Cosmic Diamonds (Whitney Powers Paranormal Adventures Book 4)

by Jason Paul Rice

  A collective gasp came from the career criminals in the room.

  Mimick asked, “Where did you get that?”

  The purple woman pointed it at Whitney’s chest. “Don’t matter. I got it and they don’t.”

  Glint stepped in. “Look, these two are essential for our mission. A lot has changed since yesterday’s meeting. Don’t kill them. At least not here.”

  Whitney asked, “What do you think we did?”

  The woman took a step forward and jammed the barrel into Whitney’s throat. “Don’t play me like that. I didn’t want to have to do this. I really didn’t. You two made this happen.” She pulled the gun away and pointed it at Trent. “You’re next, pretty boy.”

  Roxelle spoke with no emotion. “If you have to do it, do it, Jazemore. Just aim that way so you don’t get brains or human insides all over us.”

  “Alright, yeah,” Jazemore said. She moved to the right of Whitney and aimed the gun at the side of her head.

  Whitney turned to face the woman and the rest of the crew. She couldn’t comprehend that she was going to die over a misunderstanding or misidentification. She hadn’t crossed several galaxies to save her friends’ planet only to die like this.

  Whitney lowered her shoulder and dove toward the compact woman. She hit Jazemore in the chest and knocked her down. Whitney dove on top of the purple female and tried to wrestle the gun out of her hands. She heard the rest of the crew screaming something, but couldn’t make out the words.

  Whitney located the gun in Jazemore’s right hand and held on to her wrist with both hands. She used all her strength to pull Jazemore’s hand up to her mouth. Whitney bit the woman’s hand, right next to her thumb. Jazemore yelped in pain and Whitney realized everyone was screaming at her.

  Trent pulled her away as she clawed at Jazemore’s hand to get the gun. All the sounds that were running together finally became clear.

  “Holy shit, she’s a feisty one.” Glint said as he tried to hold back Jazemore from going after Whitney, who was being held back by Trent.

  “Fuck you, Glint.” Jazemore struggled to get loose.

  Glint fired back. “I was talking about her, not you.”

  “Screw her, yes you. You little bitch,” she yelled at Whitney.

  “You’re lucky they broke it up. I don’t like it when someone points a gun at me.” Whitney didn’t even know what she was saying. A release of endorphins made her entire body buzz.

  Jazemore held the gun next to Glint’s shoulder so Whitney could get a good view of it. “It’s fake, stupid. We were just playing a joke on the new recruits. Everyone was in on it.”

  Whitney looked around the room and the guilty faces and shrugging shoulders indicated that Jazemore was telling the truth. Whitney still couldn’t tell if the gun was fake. “Hilarious joke. How’d that work out for you?”

  She tried to break free again, but Glint corralled her with his long arm. She said, “Maybe if you didn’t bite like a little girl, I wouldn’t be so pissed.”

  “By any means necessary.” Whitney tried to sound tough but her soft voice wouldn’t really allow it.

  Roxelle’s voice boomed from the doorway. “That’s it. Nice try, Jazemore, but we got a little firecracker on our hands. She reminds me of me in my younger day.” The alien laughed and took a seat at the table.

  Mimick said, “Now we know that if something happens during the heist, she isn’t scared to spring into action in a dangerous situation.”

  Roxelle gave Mimick a dirty look. “Shut up, robot. We don’t need you stroking the egos of some stupid earth humans.”

  Jazemore chimed in, “Stupid fucking earth humans.”

  Whitney asked, “Why do you keep calling us earth humans?”

  Jazemore said sharply, “Because humans come from other planets too. They aren’t the stupid fucking earth humans, like you two. Not all of us are human sympathizers like Mimick over there.” She let out a very unattractive, manly laugh.

  Glint said, “Alright. It’s getting late. Why don’t we all go home for the night and we’ll talk about this tomorrow? Sleep well knowing that the plan is full speed ahead again with a few sharpshooters on the squad now. Pretty soon, we will have it all.”

  Everyone said their respective goodbyes and Whitney and Trent took a hoverCab back to the rental property.

