that kind of attention.” He could tell that she was really getting into the role of someone that felt like she was being made into a piece of meat.
“I don’t have to stand here and take this anymore. I’ve been more than accommodating. I do what I can to make women into the equal partner that I want them to be. My wife could attest to that, but she is working. I stay home with our child, when I could easily go to some high powered profession. This is what compromise looks like. I’m through trying to explain myself. You all should go back to your homes and there’s really nothing more that you can see here.”
Lila was only trying to buy time and the best way to do that was to make sure that everybody’s attention was on her. They could sympathize, because they knew how it felt to be seen, as only a sexual object. She was banking on that. “I don’t know how long Jordan is going to need, but I think that I’ve run out of time. Most men would want to stay and fight a little longer, but this guy knows a losing battle when he sees one. Besides, I know that the horsemen are probably watching and I would rather not give them time to identify me with facial recognition or some other software that they might have in their possession.”
Jordan could read between the lines and he felt a certain respect for the woman that knew how to survive. She wasn’t about to back down and that strength made him think that there could be more here than just a one night stand. He wasn’t sure how he could say that, because he had never been involved in anything that was even remotely a long-term relationship. That was in the past and he used to be the life of the party back in his college days, but a few things in his life happened that changed his perspective dramatically. It was like there was this empty space that somehow Lila was able to fill with her smile and the way that she moved against him in the throes of passion.
He was having a hard time thinking about anything else. That was the reason why he didn’t notice that he wasn’t alone.
He walked through the house using the streaming sun through the windows, as the only way to illuminate his way. He didn’t want to take the chance of putting on any light in case a neighbor was nosy and wanted to investigate. They probably had what most people would call a neighborhood watch, but it was usually those ones that were left behind in the middle of the day. They were the ones that had their eyes and ears open for anything unusual.
She was still burning in his mind. He could remember almost everything about her down to the smallest detail. He didn’t want to feel this way, but his heart was telling him something that he didn’t want to admit to himself. He was trying to put all that on the back burner, but her face and the knowledge that she was carrying his child was very much weighing heavily on his mind.
Going into what constituted as a playroom, he went directly to the back wall. It seemed like it was made of brick, but he only had to find that special spot in between the crevices. He soon found the exact place that he wanted to find. It cracked open and there was this hiss of air that escaped from being sealed up for that long. He had to use a little bit more force than necessary to move the door further open to slip inside. As his feet touched down in the threshold, the light overhead automatically came on. He reached to extinguish it by turning the bulb and making sure that it was not revealed to anyone that might see it outside.
He could easily see everything that was inside. He was kind of shocked that it was still here after all this time. The weapons were one thing, but it was the passports and the cachet of money that was the most important to him. It would allow him and his beloved to find some tropical getaway and live out the rest of their lives with the waves crashing up against the shore.
“I have what we need, Lila. I should be out momentarily. I’m grateful for the distraction, but it might be a good idea for you to get out of dodge while the getting is good. The horsemen can only be fooled for so long. It’s not going take them very long to figure out that you’re the one that they have been looking for. Your disguise might keep them at bay for a moment, but then their suspicion is going to rise.” He waited for an answer, but there was nothing forthcoming. He wondered if maybe she was caught and that talking was not an option. He cringed to think that he could lose the only family that mattered to him.
“If you’re worried about me, then you don’t have to be. I knew that I was pushing my luck. I decided to mingle with the other girls for a moment to make it look like that I was part of the crowd. I even followed one over to her house and then I slipped around the side and out of sight of anybody that might be watching.” She had heard his voice, but she could not say anything without one of the girls becoming suspicious. She had overstayed her welcome and it was time to leave before she was found out. “I think he’s starting to realize that I can take care of myself. I’ve always known tha
t deep down I was a fighter and that I would crawl and scratch to protect myself and those that I cared about. I have something else now that demands my protection and I plan to lay down my life for the child that I’m carrying.”
