Partners

by D B Steward

  Sonny was ignoring her now. She was keeping her eyes on the VIP section, Kelly realized, as she followed her gaze before she turned back to Sonny and extended her hand. “Kelly, Kelly King.” Her hand hovered there over Sonny’s drink for a while and with a slight pout, she took it back. Sonny’s eyes had not shifted from the back area of the club. When Kelly placed her now empty hand on the table, Sonny slowly turned to her with a blank expression on her face. Her smoky eyes locked onto Kelly’s and the ex-FBI agent had to gulp down the apple that had quickly formed in her throat.

  “I’m waiting for someone, Miss King.” Sonny’s voice was even and deep and it had a sultry quality that made Kelly lick her lips.

  Kelly smirked with confidence. “Well, if you’re waiting for Miss Right, then wait no more.” She winked and this time there was a genuine reaction from Sonny with a slight eye roll and an upward pull on the corner of her mouth.

  “Have a lot of luck with that line?” Sonny scoffed before returning her gaze toward the VIP section.

  “It’s never worked before.” Kelly chuckled and moved a lock of her curly red hair behind her ear, suddenly not feeling quite so confident in front of the gorgeous assassin.

  “Then your losing streak continues.” Sonny’s voice remained even. “Why keep using it when it doesn’t work?”

  “I’m very stubborn.” Kelly raised her eyebrows suggestively. “So have I earned a name yet or shall I continue to refer to you as the ‘girl of my dreams’?”

  “My, my, Miss King. Is this your first time hitting on someone? Or do you just enjoy embarrassing yourself?” Sonny’s eyelids became slits and she regarded Kelly carefully as she sipped her drink slowly.

  “I’m not very bright.” Kelly grinned. “But when I see a woman as beautiful as you are, I get even dumber.” Kelly shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. She blew out a breath and shook her body. “Okay, let me start over. My name’s Kelly King, and I think you make a much better-looking brunette, Sonny Moretti.”

  That got her attention. Sonny’s eyebrows flew up and nearly disappeared under her wig. Her lips parted slightly but nothing came out. Kelly smirked over the effect of her words on the other woman. “How do I know you?” Kelly asked the question for her. “That’s what you’re thinking, right? Well, I’m a bounty hunter of sorts, and I’m very good at my job. Don Salvador hired me to bring you in, but you already know that, don’t you?” Sonny closed her mouth with a grimace but remained silent. “Cat got your tongue? Well, I don’t do well with awkward silences so I’m just going to keep talking.” Kelly took another sip of the Martini, keeping eye contact with Sonny the whole time. “You’re waiting for Ivan Popov and you plan on killing him. Tonight maybe, I don’t know. But I do know that you don’t have a gun on you.”

  Small, dark eyes narrowed slightly at Kelly who just smiled back confidently. “I told you, I’m very good at my job.” She winked again and this time Sonny rolled her eyes hard. “But you do have a knife, I’m guessing, hidden somewhere on your body. I can’t quite tell. And I have been looking at your body really hard. You wouldn’t leave the house without a weapon; you’re not that type of lady. Now the only reason that I’m not dead already is because we’re out in the open and there are too many witnesses. And I’m thankful for that because I have no illusions about beating you in a fight. I know how dangerous you are. If you wanted to, you could kill me right now and I wouldn’t find out about it until next week.”

  Sonny chuckled and sipped her drink again. “So, what’s your endgame here, Miss King?” Sonny placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on the back of her hands. “Am I supposed to just let you walk me outside and get into your car? Is that what you think will happen?”

  Kelly leaned in closer, bringing her face within a foot of Sonny’s. “That’s the general idea. However, I’m hoping that you come along willingly. Look, I know why you want Ivan dead. I get it. But the Don—” Sonny cut her off and practically hissed as she spoke through a clenched jaw.

  “No. You don’t get it at all. Ivan Popov is scum. He’s a monster who has ruined these women. He has destroyed their lives forever and he will pay for it.”

