by Sweet, Izzy
Dickers chuckles. “Why? Because you still hope she’ll somehow magically fall in love with you? Or maybe you just want to fuck? Maybe you hope that she’ll finally spread her legs for you in gratitude and it will be that magic pussy you’ve been searching for your whole life.”
“Fuck you,” Trent sputters, the veins in his forehead so prominent they look like they’re about to burst.
“That’s enough,” Jacob cuts in, sounding a bit angry himself.
“Enough? Enough?!” Dickers repeats incredulously. “It’s not enough. Not when she’s a liability we can’t afford. You realize that, right? You realize she can screw us all?”
The car falls quiet for the first time, and I know they’re all chewing over the idea of me being a liability.
Turning to Trent, I sniffle and plead, “Please don’t let him kill me, Trent. Please.”
Trent’s attention jerks to me, and I try to scoot closer to him.
Dropping my voice to a whisper, I add, “I don’t want to die.”
Dickers chortles.
Maybe if Dickers didn’t chortle, Trent wouldn’t buy my little act. But his hatred for the man must blind him to my true intentions.
His jaw tightening with determination, Trent assures me, “I won’t let him hurt you.”
“No one is hurting anyone,” Jacob says, backing him up.
“Who said anything about hurting her? We don’t have to hurt her to get rid of her,” Dickers suggests. “We can make it painless—”
“She’s Cronin’s daughter, Dickers,” Jacob says, as if he can’t believe he has to say it. “Jesus.”
“And Cronin’s dead now,” Dickers snaps back without missing a beat. “Dead because he stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and pissed off the Russians. Dead because your dumbass of a son fucked everything up and tipped him off for her. And now your dumbass of a son is going to get us all killed to have her.”
Trent stiffens beside me, and the fact that he doesn’t snap back at Dickers for calling him a dumbass tells me he’s unsettled by what Dickers said.
Even Jacob is quiet for a few seconds before he says, “We’ll discuss this later.”
“Yeah, later.” Dickers chuckles. “When we’re already six feet under the ground. Right next to Cronin.”
“Dickers—” Jacob starts to warn before Dickers cuts him off, sounding more serious.
“Look, I thought I owed it to him too, to save her from those fuckers. But she said it herself, she didn’t want to be saved. And now? Now that she’s heard what she’s heard? It’s her or us. Pick.”
Silence falls over the car again, and I can almost feel the last seconds of my life ticking away.
Maybe… maybe if James wasn’t dead it would actually bother me. But it doesn’t. The only thing that bothers me is that I might not get to hurt any of them before they take me out.
“Damn you, Dickers,” Jacob finally growls, and I know he’s turned against me.
I glance over at Trent, wondering if he’s finally turned against me too, but he only looks confused. Like he doesn’t understand yet.
“Now or after we stop at the station?” Dickers asks, as if the matter is settled. “This is our exit.”
Dickers hits the blinker to turn right, but the blinker just clicks and clicks.
At first, I wonder if it’s because he’s waiting on Jacob to answer, but then Dickers curses. “Stupid fuck beside me won’t let me get over.”
Jacob sighs, sounding tired. “Speed up and go around him.”
“Can’t,” Dickers says. “The fucker in front of… Fuck!”
“What?” Jacob asks.
I feel the car start to slow a little only to speed up again.
“We’re fucking boxed in!” Dickers growls. “They’ve got us surrounded.”
20
Sophia
“Fuck!” Dickers curses and slams his phone down on the console between the front seats.
For the past five minutes, he’s been trying and failing to reach someone on his phone.
“No answer?” Jacob asks, unable to keep the concern out of his voice.
“Can’t get ahold of Harris, and no one else is picking up,” Dickers growls, his hands squeezing so tight around the steering wheel his knuckles turn white. “There’s goes all our fucking backup.”
Silence falls over the car, and while the men around me seem tense and uneasy, I feel a spark of hope flaring to life in my chest.
