CHAPTER 16
I knocked on a big white door whilst shielding my eyes from the bright sun. Something was extremely wrong with me, I stopped hearing voices. There was no such thing as my conscience anymore, although I had never possessed one, instead I had this alter ego which talked to me from time to time and now it was dead silent. I kinda missed it.
"You told him what?" The door opened and Trent was in my face. He was furious. Oh and that. Revealing myself to Duke, I didn’t know if I was glad that he left me on the drenched pier or did it hurt me. Trent was holding an iPhone in his fist, I assumed he had just finished talking to him. And I thought he could handle a secret when I slipped one, obviously I was wrong. Yet again.
I sighed suddenly feeling tired. I pushed the door, hitting him on the shoulder as I squeezed through. Normally I used to avoid people, I was the freak who didn’t come out of the small two bedroom apartment and now I was at the door of the big white mansion. Looking for company. I was certain Trent was regretting his offer by now. I didn’t know what was to blame for his sudden curtsy of inviting me over. I went further in to the large living room and took a seat on the black leather couch. A seat upside down. My legs were swaying over the couch back and my head was hanging over the edge, seeing a rubik’s cube lonely standing on a glass coffee table.
Trent closed the door with a loud sigh as I picked the cube. He came closer as I struggled with arranging colors. "He called me and asked me to look for a fucking shrink for you…" Trent stopped right in front of me, leaning over the couch back. His forearms laid on the couch as he placed himself between my legs.
"What did you answer?" I made yet another turn on the rubik’s cube and lost the square of green. Crap.
"I told you’re already seeing one." I shot him a confused stare, "What else was I supposed to say… Guy thinks you’re nuts." He wasn’t far from the truth. I gave up with the cube and threw it on the couch. I looked at Trent and saw him in deep thought. The tip of my boots poked his sides. "Why did you tell him?"
"I was bored." I refused to notice the small glimpse of sadness in his hazel eyes. I shrugged my shoulders, placing my bare arms on the black Pantera shirt which I had been wearing for two days. I hadn’t been home and only the almighty knew where I’d been. Quite frankly the only memories for the past days were loads of trees, some abandoned house and few junkies sharing the old mansion with me. At least I couldn’t complain about the lack of company. Even some rats had accompanied me, they had arranged me quite an exercise in blowing them to oblivion, I guess that’s why the junkies didn’t show their faces in the east wing. Too afraid to get some gun powder up their-
"How’s your wound?" I raised an eyebrow. My what? Oh. I raised the black shirt to reveal a perfectly healed wound which was now a reddish scar. "So then I guess you’re ready to work." He patted my tanned leg and walked away, making me boost myself on my elbows so I could see where he was going.
"Hey, big T?" I saw him returning with a sand color folder in his arms. He raised his eyes from it to meet mine, "Is Duke home?"
"No," He answered simply, "He’s at the funeral."
"Funeral?" Suddenly I felt a wave of sympathy taking over me. Losing someone close must feel like a bitch.
"Michelle’s brother died. Along with her parents. Lucky she was in LA with her sister at the time." Lucky? Had he forgotten that she was the one who nearly killed me? It was unlucky. Wait, that Lee? Was he talking about Lee Walker? The one who he was after?
"I’m not following." If Trent had sent people after Lee, how could he possibly be ignorant of Michelle being knees deep in this mess? His eyes fixed on me, tho it seemed he was far away. "Weren’t the Lee guy on your list?"
"What?" I guess no matter how close friends we were, I had to shut my mouth. He was a criminal with a background I didn’t know and I was very vulnerable lying upside down in his couch. "How the hell did you know about it?" I looked over him with wary eyes as I pulled my feet off the couch back and sat up straight. "You were the one to blow up the whole house?" His eyes went from warm hazel to dark and cold. Not many things frightened me in life, but I felt slightly odd seeing him like this. "I ordered for you to stay home. I gave you a fucking week off." He closed the folder shut and I was instantly on my feet.
"Hey… T… I swear I didn’t lay a finger on the house." I pulled my hands up in defense as I stepped back and hit the glass table with my leg. "I wanted…"
"How the hell did you know about the job?" I couldn’t reveal him the whole story, the one about my agent informing me, but I knew if he went closer, no matter how good of a friend I was to him, he would tear me to pieces. There was a rule, a very important rule, no innocents were allowed to be injured during an assassin’s job. I didn’t know who exactly, but there were some stories about an assassin who had shot the wife of some black market patron on accident and the story ended with him automatically being put on the list and shot just minute after he had injured the wife. "Answer me!" He practically roared breaking the distance between us.
"Trent, calm down…" I stepped on the glass table just for a mere second, I had to put something between us, it happened to be the table. "You know my policy… I could never harm an innocent."
"I hope you’re not lying to me. It would be a shame to kill you." He threw the folder on the glass table and I realized I had stopped breathing.
