Bounty's End (Bounty for Hire)

by AJ Wiliams

  “Wonder where the bitch is.”

  “Who the fuck cares. We just need to find that stash and get out of here before you know who pays us a call. I swear, man, this was not what I signed up for.”

  Wen still held her phone to her ear. All the while these thieves talked, Thomas was in her ear telling her it was going to be okay, that Anthony and he and his boys were on the way.

  She understood this, but it didn’t stop the tremors that raked her body as the two men looked around her basement. She was fine hiding, until they walked up to the desk. She stilled.

  Please, don’t touch it, please don’t touch it.

  Then she saw the dark-haired thief lift up his leg. It was then that she lost it. She knew she should have stayed hidden. She knew that it was best for them to destroy the desk; however, every inch in her body gave way and pushed her forward. She came out from under the stairs, dropping the phone, running headfirst into the blond idiot that was standing off to the side of the desk. With her fists balled, she pushed her arms out using them as momentum to take him down. Catching him off guard, he went flying into the air sailing toward the large pole in the center of her basement. Hearing his head hit against the pole, she turned her attention to the dark-haired thief, who was now facing her with a gun in his hand.

  “Listen,” Wen said, putting her hands out in front of her body. “Leave. Just get out of here.”

  “Bitch, please.” Wen saw that the thief was a boy. Well not so young; she figured he was around seventeen–eighteen maybe.

  The thief continued, “You have any idea what he’ll do to me? I’m already fucked because I hid the shit in my neighbor’s stuff thinking… You know, I don’t think I should be talking to you.”

  “Really, leave; I don’t care. I…”

  Wen heard the heavy footfalls rushing above her at the same time the dark-haired boy was staring up at the ceiling. It was as if they were tracking each step that came near. When the footfalls paused, they both jumped in surprise at the boom of voices echoing near the basement door.

  “Shit. I’m royally fucked. All of this because of my god damn brother. I swear…” His voice was erratic as he raised the gun in the air toward ceiling in frustration.

  The kid didn’t have time to finish his sentence as two officers held guns at the top of the stairs, which was just behind Wen. She knew it was two, because she heard the distinct clicks of two guns proceeded by, “Freeze!” in two very different rough voices as they came down the steps.

  Oh God, this was not how she wanted the day to end.

  Did she dare do it? Was it the right thing?

  Ever so slowly, Wen turned her body to face the officers. Rule number one—never turn your back on a person holding a gun to your body. Number two—never, ever do what she was about to do.

  Seeing that one of the officers with the gun was Anthony, Wen ever so sweetly said, “Hey, Anthony. Listen, my friends here were just leaving.”

  Like that was going to really work, but hey, she had to try.

  “Yeah, I’m sure, Wen, really sure. Listen, kid, put the gun down and lets walk out of here, okay?”

  Something must have happened, because Anthony holstered his pistol and took a step to the side of Wen and walked to the boy.

  “Wen? Wen, god dammit, you better be alive for fucks sake, because I will haunt you in your death if you’re not.”

  Everyone flinched as the stone cold shout came from above. She watched as Thomas made his presence known by stomping down each step as hard as he could.

  “Thomas, buddy, we got her,” Anthony said as he walked past her.

  Placing her hand on boy’s arm, stopping Anthony in his tracks, Wen simply asked, “Would you have killed me?”

  She looked him straight in the eyes. Deep, dark blue eyes that held pain and suffering. He was lost, she thought to herself.

  “No, I wouldn’t have; I just didn’t know what else to do.”

  “Well, bud, you can think about that while in lockup,” Anthony announced as he started to put handcuffs on him.

  They started to move away just as Thomas reached her side.

  “Do you do drugs?” she inquired of the dark-haired boy.

  He answered, “No, I don’t. I hid the drugs because of my brother. He got them off of a cop, and was holding them, trying to blackmail the cop into leaving him alone. I told him that kind of shit was going to get us killed and I wanted it out of the house.”

  “Listen, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I would like to help you if you’d let me.” Her voice was soft and strong. Wen felt Thomas stiffen beside her as she looked into the boy’s large blue eyes as they widened. There were no words. Just a head nod as sadness filled his eyes. She watched as Anthony raised his eyebrow and shook his head.

  Wen sagged into Thomas as she watched the other officer and Anthony haul the boys away. She felt both his hands on her hips, very low on her hips.

  “I got you, baby,” he said, with those lips that were so close her ear. She nodded in agreement. She knew he had her, could feel the strength in his arms as they held onto her. She turned her body into his, taking in his warmth. Turning her face up, she could see those deep chocolate eyes staring down at her. Her breath caught, fearing that her lungs would explode from holding it in for so long.

  Chapter 12

  Thomas had been scared before, but somehow this felt… He wasn’t sure what this felt like. He knew that his heart rate was up; his blood pressure was about to spike, and the feel of Wen trembling in his arms made him want to beat the shit out of the little creep and the kid with him.

