Off the Deep End

by R. Jayne Revere

  Her thoughts still lingered on their kiss at the pier. Beyond it being in and of itself an incredible kiss, that strange and wonderful energy sensation remained. A tender rush. Blissful yet bizarre. It was always there in his touch, when he held her hand, caressed her face. At some point she would have to find out if he felt it too. What would he think? What if he didn’t feel it? But it was so strong he had to, didn’t he? To even try to explain such a thing… How to approach a subject like that? She still wasn’t ready. That was a whole other matter indeed.

  Alex’s musings broke as she turned to walk into the room and just about crashed into Aaron, who had come to an abrupt stop. He put a hand back to halt her and removed the pistol he wore on his back waist. Pressed against him on their motorcycle ride, she couldn’t help but notice its presence. Recalling those precision movements and his tense stance all too well, she felt her heart skip a beat. What in the world was wrong?

  He eased back a step to whisper to her. “Is anyone else supposed to be here?”

  “No. No one. Just me,” she whispered back. The only light in the place emanated from the small lamp on the entry stand that she kept on as a nightlight. Unfortunately, it was also backlighting them. She stared past him into the living area but couldn’t discern much in the darkened room, let alone another person.

  Alex gripped the back of Aaron’s jacket with one hand as he took a step forward. He stopped again. This time movement caught her eye as she looked over his shoulder, and a form emerged from a dark corner.

  The man edged forward into view, his own pistol held to show, his hands up in surrender. Though also dressed in civilian attire instead of the tactical uniform donned on the ship, she recognized him right away as he approached them in the dim light.

  “Les!”

  Les LeBeau stepped closer and stopped. He and Aaron stared each other down.

  “What’re you doin’ here, man?” Aaron asked, his delivery calm and even as he kept his weapon trained on his old friend.

  “Actually, saving your butt.” Careful and slow, Les replaced his gun in his belt holster. “And… staring at a ghost.”

  Deafening, awkward quiet permeated the atmosphere. An extended trepidation. The memory of Shane’s deception washed over Alex, a sudden sick knot forming in her stomach as she observed in wide-eyed silence.

  Aaron narrowed his eyes and gave Les a wicked smirk. “Boo.”

  The rock-hard muscles in Aaron’s back relaxed under her fingers. Alex released her hold on his jacket. Another moment and he lowered his weapon, stepped forward, and the two men exchanged a quick embrace. Alex exhaled. Thanks for the freak-out, Les.

  Les slapped Aaron on the back. “Man, I thought you were a goner.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Aaron holstered his gun and moved aside, allowing Alex to step up and give Les a hug.

  “Hey, Les.” She squeezed and stepped back. She eyed him. “What are you doing here?”

  “The short ’n’ sweet version, milady,” Les began, “is you’ve got two tailing you, ’bout ten minutes out.” He turned his attention to Aaron, serious. “Seems you’ve got a bounty on you.”

  Aaron’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh, what? How? Why? I thought… Everyone thinks I’m dead.”

  Les shook his head. “Somebody guessed it right.”

  “But… I eradicated any kind of trail, any evidence at all that I still existed. I covered all possible angles. I thought of everything.” He stood incredulous. “How’d they find me?”

  Les shook his head again. “Not you. Her.”

  Both men looked at Alex. Her mouth gaped open as her gaze darted from one to the other. A defensive shock wave shot through her body. That troubling knot began to reinhabit her gut.

  “Hey, I didn’t do anything!”

  Les’s stern eyes showed compassion as he addressed her. “No, you didn’t. But a month or so ago, right after we got back, I heard through the grapevine about him.” He motioned at Aaron. “And whoever is looking for him was having no luck. So they put up a bounty. Attracted some interest and then put a tail on you a couple of weeks ago. An’ I been keepin’ an eye on ’em. Figured they planned on tailing anyone from the ship. But you would’ve been their best bet.” He turned to Aaron. “And then you show up right after, checking on her. They didn’t notice you though. You’re good. Till today. Lost you for a bit, but picked you back up when you got back to town.”