  8

  Roxelle

  Jazemore smacked Roxelle on the shoulder as they were leaving the bar. “Hey. Can I stay at your place tonight? I really don’t want to see my boyfriend.”

  “Of course.” Roxelle put her arm around her friend. “We Alperians need to stick together. I barely see any of us anymore around this city.”

  They waited for the neon-glowing cars to speed by before crossing the black road. Jazemore asked, “What do you think about those new humans? Other than the fact that the bitch can’t take a joke, of course.” She rubbed the teeth marks on her hand.

  Roxelle released a laugh that sounded more like a grunt. “Not sure yet. Both can shoot their asses off. They put on a show. Don’t tell them I said that though. I’m still trying to give them a hard time so they don’t get relaxed and screw up.”

  Jazemore said, “You can count on me to not pay them any compliments. I can do that with pleasure.” The two women jumped out in front of a car as they ran across the street.

  The driver blared the horn and screamed as he passed. “Get off the road.”

  Jazemore turned around and flipped him off. “Fuck you, asshole,” she screamed down the busy city street. She turned to Roxelle. “You want to hit up a bar on the way home. Have us a little girly talk,” she said in a baby voice and laughed.

  Roxelle tried to match the voice, knowing that they were anything but ladylike. “Sure, why not?”

  They walked a few more blocks and entered a blue building with the words Alcohol Invasion shaped like an arch over the door.

  The smoky open room was about half-full. The rectangular room had a square island bar in the middle with seating around it and a jukebox in the corner. Other than a few bad abstract paintings on the wall, that was about it.

  The two women took a spot at the bar next to each other. Jazemore talked over the murmur of the conversations. “So, are you still banging away on Mimick?”

  Roxelle looked down and smirked. “You cut straight to the damn chase, huh?”

  Jazemore slapped the red button to summon the droid bartender. “No need to mess around. So, what’s the dish?”

  “Only for physical purposes.”

  “Oh, yeah, whatever. You been doing it for a long time now. You don’t have to act tough around me. We’re sisters, remember.” Jazemore patted Roxelle on the back.

  “I don’t need any of that nonsense right now. I need to stay focused on the mission right now. There’s no time for that,” she lied.

  The droid slid down the bar and Jazemore ordered for both women and scanned her tracking device in her wrist to pay. She turned back to Roxelle, “First off, bullshit on that. He’s going to be there when this heist is all over so you can spend the rest of your days with him. I love how you try to talk down to him in front of everyone to play it off. They have to know.”

  Roxelle yelled, “No, they don’t. They don’t know anything and it’s going to stay that way. So don’t go flapping those pretty little lips of yours. Or I’ll have to cut them off.” Roxelle warned her friend and grabbed her drink off the serving tray.

  “Threats of violence. There’s the nasty bitch I know.” Jazemore held out her plastic cup and Roxelle tapped it with hers.

  Roxelle slammed the drink and set the cup on the bar. She shook her head and someone caught her eye. About ten seats down sat the man who had pulled a gun on her at the Buzzed Being about a week ago.

  Jazemore said something to Roxelle but she ignored it. Roxelle could only think about bashing that ugly jerk’s head into the bar until it exploded. Once her anger was lit, the wick usually went off like a powder keg. She took a deep breath and l
istened to Jazemore.

  “It’s like none of his bullshit is going to matter when I ditch his ass and we go to Soro Exxo. I gotta figure out who I’m going to grab. I don’t want to be alone on that planet.” Jazemore finished her first drink and picked up her second off the bar.

  “You’d never be alone. You’ll always have me. We’re sisters and I’ll always look out for you. We don’t need men in our lives to be happy.”

  “Speak for yourself. I know this one makes me miserable, but I need a man in my life. It keeps me in line a little.” She rolled her eyes.

  Roxelle nodded, “Yeah, sure. Nothing keeps you in line. Look, you’ve got my back if something breaks out, right?”

  Jazemore cocked her head to the side and a serious look came over her. “What are you planning to do? Are you going to choke someone out again?”

