The Fighter

by Leslie Georgeson

  I hadn’t put her to bed yet, because I didn’t want to have to read to her and have her hear me stumbling over the words like an idiot. Hazel bounded into Anna’s path, halting her before she reached the doorway to her bedroom.

  “You’re still up?” Anna asked, darting a questioning glance my way. I shrugged. She knew about my dyslexia and that I hated to read.

  Hazel nodded. “Yep. Did you bring me more books?”

  Anna knelt before Hazel. “I did. Would you like to see them?”

  “Yeah!”

  Anna glanced back at me, then rose to her feet. She went into the living room and settled onto the couch with Hazel, setting the stack of books next to her on the cushion. She glanced up at me again briefly, blushed, then opened the first book.

  Something was up. I sensed it. Anna was acting strange. Shifty. Had something happened?

  I didn’t want to let Anna out of my sight until I’d had a chance to confront her, find out what was bothering her, but I couldn’t do that with Hazel listening in. So I grabbed my phone and settled into the recliner next to the couch. Anna darted another glance at me, then scooted the pile of books closer to her.

  What was that all about? Did she not want me to see what she was reading to Hazel? That was strange. And totally unlike Anna. Something was definitely up. As soon as Hazel was in bed, I would get to the bottom of this.

  I played around on my phone for the next half hour while Anna read Hazel several stories. It was past Hazel’s regular bedtime. Why did I get the feeling Anna was putting off Hazel’s bedtime so she didn’t have to be alone with me? What was going on with her?

  Finally, Anna and Hazel got up from the couch. I kissed Hazel goodnight, then returned to the chair. I eyed the stack of books where Anna had left them sitting on the couch. Water turned on in the bathroom as Hazel brushed her teeth, then Anna tucked her into bed.

  I eyed the books again, wondering why Anna was acting so strange. Had she checked out a book she thought I wouldn’t approve of?

  I snorted. As if I cared. My dyslexia turned reading into a nightmare that I avoided as much as possible. I didn’t care what she read. And I knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t choose anything that was inappropriate for Hazel. So why was she acting so weird?

  Anna came back into the room. She glanced at me in the chair, then bent to pick up the books.

  I rose, stepping in front of her, preventing her from fleeing.

  “What books did you check out? Can I see?”

  She hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Just some children’s books for Hazel.” She held them up, one at a time, and read the title of each one as she did. There was nothing suspicious at all about any of the books.

  But as she showed me the last one, I noticed a torn page hanging out from the bottom.

  “That one has a torn page,” I said, motioning to it.

  Anna glanced down at the book. Then she paled. She pressed the book against her chest and tried to move around me. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

  Why was she acting like this? I grabbed the book and pulled. She pulled back, trying to keep me from taking it. What the fuck? Now I had to know what was up. I latched onto the book and yanked. She finally released the book and stepped back. In the struggle, she bumped the stack of books sitting on the edge of the couch. The entire stack crashed to the floor at our feet, several pages falling out. She gasped, her eyes widening.

  I glanced down at the pile of books to see what was wrong.

  And stared into a black and white computer printout of my own face.

  My breath caught. Dread slammed into me.

  No!

  I bent and snatched up the flyer.

  Anna’s breathing quickened. Her heart rate accelerated. She swallowed hard. My acute senses picked all this up while I stared at what appeared to be a wanted poster. Of me. Someone was offering $50,000 for information leading to my whereabouts. Since The General was dead, I knew this flyer wasn’t his. Anyone could have printed this. Anyone. Even Anna.

  At least four of five of the flyers had fallen out of the books and lay scattered on the floor.

  The blood roared in my ears. What was she doing with all these wanted posters? Had she printed them? Where? How? Why?

  Anna knew who I was.

  How long had she known? Had she been fooling me all this time? Is this what she did when she took her personal time, hanging up wanted posters of me all around town?

  The breath left my lungs in a whoosh. Pain pinched my heart. She’d betrayed me. Anna was a traitor. She’d fooled me, gotten under my skin. Made me want her. Made me care. I was so stunned, so hurt, I could hardly breathe.

