The Choice She Made (The Mercenary Series Book 1) Read online

  Was the possibility of getting laid really making me put my life in danger? The moment she cut the other leg free, I should knee her in the face and run. That I actually gave a fuck about what happened to her and her sister was seriously starting to piss me off. No, actually, I didn’t give a fuck what happened to her sister, but I cared about how she felt about her sister, and how it would affect her. If something happened to Nickie, I had a feeling the fierce light I saw in Vee’s eyes would extinguish.

  I wasn’t used to caring. I especially wasn’t used to caring about someone I was supposed to have shot in the head twenty-four hours ago.

  I thought back to the fat, middle-aged guy who had come out of the bar and interrupted me. If that hadn’t happened, would Vee be dead right now? Would I have pulled the trigger? If I had, I’d have never known what a stunning, courageous, crazy woman she was.

  The idea struck dread into my heart.

  At my ankle, the tape popped open and Vee yanked the remaining material from around my leg. She shifted her weight over and started sawing the binds at my left leg. I didn’t take my eyes off her, and she glanced up and caught my gaze, her cheeks flushing, and then looked away again and finished cutting.

  My legs were finally freed.

  Getting to her feet, she started work on the tape holding my wrists together.

  “You’d better not make me regret this,” she said, a warning tone to her voice.

  “I’ll try not to.”

  “’Cause I’m still capable of cutting off your dick if you try to screw me over.”

  I pressed my lips together. “I’m fully aware of that, Vee.”

  My hands popped free and I breathed a sigh of relief, clenching and unclenching my fists, and flexing my fingers. Vee moved away from me, though she had picked the gun back up and now had it pointed loosely in my direction.

  My limbs were stiff from being in the same position for hours, not to mention from that shove down the cellar stairs, plus toppling the chair onto my back, and, of course, the two knife wounds currently strapped together with tape. I was lucky the stab wounds hadn’t been in my torso, or I doubted I would be in any condition to be offering help right now. I stretched and flexed my knotted muscles, noting how Vee flinched when I lifted my arms, understandably cautious that I might try to strike out at her instead. Spikes of pain pierced me as I moved my arm and put weight on my injured leg, and I hissed air in over my teeth and tested my weight out on the lower limb.

  “Do you have any painkillers?” I asked her.

  She nodded. “I’ll get you some when we go upstairs.” She jerked her chin toward the men I had killed. “What do we do about them?”

  “Nothing.”

  “What if the deputy comes back around and finds Nickie and me gone? He might come into the house and find the bodies.”

  “So what if he does? Do you think you’re going to be coming back here again, ever?”

  Her lips pressed together, her nostrils flaring in determination. “No. We won’t be coming back.”

  I took a step, but my injured leg crumpled under me, sending me pitching forward. Vee stepped in and grabbed me, wedging her shoulder under my armpit, her arm around my waist. It was a good thing she was tall, and I wasn’t overly massive, or I would have crushed her.

  “I thought I was the one supposed to be helping you,” I joked.

  “Yeah, you’d better start making yourself useful or I’ll leave you here to rot.”

  She might have threatened it, but she continued to support me, and we climbed the stairs together. I was thankful to be leaving the rank smelling confines of the cellar. On several occasions I had imagined that place would have become my tomb.

  “Did Nicole take your car?” I asked her.

  She shook her head. “No. It’s still parked out front.”

  “Good. We’ll leave it there, so people won’t know you’re gone right away. My car is parked a couple of blocks from here.”

  “You think you’re going to be able to walk a couple of blocks?”

  I gritted my teeth. “I’m going to have to.”

  If I turned my head toward her, I could place my nose and mouth against the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her shampoo, which, from the current fragrance, I took to be coconut. The scent and proximity of her did strange things to my insides, and for a moment I forgot about the pain in my leg.