Is James alive? Did he manage to kill all the men Dickers left?
It doesn’t seem probable or the least bit likely…
But when has James ever been predicable?
If anyone could pull it off, it would be him.
I’d bet my life on it.
The little spark inside me grows and grows until it’s a blazing fire that gives me the strength to fight on and try to survive this mess.
Glancing out his window at the black SUV beside us, keeping pace with us, Trent breaks the silence by asking, “What do we do?”
“I don’t know,” Dickers says, and I catch his eyes in the rearview mirror.
The murder is still there, oh yes. But there’s also a touch of fear. And deep in my bones, I know fear is a dangerous thing in a man like him.
Especially now that I want to live and see James again.
“Can you call the Russians and ask them for help?” Jacob asks.
Dickers laughs at that and shakes his head.
Beside me, Trent squirms and seems to shrink in his seat.
Glancing back at Trent, Dickers continues to laugh, as if he finds something hilarious.
Growing irritated, Jacob asks, “What’s so funny?”
Looking over at Jacob and his angry face, Dickers’s laughter dies down a little, but dark amusement drips from his voice as he explains, “We can’t call the fucking Russians and ask them for help. After the shit that went down with Cronin, they want nothing to do with us.”
Jacob scowls at him. “Are you sure? Maybe you could explain and make a new deal with them. Maybe there’s something—”
“I’m fucking sure,” Dickers snaps, cutting Jacob off. “They’re just as likely to kill us as the men boxing us in. Their big guy, Alexei, got fucking burned alive because of the shit Cronin pulled.”
Like his son, Jacob shrinks back.
“All of our backup is unreachable. Either dead or incapacitated,” Dickers goes on like he’s trying to bash Jacob in with his words. “We can’t call into the station for help now because I’ll have to explain what the fuck happened to the team, and I don’t know what the fuck happened to the team. Plus they’ll want answers about her, and I’m pretty fucking sure she isn’t going to clear us of any of this shit!”
“We’re fucked. Totally fucked,” Trent groans.
As if the universe wants to show them just how fucked they are, the black car to our left starts to squeeze in on us.
“What the hell?” Dickers growls as the cars around us force us off the exit. “Where the hell are they taking us? There’s nothing out here…”
Trent and I both peer through his window. My pulse begins to race with a mixture of trepidation and excitement now that something is finally happening. No one has said who exactly is boxing us in, but my gut is telling me it’s the guys that work with James.
Maybe even Johnathan is in one of the cars…
And maybe they have a plan to help me.
The exit lane narrows to one lane and the car to our right is forced to ease back, leaving that space empty.
“You can get around them,” Jacob says quickly. “Cut through the grass and head for that motel over there.”
Dickers immediately hits the gas and swerves to the right, just as Jacob said.
And I want to scream in frustration.
I have no way to stop him with my damn hands still cuffed behind my back.
If I had my hands free, I’d choke the shit out of Dickers… then maybe try to get past Trent and out the door.
> As it is though, I’m fucking helpless.
Always helpless.
Dickers guns it through the grass median between lanes, and I start to bounce around. With no way to steady myself, I end up bouncing right into Trent.
Trent grabs me to keep me from bouncing off the seat, and I react out of pure instinct. Loathing his touch, even if he’s trying to be helpful, and frustrated beyond belief at my inability to do anything, I slam my head back into his face.
“Fuck!” Trent shouts and shoves me away to grab at his face.
I end up smacking into the seat in front of me and tumble to the floor. The back of my head aching from how hard I hit Trent.
The pain was worth it though. It was worth it to finally do something even if it doesn’t help me in the grand scheme of things.
“What the hell, Sophia? What was that for?” Trent whines as he checks out his bloody nose.
“The fact that you even have to ask…” I groan, my skull throbbing from the amount of force I used.
“What’s going on back there?” Jacob asks as the SUV suddenly swerves to the right again and then lurches forward.
