Water

by Anna Petrovich

  “If we leave and your brother finds out that it was because of your warning, what will you do?” For a moment, the man hesitated before a resolution dawned on his face.

  “If you can trust me, let me help.” A struggle of emotions were evident in the ex-soldier’s face before he stuck out his hand to the man.

  “Let’s get out of this neighborhood before they arrive. Amber!” She came out of the door with the kids clinging to her in fear. “Get in the car, Patricks and his men are on their way.” He saw her cast a worried glance at the man at his side. “This is Jakande’s brother, Asani. He’s the one who warned us about the attack.” His arms wrapped around her for a brief moment, while his lips pressed into her hair. “It’ll be fine.” The words were spoken in a mumble because of the closeness, but it comforted her fears.

  Inside the vehicles, the various family members were in varied states of fear, exihileration, and anger. Amber glanced at Ethan’s face and saw a cold dead expression with a chilling grey accent in the eyes. Even the stranger who had apparently saved their lives was livid, the sweat almost steaming on his skin from the anger radiating around him. They wound their way through traffic, following an invisible path that only Ethan seemed to be aware of as though a memory were coming to the surface. The vehicle turned down a long winding alley, sending the pedestrians scurrying to the side in shock before pulling to a stop in front of a shady pawn shop. He was out of the door in a second, helping her and the kids out with a silent urgency. A woman came out of the doorway, taking Amber’s hand and leading the family into the building. She began babbling in a foreign language pointing to various doors without stopping for a moment.

  “Amber, this is Eun Ae. She used to be my housekeeper back in England before moving here to open a pawnshop. You’ll be safe here.” Amber nodded, then turned to face him with a growing determination.

  “Stop keeping me in the dark, Ethan. I want to help. This concerns me just as much as you. My ex-husband was killed for this, these men are threatening my children and you. I can’t just sit this out.” There was a moment of silence as he processed her words.

  “This isn’t going to end with a bow on the top, all wrapped up for the state police. It’ll end bloody. People are going to die. You may not be able to sit this out, but I can’t let you or the children be one of those people.” His hand caressed her hair gently as the concern in his eyes deepened from blue to a stormy sea grey. “I’m not going to smother you either. Jack is going to stay here, watch the data and keep us informed. You’ll learn surveillance and other tech stuff from him while remaining in constant real time contact with me, alright? Will that make up for not being in the field?”

  “Your safety is the only thing that will worry me, Ethan. If you die, the children…me…” She hugged him tighter, carefully tracing his face and jawline in order to remember everything about this man who had saved her world. There was the brown hair that hung close to his eyes in the front, yet was neatly trimmed along the sides and back. It was both coarse and soft to the touch. A little bit of stubble ran along the jawline, the result of a rough couple of days. Beautiful icy grey-blue eyes that both terrified and calmed her with their interchanging emotion. “Come back to me. Just come back to me…to us.”

  “I can’t make a promise, but that will be the mission objective for me. Stay safe, take care of the children. They’re depending on us to stay alive to keep them alive.” A slight smile appeared at the end of his mouth. There was a thought in his mind that nagged at the back, reminding the man of his own childhood and the necessary steps that led to this day. For a brief moment, the cruel taunts of the boys and the pain of the daily beatings embittered his thoughts before the face of the woman in front of him dismissed everything again.

  Outside in the vehicle, Asani started as Ethan climbed into the car along with the assassin. “You have a plan, soldier?” Tuvia’s question took the distraught man by surprise, his jaw stiffening in discomfort.

  “Take out the target, son. I don’t care how you do it, legal or illegal. The agency gave the go-ahead to use any means necessary to complete the mission. That’s your field of expertise right, kid?” His tone had a hard edge to it, an echo from the distant past – the man who had struck terror into the hearts of his enemies.

  “Alright, then, we’ll remove them clinically. What was your team position, Ryde?” He saw the confusion in the older man’s face pass briefly before a pained expression took its place. “I read your file, British SAS Black Task Force and US Special Forces Kill Squad during the war.”

  “Threat elimination and gathering intelligence. Just before the psychologist declared my records to be clinically saturated with post-traumatic stress disorder and possible instability the intelligence agencies of both countries considered my file for service.” There was a terrible silence after this revelation before the assassin broke it without bothering to think about the implications.

  “Good, I’m not the only one with expertise. Davis, talk to us, where are the targets?” For a moment, there was only the sound of typing and breathing in the car.

  “They are in the east sector of the city, a warehouse on the warf.” Amber’s voice crackled through the line. “We’ve sent Carlson over to that location. He’ll meet you on the ground, the hotel room across the way. Room 203 under the name of Aldrich Ames.” The assassin leaned back with his eyes closed, the thoughts running through his mind at a record pace. Ethan flinched as the earpiece in his ear hummed before her voice again began transmitting.

  “You never told me about that, dear.” I didn’t tell you a great deal about my past, there wasn’t time…and I was afraid. A look of guilt passed across his face before replying.

  “Didn’t cross my mind.” That was all that he was prepared to say in the moment, the stress sending waves of pain in his brain. “Talk to me, Tuvia, we can’t go in blind.”

  “You any good with a sniper rifle?” A wry smile spread across the older man’s face, the expression enough to communicate that his skill level in that area was high. “Good, then you’ll man the rifle that Carlson has waiting for us at the site or in packed in the truck of the vehicle. Cover my back. Got any skills, man?” Asani opened his mouth to answer when a shot echoed over the area and the car spun to a stop in the middle of the road. All of the occupants ducked low to observe the shooter, eyes barely above the dashboard and windows. The passenger gasped in horror as his brother appeared from above the overpass cement railing.

