by J. L. Drake
Harmon removed his hand from McCoy’s shoulder and opened the door to his office, going back in.
“Come on,” he called over his shoulder to McCoy. “Let’s get this all ironed out so you can get going sometime tomorrow.”
David sighed with relief and rushed in behind his boss to have the most important discussion of his life.
***
Jennings and Lloyd were talking when Roger and Jack arrived at the meeting room.
Jennings nodded to them and laughed at something Lloyd said.
“We’re just waiting for Sonya. When she arrives, we’ll get started,” he called out to them as they took seats in the decaying metal folding chairs.
Roger nodded and yawned; he was still tired, even after his nap. Truth be told, he hadn’t slept much at all on Sonya’s couch. They’d talked over supper and then she’d gone to bed, leaving him in the living room with a pillow and blanket. The little spans of sleep he had gotten were plagued by nightmares and glimpses of his past—some of them entwined with what Sonya had shared with him of her memories.
Jack joined in the conversation with Lloyd and Jennings—something about a TV show or a sporting event—but Roger wasn’t interested, so he closed his eyes and tried to sneak in another nap before the meeting.
Minutes later, Sonya walked in. The three men participating in the animated conversation paid little attention to her. She put her hand on Roger’s shoulder and squeezed gently, bringing him fully back to reality with a jolt.
He jumped and looked up at her, smiling faintly.
“You look tired,” he muttered.
“I didn’t sleep much and work was hell,” she said. “You look tired too. Didn’t my couch agree with you?”
Roger laughed. “It wasn’t the couch that wouldn’t allow me to sleep.”
Sonya nodded.
“Okay, since Sonya’s here, we’ll get down to business,” Jennings said, standing and moving to the front of the small group. “What did you two find out today?” He looked at Jack and Roger. “Did you get a feel for the family? Schools? The stores they shop in? Anything?”
Roger leaned forward and extracted a folded sheet of paper from the back pocket of his jeans; he handed it to Jennings as he sat back.
“That’s the times they did things, the names of the schools, the route they took to each, and anything else you might want to know,” he said.
Jennings read over it and handed it to Sonya.
“Do you know where that store is? Or any of the other places she stopped?” he asked her.
She nodded. “Yeah, I know where these places are.”
“Good. I want you to befriend the woman,” Jennings said.
Sonya’s head snapped up and she stared at Jennings for a moment.
“What?”
“I was thinking about it last night and I’ve decided the best way for us to get close to the family is for you to befriend the woman.”
“When am I supposed to have time to do that?” Sonya asked. “Between work and doing this, I’m pretty much tapped out.”
“Find time,” Jennings said. “It’s not like you have to spend every waking moment with her or anything, just become her friend. Hell, talk to her on the phone once in a while, do what women do.”
Sonya sat back with a scowl on her face.
Jennings waited for a couple of minutes, watching her—the rest of the room was completely silent, caught up on the edge of tension between the two.
“Are you going to do it?” Jennings finally asked, ending the standoff.
“If I have to,” she snarled. “I’m doing it under protest though.”
“She’s about as grumpy as Roger was today,” Jack mumbled under his breath to Lloyd. “I think they were up all night bangin’ each other, but Roger denies it.”
“What?” Lloyd practically screamed.
Everyone turned to look at him with shocked expressions on their faces.
“Um, er…” Jack sputtered. “He spent the night at her house…”
Lloyd stood and glared at Roger.
“You stayed at Sonya’s? Why?” he asked in a heated tone.
Roger got swiftly to his feet, holding his hands up in front of himself.
“It’s not what you think,” he said. “I slept on the couch. Nothing happened.”
Lloyd punched Roger in the face, sending him sprawling to the cement floor—chairs clattered and screeched as he bumped them on the way down.
“Lloyd!” Sonya screamed, charging forward, getting between the two men. “I can explain.”
“Please do!” Lloyd yelled. “Or else I’m going to kill the bastard here and now!”
Chapter 13
Jennings stepped forward and stood behind Sonya, further blocking Lloyd’s access to Roger.
“Go get yourself cleaned up,” he said over his shoulder to the injured man, who now had blood running down his chin.
“Lloyd, nothing happened,” Sonya cried, stepping forward to cup his face in her hands.
At first he fought the contact, but eventually gave in.
“Why did he stay at your house then?” he asked, still tense and ready to lash out.
Sonya sighed and glanced at Jack, and then over her shoulder to Jennings.
“Let’s go outside and talk,” she said, nodding toward the door and taking one of his clenched fists in her hand.
He looked at her for a moment, finally let his hand relax, and twined his fingers with hers. He nodded.
They silently left the room, heading for the exit of the building.
“Lloyd is fuckin’ Sonya?” Jack asked as soon as he was sure they were out of earshot, standing up from his chair with a bewildered expression on his face. “That little, skinny punk? What the hell does she see in him?”
“You really aren’t that bright, are you?” Jennings asked, shaking his head. “Don’t underestimate Lloyd. He’s as crazy, if not crazier, than she is. They’re both deadly and you’ve just pissed them off. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes right now.” He chuckled.