  “I realize that and I sympathize, I do. But I’ve got a job to do and I need the money. The Don is a reasonable guy. You might be able to talk him into going easy on you. He likes you and you’ll be treated a lot better by him than you would be by the Popovs. I can tell you that for sure.”

  Sonny looked at Kelly with such contempt that it made Kelly feel like shit. After a few moments of silence, Sonny finally spoke. “What kind of person are you? Don’t you care about these women? How about the ones he will bring over and rape and torture in the future unless he’s stopped now? You can live with that on your conscience? You didn’t see their eyes, Miss King. I did.”

  “Hey, you don’t know me! If I didn’t have this contract on you, I would let you do it. I would let you kill Popov and not lose a minute of sleep. Not one minute. As it is, I have to do this. But I’m willing to do something for you.”

  Sonny crossed her arms and gave Kelly a skeptical look. “You’ll do something for me? And what pray tell is that?”

  “I’m willing to break my primary rule.” Kelly leaned back, mirroring Sonny’s stance. “I never ask what happens to the people I bring in. But this time, with you, I’m going to ask the Don to give you a break. I’ve got a lot of favors banked with the man, and like I said, he’s a reasonable guy. Nothing’s going to happen to you. The only thing you’ve done to the Popovs is kill a couple of their soldiers. You haven’t done anything to Papa Popov or his kid. You leave the city and The Don sweeps this under the rug. Everybody wins.”

  “Except the women,” Sonny said finally and Kelly did not have a response for that; however, she could not see any solution to the plight of those women. Sonny tilted her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows. “So how did you imagine this would go down? Tell me how you were planning on leaving here with me?”

  Kelly shrugged her shoulders and scrunched up her face. “By asking ‘pretty please’?” she said with her voice rising an octave at the end and in spite of herself, Sonny could not hold back the laugh that escaped her lips. She had to admit that this Kelly King woman was pretty bold.

  “I don’t think that would have cut it, Miss King. Did you have a plan B?” Sonny had a slight grin on her face as she finished her drink.

  “I was going to seduce you with my feminine charms.” Kelly wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “How successful would I have been?”

  Sonny chuckled again. She was enjoying this a little, the playful banter with the cute girl. She did not get to socialize too much and she had to admit that Kelly King had a certain charm. “Not very I’m afraid, unless you’ve been holding back thus far.”

  Kelly sighed. “Nope, you were getting my best lines. I guess this explains why I spend so many nights alone.”

  “I find that a little hard to believe. A sense of humor goes a long way, Miss King.” Sonny smiled fully for the first time. “And even though yours isn’t the strongest, you’re good for a chuckle or two.”

  “Sonny, I do believe that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me!” She put her hand over her heart in an overly dramatic way, causing Sonny to roll her eyes hard. Kelly’s eyes grew serious and her smile fell away. “But seriously, Sonny, the path you are looking to take is going to get you killed. The Russians don’t fuck around and you know that. You might get to Ivan but his father is going to come after you and run you over like a freight train.”

  Sonny’s smile faded as well and her demeanor turned cold. “You don’t know me, Miss King. I’m very good at what I do and I’ve been doing it for a long time. If Petrov wants to come after me after I kill his son, then he can bring it on. I’m not suicidal but I’m not backing down either. Ivan has to pay for what he’s doing, and I’m here to make sure he does.”

  A chill ran down Kelly’s spine as she looked into Sonny’s eyes. Kelly had
only seen a few corpses in her time as an agent, but the lifeless eyes had always unsettled her. Those were the same kind of eyes Sonny had right now, and they made Kelly wonder just what was inside the soul of this woman across from her. Right now, those cold eyes looked away from Kelly’s and locked onto the entrance. Kelly followed Sonny’s line of sight and saw what she was focused on. Flanked by two dangerous-looking men was Ivan Popov, moving through the crowd.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Miss King.” Sonny’s deep voice caused Kelly to turn and face her. The eyes were still dark and empty but now there was a grim smile pulling at the lips underneath. “I have a job to do.”

  Chapter Seven

  Sonny stood up and immediately she felt wobbly on her feet. She knew right away that something was wrong. She had only had one drink; she should not be drunk after just one drink. The drink! She turned around and looked back at Kelly with wide eyes. Kelly smiled like a Cheshire cat and confirmed to Sonny just what had happened.