  32

  Almira and Amber stood stiff with suspense as they watched their enemies approach the defenseless car. Then the front and back driver’s doors flew open while two figures rolled out onto the asphalt, then shots were fired. Slowly, they covered each other while backed away behind a more protective covering. Then a gasp escaped the mother’s lips as she saw Ethan move back into the line of fire, unprotected, save for the other man’s fire to remove the other occupant from fusillade of bullets. He threw open the door, pulled the trembling man, then covered the area while the coward ran for the safety of the cement. Ethan began to move back, then stopped for a brief moment, his hand going to his side automatically. Even the camera revealed the blood that seeped through his shirt. Amber’s trembling fingers switched on the earpiece without thinking. The sound of automatic gunfire hurt her ears a bit, but what was worse was the screaming that appeared to come from the man who had warned them of the earlier attack.

  “Why couldn’t we see this coming, Davis?” Almira’s voice was tense and sharp with worry, glaring at the man who continued to type at the computer screen as though to save his life.

  “Working on that right now. It appears there was a blind spot with the cameras that CCTV and other agencies placed in that area. They must have been informed of that specific location by someone on the inside.” Amber could only watch hopelessly as the soldier slowly back away, throwing open the trunk and dragging a large case after him to safety. Then the fight took a turn in their favor, several bullets taking
out the men around Jakande and Patricks.

  “A little late to the party, but entering with class.” Carlson’s voice echoed in the small room over the sound of gunfire.

  “Better late than never, old man.” The assassin replied, wincing as a bullet grazed his left arm before retaliating with a well-aimed shot that hit the man in the chest. Amber walked over to look at the camera zoomed in on her husband with interest. He was crouched just hidden between a battered old van and a railing of a wheelchair ramp to the building, the sniper rifle turned toward their enemies. Her breath caught at the ease with which he began picking off the men, one by one, no hesitation. Then Patricks went down under the fire of bullets, none of them able or willing to take the credit during the intense exchange of lead. Jakande took off over the rooftops, running flat out.

  “Follow him, Davis!” Amber gave the order taking both of the other occupants by surprise, although he obeyed the command. They were tracking the man’s movements when suddenly another figure appeared in the camera – Ethan. He was gaining on the African dictator without appearing to be worn out. The last jump took the men out of their sight sending both women out into a car to that location without a second thought.

  Ethan gripped the dictator’s collar throwing both of them to the hard cement rooftop. Slowly, they got to their feet. Both men were breathing hard from the run. “You’ll never take me alive.” Jakande let his teeth show, pulling out a combat knife from some hidden holster. His smile tightened as his opponent also drew a knife. They circled each other. Animals testing the others weakness. Animals prepared to strike at a moment’s notice. The dictator moved first. A swing at Ethan’s stomach. Landing on thin air as the soldier stepped out of the way. Ethan’s hand landed on the man’s shoulder blades. Rage began to take over the dictator’s mental abilities.

  Amber leapt out of the vehicle and without hesitation ran up the stairs of the building, onto the roof. Both women appeared in time to see the fighters collapse from exhaustion again. The dictator struggled to his feet. His knife flashed in the sunlight, glistening with sweat and blood. Almira saw her brother move. Their enemy fell with a cry right onto the blade of the soldier before going silent. “Ethan!” Amber rushed to his side, shoving the dead body off of him and tremblingly touching his face.

  “I thought you were with the kids.” He groaned from the pain, despite attempting to smile.

  “Davis couldn’t pick you up on the camera feed. You told me to be his assistant and extra pair of eyes.” The wounded man’s laughter ended in a fit of coughing and an expression of pain.

  The women carefully assisted him into the vehicle before taking off for the other site. There were bodies scattered over the scene along with guns and weapons. Amber saw the assassin emerge from behind the cement bunker gripping his arm with a bloody and dirt covered face. He saw the vehicle and limped over to it. “Ethan.” His words stopped, but the eyes scanned the wounds and exhausted state without a need for questions. “10-18. 10-18.” Their hands met in a firm handshake, acknowledging the respect that had been slow in coming from both parties. Carlson stepped over a body to get in a position to take them, his own usually immaculate body covered in dust and traces of blood.

  “The mission is closed down, soldier. We’ll reassign you as a civilian operative with a six month leave for family purposes.” A grateful smile broke the concerned frown on Amber’s face, the ring on her finger again a reminder of the happiness that was now in her life. “Morgan. Is there a reason you are sitting here letting your man bleed out in the back seat?” His sister blushed, embarrassed by her own negligence.

  “No, sir. We’re on our way to the hospital now, sir.” She climbed into the vehicle along with the assassin who only went under orders, his flippant attitude at odds with the pasty coloring on his face. Glancing over, she saw the blood seeping through the dark t-shirt, partially hidden by his jacket. Harsh words stopped on her lips, the understanding of the embarrassment entering her mind. “Take this.” She slipped a towel into his hands, keeping her eyes on the road to leave the man some dignity. There was a brief grateful flash in the blue eyes before the silence grew heavy with the uncomfortable situation. “You alright, Ethan?”

  “I’ll survive.” A wan smile spread across his face, eyes focused on Amber’s face with a tenderness in them that again caused a slight ache in her heart. Despite discovering their relationship, it was hard to give up the feelings that had been harbored in her heart for years. Still the happiness that emanated from the couple was enough to send a wave of relief and contentment into her own mind. They pulled to a stop in front of the hospital alongside another suburban that let out Zara, Carlson, Davis, and the children who rushed to their father without hesitation. Their little arms wrapped around his torso, not wanting to let him go and lose the protection of the only man who had ever treated them gently and lovingly. The orderlies were forced to slowly detach the children to get a clear view of their patient who was in pain, but also the happiest he’d ever been in the almost forty years of life. A new family, a new start in the safety of the protection of an agency that put their lives first. He allowed the exhaustion to overtake him for the first time in days before slipping into unconsciousness.