“How was I supposed to know?” Jack reasoned, dragging his hands through his hair. “No one told me.”
Jennings shook his head again. “Some things aren’t meant to be shared without cause or thought. Sonya and Lloyd’s previous relationship was mutually intense, but they split—I wasn’t sure they were back together until now. She didn’t even know he was coming to help us, but apparently they wasted no time taking up where they’d left off.”
“I still don’t see why I wasn’t warned!” Jack yelled. “That bitch already stabbed me in the balls and now I have to worry about her psycho boyfriend. This is bullshit!”
“Calm down,” Jennings said, and smiled. “They won’t kill you—at least not until I’m done with you.”
“Then what?” Jack asked. “I’m on their unofficial ‘hit list’?”
Jennings looked at the younger man for a few moments; he opened his mouth to speak, but Jack beat him to it.
“Fuck it! I’m not scared of them,” he ranted. “I’ll kill them first. They better stay the hell away from me.”
Jennings sighed. “You really do need to calm down. They might not do anything to you, but I can never be sure with them. Just watch your back and try to steer clear of them. Do your job, stick with Roger, and more than likely, you’ll be fine.”
“More than likely?” Jack asked with a laugh. “Oh, I’ll be fine. They better not fuck with me.”
He stormed out of the meeting room just as Roger was coming back in.
“Hey, watch it!” Roger exclaimed when Jack bumped into him and almost knocked him over in his rush to get through the narrow doorway.
Jack didn’t respond; he headed for the factory’s exit.
Roger looked at Jennings with an expression of confusion.
“What’s up his ass?” he asked. “He’s the one who caused this mess.”
“He’s mad because we didn’t tell him about Lloyd and Sonya,” Jennings said. �
�I also warned him they might be angry.”
“Shit,” Roger breathed. “Is he scared?”
Jennings chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t know. I think he is, but I think he’s also dumb enough to do something stupid, thinking he’s protecting himself, and will anger them further. I don’t think he understands what those two are capable of.”
Roger sighed. “Do you think he’ll get what’s coming before the job?”
“No,” Jennings said. “But after, your guess is as good as mine.”
***
Sonya stood beside her car, still holding hands with Lloyd. She looked down at their linked fingers and sighed. Glancing up at Lloyd, who was watching her every move like a predator would its prey, she smiled slightly.
“Nothing happened between me and Roger,” she said softly, looking him directly in the eyes. “I swear.”
His jaw clenched and his eyes traveled over her beautiful face, looking for any signs of a lie.
“Why did he stay then?” he ground out. “He’s never stayed at your place before, so why now?”
She sighed and looked at their hands again.
“I was having a rough night,” she said with a shrugged. “He slept on the couch.”
She felt his hand tighten around hers and looked up at him.
He looked down at her and noted the unshed tears pooling in her green eyes.
“Why were you having a rough night, and why didn’t you call me?” he asked with a voice full of disbelief, anger, and pain. “I would have come and stayed with you.”
She half-smiled and tears slid down her cheeks.
“I know you would have,” she said, and used her free hand to caress the side of his face. “Everything started at the meeting, when we decided to harvest the children…”
Lloyd nodded. “Jennings told me about that. Roger didn’t want to do it, right?”
She nodded. “I tried to find out why, but Jack interrupted. I told Roger to call me, so we could talk about what was bothering him. He decided to come over to talk and when he got there…”
Lloyd growled as she scrunched up her face in a pained expression and more tears fell.
“What happened?” he almost yelled. “Did he hurt you? I’m going to kill the bastard!”
He tried to pull away and head for the building, but she wouldn’t let go of his hand.
“No, he didn’t hurt me,” she whispered. “He helped me.”
Lloyd froze and turned back to her, squeezing her hand in reassurance.
“What happened?” he asked, shaking off her hand and wrapping his arms around her. “Please tell me, babe―I’m going insane. I still can’t believe you didn’t call me.”
She shuddered and relaxed against his chest, closing her eyes.
“When he got to my house, I was asleep and having a bad dream,” she whispered. “He woke me up and made sure I talked it out.”
Lloyd smoothed the hair on the back of her head with one hand, comforting her.
“What were you dreaming about?” he asked gently, sensing she needed the encouragement to continue.
“The night my brother died.”
“Oh, babe,” he said, squeezing her tighter. They’d talked about her brother only once a long time ago, but he still remembered the frigid pain in her voice as she’d shared her trauma with him. “Did it help?”
She nodded and sniffled. “Yes. After, we drank wine, ate pizza, and he told me why he didn’t want to harvest the children.”
“Oh, man,” he groaned. “Wine and pizza too! Now I’m really gonna have to kill him.”
Sonya laughed and Lloyd smiled.
She pulled back slightly and brushed tears from her cheeks, looking up at him.
“The pizza was cold though, so you wouldn’t have liked it.”
He sighed dramatically. “Okay, then I’ll just beat the fuck out of him.”
She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him.
“After we ate, he slept on the couch,” she said. “Neither of us wanted to be alone.” She paused and looked up at Lloyd. “Roger is like a brother to me—there’s nothing between us. I love you.”
