Invincible (17 page)

29.

(Rose)

I sat behind a desk. It wasn
’
t my desk, obviously. It wasn
’
t the detective
’
s desk either. It was some random old desk in the random old building. He shut the door and locked it. The room was a little dark. He took out a cigarette and started to smoke. He grabbed a chair and put it on the opposite side of the desk but didn
’
t sit in it. Instead, he put his leg up. The tip of his cigarette glowed with each deep breath he took.

“
Rose, Rose, Rose,
”
he said.
“
What were you looking for doing that? Huh? Did you think she had money? Or was it just pure jealousy?
”

“
I didn
’
t hurt her,
”
I said.
“
Why
…
why are we here? Are you taking me in?
”

“
Do you want to go to jail? Are you confessing something?
”

“
No. I just don
’
t understand why we
’
re here,
”
I said.
“
If you want to question me
…”

The detective stood up, the cigarette in his mouth. He opened his suit jacket and showed me his gun.
“
Do you want to question my actions?
”
he asked with the cigarette bouncing between his lips.

“
No,
”
I said.
“
Sorry.
”

“
Good. Now let
’
s get back to my questions.
”
He took the cigarette out of his mouth.
“
I
’
m your only chance. You
’
re only hope, sweetheart.
”
He dropped the cigarette and stepped on it, twisting his foot like he was killing a bug.
“
Got that?
”

“
Yes. Detective
…
?
”

“
You don
’
t need my name. Tell me about Wes. Where have you two been staying?
”

“
Wes? What does he have to do with this?
”

“
So you killed Macie?
”

“
No!
”

“
Then who did?
”

I opened my mouth but held back.
Could I just give up Luke that fast? That easily?

“
I wasn
’
t there,
”
I said, which was the truth.
“
I was out for a walk.
”

“
A walk? Interesting. So you have no idea who was in the hotel room when she was killed?
”

“
No.
”

“
And when you found her you fled?
”

I swallowed hard and nodded.
“
Yes.
”

“
Why? Why would someone innocent do that?
”

“
You don
’
t understand,
”
I said.
“
Someone is after me. I thought they were going to kill me next.
”

“
And you didn
’
t think to ask for help?
”

“
You can
’
t help me,
”
I said.
“
If he wants
…”

I lowered my head for a second. Nobody would ever understand what it was like. The only person close to understanding would be Wes. But I couldn
’
t drag him into this, not with the police here questioning me. He had nothing to do with Macie or her murder. He was just trying to help me.

“
Look at me, Rose,
”
the detective said.

I lifted my head and he had his gun in his hand. He came forward and pressed the barrel to my forehead.

I let out a whimper.
“
What are you doing?
”

“
Ending this problem,
”
he said.

“
What
…”

“
You did it. We all know. This is better. Just like this.
”

I tried to move, kicking back in the chair. I fell back and hit the ground hard. The gun went off with a thundering boom.

The detective was then up on the desk, aiming down at me. Like a fool, I put my hands up, like that was going to somehow save my life.

A second later there was a
thud
against the door. The detective turned his head and shot at the door. I slipped back and got behind the tipped over chair. One of the wheels had snapped off when I fell. I grabbed it and threw it at the detective. It hit him in the stomach and did nothing.

He laughed and aimed at me again.

That
’
s when the window to the office exploded. I looked and saw a body rolling on the floor. A shirtless torso with long black hair. He got to his feet and wasted no time going for the detective
’
s legs.

Holy shit
…
it was Wes.

~ ~ ~

Wes pulled the detective
’
s legs and the guy crashed down with force. The gun went off again. Then again. I sat, huddled in the corner, unsure what to do. I didn
’
t want to get in the way and get shot or be the reason why Wes got shot.

Wes wound up and punched the detective in the face. Once, twice, the third shot so hard and sickening it made my stomach flip.

The detective was hurt but not out yet. Plus, he had the weapon. He had the only way it seemed possible to take down Wes.
A bullet.

The two ended up on the floor on the other side of the desk. They scuffled and groaned. I heard grunting and then the sounds of punches being thrown again. All I could do was hug my knees and hope for the best. The story of my life.

Hugging my knees and hoping for the best.

Then the gun went off again.

What followed next was the worst silence I ever heard in my life. My ears rang from the gunshots being so close range. My heart pounded throughout my entire body like a rhythmic tremor. I was too afraid to move.

I tried to look under the desk, but I couldn
’
t see anything.

Then I heard something - someone - move. A scraping sound on the floor. A hand smacked the desk. Then another hand.

He
’
s pulling himself up. He
’
s got the gun. He
’
s going to shoot me. Fuck it, right? If Wes is dead
…
then I
’
ll go too. I have no reason to keep fighting without Wes. Without him I was truthfully nothing.