  Roxelle’s head waved back and forth. “Maybe. I’m not going to start anything, but there’s someone here who might come after me. You got my back, right?”

  “Rox the Fox. I’ve always had your back during every fight you’ve ever been in. That’s why that pretty face of yours is all fucked up with those scars. If I wasn’t there for you, you’d be dead. And look at me.” She pulled up her skintight suit and revealed several intersections of deep scars along her forearms.

  “Cool. That’s all I need to know. Oh, and I might have to strike first. He had a weapon when we last ran into each other.”

  Jazemore shook her head. “I knew it was something. I’m not going to do anything certainly shifted to I’m about to kick this guy’s ass pretty damn quick.”

  Roxelle shrugged her shoulders. “Come on. You know how it is. I can’t have this guy running around town thinking he got the best of me. You can understand that.”

  Jazemore stuck the long fingernail of her index finger into her red drink and stirred the liquid around. She cocked her head to the side. “Don’t forget you have a little heist to worry about. Forget about this stooge. He’s not worth it.”

  Roxelle took a few deep breaths, exhaling loudly through her wide nostrils. “You’re right. It’s just after I have a few drinks, I get a little rowdy.” She peeked back down the bar to make sure the big man was still there. The ugly being placed an order with the droid bartender and slapped the man next to him on the back.

  “Rox? Rox?” Jazemore tried to get her attention.

  Roxelle turned back to her friend. “What?”

  “I was asking about Glint and whether you think you can trust him or not. I always get a creepy vibe from him and I know he wants to bang me.”

  “Well, yeah, he wants to bang everyone. You should see the way he ogles the new chick. Right in front of her man too.” Roxelle remained wary.

  “Screw that bitch. Her man is alright though.”

  “Too much of that tight-jawed, tough guy look for me.”

  “You do prefer your men to be impish.” Jazemore laughed and finished the rest of her drink.

  “Not impish. Just emotionally detached.” Roxelle nonchalantly peered over her left shoulder and saw that a crowd had gathered at the bar and blocked her view of her enemy.

  “How’s that working out for you? Hello?” Jazemore waved her hand in front of Roxelle’s face.

  “Huh?” Was all Roxelle could say as her attention was glued to the other side of the bar. The small group got their drinks and headed for the jukebox.

  The man had disappeared. Impossible for a man that large to escape her sights even while intoxicated. She scanned the entire bar, not worrying about being inconspicuous. She stood on her toes and could see over almost everyone and the man had vanished. Perhaps he went to take a squirt, she thought.

  Roxelle waited a few minutes and he never emerged from the bathroom. She relaxed her tense body and leaned against the silver bar.

  Roxelle turned to meet her friend’s eyes. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

  Jazemore shook her head. “Never mind. You want to get out of here or get another drink?”

  The smoke and most of the patrons had called it a night and Roxelle decided to head out. “Let’s roll. We can just walk back to my house if you want. It’s not too far from here if you remember.”

  “I remember. You think your boyfriend will be there. Waiting on your doorstep?”

  “Better not. Unless he wants to get shot.” Roxelle acted tough but she would never fire a gun at Mimick with one caveat. If he were to shoot at her first, she would be forced to kill him.

  The two women walked out into a dark, cloudy night. A light fog hung over the city as they crossed the street. The friends decided to cut through the open field of the public park and Roxelle’s boots kicked around the moisture on the blades of grass.

  The fog created a creepy vibe to the night and the two women walked in complete silence. Roxelle would never admit it, but she was a little on edge. She knew there were desperate people in Ridmore and the shroud of the thin white fog gave those beings even more confidence.

  The blast of a gun shattered the silence and a neon green plasma bolt ripped past Roxelle’s ear. The bolt crossed right between both women’s heads. Roxelle spun around on the balls of her feet and shoved Jazemore behind a metal sign that explained how to use the park’s equipment.

  Another emerald laser streaked through the dark of the night and the creamy fog and flew between Roxelle’s legs. It had to be the man from the bar. No time to think right now.