  Heartache flashed through Aaron’s eyes, and his forehead creased as that alarming information sank in. He collapsed hard, back against the wall, raking taut fingers through his hair. “Dammit!”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Les said. “But right now we got more pressing matters. Those two goons are gonna roll up in here any minute. Gotta take care of them first.”

  “And maybe get some answers,” Aaron added with a resigned sigh. He returned in an instant to all business. “What you got in mind?”

  Alex took in their conversation, only paying attention in part, the fear and anger she’d experienced on the ship flooding back. She fought those feelings away as she watched them talk, listening to their voices, attempting to keep her irritation in check. So those subtle intuitive nudges of being watched weren’t just from residual stress.

  “Two weeks? Are you kidding me?” she muttered, fuming to herself as she plopped into a nearby stuffed chair.

  Les caught her remark as he finished speaking with Aaron. “You can be pissed at us later.”

  A side-eye accompanied her wry response as Aaron moved to kneel beside her chair. “Where’ve I heard that one before?”

  Aaron took her hand in both of his as Les continued.

  “We gotta hide you,” Les said to Alex. Then to Aaron, “And we need a good distraction. They’ll likely come in from different directions. If we wanna get the upper hand and not draw outside attention, we need to do this quiet. So, just in case…” He pulled out a silencer, began attaching it to his pistol, and glanced around. “There are a couple of good hiding spots we can ambush them from. If they’re paying attention to something else, it’ll be a lot easier.” He paused with a pointed look to Alex. “I’ve got a smashing idea that gets you out of harm’s way, and it’ll provide one helluva bloody good distraction. But you may not be too keen on it.”

  Alex perked up. “Hey, whatever I can do to help.” After all, it had been her that this hunter had centered on to find Aaron. Though no fault of her own, it still tore at her heart. Plus, along with providing the guys assistance, doing something other than hiding in a corner would help keep fear at bay.

  Aaron and Les regarded each other. Aaron lowered his head and squeezed her hand as Les informed her of his ingenious plan for distracting their would-be assassins.

  “…and just make it sound like you guys are having a rather, uh, stimulating shower together. But loud enough that it really gets their attention.”

  Alex just stared at Les. Wait. You… want me to do what? “Okay, that’s not funny, guys. Really?” She stood and wrung her hands. “I don’t know… I… Oh good Lord.”

  “Get over it,” Les ordered. “We got no time. Here.” He crossed to the bathroom door, opened it for her, and turned on the light. A few more quick strides and he extinguished the lamp at her front entry. “Go turn on the shower. One of us will tap on the wall when they start to break in. And then, well, you can do your thing.”

  Several hesitant steps brought Alex to her bathroom. She stopped and turned to Aaron as he walked in beside her.

  “Sorry.” He brushed her chin with his finger and gave her a quick kiss. “But it is a brilliant idea. For the short amount of time we’ve got.”

  “Yeah, but you’re not the one that has to do it. Oh my.”

  Les leaned in. “Company in a couple.” He nodded to Alex with a wink. “Make it good. Our lives depend on it.”

  “Thanks, Les.”

  Humor aside, Les was serious. But this idea of his was just, well… nuts! Aaron gave her a quick hug along with a few more words of encoura
gement before heading off to his hiding spot. Heaving a deep sigh, Alex closed the door and hurried over and turned on the shower.

  A cold chill crept along her spine. Who are these people following us? And how dangerous? Arms crossed, she nibbled at her lower lip. Her mind reeled. Wow. Damn. This evening had definitely taken a turn. Now to handle the task at hand. Even alone with her thoughts, her cheeks heated. She glanced at her reflection in the medicine cabinet mirror. Yep. Red. Unbelievable! She psyched herself up. Don’t overthink this. The patter of water streaming against the vinyl curtain and into the tub tapped out a chaotic rhythm. She waited for the knock on the wall.

  The only illumination remaining in the living room seeped from beneath the bathroom door. Les crouched behind the sofa, Aaron beside a chair near the wall. Minutes clicked by. Scratching sounded from the back door to the deck. More light noise at a side window.