  “You drugged me,” Sonny slurred in disbelief, shaking her head from side to side.

  Kelly nodded, still grinning from ear to ear. “Rohypnol.” She rose from her stool and moved toward the slowly listing Sonny. “I told you, Sonny, there was no way I could beat you in a fight. A fair fight.”

  Sonny swayed to the left as Kelly wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled the other woman close to her. “You drugged me,” Sonny repeated, feeling the fog slowly creeping into her thoughts.

  Kelly grinned as she matched Sonny’s swaying, making it appear to the outside world as though the two women were just dancing. “What can I say? I’m good at my job.” She smiled as she began to dance them both toward the exit. “Now here’s how it’s going to go down. We are going to dance out of here. I’m going to put you in my van and we are going to drive to the Don’s place. Then when you wake up, you’ll be on a flight to LA or somewhere, far, far away from any Popovs.”

  Sonny grimaced in frustration—she was so close to her objective. Ivan and his men were coming toward them, laughing with each other as they headed toward the VIP section of the club. Here was her opportunity and she could not complete her objective because of this damned woman. A fury began to burn inside of her like an inferno. Ivan Popov needed to die. “No,” she hissed.

  Kelly saw the look of fierce determination that flashed like an explosion in Sonny’s eyes just then. She gulped as she saw Sonny pull a knife seemingly out of nowhere at nearly lightspeed. Oh shit. Before she could act, Sonny had slipped free from her and lunged toward Ivan. The strobing lights from the club reflected off the steel blade, drawing the eyes of those around it.

  “Ivan!” Sonny screamed his name but her voice still sounded a little muddled. Ivan’s eyes showed his confusion at first but then went wide in fear as he saw the razor’s edge of the blade streak toward him. Kelly reached out for Sonny’s arm at the same time but her fingers came up just inches short.

  With her reflexes dulled from the drug in her system, Sonny was a fraction of a second too late to stab her intended target with a killing stroke. Instead, Ivan stuck his hand out instinctively to shield himself and his palm was cut deep by the knife. He howled in pain, and to Kelly, the whole club seemed to freeze in time.

  Sonny was growling and reading herself to attack again, but Kelly took the opportunity to grab her by the wrist before Sonny could attack again. Taking advantage of the momentary shock that everyone was in, she yanked Sonny hard by the wrist and sprinted to the front door of the club. The bodyguards were the first to move, one of them grabbing Ivan and pulling the younger Popov behind him. The other bodyguard pulled his pistol and began firing into the crowd at the two women.

  As the shots rang out, all Hell broke loose in the club. People screamed and pushed in every direction, trying to get away. Kelly reached the front door and pushed Sonny through when she suddenly felt a hot kick in her buttock.

  “Fuck!” she yelled as she stumbled outside of the club. She touched the burning area with her hand and when she brought it back to look at it, she saw the blood on her fingers. Her rear end felt like her pants were on fire. “He shot me in the ass!” she shouted to Sonny in disbelief. The assassin looked at her with the same fire in her eye as she had before and for a moment, Kelly was worried that she was going to attack her.

  “You stopped me!” Sonny raged at the wounded woman even as the corners of her vision began to lose focus.

  “You’re welcome!” Kelly yelled back at her and snatched the knife from Sonny’s hand easily. Sonny’s strength was slowly starting to ebb and her grip on her weapon had loosened. Kelly grabbed the unsteady woman’s hand and pulled her down the sidewalk as she kicked off her high heels and ran in her bare feet. People began to spill out of the club in a stampede, screaming in panic and confusion. Kelly tried to run faster but between holding onto the drugged woman and a bullet in her backside, she knew she was not going to get very far. Her van was parked three blocks away and therefore practically impossible to get to. “Shit! Your car better be close!” she screamed at Sonny and started limping as she was really starting to feel the pain of the gunshot now.

  “Don’t have a cars,” Sonny said with her eyes starting to droop. She had stopped struggling against the other woman and now seemed content to let herself be led along.

