by Wilder, L.
Jasper’s smile warmed my heart as he looked at me and said, “Just telling it like it is.”
He took the reel, and as he pushed the button, he brought the pole behind him then thrust it forward, releasing the line into the river below. When the bright orange lure splashed against the water, I took my rod and reel and tried to do the same. While my lure didn’t make it very far, it came closer than I thought it would. I reeled it back in and tried it for a second time. Pride washed over me when it actually made it to the water. “How’s that for a city girl?”
“Not bad. Not bad at all.” He glanced over at me, watching my reaction as he added, “We’ll have to see how you do when we use actual bait.”
“What kind of bait?”
“It depends on what you’re trying to catch. We usually use worms for catfish, and minnows for crappie.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“It’s not”—he turned his attention back to the water—“until you have to put the hook through the minnow’s eyes.”
“Through their eyes? That’s gross!”
“Only way to keep them alive long enough to catch a fish.”
“I never knew fishing was so gruesome.”
He shook his head again as he muttered, “City girls.”
“Hey—” I started to fuss, but stopped when my pole lurched forward and the line started zipping down the river. I quickly started turning the reel, drawing in the line as I tried pulling in my catch. When I finally brought my fish out of the water, I boasted, “How’s that for a city girl?”
“I’d say that’s pretty damn good, or it could just be beginner’s luck.”
“Um-hmm.”
He grabbed the end of my line and moved the fish over to the bank next to us. “Now, you have to get him off the hook.”
“What?”
“You gotta get the hook out or is that asking too much from a city girl like you?” he poked as he handed me a set of pliers.
“Oh, I can do it.” I picked up the fish and tugged at the hook with the pliers, but it wouldn’t budge. I glanced over at Jasper to seek some advice but stopped when I saw the smug look on his face. Determined to figure it out on my own, I decided to ease it out exactly the same way it went in. After several minutes, I finally managed to pull it through and released the hook from the fish’s mouth then placed it in the bucket. Feeling pretty satisfied with my accomplishment, I looked over at Jasper with a smile. “See. Not such a city girl after all.”
“It’ll take more than catching a fish to prove me wrong.”
“Really? What else is it gonna take?”
“I’ll show you later. Right now, I have to catch something before my manhood is questioned.”
I cast my line again, and it wasn’t long before I snagged another. When I started to reel it in, I snickered. “How’s that manhood feeling now?”
“Easy there, or I’ll have to find another way to prove my manly capabilities.”
“Umm … and what might that be?”
“Unhook your fish, Madison.”
“Fine.”
While grinning ear to ear, I pulled the hook from its mouth and placed it in the bucket with the other one I’d caught. We continued fishing for the next hour, talking and teasing one another as I continued to catch more fish than him. It felt good to see Jasper loosen up a bit and actually smile. I’d hoped it would last, but the second his new burner cell started to ring, his whole body tensed. He pulled it out of his pocket and walked back towards the house as he answered the call. I couldn’t tell what was being said, but it was clear from Jasper’s expression that something was troubling him. When he hung up the phone, I wanted to ask him what was going on, but he disappeared into the house before I had a chance. Moments later he returned carrying a familiar duffle bag.
After laying it down on the ground, he walked to the end of the dock and picked up the bucket of fish and his fishing rod. “Going somewhere?”
“Just up the hill.” He motioned for me to follow as he said, “C’mon, let’s see if you can prove yourself worthy of being a country girl.”
“And how am I supposed to do that?”
“You’ll see.” He took the bucket of fish inside only to return with a hammer and a handful of nails. “Have you ever shot a gun before?”
“Uhh … no. I haven’t had a reason to.”
“That’s what I thought.” He nailed a target to a nearby tree, then started digging around in his bag. He pulled out a small handgun, quickly loaded it with ammunition, then offered it to me. “This is a 9mm. It’s pretty light and doesn’t have much kick.”
I took the gun from his hand and asked, “So, what do I do?”
“First, you need to know how to use the safety.” He took a moment to show me how to push the safety button on and off and how to load the clip. After figuring out my dominant eye and hand, he pointed out the correct way to align the front and back sights to mark the target. Once I was in position, he said, “Place your left hand under your right for support, and it might help to breath out when taking the shot.”
“Okay, but no judgements. This is my first time after all.”
“No judgements. Just focus and ease back on the trigger.”
As I looked at the target, I went back over everything Jasper had told me, then released the safety. I inhaled a deep breath, and as I exhaled, I pulled the trigger. The sound was louder than I expected, making me flinch and clamp my eyes shut. When I opened them, it wasn’t a surprise that I hadn’t hit the center of the target, but I was close. “I can do better.”
“I know you can,” Jasper replied, sounding confident. I prepared myself to take another shot, going through the same steps all over again, only this time I kept my eyes open. Just as I’d hoped, my aim was closer to the center. “Again.”
I nodded as I lifted my hand and prepared to take another shot, letting out a deep breath before pulling back the trigger. I repeated the same steps over and over until I’d run out of ammunition. Afterwards, I studied the target and was excited that quite a few of my shots had gotten pretty close to the center, and I’d even hit it several times. “How’s that?”