  Did she work for The Company? She’d infiltrated my home, my life, my daughter’s life, disguised as a fucking nanny. Deceitful bitch.

  I tackled her, knocking her back onto the couch. She gasped and fought back, trying to use some of the self-defense moves I’d taught her, but she was no match for me. I easily caught her wrists and held them above her head while straddling her waist and sitting heavily on top of her to keep her from escaping.

  “Who the fuck are you?” I snarled, glaring down into her frightened face. “Who are you?”

  She swallowed hard. “You know me. I’m Anna. I never lied to you.” Her words were breathless, filled with terror.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and drew in a deep breath. Slowly exhaling, I leaned down until my face was nearly touching hers. “Who. Are. You? I want the truth.”

  Her eyes swam with tears. “I’m Anna. You know me. You know me. Please, Jacob. Don’t hurt me.”

  “Fuck!” I jumped up from the couch, yanking her up with me. I reached for one of the flyers and shook it at her. “What are you doing with these? Did you print them? Did you post them around town? Is that what you do on your personal time?”

  She started to tremble, her terror palpable. A single tear trickled down her cheek. “No. I swear. I saw them in t-town and took them down. I didn’t want anyone else to s-see them. I was trying to protect you.”

  I snorted and thrust her aside. “Protect me? Nice try.”

  “It’s the truth,” she whispered, wiping at the stray tear. “I saw the first one in the library tonight and it freaked me out. I didn’t…” she swallowed hard. “I didn’t know you were a dreg. I didn’t even think the dregs were real. But everything makes sense now. Why you’re so dangerous. Why you’re so cautious. I just wish you had told me the truth. I would have rather you told me than having to find out this way.”

  I drew in a ragged breath, trying to get my emotions under control. Emotions. Yeah. Fuck. It had been a while since I’d felt anything. Damn Anna for making me “feel” again. For making me hurt. “I don’t believe you. Tell me the truth.”

  She drew in a deep breath and lifted her chin. “I’m not lying to you, Jacob. Look!” She pointed at one of the flyers. “See the tear at the top? They all have tears because I yanked them off the walls. If I had been hanging them up, then there wouldn’t be any tears on them.”

  I glanced at the flyer in my hand, then snatched up a second and a third. She was right. They all had tears in them.

  “I didn’t betray you, Jacob. I swear. I tore them down to protect you. Me hanging them up doesn’t make any sense. I already knew where you were. I’ve known where you were for two weeks now. Why would I hang up flyers if I already knew? Please. You’ve got to believe me.”

  “Fuck.” I rubbed a hand roughly over my face. I wanted to believe her. So damn much. Because if she was telling the truth, then that meant she cared about me. That meant she had truly taken down these flyers to protect me. It meant she was as genuine as I’d always thought she was.

  She touched my hand. “Jacob?”

  I lifted my head, my gaze boring into hers. “Why were you trying to hide the flyers from me?”

  She turned scarlet and lowered her gaze. “Because I was still in shock and I wasn’t sure how to confront you about it.” She drew in another deep brea
th, puffed it out. “I was afraid of how you would react.”

  I groaned. I was caving. Giving in. Because I wanted to believe her so badly.

  She cares. You know she does.

  I sighed, raked a hand through my hair. Fuck. I believed her.

  She wasn’t a traitor. She hadn’t been fooling me all along. She’d been trying to protect me.

  My heart swelled. She was an ally. Not an enemy. She cared.

  “I’m sorry I acted like that,” she whispered. “I was just…scared of…you.”

  I drew in another deep breath, slowly exhaled. I didn’t want her to be afraid of me. “Does knowing who I am make you more afraid of me?”

  She shook her head negatively. “No. But it makes me understand you better. You would never hurt me.”

  I snorted. “How do you know that? If I found out you had betrayed me, I would have killed you. No hesitation.”

  She shook her head again. “I don’t believe you. You won’t hurt me.”

