by Jade Kuzma
“Petey showed me everything. Piece of cake—”
Boom.
I activated the detonator and before I could even raise my thumb back up, a deafening explosion filled the silent night. Smoke, fire, and dust filled the air.
“Shit!”
I shouted but it was drowned out by the explosion. I shut my eyes and put my head down, waiting for everything to die down.
I listened for the ringing in my ears to stop. But there was something else. The unmistakable sound of men screaming.
I looked up and saw members of the Corps scrambling out of the warehouse. They were yelling and rolling about, trying to deal with their injuries from the explosion.
“Brawn! Now!”
The enforcer of the Black Reapers did what he did best. He raised up, pistols in both hands, and started downing the flailing men one by one. The shots rang into the air. Their screaming ended quickly as soon as Brawn put them down.
“Easy—”
“Hold on,” I said, putting my hand up.
I counted the bodies. There were about ten dead Corps members scattered around the floor with the destroyed warehouse right next to them.
“That’s not all of them,” I said.
“Are you sure—”
“Get down!”
I grabbed Brawn by the collar and tugged him to the grass we laid on just before bullets whizzed by us.
“Fuck!”
Brawn’s shout was enough to give anybody nightmares. I knew something was wrong.
“Brawn…”
The big man laid on the ground with a hand on his arm. I watched as the red blood slowly leaked out from his muscle.
“Shit…”
“It’s all right,” he said. “Just a flesh wound.”
“It doesn’t look like it.”
“It’s all right—”
“Hey! Where you at?”
A familiar voice filled my ears.
“Come out! Stop being a bitch!”
More shots filled the air. I kept my head down and stared at Brawn. He was sweating so much but the look in his eyes hadn’t changed since we first got here. He was as determined as ever.
“Come on! I just wanna play!”
Brawn gave me a nod. I already knew what he was thinking. I nodded back to him and took a deep breath.
My hand on my pistol, I jumped up to my feet and squeezed.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The bullets shot forward toward the figures in front of me. They immediately fell down to the ground but it was hard to tell whether I got them or not.
I slowly moved forward to the men I thought I shot. They laid on the ground motionless with their weapons splayed out next to them.
Gail. Harvey. The two brothers looked to be out of it as soon as I got next to them.
I pointed my gun at them. But just before I could squeeze and finish the job, Gail kicked me hard in the knee.
“Ahh! Fuck!”
I grunted in pain and nearly keeled over. Gail leaped up to his feet and grabbed my wrist. I was caught off guard enough for him to wrestle the pistol free from my hand.
“You did it now, motherfucker!”
He landed a punch against my temple and sent me down to one knee. My vision blurred and my thoughts went into a daze.
“All because you had to steal our deal,” he said. “Now it’s gonna be very painful for you.”
He kicked me across the mouth and sent me tumbling to the ground. The pain from the blow should have been enough to end it but I managed to keep my wits about me.
“Give up,” he said. “You can’t beat me.”
“You’re gonna have to prove it!”
I balled my fist and popped up to my feet. With all my strength, I shoved an uppercut against Gail’s chin and sent him reeling back. His arms flailed as he stumbled back onto the ground.
The punk grunted as he struggled to get back to his feet. I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand and stalked him.
“Get up,” I said.
He straightened up, his legs still wobbly. The bald-headed thug put his fists up and cracked his knuckles. He smiled at me, blood trickling down from his mouth. He looked just as sadistic as the last time I fought him.
“I beat the shit out of you before,” I said. “I’ll do it again.”
“Last time was different. Last time I had a gun. But my specialty has always been hand-to-hand. You know who you’re talking to? I’m a fucking Green Beret, motherfucker!”
“I don’t give a shit who you are. Ivory doesn’t give a shit who you are.”
“Well, then I guess I’ll have to show you—”
He swung at me without warning. The punch caught me by surprise but I moved out of the way. It barely caught me on the ribs, just enough for me to feel it.
I responded with a hard right hand of my own. My knuckles cracked against his hard skull. Even though I moved his head, I was the one who felt it more.
I pulled my hand back and grunted in pain.
“You feel that?” he said as he tapped his temple. “Your weak-ass hands can’t do shit to me!”
I reared back and kicked him hard in the stomach. He grunted and bent over, his hands on his gut.
“How about that?” I said.
He shouted and wrapped his arms around me, tackling me to the ground. I struggled to get him off of me. It was like trying to stop a wild animal. He swung at me, hitting me across my head and face with his punches. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth.
“It’s over,” he said. “You should’ve never made that deal with the Triads.”
He was overconfident. I was focused enough to grab him by the throat and squeeze. I gripped tight, trying to force all of the life out of him. He was forced to put his hands on my arms and try to fight me off.
I got back up to my feet, my hands still wrapped around his throat. I could feel the life slowly draining out of him. Just when I thought I had him, Gail raised his leg up and put his foot between my legs.
“Ahh!”
I grunted from the sudden pain. I was forced to release him from my grip. While I struggled to ignore the pain, Gail gasped a deep breath.
“Good try,” he said. “But a civilian could never beat a Green Beret.”
He grabbed me by the back of the head and punched me in the mouth. It felt like the entire world was spinning around me. I blinked my eyes but couldn’t regain my focus.
I fell to one knee and looked down at the ground. The blood trickled from my face. I could taste it on my tongue. I was having trouble breathing.
Gail put his hand in my hair and gripped it tight. He forced me to look up at him.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll finish the job. I’ll move the product for the Chinese. And I’ll take care of your girl, too. I was planning on fucking her in that barn but I guess your clubhouse will have to do.”
Anna.
