“What did he do?” Voice low and threatening, I found myself backing up against his wall.
“It was just a jealous girlfriend,” I explained hurriedly. “She was insane and it wasn’t fair, but we got given the money so I didn’t have a choice. I am sorry.”
That obviously wasn’t the reason Jack had been sitting on the past six months. “He didn’t have a girlfriend. You’re lying.”
Jack backed me against the wall and although here in the real world I had more than enough strength to push him off, I didn’t. I let him keep me there, dark anger circling in his eyes. Dark anger and doubt. I was about to tell him something he didn’t want to hear and he knew it, but the truth mattered most. “I’m not lying,” I bleated, cringing when Jack kneed me in the stomach.
I deserved it.
“Tell me.” He pushed the knife I’d dropped in my surprise at his revelation into my throat, splitting skin, but not enough to need stitches.
I shook my head. “You don’t want to know,” I warned. “Just let it go.”
Jack punched me in the face.
I gasped in shock as pain exploded in my cheek, eyes watering. I absolutely deserved it.
When he pressed the knife into my neck hard enough to draw blood, I gave in. “He killed a child, Jack.” The knife was dropped and Jack relieved the pressure he had on my arms, allowing me to keep speaking. “He set fire to a house and there was a baby inside, it didn’t survive. The parents had some footage of who did it, but they brought it to us instead of the police. I’m so sorry.”
“Get out.”
It was the expected response, but I still hovered against the wall, trying desperately to think of some way to make it better. “I can get you the file, if you wanted. If it would help.”
“Get out.”
“Jack-”
“Leave. Just... leave, please.”
Nodding, I hesitated only a moment longer before snatching my knife and fleeing.
Chapter Six
I wiped thick foundation down the side of my bruised cheek, flinching when the sponge touched the worst area. No amount of make-up was going to hide the blackening area, but I was at least going to try and conceal it as much as possible. I didn’t want Jack feeling too bad when he saw me. Plus, the make-up had done wonders for the black circles under my eyes.
Last night had been restless. Weighed down by guilt, I’d tossed and turned and managed maybe an hour’s worth of actual sleep.
Jack was devastated, alone and without any comfort. I should have stayed with him, I should have forced my company on him even though he didn’t want it. But I’d run and no doubt made him feel even worse.
Checking my face, the dark purple and yellow half wasn’t disappearing. Still, it looked like I’d managed to apply the make-up well enough. I didn’t normally bother with anything more than a bit of eyeliner and mascara, but this seemed to have been easy enough.
Grabbing my rucksack, I ignored the bruise my stomach had received. At least that one wasn’t visible. He’d never have to know about that one.
My dawdling could only last for so long as I put off finding out what state Jack was in. I shouldn’t have told him. I should never have told him. I should have made up something believable, but not that bad. Involved in a gang. That would have been perfect. My heart sunk and I was forced to leave the apartment.
Hovering around the car park waiting for Jenny, I couldn’t stop my eyes scanning the area for Jack. I didn’t want to see him, but I was powerless to stop my roaming gaze. Eventually, it settled on Jenny.
Her eyes widened and her walk increased its pace significantly when she caught sight of my battered face. “What on Earth happened?”
I laughed, running an awkward hand through my hair. “I fell down my stairs, like an idiot.”
“Are you okay? It looks really bad...” Her cheeks reddened. “Sorry, I mean like painful, not bad.”
“It’s fine, honestly. I went to get it checked out and everything, I don’t have a concussion. Seriously, it’s just a bit sore is all.”
I’d obviously predicted Jenny’s line of thinking, because she simply nodded and moved on. “God, I’m so glad my headache is gone. I felt like dying almost all weekend.”
My hangover hadn’t been quite that bad, but I had certainly felt rough the next day. Walking to Jerome’s house to retrieve my car hadn’t been an enjoyable experience. “Me too. I’m so glad Netflix exists.”
“It was really nice of Jack to give us a lift home, too. I didn’t even realise you really spoke to him.”
“I don’t, I just knew he hadn’t been drinking and he seemed like a decent enough guy. Plus I was drunk enough to actually approach him.”
“I really hope I didn’t do anything ridiculously embarrassing. Making out with someone in front of half the year was bad enough.” Her cheeks remained a bright pink.
“Have you spoken to Ryan again since?”
“Actually, yes! We’re hanging out on Wednesday, he’s driving into Sheffield and we’re going to the cinema. He lives just out of town, like half an hour away, but he can drive so it’s not much of a big deal. I’m actually really nervous.”
“Well, at least you know you have chemistry.” I wiggled my eyebrows and Jenny only groaned. “Talking can’t be that much more difficult than getting all hot and heavy.”
“I’ve never done anything like this before though.”