  “Here we go,” Aaron whispered as he tapped hard twice on the wall with the butt of his pistol. He replaced it in his back holster and pulled a knife from his boot.

  The knob of the back door jiggled, followed by a loud metallic snap and muffled curse, but the door didn’t budge. Their assumption had been correct that the two would try to get in quietly and unnoticed, going for the element of surprise rather than a full-on assault.

  A slight rattle from the side window, the faint swoosh of it sliding up its sash.

  Moans and murmurs from Alex in the next room.

  “Damn,” Les remarked under his breath. “My plan was to bloody distract them, not us, wasn’t it?”

  Aaron adjusted his squatted stance and attempted to keep his focus where required. Distraction? That’s an understatement. Good Lord… He breathed his reply in a hushed whisper. “Yeah… I’m, uh, pretty sure they’re gonna believe that.”

  The back door popped, opening with a slow creak. A shadowy figure entered and made a quick sweep of the kitchen area. He soon padded across the living room to join his partner, who had made the more clandestine entry through the window. Both scanned the room.

  A sensual giggle and some amative cooing hooked their attention, and they eased toward the bathroom. The two shared whispered strategy, Window Man leering and pointing, rude gestures indicating what he expected to find behind door number one. They were buying it. Gun at the ready, Door Man’s teeth glinted in a bawdy smirk as he reached over to grab the knob.

  In a flash, Window Man found himself disarmed, weapon hand twisted up behind his back, Aaron’s knife caressing his throat. It came as a surprise to Aaron in that moment the extra restraint he had to muster to not just flip the guy around and headbutt him in the nose. Door Man gawked down the barrel of Les’s silencer. Les shook his head at the man who, after a brief assessment of his quandary, thought better of trying him and handed over his own weapon.

  The intruders were moved to the sofa and made to sit as they glared at Les, who held them at gunpoint.

  Aaron tucked his knife back into his boot, snapped on a table lamp, and walked over to the bathroom. He paused with his hand on the knob. No time for playing around at present, but with imminent danger subdued, he could relax a bit. He rotated it just enough for the latch to release in near silence.

  Resting his forehead against the cool wood of the door, he listened for just a few seconds more before pushing it on open. “Hey.”

  Alex started and looked over at him, clamming up almost immediately.

  He beckoned to her, now fighting hard to stifle a grin. “We’re good out here.”

  “Oh good!”

  She leaned in and pushed down the lever to turn off the shower.

  Moving to join him at the door, Alex peeked through her lashes. Her cheeks colored and she offered a sheepish question. “Did it work?”

  “Oh yeah.” He cleared his throat. The combination of what her sounds brought to his imagination and having to ignore that and keep it together for the work at hand had left him at a loss.

  The second half of that equation had sure as hell not been on his list of options for the night. The first half? While maybe not expected in the immediate, he was hopeful for the future. That mind-blowing kiss at the pier, the warm pressure of her thighs and her tight hold on him for a good portion of the day on the motorcycle, and now this? Oh boy.

  He rubbed a hand through his hair. Come on, get your shit together, man.

  “It was, uh… Yeah, it definitely worked.”

  “Good.” Alex allowed herself a couple of deep calming breaths. What a thing to have to do on their first night of reunion. And for all the wrong reasons. The humor in it subdued her stress, and she held in a sudden giggle. My first acting gig.

  The expected racket of a scuffle had never materialized. No stifled cries, no clunks of dislodged furniture. She’d even half expected to hear the distinctive quick thump from Les’s silencer. Boy, they had done that quietly. Had there even been an actual confrontation?

  The look on Aaron’s face—a near quirky upturn of one corner of his mouth coupled with a pensive knit brow—told an intriguing story. Not the look of a man who had just helped disarm a couple of bounty hunters.

  Aaron seemed to have relaxed now though, and he sent her a quick grin, nodding to her to accompany him. Her concern and unease were alleviated more as she followed him back out to the living room and the others.

  There were two disheveled men on her sofa. Their downtrodden expressions at having been duped, then captured, switched to mystified stares. The two intruders gaped at Alex as she and Aaron returned to the living room. She looked them over, shrugged, and went to sit in an out-of-the-way chair to observe as Les and Aaron questioned them. This should be interesting.