I stared at the desk, ready to face my fate, no matter what it was.

The first thing I saw was the hair.

The sweaty hair in his face. He threw his head back in the sexiest fashion I
’
d ever seen it done before. Sweat hit the other side of the room like rain drops to the ground. He was bleeding. He looked tired. But his eyes were on fire.

I jumped up and reached across the desk for him.
“
Wes
…
oh, Wes
…”

“
Sweetie,
”
he whispered.
“
He
’
s dead.
”

“
You killed him?
”

“
I don
’
t know. The gun went off. I don
’
t know if he did it by accident, on purpose, or if I hit the trigger. But he
’
s dead.
”

“
Holy shit. You killed a detective
…”

My mind raced at what was going to happen next. This wasn
’
t just some illegal fighting thing. Not even the murder of Marcie, which both Wes and I had nothing to do with. This was real. This was in our laps. He had killed
…

“
No, sweetie, that guy wasn't a detective,
”
Wes said.

“
What?
”

Wes bent and grabbed the badge from the guy
’
s jacket pocket. He held it up and to me it looked pretty damn real. But then Wes turned it sideways and snapped it in half like a pencil.

I gasped.
“
What the
…”

“
It
’
s plastic. It
’
s fake. He
’
s not a detective. He
’
s not a cop. He was here to kill you. To get you. That
’
s what Phantom warned me about.
”

“
Phantom warned
…”

“
Hey Johnny!
”
a voice boomed.
“
Is that cunt dead yet?
”

“
Fuck,
”
Wes growled.
“
Come on. We have to hurry.
”

I ran to the end of the desk. All I wanted to do was jump into Wes
’
s arms. But I couldn
’
t. We had to escape first.

“
One second,
”
Wes said.

He got the gun from the guy
’
s hand. He tore open the door and we were out in the hallway. Not too far away was another man. Wes quickly opened fire, shooting over and over as we ran down the hall toward a door.

“
Stop! Police!
”
the other guy yelled.

“
Don
’
t listen,
”
Wes said as we ran.

We burst through the door out into the back lot of the building. Wes held the gun in one hand and held my hand in the other. There were a few cars in the lot.

“
Wes! There!
”
I yelled when I saw his car.

“
No,
”
he said.
“
I bet you it
’
s wired. We
’
ll blow up the second I try to start it.
”

Like you did to my car, Wes?

Christ, sometimes it was hard to believe what brought me and Wes together. His attempt at murdering me set off this wild and lust filled romance between us. Put that in a romance movie, right?

Wes picked a car and opened the driver
’
s door. He told me to go around. By the time I got into the car, he had the steering column ripped open and was messing with wires.

“
What are you doing?
”
I asked.

“
Shane taught me,
”
Wes said.
“
A long time ago. He learned it from some guy. We were into action movies and shit. We always wanted to know how to do it. Shane used to steal cars for the hell of it. Don
’
t ask. Let me just
…”

I watched a few sparks fly and then the car started.

It was like magic.

I smiled.
“
Holy shit. I can
’
t
…”

A
ping
hit the car.

I turned and saw the guy from the hallway running after the car.

“
Drive!
”
I yelled.

Next thing I knew, Wes was going backward. Pedal to the floor, the car throwing me forward.

“
Don
’
t watch this,
”
Wes said.

I looked forward and braced myself.

I felt the impact as we hit the car. The entire car jumped and then stopped. Wes put it into drive and the car bumped as we ran the guy over a second time. Wes had gone from fighting to attempted murderer in about two minutes flat.

All because of me.

The tires screamed as he turned out of the lot and sped away. Then he reached for my hand and grabbed it tight.

“
Are you okay?
”
he asked.

I reached across and wiped a line of blood from the corner of his right eye.

“
No,
”
I said.
“
Are you?
”

“
No,
”
he said.

We looked at each other for a second.

I suddenly wondered what was more serious - the feelings burning between me and Wes or the danger that waited and wanted us dead?

30.

(Wes)

Going back to the cabin probably wasn
’
t the smartest idea in the world, but I felt like we had no other choice. It was the only place we could go for food and shelter. And it was close enough in case something happened with Aton. My mind spun on what to do next. Call Tommy? Call Danny? Stay hidden and quiet?

No matter what, something was going to give again. They were going to keep coming after myself and Rose. In a sick way, it was like getting it on both sides. There were people after me and people after her. I felt like they were all coming after us for two different reasons, yet I couldn
’
t figure out why.

The ride to the cabin was in silence. It was my hand attached to Rose
’
s. Maybe driving the stolen car right up to the cabin was a dumb move, but then again, we had the car of a murdered woman, so what the fuck difference did it make? At this point, the police were less of a threat than Luke -
the Assassin
- and whoever else wanted me and Rose dead.