“I know, neither have I, so I’m going to be no good at helping you out, sorry.”
“We’re so pathetic.”
“Agreed.”
“Oh! There’s Jack. I wanted to go and thank him for Saturday night.”
I almost stopped her, but I had no explanation to give as to why she couldn’t go and speak to him, so I let it happen. “Jack!” She called out, having apparently gained a significant amount of confidence since her liaison at the party. “Hey,” her voice faltered slightly at his appearance, but she didn’t comment. “Just wanted to thank you for the lift the other night and for carrying me upstairs. It was really nice of you.”
“No problem.” His smile was tight and he met her eyes for only a second. “I really have to go though, the bell’s about to go.” His washed out skin had absolutely no colour and I wondered if it was possible for him to have gotten even less sleep than me. The barely discernible scent of alcohol hung in the air.
“Right, of course. Thanks again!”
Jack had only glanced at me once with those gaunt eyes and the remorse on his face was obvious. Still, he’d not done a double-take.
“He looks rough. Maybe even worse than you.”
I made myself laugh. “I guess he’s just sick. Pretty unlucky.”
“Yeah, that sucks,” she moved on without sounding too devastated for him. “Guess who I met yesterday? And I even managed to do it through that horrendous hangover.”
I blinked, mind completely blank as to whom Jenny could have possibly been seeing.
“Daniel!” Even after being told it took me a second to figure out who on Earth that was.
“Oh! Cool, is he as adorable as your parents made out? I can’t wait to meet him.”
“He’s even cuter,” she gushed. “He has this mop of brown curls and these cute little glasses. He’s so nice too, I mean, I know I’ve only met him once, but he really does seem perfect.”
Our tones quietened as we entered the school building. “That’s really awesome.”
“And, all being well, he’ll be at home with us for your birthday!”
My birthday was in two weeks and I was, weirdly, quite excited for it. I’d never really had a birthday where I was expecting someone to be excited for me, but I could tell from Jenny’s posture she was looking forward to my birthday more than me. It was particularly touching.
“I’m actually really excited.” I admitted. “It should be a lot of fun.”
***
Jack lingered behind as we all shoved our books into our bag. His movements were sluggish, as if
it took all his willpower just to make his arms move. “I just need to stay behind to ask Mr. Bradley about the homework,” I pulled a face. “Won’t be long. Save me a seat, will you?”
“Sure thing.” Jenny shot me a sympathetic look at the prospect of Mr. Bradley.
I hovered around until I could follow Jack out of the classroom. He was completely unaware of my presence until I tugged on the back of his shirt sleeve. “Wha-oh, Ilona, what’s up?”
“I was just wondering how you are,” I explained, shifting my weight and keeping my eyes downcast. “I’m really sorry for everything that happened last night.”
The softest touch on my cheek made me snap my eyes back to Jack’s face. “Holy shit, I’m so sorry about your face.”
He dropped his hand and looked on the verge of crying. I blinked rapidly. “It’s fine, honestly, it doesn’t even hurt that much.” That was a lie even I couldn’t sell. “Besides, I let you do it. I could have gotten away from you easily as we both know. Don’t blame yourself.”
Jack wasn’t convinced, but chose to simply ball self-loathing fists at his side and nod. “Right, well, thanks for checking up on me. I’m going for lunch.”
He turned away, but I stopped him once more. “You’re going the wrong way.”
“I’m eating at home.”
“You should eat with your friends instead. It’ll be a good distraction. It’ll make you feel better.”
“I’d rather they didn’t see me like this.” I could understand, mostly, but he could easily pass off his pasty face and dark circles as being ill and a rough night’s sleep. He didn’t have to let them know he was upset.
He wasn’t budging, though. Part of me didn’t think he wanted cheering up. “I’ll come and eat with you if you want.” I was the only one who knew what he was going through. I didn’t know whether he was planning on telling his family or not.
“No, thanks.” He pulled his arm away from my grasp once more. “I just want to be alone, seriously.”
I bounced on my heels and clasped my hands together. “Well, if you do want to talk, you just have to ask. I don’t mind, honestly.”
“Wait,” Jack stopped turning back to face me. “Was everything you said last night true?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t lie about something like that.”
“No, not that part. The other bit, about the party. About you.”
A pink flush attacked my cheeks. “No, it wasn’t. The party was genuine, not last night.” I wasn’t too surprised he’d fallen for it. I’d done a horribly good job of pulling it off.
“Well, I’m glad.” He retrieved his phone. “Put your number in. I’ll call you if I need someone, I promise.”
I blinked, staring at the device in front of me, before tapping in my number and double checking the digits. “Here. I’m free any time.”
We shared a weak smile. “Thank you, and... I’m just really sorry for everything I must have put you through.”