  She took me into the kitchen and helped me sit on a stool. I noticed a couple of used mugs sitting beside the sink—the remains of the visit from the deputy. Vee found a packet of painkillers, which she threw to me, and then poured me a glass of water. I knocked back three of them, looking forward to the relief they would eventually bring me. I’d been in pain for hours, and I needed a break.

  “Hey, can I use your bathroom?” I asked.

  She nodded. “It’s the third door on the right, down the hall.”

  She moved to help me up, but I waved her away. I didn’t need help taking a piss. I made my way down to the bathroom, using the wall to steady myself. I passed over the spot where she’d stabbed me, and where I’d shot the two other men. She had made a good effort to clean up the blood, though I could still see a dark patch in the threadbare pile.

  I used the bathroom, checking out my injuries quickly to make sure I wasn’t about to die anytime soon, and washed off some of the blood. Knowing she’d be getting anxious, I made my way back to where she paced the hallway, waiting for me.

  “Is there anything here of importance that you want to grab?” I asked her, knowing we couldn’t hang out here for long.

  “Yeah. I have our original birth certificates, and some photographs of my mom. I’m not supposed to have them, but I grabbed them when the U.S. Marshals showed up the day they took us into the Witness Protection Program. I guess I couldn’t bring myself to let go of who I was completely. Oh, and there’s another thing I want, too.”

  “Okay, be quick.”

  She vanished around the corner and down the hallway toward the bedroom. I went back into the kitchen to perch on the stool while I waited.

  I could go now, if I wanted. I could take off out the front door, steal her car, and make my getaway, but I didn’t want to leave her alone.

  I couldn’t leave her alone.

  She appeared in the doorway, clutching a small metal tin with a locked code on it like you’d find in a briefcase. In her other hand was a rucksack.

  “What’s in the bag?” I asked, nodding toward it.

  “Change of clothes for me, and for Nickie, for when I get her back. And a teddy that she’s had since she was born. I couldn’t leave Mister Snuggles behind. Our mom gave it to her, and she always sleeps with it.” Her cheeks pinked at the revelation, as though she’d told me she was the one who still slept with a childhood toy. I was tempted to tease her about it, but we were running out of time and I didn’t want the wrong people to find us sitting here, unprepared.

  “Oh,” she said, as though she’d forgotten something, and then she reached into the bag and pulled out the two handguns she’d taken off the dead men. “And I’ve got these two, of course.”

  That dangerous glint was back in her eye, and I couldn’t help but smile at her. I didn’t know why I had expected any less. “Then we’re good to go.”

  We left the house the same way I had entered—through the back door.

  “This way,” I told her, guiding her through the back yard. I favored my uninjured leg, so I walked with a lurch, but there was nothing I could do about it. I walked toward the clump of bushes where I’d hidden the previous night, and Vee followed, staying close to my shoulder. She would have been able to move a lot faster without me, but I was the only one who knew where my car was parked.

  I pushed through the bushes and out onto the street on the other side, reaching back to take Vee’s hand and help her through the final part. She emerged with twigs in her hair, clutching her bag to her shoulder.

  “You want me to take that?” I offered.

&
nbsp; She lifted her eyebrows and tugged her hand from mine. “I’ve got it, thanks.”

  I guessed I couldn’t be too surprised that she didn’t want me to carry the bag with all the guns.

  “Which way?” she asked, glancing around. She looked suspicious, and someone who looked suspicious always caught the eye of others.

  “You need to relax,” I told her. “Chill. We need to look like we belong here or we’re going to stick out, especially considering the state of my clothes and that I have tape wrapped around my arm and leg.” It was true. I looked a mess. It was a good thing I always wore black—both the blood and the tape were camouflaged against the dark material.

  It was late afternoon, but there were still people around—the townsfolk heading home after a long day at work or school.