Christ, for all I knew, maybe Aton put a hit out on me before he was shot. Maybe he knew the marriage thing was a lie. It wouldn
’
t be hard to prove I was lying about being married to Rose. It was just something that came to my mind and I knew it would tug on Aton
’
s heartstrings.

And it worked.

Now look at us
…
on the run.

I parked the car and shut it off. We had no keys to the car, obviously. It was weird how dumb shit could get lodged into someone
’
s mind. Something that seemed so useless like hot wiring a car. But Shane and I had to learn it. We dreamed of someday becoming heroic brothers in an action movie. We
’
d go and fight crime like vigilante detectives. We
’
d take the cases nobody wanted. We wouldn
’
t be afraid of guns, death, fights. And we
’
d learn how to wire cars, use undercover technology, and fire every weapon known to man.

Then Shane got wrapped up with some fighter that was heavy into crime. Shane taught the guy how to perfect his stance and promised to give it back to Shane when he won a big fight. The guy won a fight and then showed Shane how to hot wire a car. That guy was murdered three months later at a drug deal gone wrong.

Shane taught me and it just stuck there in my mind.

Now it had come to good use. Go figure.

“
I
’
m afraid to go in there,
”
Rose whispered.
“
I
’
m afraid to go anywhere.
”

“
Hey, no matter what happens, we
’
re together,
”
I said.

Rose looked at me.
“
I don
’
t want to sleep alone tonight, Wes. I know why you slept outside the door last night. But tonight
…
sleep with me.
”

“
I get too close to you, sweetie, and the last thing we
’
re going to do is sleep.
”

Rose grinned.
“
Yeah, but that
’
s half the fun.
”

“
Only half?
”

“
Hard not to think about everything, Wes.
”

I kissed Rose
’
s hand.
“
I know, sweetie. Let
’
s just settle for now. Let the smoke clear out of what happened. Then I can make some calls and figure out what to do next.
”

“
Which is?
”

“
I
’
m not exactly sure. If Aton is no better then I think we need to skip out of here. Out of state. Until he wakes up.
”

“
He
’
s not going to wake up,
”
Rose said.
“
I know it. If Luke did it
…
Luke doesn
’
t mess up.
”

“
Hey,
”
I growled.
“
He fucked up tonight. He had a plan to take you out and it got fucked up.
”

“
That
’
s because he put people in the middle,
”
Rose said.
“
He does that when he
’
s sending a warning. If he really wanted me dead, I
’
d be dead. Same for you, Wes. I
’
m sorry. He
’
s waiting for something.
”

The anger boiled within me. I let go of Rose
’
s hand and opened the door. I leaned down and grabbed the wires, starting the car again.

“
What are you doing?
”
she asked.

“
You don
’
t trust me? Then fucking leave. Drive until you
’
re out of gas. Or just go back to him. Rat me out and I
’
ll take all the heat that
’
s coming.
”

I slammed the door and walked in front of the lights of the car. I skipped the damn cabin and went to the lake. Where it was calm and peaceful, with some moonlight hitting the water.

It hurt when Rose talked like that. And that pissed me off even more. Because it meant I cared about what she thought of me.

Fuck that.

I stood in front of the deck and tried to think about a rational plan. But who the hell was I? I didn
’
t make plans. I wasn
’
t part of some
family
or the mob. I didn
’
t have a suit and tie and street cred to go out and hustle people down. My job was simple - mash up all the anger and pain in my body and take it out on whoever was put in front of me. When they went down and were out, the crowd cheered for me. Aton paid me. I went home. I drank. I fucked. I woke up and did it all again.

“
Wes?
”
Rose approached slowly.
“
I
’
m sorry if I offended you.
”

“
I just want to get out of all this. And if I end up with a bullet in the back of my head, then I at least went down swinging.
”

“
I know nothing but pain,
”
Rose said.
“
Nothing but being pushed around. Hurt. Told what to do. How to act. How to feel. Everyone has had something to hang over me and use me for it.
”

“
I don
’
t,
”
I said.
“
I have nothing hanging over you. You can go anytime you want, Rose. I
’
m not holding you here.
”

“
I know that, Wes. That
’
s why I
’
m here. On my own will. And that scares me. But I don
’
t want to bring pain to you. Or danger.
”

“
Too late,
”
I said with a smirk.
“
That ended when a bullet ripped open my shoulder.
”

“
That was your fault.
”

“
Yeah, right.
”

“
Wes, before everything went crazy the last time
…
when I told you about my brother and your brother
…
I confessed to you about a murder.
”

“
You said you blamed yourself for everyone dying.
”

“
It wasn
’
t just that. I
’
m accused of murder.
”

I turned and faced Rose.
“
What?
”

“
Really. I
’
m accused of it. Luke has been protecting me.
”

“
Care to explain that to me?
”

“
I tried to escape.
”

“
What does that mean?
”

“
I met a guy who could help me,
”
Rose said.