  Kelly was ready to panic, knowing that at any second the bodyguards would be outside and looking to kill them both. “What the fuck?! Did you take the bus here?” Kelly couldn’t believe how quickly everything had gone sideways.

  “Don’t have a car. Have bike.” Sonny lazily pointed to a motorcycle that was parked right next to them.

  “Great. Give me the keys!” Sonny pulled the keys out of her purse and dangled them in her fingers playfully. Kelly snatched them and climbed onto the bike painfully. “Oww! Fuck!” She grabbed Sonny and pulled her onto the motorcycle behind her. With the rohypnol in her system, Sonny had rapidly become very amiable and wrapped her arms around Kelly’s waist without much prompting. Kelly started the bike and the powerful engine roared to life. Just then, the bodyguards along with a bleeding Ivan exited out of the club and onto the sidewalk.

  “There they are!” Ivan pointed and the guards raised their guns, attempting to aim at the two women while the crowd jostled their arms as the mob continued to flee.

  “Hang on!” Kelly yelled over the engine noise and peeled out into the street. She heard the shots ring out behind her and she thought she felt a bullet rocket past her head. “Shit!” She sped through a red light and zipped the nimble motorcycles in between cars ahead of them, trying to put as much distance between the two of them and Ivan’s men.

  “I think they’re right behind us,” Sonny shouted into her ear, her words slurring even worse than before. Kelly looked in one of the side mirrors and saw a black Mercedes-Benz AMG G63 SUV gaining on them from behind, a veritable tank on wheels.

  “Shit! Fuck!” Kelly yelled, her luck obviously deserting her tonight.

  “There’s something wet on the seat,” Sonny said into her ear with disgust.

  “They shot me in the ass, Sonny!” Kelly yelled back at her, trying to navigate through traffic and shut out the pain that was pulsing in her butt.

  “Turn left,” Sonny said sleepily.

  Kelly shook her head, confused as to what the drugged woman had said. “What?”

  “I said turn left.” Sonny looked behind her as they zipped past the intersection. “Back there. Turn left.”

  “Shit!” Kelly turned hard on the bike, tires squealing, and headed back the way they came. They passed Ivan’s SUV and Kelly could see the angry faces of the bodyguards in the front seat.

  “Now it’s going to be a right turn.” Sonny giggled. Kelly gunned the motorcycle down the road, speeding past more cars.

  “Where are we going?” Kelly yelled, wishing that the vibrating bike would stop aggravating her wound.

  “My place. Turn left.” Kelly nearly missed the turn again due to Sonny’s speech slowi
ng but recovered in time to make the turn.

  “I need to get to a hospital!” Kelly told her.

  “Why?”

  “They shot me in the ass, Sonny!” Kelly repeated angrily.

  Sonny laughed. “Oh yeah, I forgot. Does it hurt?”

  “Fuck yeah it hurts! I have a bullet in my ass and I’m bouncing down the street on a motorcycle going 80 miles an hour!”

  “You’re funny! Turn right.” Kelly grimaced as she made the turn at the last minute.

  “Tell me where to go sooner!” she yelled at Sonny behind her.

  “Okay!” Sonny yelled in aggravation. “Turn left! You’re so bossy!”

  “Damn it! Tell me sooner, Sonny!” she yelled as she jerked the bike again.

  “I would have but you were too busy screaming at me!” Sonny said, pouting.

  “Why the hell are we going to your place! I need a hospital! There is a hole in my ass that shouldn’t be there!”

  “They’ll be looking for you there. My place is better.”

  “That doesn’t help the bullet get out of my ass!” Kelly countered.

  “I can take the bullet out, you big baby!” Sonny mocked her. “Go straight for six blocks. You can slow down now, we lost them.” Kelly checked the mirrors and verified that the road was clear behind them before she began to decelerate the motorcycle. Sonny was now squirming in the seat behind her.

  “What are you doing back there, Sonny?” Kelly asked through gritted teeth as she brought their speed down to the legal limit.

  “You’re getting blood on me!” Sonny whined. “You are so cleaning this up!”