  “Yes, you’re right,” she said, plastering a smile across her face and loosely linking her arm through mine. I knew the gesture must have been hard for her to do, but I liked that she’d used her initiative to make us appear like a regular couple just walking down the street instead of a couple of fugitives. I also appreciated having her body pressed so close to mine, the warmth of her skin seeping through my shirt. I tried hard to imagine this life we were currently faking—being a normal person in a normal relationship, taking a stroll down the street, but I couldn’t picture it. I’d always been an outcast. The only way I knew how to fit in was by pretending, just like I was doing now.

  “How much farther?” she asked.

  “Another block from here.”

  “Okay, good.”

  The street wasn’t too busy, a few vehicles heading in both direction, a couple of passersby on the sidewalk. But Vee suddenly huddled closer into me, turning her face and pressing it against my shoulder.

  “Ah, shit,” she said, her mouth brushing the material of my shirt.

  “What?” I asked

  But then I saw what she had—the police car parked on our side of the street.

  “It might be empty,” I said, hoping for a bit of luck.

  “It isn’t. He’s sitting behind the wheel.”

  “Fuck.”

  My mind whirred, trying to think of the best course of action. Should we cross to the other side of the street and hope he didn’t notice?

  “You’re allowed to walk down the street, Vee,” I said eventually. “You’re not a prisoner. He doesn’t know where we’re going, or who I am.”

  “What if he stops us? He might ask you for some identification.”

  “Then I’ll have to shoot him.”

  She looked up at me, her dark eyes wide.

  My arm tightened around her. “Just keep walking and look forward.”

  I did my best to minimize my lurching gait. She was on the inside of me, and as we got closer, I could see the deputy was bent over something, not looking at us or anyone else.

  Don’t look up, I willed. I’d be able to deal with him if I needed to, but things would be a lot easier without the complication. Vee was so distinctive in her appearance. If he caught only a glimpse of her, he’d recognize her right away. We might have to do something about how she looked if we were going to get her sister back.

  My heart thumped as we walked right by the cop car, neither slowing nor speeding up our pace. All we needed to do was get around the corner to where my car was parked. The key was hidden beneath the vehicle, attached to the chassis via a small magnet. I couldn’t risk taking the key with me and dropping it somewhere, or having someone take it from me. By keeping the key with the car, I always knew where it was should I need it. People might check under a hubcap or even under a visor for a spare key if they planned on stealing the car, but they wouldn’t find the key where I’d hidden it.

  We made it past the police cruiser, and I exhaled a breath and gave Vee a brief squeeze to tell her that we’d done the hardest part.

  I felt the stiffness in her shoulders relax slightly. We just needed to make it around the corner, and I’d be able to drive the car right out of town.

  “Viola?”

  The slam of a car door behind us caused my heartrate to jump.

  “Hey, Viola,” a male voice called. “It’s Deputy Kier.”

  “Shit,” she hissed from beside me.

  “Keep going. Don’t look back.”

  I hustled her forward, both of us breaking into something just short of a run. We made it around the corner, but his suspicions had been raised, and I could hear his feet smacking on the sidewalk and the exclamations from a few of the pedestrians he passed.

  Were we about to be stopped at the first hurdle?

  Chapter Seventeen

  V

  “VIOLA GINGHAM!” THE deputy called my new name. The people at Witness Protection always made sure we had the same initials as our real names. “Halt or I’ll shoot.”

  Deputy Kier followed us down the street, but instead of stopping, I did the opposite and broke into a run.

  “It’s the black Ford,” X shouted at me as we raced down the street toward his car. We’d broken apart from the cozy way we’d walked down the sidewalk, and now I ran, the bag of guns smacking against my hip as I did so. X was behind me, the injuries I had given him slowing him down. But as we approached the car, he skidded to the sidewalk and snatched something from beneath the vehicle.

  The lights of the central locking flashed and the vehicle beeped.

  “Get in!” X yelled.

  I risked glancing in the direction we’d come, to see the deputy come skidding around the corner, his weapon drawn.

  Oh, shit.