My blood boiled with jealousy. That was something I wasn
’
t used to. I made fists and flexed my hands to calm down.

“
He had done work for my father before,
”
Rose said.
“
He took care of false identifications. Sometimes if my father
’
s fighters got hurt, they
’
d need real medical attention. So they
’
d get a fake ID to get to a hospital and stuff. I don
’
t know how it worked in the background. I never asked or cared. But I remembered Roc. After my father died, Luke took control of everything and was bad from the beginning. Really bad. He loved to snort drugs and kill people. I knew he
’
d eventually want to kill me. So I tried to make an escape. I privately started to talk to Roc. See, when Luke took over, he kicked everyone out of the loop. All those contacts and relationships my father made were destroyed. I think Luke liked it. He liked making enemies because he had the size, strength, and power to fight back. All the damn time. Remember how you told me that story about that bully?
”

“
Yeah, I remember,
”
I said.

“
Luke is the ultimate bully. And nobody can ever stand up to him. Or stop him. Jesus Christ, Wes, he shot your boss. Aton. A man who is connected. A man with rich blood, right?
”

I nodded. That was true. It was definitely a bold move to make.
“
Fair enough.
”

“
I thought I could escape him,
”
Rose said.
“
I called Roc and he wanted to do me a favor. He knew how bad it was and that it was going to keep getting worse for me. Hell, he was already making sure to keep me separated from Luke.
”

“
So you got a fake ID?
”

Rose shook her head. In a scene of repeat, her eyes glistened with tears against the moonlight. This time, I didn
’
t comfort her. She needed to stand up on her own and tell me the damn truth and the damn story.

“
I didn
’
t get a fake ID,
”
Rose whispered.
“
Instead, I killed Roc.
”

~ ~ ~

I let her go.

I let her stand there and cry. I let her walk to the edge of the water and wipe the tears away. I really felt like I had no choice right now. My head and heart were in a tailspin that left me wondering just what in the fuck I was trying to prove.

When Rose turned to face me again, there was a slight look of defeat in her face.

“
Are you going to ask me about it?
”

“
No,
”
I said.
“
But you
’
re going to tell me what actually happened.
”

“
I went to meet Roc. He had everything worked out. I
’
d be under a new name. A new passport. A new everything. A clean start for me. Roc was the best at it. I could quickly jump the country and disappear. I was thinking about going to Italy. Or Spain. I had some extra money so I figured why not.
”
Rose flickered a smile.
“
Roc wouldn
’
t let me pay. He said it was a final debt payment to
the Dragman
. To my father. We argued for a few minutes about it. I insisted he take the money and he fought back. He ended up with a hand at my waist and then there was a weird pause. He looked down at me and
…
shit
…
he tried to kiss me. Our noses touched but nothing else. He confessed he had a thing for me.
”

A low rumble echoed in my throat.

Someone else touching Rose? Someone else trying to kiss her? Someone else confessing a thing for her?

“
What happened?
”
I asked, trying to play my jealousy off.

“
I wasn
’
t sure what was going to happen between us. Honestly. I was so fragile. So desperate.
”

“
Yeah, I get that. What happened with the murder?
”

“
Are you jealous, Wes?
”

“
I
’
m not in the fucking mood for games.
”

I saw Rose smile. She liked that I was jealous. And, fuck me, I liked that she liked that I was jealous.
Round and round we go.

“
I stepped back from Roc. I was going to say something rational about the situation. Then Roc
’
s face dropped. A hand touched my right hand. Then something was in my hand. My hand lifted. Before I could understand what was happening
…
A finger touched my finger and my finger touched the trigger of the gun
…”

“
It was Luke.
”

Rose nodded.
“
He followed me. He knew all about it. He had guys watching me. He knew I had talked to Roc. He knew I had set things up. Everything. And he was wearing gloves. The gun went off. I bounced back against Luke. He covered my mouth and told me to be quiet. Roc fell to his knees, death in his eyes. He reached for me and collapsed to the ground. Dead. Then Luke backed away. I stood there, Wes, holding the gun. Then Luke did something even worse. He called the police. He left me standing there with a smoking gun and a dead body in front of me. He set me up for murder.
”

“
Jesus Christ,
”
I whispered. Man, I couldn
’
t wait to face off with
the Assassin
before all this was said and done. I was going to rip his heart out with my bare hand.