“Sophia headbutted the shit out of me,” Trent grunts as he bounces around.
“They’re pushing in on us again! Get ready to bail once we reach the motel!” Dickers shouts and swerves to the left, the tires squealing. “We’re going to hit one of the back rooms and figure out a plan.”
A firm hand grabs me under my armpit and the patrolman tries to yank me up from the floor.
Knowing I need to delay getting pulled out of the car for as long as possible to slow them down, I use the patrolman’s pull on my shoulder to spring up and headbutt him in the face too.
Unfortunately, I have to use my forehead this time, and the pain borders on excruciating as our skulls crack together.
Dazed, I tumble back on my ass again as the patrolman yelps and grabs at his head.
“Dammit, she got me too,” the patrolman groans.
“Tase her ass,” Dickers snaps. “We’re bailing.”
Head pounding and still stuck on the floor with no way to push myself up, I can only watch as the patrolman pulls out his taser and aims it at me.
“Fuck you!” I scream and instantly regret it as another slice of pain cuts through my brain.
A heartbeat later, the taser hits me and the SUV squeals to a stop. Once again my entire body locks up in one great big painful cramp.
A cramp that hurts so bad it becomes my entire existence.
“Out! Everyone out!” Dickers shouts and I hear their doors opening.
Every muscle paralyzed, I can’t even scream as the patrolman yanks me out of the car.
As soon as he lifts me up and throws me over his shoulder though, the ability to move comes back.
I start to scream, squirm, and kick, trying to fight my way free. Doing everything I can do to get him to at least drop me.
Only to be tased a-fucking-gain. The barbs still stuck in my arm and shoulder sending another blast of electricity through my system.
In my haze of pain, I hear someone shout, “Drop her, motherfucker!”
And I think it might be Johnathan, but I’m not sure.
Honestly, I’m not sure of anything right now except that getting tased twice in a row fucking sucks.
Ignoring the order to drop me, all I see is cracked pavement as the patrolman runs to somewhere. His shoulder jabbing into my stomach with each jostling step and making me want to puke all over him.
Then a door slams in my face and I’m thrust into darkness.
“So what the fuck do we do now?” Trent asks as the patrolman dumps me on something that’s supposed to be a bed but feels more like a slab of rock. “The fucking lock on this door is broken, it’s not going to hold.”
A beam of sunshine slices through the dark, dingy room as Dickers twitches the curtain hanging over the window to the side. “I don’t fucking know, they’re surrounding us.”
The room falls back into darkness again when Dickers drops the curtain back into place and starts to pace around. “Let me think.’
Glancing over at me as I roll onto my side and try to sit up, Jacob says, “They probably want her. Maybe we can offer her in exchange for a safe exit…”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Trent agrees, backing up his father. “Let’s just offer them Sophia so they’ll let us go.”
Dickers stops pacing and slowly turns to face father and son. “Are you both fucking stupid? Do you know who’s out there? It’s fucking Lucifer himself.”
Head still throbbing and my arms numb from being tied behind my back for so long, I’m unable to sit up. Giving up in defeat, I collapse against the hard mattress I was dumped on and pant, catching my breath.
My eyes slowly adjust to the dim lighting as I watch the four men in front of me. Three dressed in SWAT black, and the fourth, unknown man dressed in his everyday blues. Men who should protect me, an innocent, law-abiding citizen.
If my father could see this…
Oh god, if my father could see this, he’d be rolling in his grave.
The color seems to drain from Jacob’s face, but Trent is either too stupid to be worried or just stupid period.
Looking between his father and Dickers, Trent asks, “So? That could be good. We can make a deal with the boss himself.”
“Fuck,” Dickers groans and shakes his head in disbelief. “You really are as dumb as a fucking box of rocks, aren’t you?”
“What?” Trent asks, scowling and still not getting it. “Why is it dumb?”