  “X, we’ve got to go.”

  “What do you think I’m doing? Get in the fucking car!”

  I didn’t want to think the deputy would start shooting in the middle of town with people around, but I didn’t know if someone was paying him to watch me. If he thought he’d end up with his balls cut off if he lost track of me, it would make him more likely to take risks.

  My heart hammered, my mouth running dry. I wished I’d thought to put one of the guns in an easy to reach place, but for some reason, having a shootout with the police hadn’t been part of my plans for the day. I had thought to secure my knife in the sheath between my breasts right before we left the house, but a knife wasn’t any good at a distance.

  I yanked open the passenger door and threw myself inside, dragging the bag in with me. X had the engine running and was pulling out of the space with a screech of wheels on asphalt before I’d even gotten the door shut. Deputy Kier had broken into a run, and was simultaneously speaking into the radio attached to the front of his shirt.

  “Fuck. He’s calling for backup.”

  X glanced over at me. “Don’t worry. We’ll be long gone.” And he put his foot down, the motion throwing me back in the seat.

  The crack of gunfire made me duck.

  “Motherfucker,” swore X, but continued to drive.

  I reached into the bag, and my hands made contact with the cold metal of one of the handguns. Flicking the safety, I wriggled around in the seat, facing back the way we’d come. I used the passenger seat as protection, pointing the muzzle through the gap between the two seats, fully prepared to shoot out the rear windshield if I had to. But I caught sight of the deputy running down the street behind us, slowing to a walk and finally a stop as he gave up, knowing he was never going to catch the car and that there was too much distance for an accurate shot now. X swerved around a corner, and I leaned with the movement.

  “Don’t worry,” X said. “We’ve lost him.”

  I turned back in the seat to face the front. “Yeah, but for how long? He knows I’m running now. He’ll check the house and find the bodies and Nickie gone. We’ll have the cops after us.”

  “Then first thing we need to do is find a new vehicle. Know anywhere nearby we can get one?”

  My thoughts went straight to the bar where I worked. Would Johnny lend me his truck? Could I trust the guy not to tell someone? He wasn’t the type of man to turn to the police. He was as susp
icious as I was, always thinking the cops were out to get him for one thing or another. He’d always been good to me, and I thought he would lend me his truck without too many questions if I asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, eventually. “Take me to the bar I work at. My boss will lend me his vehicle.”

  “We can always use a little extra persuasion if needed,” said X, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel.

  “There won’t be any need for that, and I wouldn’t go there if there was.”

  “No? Not even if it meant getting one step closer to getting your sister back?”

  “There are lines I’d rather not cross.”

  “I thought you’d already crossed them all.”

  I scowled at him as he glanced over at me. I didn’t like having my misdemeanors thrown at me, and it left me irate that this stranger seemed to know everything about me, when I knew absolutely nothing about him.

  “Just drive to the bar. It’s on the outskirts of town.”

  “Yeah,” he nodded, “I know where it is.”

  I rolled my eyes, unable to stop myself. “Of course you do.”

  X took a couple of random turns, I guessed to try to make it harder for the police to follow us. The deputy would have had to turn around and run back to the patrol car, get in, start the ignition and chase after us, by which time we’d have put a decent distance between us and him. The bar was in the opposite direction of which we were headed, so as soon as X had put enough distance between us and the deputy, he turned east, and then back south. I hoped it would help put the cop off the scent as well. I imagined he’d think we would try to head straight out of town, rather than doubling back on ourselves and remaining in town.

  The bar was located on the outskirts, thank God, and we were lucky enough not to see any sign of more cops. I knew the bar would be one of the places the deputy would think to send people looking for me, though I also suspected he would be busy searching the house and most likely getting onto the phone with whoever he’d been spying on me for. Maybe I’d gotten him all wrong, and he was just doing his job, but I didn’t trust anyone. I still stayed on high alert for any sign of the cops coming after us.