  Shit. She was right. I could never hurt her. The knowledge that she had tried to protect me, that she’d risked people seeing her take down those flyers and possibly following her here, filled my chest with unexpected warmth. She cared. She truly cared. She’d tried to protect me.

  No one had ever done anything like that for me before. No one except my dreg brothers.

  That warmth in my chest increased, grew hotter.

  Anna now knew my biggest secret. A wave of relief washed over me. I didn’t have to hide anything from her anymore. My secret was now out. But that didn’t necessarily make me want to share the rest of my story. I was still a private person. Sharing didn’t come easily to me.

  “Jacob?”

  I glanced down at her, looking into her pretty brown eyes.

  How did she feel now that she knew the truth?

  I studied her face. Would she leave now? The thought filled me with dread. She couldn’t leave. Hazel needed her. I needed her. But what if the truth was too much for her?

  She lifted a hand to my cheek. “Will you tell me about Just Jacob now?”

  I let out a strangled moan. “Fuck.” Anna cared. She fucking cared.

  I reached for her then, pulling her close, and covered her mouth with mine. Jessica had said to take it slow, but I didn’t want slow. I wanted hot and fast. I wanted Anna. Right fucking now.

  She gasped, her hands coming up to press against my chest. Then she shoved me back. Hard. “Jacob. We need to talk about this.”

  I groaned. I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to touch. To kiss. To taste her everywhere. I wanted to lose myself in her. For hours. I wanted nakedness. Tangled limbs. Skin against skin. I wanted to be all twisted up with her in my bed. I wanted to be on her, in her, wrapped around her, completely consumed by her.

  “Say you want me,” I growled. “Please Anna. Goddammit. Say it.”

  “Jacob.” She looked into my eyes. “I just found out you’re a dreg. That does not make me want to jump into bed with you.”

  Shit. I closed my eyes and heaved out a sigh. What had I expected? Jessica had warned me that if I didn’t tell Anna the truth, she might leave when she found out. And she’d just found out. On her own.

  Don’t leave. Please don’t leave.

  I couldn’t take care of Hazel on my own. I was a complete failure at fatherhood. I needed Anna.

  “Talk to me,” she said gently. “Please. Tell me who Just Jacob is.”

  I swallowed hard and opened my eyes. “I’m not…very good with talking.”

  She smiled gently. “I understand. But you have nothing to fear from me. I want to learn more about you. I want to know you. Please. Open up to me. Tell me about yourself. I won’t judge you, Jacob. I promise.”

  Terror clenched at my gut. “What if the things I tell you make you want to leave?”

  She was silent a moment. “If I make that decision, it won’t be sudden. I promise. If I decide to leave, I will give you time to find someone else.”

  No. She couldn’t leave. I wouldn’t let her.

  A faint sound from the front yard pulled my attention away from Anna.

  Shit.

  “Did anyone follow you here?”

  Her eyes went wide. She shook her head. “No. I was careful. I kept checking behind me to make sure no one saw where I went.”

  That didn’t mean someone hadn’t followed her.

  I snatched my phone from my shirt pocket and pulled up the video footage surrounding the perimeter of the house, checking each camera.

  The camera in the back yard showed no movement. The camera showing the driveway out front showed nothing out of the ordinary as well. The camera on the front porch…was a scrambled mess, showing nothing. Someone had knocked it out. Recently. Within the last five or ten minutes. Because I had just checked it when Anna had gone to put Hazel to bed.

  Fuck.

  I immediately went into survival mode. “Go get Hazel,” I hissed, shoving Anna toward the hallway. “Wake her up and run out the back door and head into the woods. Now!” I should have confided in Anna long before now, prepared her for this. I’d been so arrogant, foolishly thinking I could protect them no matter what. I was a dreg, after all. But even dregs had weaknesses. And my refusal to open up to Anna might well endanger both her and Hazel now.

  “What?” Anna stared up at me. “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Someone must have followed you. They knocked out the camera on the front porch.”