He brushed a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb and tucked a couple of loose strands of hair behind her ear. Bending forward, he kissed her lips gently.
“I love you too,” he breathed against her lips.
She closed her eyes and sighed.
He sighed as well and pressed his forehead against hers.
“So, why didn’t he want to take the kids?” he asked.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the banging of the factory door, as it opened, distracted them both. They pulled away from each other slightly, and turned their heads to see Jack storming out of the building.
“That fucking bastard,” Lloyd snarled. “I could gut him like a pig for starting all this shit—for upsetting you and making me hit Roger. I don’t like this douche bag. Where did Jennings find him?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but we can’t do anything until the job’s done—we’ll need him.”
“We can’t do anything?” Lloyd asked, glancing at her. “Why do I have a feeling you already have plans for the bastard?”
She smiled sweetly and said, “Because I do.”
Lloyd laughed.
***
Jack didn’t know where the “psycho love birds” were until he heard Lloyd laugh. A chill of fear slid from his neck down his spine as he jumped, but he realized they were snuggling by Sonya’s car and he calmed down. He decided he’d be damned if he was going to be afraid of them and extended the plan he had in mind to pay Sonya back for the stabbing to include Lloyd as well.
He ignored the couple and walked briskly over to his car.
He was reaching for the door handle when he heard the door of the building open again. Roger and Jennings stepped out, chatting amiably.
“Wait up a second, Jack!” Roger called, breaking away from his conversation with Jennings to rush out into the parking lot.
Jack waited, and even though he tried, he couldn’t keep his eyes from darting over to where Sonya and Lloyd were—they seemed to be engrossed with each other and weren’t paying any attention to him.
“Hey, thanks for waiting,” Roger said, catching his breath after his brisk jog. “You okay?”
Jack nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“Well, you do seem kinda pissed and upset about Sonya and Lloyd,” Roger said with a shrugged.
“I’m fine,” Jack snapped. “Do you want anything or can I go?”
Roger blinked a couple of times.
“No, that’s all I wanted—have a good night,” he said, and backed away a few steps before turning and heading toward Lloyd and Sonya.
Jack got in his car, slammed the door shut, and started the engine. He peeled out of the parking lot, heading toward home.
***
“Everything cool now?” Roger asked as he approached the hugging couple.
“Yeah,” Lloyd said, freeing one of his arms so he could hold out his hand to Roger, who reached forward and shook it. “Sorry about punching you.”
Roger shrugged and let go of Lloyd’s hand.
“It’s no big deal,” he said, and smiled. “I hate that this even happened. I would never do that to you, and besides, Sonya’s like a little sister to me. I’d be just as pissed if I thought someone was using or hurting her.”
“Thanks, man,” Lloyd said, wrapping his arm around Sonya again.
Silence stretched between them as Sonya and Lloyd watched Roger.
“Where did Jennings go?” he asked, looking anywhere but at them.
“Home, it looks like,” Sonya said, and pointed at Jennings’ car as it pulled out of the parking lot. “Why are you so nervous?”
“Um…er…you guys aren’t going to…” He paused, cleared his throat, and looked at them. “You guys aren’t going to kill Jack, are you? Because we need him for the job.”
Lloyd and
Sonya looked at each other, then back at Roger. They were both grinning.
“Let’s put it this way…” Sonya said. “He’ll pay his debt.”
Lloyd snickered.
Roger shook his head.
“I don’t even want to know,” he said, and laughed. “I’m taking off to get some sleep. You two have a nice night.”
“You too,” Lloyd called as Roger walked away, heading for his truck.
“Do you think he’ll tell Jack?” Sonya asked.
“Does it matter?” Lloyd asked, looking down at her upturned face. “If he doesn’t know it’s coming, the guy is stupider than I thought, and I really don’t see how that’s possible.”
Sonya laughed. “I suppose I should head home and get some sleep.” She sighed. “I have to figure out how to befriend this woman and ‘infiltrate’ the family.”
Chapter 14
The next morning, after the first good night’s sleep she’d had in a while, Sonya looked over the paper Roger had given her the night before with the target family’s information. She’d called off work at the hospital, claiming to be sick, so she would have time to do the extra task of befriending the late Bill Housen’s wife. The list of places the woman had visited the day before included a dry cleaners—she was betting it would be the best place to bump into the woman, as she could take some clothes to be cleaned and have a legitimate reason for being there. She was still pissed about the need for this subterfuge, knowing it was an added complication. The idea that she had to get close to the people they were going to harvest bothered her in more ways than one, but she had to agree it was probably the best and quickest route to accomplishing their goal.
She sighed and headed for the kitchen to put her dirty cup in the sink. She glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand and at the clock on her microwave, noting she had a half hour to get dressed and make it to the dry cleaners, assuming the woman went back at the same time she’d visited the day before.
Cursing herself for not asking Roger to stakeout the woman’s house again so she would have an idea when she was running errands, Sonya headed for her bedroom to get dressed for the day and to find something in her closet to take to the cleaners—she decided on the red dress she’d worn the night she’d picked Bill up at the bar.