I could play cocky and insane with whomever I pleased, but I could never feel completely relaxed being in the same room with my employer. I had worked under three different people through the years, and every each and one of them had turned out to be a sadistic tyrant and two out of three were killed by me. Trent seemed different, he could be nice and kind of friendly if he wanted, but he couldn’t hide what was under the hood.
He was the head of California’s crime sphere for a reason. A reason I didn’t know. He took my previous place on the couch. "Lee was a friend of my family…" He started as I bent over to open the folder, "I used to date his sister, Tracy, but it didn’t turn out very well…" I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "She wanted to know everything," he smiled, "I didn’t want to tell her everything. I didn’t know what to think when I found out Lee was kidnapping children and was shipping them abroad to provide child labor." My eyes were glued to him, he seemed hurt talking about it, and I didn’t have the gut to tell him it was okay to stop. Somehow I even found this interesting. "In the end it was the right thing to do and I assumed it was only him who would die, not his parents. They were good people, Elle."
"Why aren’t you at the funeral?" I made a sound that was barely louder than a whisper. He jerked his shoulders in a twitch.
"I knew you would come. Duke told you hadn’t been home." He grinned and I instantly knew he was hiding something, not being completely honest. That’s why I had major trust issues and I didn’t reveal my name almost never, and now I was standing in front of my employer, face to face, eye to eye and dagger to dagger as we, assassins used to say. My eyes lowered on the folder and I saw a name of Duke M. Jones. This was the only time I was glad to receive a name, I could send Trent to hell straight away. My wide, shock filled eyes raised to see his dimpled smile. "Relax… When had I given you a name?"
"Never." I whispered, "I hate names." My voice was still and I spoke clearly despite the anger in my gut. It was a thing I had picked up through the years, a wonderfully useful skill- I could shut out the emotions when I needed.
"This is a folder one of my assassins found in his victims house." He reached for the rubik’s cube. "A victim who also happened to be an assassin. I am the godfather of California and I realize some of my actions may not appear very appealing to you, for example all the drug deals I know you’re aware of." He turned couple of the rows of the cube getting a square of red. "But I have some rules for myself. Like I know, for example, you do." He smiled at me, "Duke is a friend of mine who knows nothing about my alter ego and he is a good person, Elle, he really is, despite all of his dick moves."
I was waiting patiently for the grand finally. He’s telling all of it for a reason, I wondered in which part was I willing to lay a bullet in my head?
"I do nearly everything to protect the people I care for, I believe you would do the same…" I smiled, no I wouldn’t. I was there only for myself and myself only. And of course for money. "That’s why I’m willing to start a war. You’ll be my pawn, Elle." He had a devilish smile on his lips.
"I’ll be your what?" I nearly fell backwards on the big plasma tv behind me. He laughed.
"I need someone I can rely on. Since Michelle is back in town and I found out Duke is on someone’s list, I’m not feeling that safe anymore." He frowned a bit still fighting the rubik’s cube. "Since Duke wants to move out, I have to look for alternatives of keeping him safe." What? It felt like somebody had hit me hard. He wanted to do what? Obviously seen my face, Trent laughed yet again, "No stress, I assured him you will take your medicine."
"My services are not free, big T. You should know that." I lied, if someone was to aim a gun Duke’s direction, I would kill the bastard without second thought.
"I know, and you will be paid generously." Just then I noticed a finished rubik’s cube in his hand.
"What are you saying I have to do? I suppose Duke will be willing to spend his time with Michelle. As you must know, I’m willing to splash sulfur in her face." I smiled widely.
"You have one job, make sure Duke stays alive by all means without killing Michelle. I haven’t found out for whom she’s working. It will take some time." And again a killer is being told to be a body guard. This is getting too... frustrating.
"And what if she stabs me again?" I raised an eyebrow as he playfully threw the rubik’s cube from one hand to the other later pressing on the center of the cube until it clicked.
"Stab her back. Just don’t. fucking. kill her." He stood up, and came closer, "I promise, when the time is right, you’ll be the one to pull the trigger." He placed the rubik’s cube in my hand and suddenly all the colorful cubes fell off revealing a rather small metallic sphere. It was ticking. A growing panic was taking over my gut, I turned around and threw it outside, breaking the glass window on the way. It blew up as soon as it was outside the window. For god sake, it could've exploded in my hand! "I have many tricks up my sleeve. It would be best for you to be on the right side, Elle." His hand slid down my arm, his warm touch giving me goose bumps, "I know how you quit your jobs, I suggestyou reconsider your way of refusing something."
"As long as I get my beautiful green papers, I’m not refusing anything. I’ll give a hint when I do." I winked.
"Perfect. Now please go, I had ordered one of the assassins to look over Duke, but they get quite oblivious if they’re not allowed to actually press the trigger. I’m…"
"Got it, big man. I’m already gone." If my eyes hadn’t been on the broken window, I would’ve probably noticed Trent’s warm smile and hurt eyes. If I had been only a tad smarter, I would’ve realized the fuzzy warmth inside me. But the flying butterflies when I remembered Duke’s brown eyes were more persistent and annoying.