The sex was good, but the talk was cheap. She wanted to take away all those memories that made her feel that she had to leave home early on in her development. She had everything except for the one thing that she craved for most of all. She was looking for that comfort and that love that came from a family that knew that blood was thicker than water. She may have looked expensive on the outside, but she felt cheap deep down. She was broken and no good to anyone and then Jordan came around and changed how she felt about herself. There were no guarantees in life and she understood that she was taking a risk by letting herself feel something for someone.
During her time in the flesh trade, she was approached several times by older men that would promise her the world and didn’t deliver. She didn’t believe for a second that Jordan was like that, but she was still very careful to walk that minefield. One wrong step and all of this could blow up in her face and that was one thing that she wasn’t going to let happen.
Jordan smiled at hearing her voice. He grabbed for the green duffle bag and started to stuff it full of everything that he could carry. There was no way that he was going to be able to take everything, but he knew exactly what he would need to bring the fight right to Jamison’s door. He didn’t want to think about the fact that he was going up against overwhelming odds. His future was in his hands and it didn’t matter how long it took, he would make Jamison a moot point.
He had to stop suddenly when the realization of what he was doing came crashing down. The pages of his life were ripe with blood and those innocent people that didn’t deserve the kind of justice that he brought with him. The feel of her head on his chest made him forget that he was a killer. It made him forget that he was a bad man and that what he deserved was a five by five cell or to be 6 feet under. He could see that she would shatter like glass in his hands.
“I can’t believe that you were this gullible to think that we weren’t going to find you.” The voice sounded familiar. Jordan knew that he was in deep trouble.
Chapter 4
Blake was the horsemen of death and he prided himself on taking the most risk out of all of them. He saw Jordan as a kindred spirit, but it was unforgivable that he was too lost in his own thoughts to understand that his time was up.
Jordan stood in front of the man that he used to call friend and knew that one way or the other one of them wasn’t going to leave here alive. “I think you know by now that I always have I contingency plan. I’m not one to mince words and when I promise you that things will turn ugly, then you will have to take that to the bank.” Jordan stared down this man not blinking and not giving him a reason to think that he had lost a step.
Blake was a hardened individual with a scar on his left cheek that was left behind during an unforeseen fire that he got caught in himself. It was a painful reminder and one that he could get rid of with plastic surgery, but he didn’t believe in hiding the things that made him the man that he was today. The scars on his body were his badge of honor and his long hair was the one thing that he valued. He didn’t have a love life, except for those fleeting moments with strangers of the female persuasion.
“I respect that you want to fight back and leave this world behind. I was actually kind of rooting for you, but I also knew that I was going to be the one to stop you. I think we both know that retirement for us is not some tropical getaway. There will be a bullet in my future or knife that slices my throat, but today is not going to be that day.” They both had their guns trained on one another. It was a matter of time before the stalemate was going to come to a close.
“It doesn’t have to be this way, Blake. We could both walk away with a clean slate and I could leave you a bounty for your troubles. You can say that I didn’t show up and they wouldn’t even think twice that you were lying to them. I want you to seriously consider my offer and believe me that’s an offer that you really shouldn’t refuse. There’s a time limit on that offer and I really do need to make tracks.” Jordan didn’t know that his communication device was still on. He also didn’t know that Lila had decided to double back and see what she could do about helping out.
Lila had used the same cover of the tree line to stay hidden from view. She didn’t like that Jordan had got caught in a trap and she kind of felt guilty that she was responsible for making him unable to predict these things. He was most likely thinking about their family and that had lowered his guard and made him vulnerable to attack. “I have no idea what I’m going to do. I’m probably fooling myself into thinking that I can do anything. I just can’t stand by and let him take care of this on his own. He means more to me that I can ever say and maybe that is something that I’m going to have to come to terms with. He is my superstar and my hero, even though he claims that he can’t be anybody’s hero.”
Lila had made it to the door and was peeking through the window. She could see the back of someone and she knew without a doubt that it wasn’t Jordan. He was within that room. Getting into the house without being noticed was going to be a feat in itself.