  It took everything that he had to hold back from smashing in the kid’s face. When Wen touched the kid with such kindness, it nearly did him in. He looked from Wen to the kid trying to see what made her stop him from leaving. He saw it then. The sadness and the utter disappointment. He knew those eyes. He had eyes that sad once when was a kid. Thanks to the Anders, his eyes never held the disappointment of not being loved, of never longing or wanting for anything. When they adopted him, he left all that behind him. If he could see that the kid’s eyes were sad, then Thomas knew that Wen saw it too.

  That made him love her all that much more. It was too soon to tell her that he loved her, especially after what had just taken place. Yet, that would not stop him from showing her that he loved her, that he cared what happened to her. She mattered, and she needed to know that.

  After they made their way up the stairs, Wen sat on the couch while he went into the kitchen make her some tea. He needed to get calm before going back to Alek’s place to deal with Keylee and the Hunter situation that was going to be coming to an end in a few hours.

  * * *

  Seeing the small steaming cup in front of her face, Wen looked up, taking in Thomas standing there with a small reassuring smile across his handsome face.

  Taking the cup into her hands, Wen’s gaze went to the steam rolling off the cup as she simply said, “Thanks.” From her peripheral vision, she watched as Thomas walked around her ottoman to sit beside her.

  “Asking if you’re okay just doesn’t seem right,” he grumbled as he sat down beside her.

  She could not help but laugh, because he was correct in his assumption. Nonetheless, it didn’t stop her from feeling okay. She was she scared, yes, but at the same time, she couldn’t explain why she knew that it would be okay. The kid just didn’t have it in him. He knew it and she knew it.

  “Thomas?” Wen whispered as she placed the cup on the side table before turning to look at the wonderful, caring man next to her.

  “Yeah?”

  “Tell me when this is going to end?” she requested.

  * * *

  “Honey, I would love to tell you that. However, what I can tell you, is that this is going to end,” Thomas stated carefully, taking her hands into his. “Let’s get out of here. I can take you to my house or you can go to your parents’ place.”

  “Your house, please. Peaches is there and
she always makes a bad day better.”

  Just nodding, he guided her across the street and into his house. Man, if only he didn’t have to leave her to take care of this crazy mess with his sister. He wondered if Anthony would be willing to call in a favor to have someone come and sit with her or at least outside of his house.

  “Wen, listen. I need to head out for a bit. Will you be okay ’till I get back?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Oh crap, I am so sorry. Go take care of your sister. I will be right here when you get back.”

  Thomas watched as she patted his hand as they were seated on the couch.

  “Listen, I’ll see if I can get someone to come and sit with you ’till I can get back, okay?”

  “Thomas, it’s okay; I’ll be fine. Besides, no one is that stupid.”

  He had no response for that, because obviously someone was that stupid to come into her house twice. Though she was in his house, he was not going to take any more chances. So instead of responding to her, Thomas just nodded his head. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.

  “Get some rest, Wen. I will be back as soon as I can,” he stated as he kissed her head, then turned and walked out his front door. Pulling his phone out of his pocket before jumping on his Harley, he quickly called Anthony.

  “Hey, man, we’re getting into position. You heading this way?” Anthony asked.

  “Yeah, I just got Wen settled over at my house. Listen, I know you’ve already pulled a lot of strings, but you think I could ask you to send someone over to my house just to keep an eye on things?”

  Thomas understood he was asking a lot of Anthony, and if he said no, then there was always Bob.

  “Yeah, let me see what I can do. I should have something worked out by the time you get here.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  With that, Thomas disconnected, pocketed his phone, started his bike and took off.

  Chapter 13

  Thomas paced from his position in the alley waiting for Keylee and Hunter to arrive. He knew they had to drop Zeus off first and then they planned to head to this alley, but the waiting was killing his nerves. On top of this situation with Keylee, he had Wen at his house. Granted, Anthony was able to get an off-duty cop to sit there for a few hours until he could return. Nonetheless, the stress was starting to rack up.

  As stressed as he was feeling, he was more pissed with the whole damn situation. Last night when Keylee called, stating she was shot at and Zeus had actually been shot, nearly sent his heart stopping. All he could think was, not again.

  The only thing that was easing some of the pain he was feeling was the fact that his decision was made. He was going to open up that garage as soon as this mess was over. He personally didn’t care if Keylee wanted out of the bounty business or not. He was taking her and Jefferson with him. Even if it meant they were kicking and screaming. He needed to find a way to release the tension he was carrying around, and he knew soon he would be able to, but those minutes were slowly ticking by until Alek informed him that it was time to roll.

  As his thoughts vanished, Thomas noticed that everyone was ready. It was then he looked ahead and noticed that Keylee was pulling into the alley.

  Showtime.

  Thomas watched and heard everything that was before his eyes.

  “Thanks for handing him over to me. This guy sure is a lot of trouble.” The dickhead snickered to Keylee. That was the dirty cop, Thomas figured. What a jackass. He was supposed protect and serve the people of this city, not bring in more shit and trash. What a fucking loser.

  As much as he wanted to run to his sister, Thomas stayed hidden and listened to Keylee as she responded back. “Well, see, this is how this is going to work. Your employee, who I’m sure has called you, shot my dog. So, before big boy here gets handed over, you’re going to pay me punitive damages.”

  “Sweetheart, you have no idea who you are playing with,” dirty cop announced.