  “Come on.” Roxelle grabbed Jazemore and the two women ran away from the gunman.

  Another shot rang out and Jazemore dropped. Roxelle went back to her friend, down on the moist ground. The bolt had shredded through her calf and shattered her shin bone in the process. Roxelle covered Jazemore’s mouth as her friend tried to scream in pain.

  Roxelle inspected the wound and it was clear her friend couldn’t get up, let alone run away. Roxelle put her arm under Jazemore’s back and helped her friend to sit up. Roxelle covered her friend’s mouth again when she whispered, “I’m going to carry you, alright.”

  Jazemore rapidly nodded her head as tears streamed from her black eyes and down her lavender cheeks.

  Roxelle hooked her arm under Jazemore’s knees as another neon green plasma bolt screamed through the fog. The bolt grazed Roxelle’s chin and her head snapped back in reaction. Unfortunately, the path of the bullet continued straight into Jazemore’s chest and ruptured her heart immediately.

  Chest cavity shrapnel exploded in every direction and plastered Roxelle’s face and torso as she pulled her hand from behind her friend. The bolt hadn’t passed through the body or it would have taken Roxelle’s entire hand off.

  Roxelle wiped the thick scarlet liquid from her eyes and took one last look at her best friend. She made a silent pledge to make the killer suffer a cruel fate and darted off into the night. She took a circuitous route home, running in a zigzag pattern to avoid the next bolt.

  Roxelle hadn’t been gripped by fear in a long time. She also hadn’t been shot at in a long time. Even on the diamond planet, she had learned to relax in a constant near-death environment. She tried to figure out how the man had got a gun and hoped to find him before the authorities. Roxelle wanted to make this man suffer. That is, if she could make it home alive.

  She jogged into her housing plan on the eastern outskirts of the city and the fog lifted. She couldn’t figure out if that was an advantage or not. Warily and cautiously, Roxelle navigated the last few blocks and sprinted up to her front door.

  She punched in her security code as quickly as possible while her neck stretched in all directions to make sure she was alone. The soft beep sounded glorious to her ears and she jerked the handle and put her shoulder into the door. She jumped inside and slammed the door closed.

  She heard a monotone voice from behind. “What is going on?”

  She didn’t turn around to face Mimick and pushed the gray curtains aside to look out the small window next to the door.

  “Are you alright?” her lover asked as
he approached her.

  He put his hands on her shoulders and she fell back into the smaller man, almost knocking him over. Vulnerability and Roxelle didn’t mix but something stirred inside her. She felt safer in Mimick’s metal arms. Too safe.

  She broke the embrace and faced Mimick.

  His eyes widened. “What happened? You have blood, bone and what looks like inner organs in your face and braids.” He picked a big chunk from the top of her scalp and tossed it at the golden garbage can in the corner of the room.

  “That fat fuck shot my best friend. Right in the chest. He was aiming at me. She died because of me. It’s all my fault.”

  “Who died?” Mimick asked.

  “Jazemore. She shouldn’t have been with me.”

  Mimick tried to calm her down and spoke slowly. “Nothing is your fault. This could have happened if she didn’t go with you tonight. This city is a dangerous place. Are you sure it was that guy?”

  “Not positive. It’s foggy out there, but he was at the last bar we were at. He must’ve followed us on the way home. He was aiming for me. I know it.”

  Mimick rubbed her upper arms. “I’m not so sure. I liked Jazemore as much as you, but she did have quite a few enemies around this city too. It very well could have been someone looking to even the score with her in a much crueler way. You can’t blame yourself.”

  Mimick leaned up to kiss Roxelle, but she jerked her head to the side. He asked, “What’s wrong? Stop fighting me. It’s alright to need help sometimes. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. Let me draw a bath and clean you up. Don’t resist. You need it, and we can talk about everything.”

  Roxelle relented and went to her room to get undressed. Roxelle followed the sound of flowing water to her bathroom. Mimick turned the water off as the bubbles neared the top. He stood up and walked behind Roxelle. He reached around and untied her robe. His metal fingers swept down her neck and pulled the robe from her shoulders.