With her heart in her mouth and her teeth grinding together, she opened that door a crack. There was no discernible noise, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. She slipped in very quietly and got down to on the ground on all fours. She must’ve looked a pretty interesting site crawling across the floor like some animal after its prey.
“I’ve given your proposal some thought and maybe if I was anybody else, I would jump at the opportunity to do what you request. After all, I would have more money than what I’m getting for the job, but this is not how my mind works. I’ve always been a big believer about being a man of my word. I think that you can agree that that is more important than any amount of money that you can put into my hands.” Blake looked at Jordan and knew that he was exactly like him and that eventually one of them was going to end up killing the other.
“I would say that I was surprised by your words, but I’m not. I was just giving you a way out to say face, but it appears that I was stupid even to think that you would take me up on my offer. I imagine that the other horsemen are outside waiting for you to complete what you need to do in here. You probably have them on some kind of time limit. That way, if you fail, then they can finish off where you left off. One of us is going to have to shoot and I’m not exactly sure who that is going to be.” Jordan would never get over Lila and even his death would prove useless to keep them apart. They were destined to be together in this life and the next.
Lila was doing her best to make the best of a bad situation. She stayed down on the ground knowing full well that anybody would look straight ahead and not bother looking down or up. She was out of his peripheral vision and what she needed most of all was some kind of weapon that she could use to take care of the situation swiftly and efficiently. She saw the fireplace and the metal poker that was used to stoke the fire. She grabbed it off the handle holding her breath and hoping that the man that had his back toward her wouldn’t realize that danger was a foot. “I’m going to have to be very quiet and one wrong move is going to be detrimental to not only my health, but for the health of the baby and to Jordan’s.”
“I like you, Jordan. I can’t remember the last time that I really had any kind of friendship. Even the horsemen are just a means to an end. We don’t even like each other, but we work like a well oiled machine and that’s all that matters to our clients. We get the job done and then we move on without having the entanglement of feeling anything for the subjects. You might be the only one that I will think about afterwards. I think that you know that is high praise coming from a man of my obvious lack of character.” Blake knew that if he went for the trigger that Jordan would do the same thing. He also knew that that it wasn’t Jordan’s day and that he was going to have to take some extreme action to finish this o
nce and for all.
“We have both been in this profession long enough to know the score. It doesn’t take a rocket science to realize that our lives are not worth the paper that they are printed on. Things like that can make you cry, but you need to learn to have a laugh. If you don’t laugh, then you’ll scream and never stop. We may be at a stalemate, but something has to give. I’ve always known that things can go wrong, but they don’t remain that way for very long.” It was as bad as it could be. It seemed like everybody was trying to gun for him. Nothing was coming easy, but his father had taught Jordan that anything worth doing wasn’t easy.
“I could’ve easily shot you in the back, but I thought that I would give you the respect of seeing it coming. I don’t want to do this, but it’s not like I can just turn around and leave you breathing. If I were to do that, then my reputation wouldn’t be anything. Even my other horsemen would turn against me and make me think that I am weak. I can’t have that and I do believe that we have talked this to death.” He motioned for Jordan to come closer. He stepped out of the room and back into the playroom.
Blake didn’t see Lila hiding behind the couch and waiting for her time to strike.
She knew why she was feeling this adrenaline rush and she was drunk on the power of having that fire poker in her hands. It made her feel like she could do anything, but it was a far cry from actually having a weapon that could fire off a shot from across the room. “I have to believe that Jordan has a plan. I won’t do anything, unless it’s absolutely necessary. I would love to come to his rescue for a change, but he’s the kind of man that will take offense by that. He would rather die than let somebody fight his battle for him.”
“I guess the joke is on me and I don’t really think that it’s funny. I caught the eye of a young lady and that has changed me. I don’t know how long that’s going to work before I need to get back into the action.” Jordan noticed out of the corner of his eye that there was a pair of shoes coming from behind the couch. At first, he thought that he was looking at one of the other horsemen about to ambush him. The shoes in question were a little smaller. That could only mean that Lila was lying in wait. He didn’t want her to put herself in danger, but she was the type of girl that wasn’t going to stand idly by and do nothing.