“Pretty damn good. I gotta say … I’m impressed.”
“I am too. I never thought that would be so much fun.”
Jasper’s eyes narrowed as he said, “Not exactly fun when it’s a real person standing in front of you instead of a target.” He returned the 9mm to his bag and removed the target from the tree. “If the time comes, you just have to keep a level head and remember what I taught you.”
“Okay, I’ll try.” When we started walking back up to the house, I turned to him and asked, “So … um … Who was that on the phone? I was just wondering if it might’ve been Devin calling with some information on the code.”
“It wasn’t Devin.” As I followed him inside, he said, “It was a friend of mine. He’ll be coming down for a visit later tonight.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I’m hoping he can give me some insight on a few things.”
“So, it’s a good thing he’s coming, right?”
“I hope so. I won’t know until he gets here.”
There was something about Jasper’s tone that concerned me, but I didn’t push. He carried his duffle bag into the back bedroom, and when he returned, I asked, “What time will he be here?”
“Around five thirty or so.”
“Will he be having dinner with us?”
“No, he won’t. In fact, he can’t know you’re here.” Jasper walked over to me and placed his hands on my hips. “I meant it when I said I’m not taking any chances with your safety.”
“But you said he was a friend of yours.”
“Doesn’t mean I trust him. Hell, I don’t trust anyone … except you and my family. Everyone else is considered a risk. With that in mind, I’ll be meeting him in the next county over.”
“You think he might know who put the hit on you?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, I hope he has some answers. Good news or bad, it sure would be nice to know something.”
“I can’t disagree with you there.”
“Do you think Devin will be able to figure out that code?”
He gave me a slight shrug. “He seemed fairly confident that he could, but I won’t know until he gets back to me.”
“So, what happens when all of this is over?”
“What do you mean?”
Jasper and I had only known each other for a short amount of time, and I wasn’t sure how or when it had happened, but I’d fallen for him. I’d fallen for him hard, loved him even, and I couldn’t imagine not having him in my life. I hoped that he felt the same way about me, but we hadn’t actually said the words. “When this is all over … when our lives are no longer in danger, what will happen with us?”
“There’s no way of knowing what the future holds, Madison.”
I had hoped he’d tell me that he wanted to be with me, but he didn’t say anything close to that and it hurt. Doing my best to hide how I felt, I stepped away from him and said, “You’re right. Silly to worry about that right now. We have fish to clean up, after all.”
“I’ve got it. You caught ’em. The least I can do is clean ’em.”
“Okay. While you’re doing that, I’m going to get cleaned up myself.” I started down the hall as I told him, “I’ll be back in a minute.”
When I got to the bedroom, I closed the door behind me and tried to fight back my tears. I silently cursed myself for getting upset. Jasper had been good to me. He’d shown me that I meant something to him by risking his life to protect me, and I needed to pull it together and stop feeling rejected. After I grabbed some clean clothes, I headed into the bathroom and turned on the water. Once I was undressed, I stepped into the shower and let the hot water run down my face. After several minutes of just standing there, letting the water flow down my shoulders and neck, I washed my hair. I was just about to reach for my conditioner when I felt a rush of cool air at my back. I turned around and found Jasper standing behind me with a strange expression on his face. Our eyes locked as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me towards him. Lowering his mouth to my ear, he whispered, “It might sound crazy … but when I think about the future, all I see is you.”
Then, his lips met mine, and he kissed me with a tenderness that I’d never known was possible. Water cascaded between us as we clung to one another, relishing the feel of our bodies so close together. I whimpered against his lips as he delved deeper into my mouth, and it wasn’t long before we were both lost in the moment. He reached down and lifted me up, pinning me against the cold shower wall as I wrapped my legs around his waist. It seemed like every time I was close to him, my entire body came to life as I melted into his arms. We made love right there in the shower and once again in the bedroom. When we were both fully sated, we lay tangled in each other’s arms, kissing and talking until it was time for him to get ready to leave.
After we’d both gotten dressed, Jasper unzipped his duffle bag and took out the 9mm I’d shot earlier and reloaded the clip. Needless to say, I was shocked when he handed it to me and said, “If anyone shows up here, you know what to do.”
Even though the thought scared me senseless, I nodded and said, “Okay.”
“Remember the safety.”
“You’re scaring me, Jasper.”
He leaned down and kissed me on the temple. “It’s okay to be scared. Just remember what I taught you.”
All I could do was nod. I watched with utter dread as he took out a second gun and placed it in his back holster, then shoved another in his boot. Before leaving, he turned to me and said, “Stay inside and keep the doors locked. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Please be careful and hurry back.”
“I will.” He started for the door, then stopped and turned to me. “I thought I would die never really knowing how it felt …”
He didn’t finish his thought. He didn’t have to. I knew exactly what he meant.