“The Devil isn’t going to make a fucking deal with us! We fucking attacked one of his men! Might have killed him too!” Dickers screams at Trent. Clenching both of his hands into fists, it looks like he wants to launch himself at Trent and strangle the life out of him, but he’s holding himself back. “The only reason we’re not dead right fucking now is because of her. They’re holding back, but they’ll make a move soon.”
“Goddammit,” the patrolman standing near me groans and rubs his forehead. “I didn’t sign up for any of this shit!”
Turning toward him, Dickers says, “None of us did, Calvet, but it’s what we’ve got to fucking deal with! Now everyone fucking shut up so I can think!”
The room falls back into silence as Dickers paces around, peeks through the window, and paces some more.
“Okay… Okay…” Dickers says after a few seconds. “There’s only one way we can do this.”
“What’s the plan?” Jacob asks.
Stopping and looking at me with pure loathing and hatred, Dickers says, “We have to kill her.”
“What? Why?!” Trent blurts out in more confusion.
“Dickers, you said it yourself, she’s the only thing keeping us alive right now. Killing her will only makes things worse,” Jacob adds in my defense.
“I did say that,” Dickers agrees as he turns back to face the other men. “But I think killing her is our best option now.”
Face flushing with anger, Trent shakes his head and points an accusing finger at Dickers. “Bullshit! You’ve been trying to kill her from the get-go.”
The fact that Trent and Jacob don’t seem very keen on killing me would probably comfort me if they hadn’t had a hand in killing my father.
“Don’t point your finger at me, boy!” Dickers yells back. “If we would have killed her back at the house instead of dragging her with us, we wouldn’t be in this fucking mess!”
“No. If you would have let me approach Cronin’s house the night we knew that fucker was in there, none of this would have happened!” Trent counters just as loud.
And my head aches at all the screaming they’re doing, their words pounding in my temples like two sledgehammers.
“Approach the house?! Are you fucking kidding me?” Dickers repeats incredulously. “The only reason she ended up at that fucker’s house in the first place is because you knocked on the fucking door while he was there! You couldn’t wait
until we got the distraction set up to get him out. No, you couldn’t fucking stand the thought of him touching her!”
“We didn’t know what he was doing to her! We didn’t know if he was hurting her!” Trent bellows, his face contorted with rage, but there’s doubt in his eyes now. Like he knows deep down Dickers is right.
“And now we have to hurt her, you fucking dimwit! She’s gonna die because of all your screw ups!” Dickers roars in pure fury.
Trent rocks back at that, as if Dickers just punched him in the gut. Then he shakes his head in denial. “No. Fuck no, we don’t have to kill her.”
Still seething, Dickers’s chest heaves up and down as he says, “We do. We have no other choice. We have to kill her and call it in. We’ll blame the fuckers out there for it. It’s the only way to get us some backup.”
“No,” Trent says again, like a broken record. Shaking his head some more as all the color drains from his face. “It won’t work.”
“If you have a better fucking idea, then please share,” Dickers grits out between his clenched teeth. “Because it’s the only one I’ve got, and I don’t want to fucking die here!”
Silence falls again.
None of the other men able to come up with a plan that would save my life.
I know I shouldn’t be upset or the least bit surprised after all the shit they’ve already done to me, but it still hurts for some reason that both Trent and Jacob are willing to kill me to protect themselves.
Hurt so much, I finally speak up.
“Here’s a plan,” I say, grabbing their attention.
I try to sit up again, fail, and grit my teeth as a million needles stab into my arms. “Why don’t you all turn yourselves in and accept your fate? You know… uphold that oath you took to protect and serve. Instead of killing me when I haven’t done anything to you!”
Dickers glares at me angrily.
Jacob at least has the dignity to look ashamed.
Trent’s face falls and he turns away from me.
Calvet, the asshole, looks from me to Dickers and asks, “How are we going to do this? If one of us shoots her, ballistics will trace it back to us.”
Dickers nods. “We can’t shoot her. Trying to cover that up would be too messy.”
