He groaned and felt for Jess.
“Honey, I've got to go,” he said, patting her hip. Something wasn't right.
He sat up. Jess wasn't moving. He shook her. Nothing. Her body flopped lifelessly in his arms. There was movement in the house. Noises getting closer. The bedroom door was open. From the sounds coming in off the street, so was the front door. He'd been out nearly twelve hours.
“Jess,” he said desperately.
Her blue eyes were wide and fixed up at the ceiling, sparkling unnaturally.
“No. No, no, no. Jess. Come on.”
She was cold. Her lips as blue as her eyes. The pounding in his head grew louder. So did the noises. His things were everywhere. He had to move. But it was too late.
“Put your hands in the air!” Rachel's ex-boyfriend shouted. A second, older man rolled a metal case towards him and the room erupted in noise. Charlie pressed his hands to his ears. His head started to pound.
“You're under arrest!”
The older man inspected Jess' body. “You sick bastard. You're coming with us.”
Charlie kept his hands in the air. He closed his eyes and fought through the pain. This was bad. This was really, really bad.
John drove towards Lulu's. He slammed on the brakes, racking up the cars behind him.
“What's wrong?” Rachel asked.
“The cops have Charlie.”
“What! How do you know?”
“Because he always knows,” Roxy said.
John turned the car around.
“What are you doing?”
“We've got eight hours before the Institute get here. I'm going to rescue the stupid motherfucker.”
Epilogue
The ambulance flashed at him. A man and a woman waited by the back door. They were in hospital uniform but they weren't doctors. Janus pulled his car up. He left the keys in the ignition. He wouldn't be needing them anymore. The man opened the ambulance door for Janus and he got in.
“Doctor Curtis,” Sol said from inside. “I'm glad you decided to join us.”
Janus sat down. An old man lay between them. He was hooked up to a medicom, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in.
He felt himself flickering, memories and thoughts that weren't his own started to chafe at the back of his mind, but he slapped them back.
“There was a complication with the S'aven woman. Another Reacher came. The one we spoke about. She wasn't alone. I know her.”
Sol smiled. There was nothing he didn't know.
He came to Janus the night Jan and Rachel had gone out. And he understood everything. Sol was a pious man, he recognised what Janus was doing – he applauded it. Sol was a Reacher, Janus was a Reacher – two fallen angels doing God's work. When he arrived it all fell into place.
“She saw you?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Who is this?” Janus gestured to the old man.
“Another sinner.” The ambulance started moving. “We'll be heading north to be with our own kind. You will keep him alive while we're there.”
“Keep him alive?”
“Yes, we need him, Janus. He's going to bring us redemption. And then we will bring the reckoning.”
END
About the Author
L E Fitzpatrick is a writer of dark adventure stories and thrillers. Under the watchful eye of her beloved rescue Staffordshire Bull Terrier, she leaps from trains and climbs down buildings, all from the front room of a tiny cottage in the middle of the Welsh countryside.
Inspired by cult film and TV, L E Fitzpatrick's fiction is a collection of twisted worlds and realities, broken characters, and high action. She enjoys pushing the boundaries of her imagination and creating hugely entertaining stories.
Other Titles by L E Fitzpatrick
The Reacher Series:
The Running Game
Reacher Short Stories:
Safe Haven
Family
www.lefitzpatrick.com
Dear reader,
Thank you for taking time to read Border Lines. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.
Border Lines (Reachers Book 2) Page 22