15
Jasper
It had been ten years or more since I’d driven through the old southern town of Savannah, and nothing had changed. The square still had the same mom-and-pop shops filled with yesterday’s fashions, and the old, dilapidated empty buildings that were once filled with the hopes and dreams of either a new hit restaurant or a trendy shop. Unfortunately, many of them had closed before they ever had a chance to get started. Even still, there was something comforting in knowing the place where I’d spent my summers as a kid was still the same, but as I drove towards Parker’s Crossroads, that feeling of comfort quickly turned to dread. I wasn’t looking forward to my meeting with Charlie, but I knew it had to be done. I needed to see him face to face, to watch his mannerisms and facial expressions when we talked so I’d know once and for all if he had anything to do with the hit that was put on me.
I figured it would be safer to do so out in public, so I’d told him to meet me at the city park. I chose it because there were always people touring the 368-acre American Civil War battlefield. They all wanted to see the place where Nathan Bedford Forrest gained the Confederate army access to the Tennessee River. When I pulled up, I spotted Charlie’s car next to the fence and parked alongside him. As soon as I got out of the car, he looked over to me and said, “I wasn’t sure if you’d come today.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I started walking towards the visitor’s center—a place where I knew people would be watching. He followed me over to one of the picnic tables that was out in clear sight, and as he sat down next to me, he said, “I was worried you might’ve changed your mind.”
“I considered it, but figured I owed it to you to at least meet with you face-to-face.”
“I’m glad you came to that conclusion.” He took a quick glance around before saying, “I’d hate for something like this to ruin a good thing, ’cause damn, man, we had a really good thing going.”
“Yeah, we did.”
“You gotta know I didn’t have shit to do with that fucking hit. Just think about it, Jasper. You’ve made me a shit-ton of money. Why would I want to throw that away?”
“You’re the only one who can answer that for sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s because I didn’t follow the rules … that I’m a liability now and you need to set things straight.”
“If that was the case, then I would’ve handled it myself. I wouldn’t have gotten some jerkoff to do the job for me! You need to remember who I am. I’m more than capable of taking care of my own shit.” When I didn’t immediately respond, he looked to the ground and said, “I’ll be upfront with you. It wasn’t too smart that you went nosing around that girl’s stuff. You should’ve burned that shit or left it with the body, and you sure as hell shouldn’t have been asking questions about the hit. If it got out that you were second-guessing a job, that would be the end of it … the end of you, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing I could do to stop it.”
“I had my reasons for wanting to know about the Brooks’ girl.”
“I get that, but that still doesn’t make it right.” He let out a deep breath then said, “What if you asked questions like that about Pascal or Sosa? Hell, they were both heavy into the cartel life. You got any idea how many people would love to see you burn for killing those two assholes?”
“This isn’t the same. They deserved what they had coming. You can’t say the same for Brooks.”
“That’s where you’ve gotten things all twisted up. You were hired to complete an assignment. That doesn’t give you the right to question whether or not the hit was acceptable!” Charlie ran his hands through his salt-and-pepper hair and down the back of his neck, grumbling something incoherent under his breath. “We need to be focusing on who hired Murdock.”
Again, Charlie was saying all the right things, and not only that, he wasn’t showing any signs of guilt—no twitching or repeating himself—and it was hard not to believe what he was sayin
g. Hoping to force his hand, I looked over to him and asked, “Just tell me what you know, and I’ll leave it alone.”
He didn’t flinch. He didn’t fidget in his seat. He didn’t so much as blink when he answered, “I don’t know anything. I assumed there was something in her file that would tell us why, but like you, I didn’t find a thing.”
“And the code?”
“Don’t know anything about it, and from what I can tell, no one else seems to know either. Look, I know this whole thing is important to you, but believe me when I say you’ve gotta let it go.”
“I know, and I will.” Feeling more confused than ever, I leaned back and crossed my arms. “How well did you know Murdock?”
“Never met the guy. Only heard about him from a couple of my contacts.” He shrugged. “After hearing about all the fuckups he’d had over the past couple of years, I decided to steer clear of him and either assigned all my jobs to you or I handled them myself.”
“Any idea who still used him?”
“Not many … Most had gotten burned by him and no longer had any use for him. That’s why I was so surprised when you said he was the one who showed up at your place.”
“You got any idea on who might’ve sent him?”
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since you called last night. I put together a list of the people you’d taken out in the past six months, and after I made a few calls, I came up with a few possibilities.”
“Such as?”
“Lopez and Hernandez were both heavy in the cartel. There’s a possibility that some of their people could’ve managed to find something that connected you to their murders.”
“I already told you. There’s no way that could’ve happened.”
“Even the very best make mistakes.” He cocked his eyebrow as he added, “It just takes one person seeing you. Just one.”
“Okay, let’s say someone saw me … even managed to identify me out of a crowd, how in the hell would they track me down?”
“I’m not sure. But we can’t just assume that it isn’t possible. Hell, anything is possible.” He took a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. “Ricardo Rodrigues was Lopez’s right-hand man. He was in the States a week ago.”