The shock of the revelation had clearly shifted his anger away from me, but no doubt it would be back one day. He couldn’t have just forgiven me that easily, it was simply distracted for the moment.
“I really don’t care.” Part of me thought that maybe it was worth it, to get to know him, but that was incredibly selfish of me. Jack had been completely screwed over by this whole thing.
Still, there was far more to come. I had absolutely no idea what we were meant to do about who he was working for now.
That was a hurdle that we’d hopefully cross in the very distant future.
Especially since if Jack backed out, someone who didn’t have qualms about guns would be targeting me next.
Chapter Seven
I was particularly reluctant to double-click the icon that let me hear the going’s on of Jack’s bedroom. It felt too personal at this point - I shouldn’t be spying on him when he was grieving. But, I needed to hear more about these people he was working for and soon. So far I’d had absolutely nothing. They’d not contacted him once when he was in his room and before long, Dale would start asking questions. I didn’t want to know what his response would be when he didn’t get answers.
Tuning into Jack’s room, I was grateful to hear him just listening to music. We had similar taste, I had discovered the first few times I’d run the program. The chink of a glass could be heard from a distance. It was no real confirmation, but I assumed it was some form of alcohol. My theory was that he’d drank a lot after Simon’s death and then quit when he decided hunting me was more fun.
This was his relapse.
I contemplated shutting the program, this really wasn’t meant for my ears, but the sound of a phone ringing put that thought to the back of my mind. However, the sound was cut short when his door opened. “Jack? What’s going on with you? Are you drinking? It stinks in here.”
“Mum, it’s chocolate milk.” A thread of guilt ran through me for even thinking it. “It just stinks in here because I drank a lot on Jerome’s birthday and I haven’t shoved my stuff in the wash yet, it’s fine.”
If I knew what his mother looked like, I would have been able to picture the concerned frown. Nothing like that had ever been directed towards me. “Okay, honey, sorry for overreacting. I just worry, you know.”
“I know, mum, but everything’s okay.”
“Well, I’ll just take that washing now. Dinner won’t be until later tonight, that all right?”
“Yeah, fine, I’m not really hungry right now.”
When the door had shut again, I waited for Jack to return the phone call. Ellie, no doubt.
“My mum came in,” he ground out moments later. “You didn’t tell me, you piece of shit. You didn’t tell me what he did. You used me.”
I couldn’t pick up the other person’s response, but I had no doubts as to what smug line they were feeding him. Probably some insult about how he’d done a pathetic job anyway.
“I’m glad I didn’t get around to killing her. You people disgust me.”
There was a long pause and I realised I was holding my breath. “Fine.” His voice was completely emotionless. “I’d rather it was me than you.”
He hung up the phone and I stared at the flat lines of the audio program. So Jack was still trying to kill me. At least, I definitely wasn’t getting out of this without someone shooting me down, because Jack couldn’t do it. I didn’t really want him to have to do it.
The sound of my own phone ringing made me jump. Checking the caller ID, it was an unknown number. Warily, I picked up, removing the headphones so I could no longer hear into Jack’s room. “Hello?”
“Hey, Ilona.” Jack’s tired voice greeted me, at a much crisper quality than the bug provided.
My guard was instantly raised, but I managed a steady “oh, hey Jack. What’s up?”
“I need to speak to you. In person.” Blood drained from my face. He was really going to just get it over and done with?
“Right. What about?” Doubt had seeped into my voice.
“Just come round to my house, I get why you wouldn’t want to meet me in a darkened alley somewhere.” My wave of panic eased somewhat at that. Well, he certainly wasn’t going to murder me in his house.
“Yeah, okay, I’m on my way then.”
Slipping on a large hoody, my knife was already lodged in my jeans pocket. This time, I did receive my compact pistol from the bedside table and holster it out of sight. I wasn’t going to take any chances.
My run to his house was quick and caused me no trouble. However, the prospect of knocking on his front door and confronting his mother was an entirely different matter. I much preferred the idea of the window route.
Taking a deep breath, I made my way up his drive, feeling the weight of the pistol at my back. Jack’s mother opened the door with his little sister Millie’s on her hip. She registered a blank expression having seen me and not recognised me.
“Hi, is Jack in? I was off school today and he collected my homework for me.” My smile was tight
. I’d killed her son. I really didn’t want to be engaging in small talk.
“Of course, up the stairs and first door on your right.” She paused, before turning to yell into the house. “Jack! Your friend-”
“Ilona.”
“Ilona’s here!”
Allowing me into the house, I followed her instructions and entered Jack’s room, my entire body tense. He was sat in his chair, head in his hands and eyes closed. It took him a moment to register the fact I’d entered.
The Reluctant Assassin Page 5