  The interrogation ended with Aaron and Les trading looks. It had become very clear very fast that the two young, scruffy intruders were not professionals. They had just gotten lucky. They also hadn’t been in contact with anyone concerning their findings, not wanting to attract extra competition for the reward. A good thing. Little more new information, just the same as Les had heard, that someone had offered a sizable bounty. The one decent lead? A contact number the two were instructed to call if they met with success.

  After a schooling that they had gotten in way over their heads and with a promise that sudden and unexpected dreadful harm would befall them should they not walk away and sever any and all ties to the whole ordeal, the two were allowed to leave.

  Les palmed the recovered weapons. Only one cheap handgun each. Those boys needed a new profession.

  “What was that, amateur hour?” Alex had expected those in the bounty business to show more esteem and not cave so easily during a questioning.

  “Bloody good thing for us it was. And that they’re greedy.” Les looked from Alex to Aaron, his expression and dry tone the most grim and solemn she’d ever witnessed from him. He sighed. “We got some serious planning to do over the next few hours. And you know what you need to tell her.”

  Aaron focused a dangerous look on Les, his icy glare lost on the man as his friend got up and walked over to take a seat at the kitchen table. Aaron turned his gaze back on Alex, countenance immediately softening, fallen. He rubbed his face, rested his chin on folded hands, and stared at the floor in front of him.

  Avoiding her eyes now. Silent. Thinking.

  Even in the short time she’d known him, Alex could always read volumes in Aaron’s eyes. That flash of regret he’d attempted to suppress—he didn’t have to say a word. His slumped shoulders and hanging head told the rest. What was coming, what Les meant, sent a chill like barbed wire dragging through her being. Her perfect dream of a day and whatever future that might have sparked began to disintegrate in her mind’s eye, replaced with a barren hollowness. No. Not again. Screw this! She exploded out of her chair.

  “Oh hell no!” Her eyes blazed. “This is bullshit!”

  Flaming glares shot from one to the other as both men blinked back at her.

  “Today, this whole day, did not happen for nothing! I absolutely refuse
to believe it! And I’m not going to have it all ripped away from me again! So whatever I have to do to—”

  “You don’t have a bloody clue what this is, what you even think you’d be getting yourself into!” Les broke in, admonishing her.

  “Then I suggest you enlighten me!” she shot back, standing her ground. Somewhat mystified at her own reaction, she did her best to keep hyperventilation at bay while hoping her heart would survive its current tempestuous pounding. This was a huge step out of character for her, but it was too late now, and she refused to back down. Not this time.

  Her ardor didn’t faze Les in the least.

  “Well, for starters, could you really walk away from your whole life? All of it? We’ll figure this thing out, but he’s got to disappear for a while. Maybe a good long while. Can you honestly say that you could cut contact with everyone else? Family, friends, job? Maybe for months?” Les rubbed his eyes and glanced up at the ceiling, reining in the combative edge to his voice. “Think about it. That’s what it would mean. It’s not some romantic ‘run off together’ thing. It’s a harsh reality that you may not understand. You may not like some things you find out. And it’s not safe.”

  “Not safe? It’s already not safe! Hello, those two idiots just broke into my apartment a couple of hours ago. If they can find me that easily, I’m sure it’s not a real hard stretch for anyone else to.” She marched over, planted her hands on the table, and leaned forward to look Les square in the eye. “As for the rest of it… Since I live far away, I don’t normally get together with my family more than once or twice a year. My friends will understand. And I can work from anywhere in the world.”

  Les leaned back in his chair and folded his arms as Aaron stood and walked over to Alex.

  “Alex… it’s not fair to you to have you leave everything. And I can’t put you in that kind of danger. I can’t do that to you.”

  Alex straightened and turned to face Aaron, taking hold of the front of his open jacket in her fists. “No, what’s not fair is your coming here, letting me know you’re still alive and well, and then disappearing again. And I don’t care what reason you use to try to justify it.”