  Anna swallowed hard. Her eyes filled with fear.

  “Go!” I ordered. “I’ll find you later.”

  Anna stumbled toward Hazel’s room while I ran to the front door to peer out the peep hole.

  The door crashed in just as I reached it.

  What the fuck? Anna hadn’t locked it when she’d come in?

  I hadn’t either. I’d been too preoccupied by her strange behavior to remember my regular safety protocols.

  I leapt back, going into fight mode, as armed men barged into the house. I easily took the first one out, knocking him back into the others. The second I killed with a quick snap of his neck. But they kept coming. And coming. Like army ants on the prowl. There were too many of them. Swarming into the house, surrounding me.

  If I wanted to save Anna and Hazel, if we were ever going to get out of here alive, then I had to become the Phantom of Death.

  I drew in a deep breath to steady myself, closed my eyes. And turned the phantom loose.

  I moved like a whirlwind, taking the intruders out. Smack. Thud. Crunch. Thwack.

  Drop. Drop. Drop. They fell to the floor, bodies instead of living men. Five of them. Six. All dead.

  They kept coming, as if they’d been prepared for a war. As if they’d known I was the Phantom of Death.

  I kept fighting, dropping them like flies as they came at me.

  Eight of them dead. Nine.

  Then something pierced my abdomen, and a powerful electrical current jolted through me, seizing my limbs, and dropping me like a rock.

  I lay twitching, gasping, helpless. Unable to move.

  The bastards had used a Taser on me.

  I tried to move, to get back up and fight. Another jolt of electricity shot through me. I moaned, pain zinging through me. My head spun.

  Men surrounded me, guns pointed in my face. I blinked up at them, trying to make sense out of what had just happened.

  “No!” Anna’s voice. It sounded far away. Then someone dragged her forward into my line of vision. She was cradling Hazel protectively against her chest, trying to keep Hazel from seeing. Fuck. The bastards had caught them. How far had she and Hazel gotten before they’d been captured? “Don’t hurt him!” Anna pleaded. “Please!” Hazel burrowed deeper into Anna’s chest, her terror palpable. Bastards! They’d scared my kid! I was going to kill them all!

  A harsh laugh came from my left. I tried to turn my head to see who it was.

  Kenny, the bastard from the veterans’ center, hobbled into the room on his prosthetic l
egs. He snickered as he looked down at me. “Gotcha. Bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you?”

  What the fuck? Who was this guy?

  “You did well, Anna,” Kenny said, moving out of my line of vision. “You were brilliant, in fact. You brought him right to me and then showed me where to find him. Well done.”

  What?

  My head spun. Anna had done this? No. She wouldn’t. She was my ally. Not my enemy.

  You brought him right to me, and then showed me where to find him. Well done.

  Kenny’s words shrilled in my head like a persistent church bell.

  You brought him right to me. Well done.

  Well done.

  Well done.

  My heart seized. Anna had betrayed me. Anna had led me right into danger. She’d convinced me to visit the veterans’ center so Kenny could see me. Then she’d led him right to my door.

  She was a traitor.

  I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. She’d betrayed me.

  The pain of her betrayal was unbearable, swirling through me, cutting off my air, icing over my heart.

  “Chain him up and let’s get out of here. Take the little girl, too. We’ll need her to make sure he cooperates.”

  “No,” I gurgled, but no one heard me. Not Hazel. Don’t hurt her. They zapped me again, another fierce jolt of electricity coursing through me. Rough hands flipped me over. Cold steel clanged, locking tightly around my wrists and ankles. I tried to fight back, but my limbs wouldn’t move.

  I was now shackled.

  Chained.

  A fucking prisoner.

  Because Anna had betrayed me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Anna

  “No! Please don’t hurt him!” I pulled free from the arms holding me back and dropped to the floor next to Jacob, still holding Hazel protectively against me. The poor child was terrified, her eyes squeezed shut. I tried to comfort her as best as I could, but I was as scared as she was, and I wasn’t sure if I was being very effective in comforting her.