  “No, I get it. I know who you are, and I know what you did.” Thomas watched as Keylee held her ground as the cop took a step toward her.

  “What does that mean?” Thomas heard the feral growl from the cop.

  Give me one fucking minute with the guy.

  “It means, jerk off, that I have the evidence that your buddy boy was holding onto.”

  Oh God, Keylee, just move on with it, would you? Thomas felt Jefferson stiffen beside him. He too, was thinking Keylee was off her rocker.

  Thomas watched in horror as the cop pulled out his gun and fired right at Hunter.

  Everyone jumped at the gun exploding. Each man watched in horror, and Hunter, the man Keylee had beside her, went down against the concrete floor. Thomas turned from Keylee to see that every man was holding their position even though their faces held rage and anger.

  “See, I don’t care to be blackmailed. I take care of you and him, and all my problems are taken care of.”

  Thomas grabbed Jefferson’s forearm, holding him in place. He held tight as Jefferson kept trying to jerk his arm out of his hold. Thomas was not having it. They needed this cop taken down and dammit, holding their position so they could get all the necessary evidence was the only thing holding Thomas in check.

  Thomas continued to stare at the scene before him as Keylee had her hands up in a defensive manner, still speaking to the cop.

  “Look, you let me walk, I give you the evidence.”

  “Too late,” he retorted.

  Thomas jumped out of his own skin when he saw Alek walk straight up to the officer. He hadn’t even heard him move.

  “I don’t recommend you do anything, Detective Dixon.”

  Alek’s voice rose over the traffic in the background as Thomas watched him walk toward the officer with his gun raised. How the hell he was able to get permission to do that was beyond Thomas, but Anthony was still staying put, as was his commanding officer.

  “And who the fuck are you?”

  If only the officer knew, Thomas thought.

  “Man, I am the one that creates nightmares and that’s all you need to know. What is important here, is that your commanding officer has just witnessed this little exchange.”

  Thomas saw that as his cue to move as Antony and two other officers moved at the same time. Thomas heard Alek speak to Keylee as he and Jefferson moved toward her.

  “Leelee, honey, get Hunter and get him to Mercy Hospital. I’ll send your brothers there.”

  Send us there, Thomas thought? They were going with her. Thomas was going to pull his little sister into his arms and never let her go again.

  Thomas turned just as Jefferson did to inform Alek they were going with Keylee, when she took off from her position of checking out Hunter, and charged the dirty cop before Anthony and the others reached him. Everyone was shouting and pulling at Keylee to get her off the officer. It wasn’t until Thomas and Jefferson both pulled her back that she passed out in their arms.

  * * *

  Wen woke with a start when she felt movement in the bed. Quickly rising to an upright position, she looked around and saw that Thomas was just pulling his T-shirt over his head.

  “What time is it?”

  “Early, late. Hell, I’m not sure, baby; but go back to sleep.”

  She started to push the covers back to get out of bed when Thomas suddenly had both arms on either side of her body with his head was bent real close.

  “Stay in bed, get some more sleep. I need it and honestly, I need to feel you here beside me, Wen. You and me, sweetheart, we have some planning to do.” She watched a huge grin grace his face, and then he leaned in and brushed a kiss across her lips.

  It was then that she realized that she never once asked about Keylee.

  Watching him get up from the bed to continue to undress, she missed his presence, his warmth that his body offered to her.

  “How is Keylee?”

  “She’s okay. She is asleep in her room right now.”

  “What happened? Can you talk about it?” Wen watched
his eyebrow rise as she tried to move out of bed again. With a heavy sigh, she just pushed herself up on her pillows so she could get a better look at the man she now knew was hers. That was enough of a thought to make butterflies active in her belly.

  “Well, I know I didn’t tell you much yesterday since we had a lot going on. But what it boils down to is that she found her target, then for some reason, and I say some reason with as much sarcasm as possible, because Keylee and her target were found, and shot upon. I can’t figure out why she was distracted. Or I should say as her brother, I prefer not to think about things like that.” Wen gasped when Thomas said Keylee was shot at and then had to laugh when he was explaining about not wanting to think about things. It was cute.

  “Don’t worry, neither Keylee nor her guy was shot, but Zeus was. She doesn’t think it is bad, but it’s a wound in his leg. So, until later today we won’t know the full extent of damage that was done to his leg. Today, we worked with the cops to get a dirty cop off the street. But, Keylee lost it and went all ballistic on the cop. Which therefore sent her to the hospital along with her guy who was shot today by him.”

  Thomas undressed knowing that Wen’s eyes never left his body. He got under the covers and continued, “Hence, me coming in so damn late. Keylee and I were going to wait around for her to find out how Hunter did after surgery, but by 2 a.m., we were both done for.”

  “No shit,” Wen sputtered.

  Wen heard Thomas laugh as he pulled her body down and closed his arm around her waist.

  “Yeah, babe, no shit. Now can we get some sleep because I have a feeling when the sun actually comes up, it is going to be another day full of surprises.”

  Wen didn’t say anything. Instead, she snuggled closer into Thomas’s body, allowing his warmth and protection to slide over her body as she drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 14