I couldn’t leave her now…
After all this time waiting for her…
I had to get back to her…
I had to see her again…
He raised his hand up.
He swung at me.
With my last bit of strength, I put both of my hands up and grabbed his arm. I rotated his arm over my shoulder and pulled it down, snapping his elbow in the wrong direction.
He yelped in pain as he fell to his knees.
I popped up and got on top of him. I found my second wind.
Punch after punch, I pounded his face.
“There’s just one problem,” I said. “I’m not a civilian. I’m a Black Reaper. B… R… I… C…”
I kept punching until his face was covered in red. His eyes rolled back in his head.
A sudden wave of fatigue hit me. I could barely move my arms.
I got up to my feet but couldn’t even stand up straight. I closed my eyes and regained my composure.
I sighed a deep breath in relief knowing that it was over.
I started walking ov
er to Brawn, who was barely able to sit up. He smiled at him and I did the same.
I took a seat next to him.
“Damn,” he said. “You got your ass kicked.”
“I could’ve used some help,” I scoffed.
“You didn’t need it. Besides, I know you… That was personal.”
Brawn and I shared our moment together. Before we could celebrate any further, vehicles approached from the distance. I looked up and saw a bunch of black SUVs approaching us.
“Now what?” I sighed.
I wasn’t sure what to think when a man in a suit exited from the driver’s seat of one of the vehicles. The driver opened up the passenger seat and Lin stepped out.
He observed the scene before him then turned back to me.
“You could’ve shown up a little sooner,” I said. “It would have been nice to have some help.”
“That was our deal,” Lin replied. “We let others do our work for us. It’s all a part of doing business.”
“Business… Right…”
“I take it matters with the Corps have been settled?”
“You can check for yourself if you want. You might wanna make sure they’ve all bled out.”
“I can assure you, my men will be thorough. It’ll be as if this never happened at all.”
The SUVs started to empty. I watched as the Triads started to pick up all of the bodies from the ground. They scrubbed the scene like professionals who did this shit before.
“Thank you,” Lin said. “Tell your president I’ll be in touch.”
He turned his back to me and observed his men.
I looked at Brawn then glanced at the wound on his arm.
“You all right there, big man?” I asked.
“I could probably use a band-aid.”
We both shared a laugh.
“Let’s go home.”
Chapter 23
ANNA
One week later…
Things in Ivory had settled down. I was so relaxed that I could turn all my attention to getting the shelter back into the shape it originally was. The damage the Corps had done wouldn’t be fixed in a day or a week. The shelter and the people needed me every day and I was more than willing to be there for them.
“Things are looking better.”
Ryan looked around the dining hall with a smile on his face. He stuffed his mouth with some of his lunch like nothing was out of the ordinary.
“Better,” I sighed. “Still not good. The place already needed some new paint. Now we’re gonna have to do something to patch those holes in the walls.”
“The holes in the walls are a good thing.”
“They are?”
“Those are the spots you don’t have to put new paint on.”
I chuckled softly at him. Ryan always had a way of looking at the bright side of things.
“You’re in a good mood,” I said.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve got good food in my stomach. I’ve got a roof over my head to protect me from the sun. And I’ve got some beautiful company.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Mister Ryan.”
“It’s not flattery if I mean it, Miss Roberts.”
He chewed on his food and winked. I burst into laughter. Even in a beat-up dining room, he kept going.
“Look around,” he said.
“What?”
“Look at all of the people here.”
I looked at the other tables. All of the residents of the shelter were conversing with one another, enjoying their meals like it was any other day.
“Think about all of the things they’ve been through. Think about how old they are and what they’ve seen. I know you’re down about what happened that night but for these people, it’s just another bump in the road. They’ve been through worse and guess what? They’re still here. I’m still here. We’ll find a way. That’s just how the people in Ivory are.”
“Yeah,” I sighed with a nod. “I guess that’s one way of putting it.”
“That’s the only way of putting it. I hate to see you so down. You keep chugging along and I’m sure you’ll get this place looking brand new.”
“I know. Sometimes it feels a little hopeless.”
“Well, from my point of view, you’ve either got two options. You can either feel down in the dumps and force yourself to get up out of bed. You can sit across from me and think about what’s wrong with everything.”
“That doesn’t sound good. What’s my other option?”
“You can enjoy my company just like I’m enjoying yours. Just like we’ve always done, Miss Roberts.”
I closed my eyes and smiled. I regained my focus and realized what Ryan was getting at. I guess it made sense that I found some hope in what was supposed to be one of the dreariest places in town.
“You’re right,” I sighed. “Now that I think of it, your company is one of my favorite things about coming here.”
“Good. Now let me reminisce about a time when I was your age. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this story…”
I shifted my eyes to the entrance of the dining hall. I noticed a woman walk in and stand there.
Is that…
I squinted to make sure I was seeing her right.
Agent Lieberman had her hands on her hips as she observed the crowd. I knew something was up because there was no reason for her to be here.
“Just a second, Ryan. I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t be too long now. I might forget what I was thinking about.”
I made a beeline right toward Lieberman. She greeted me with a confident smirk.
“Miss Roberts—”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
The smirk left her face as quickly as it appeared.
“I need to talk to you,” she said.
“There’s nothing for us to talk about.”
“I can assure you, you want to talk to me.”
I clenched my jaw and sighed through my nose. I knew it was the only way to get rid of her.
“Outside.”
I walked with Lieberman out of the shelter and stood in front of the entrance. She put her hands in her pockets and stared out into the street.
“How is the shelter?” she asked.
“You said you wanted to talk to me, don’t waste my time talking about something I know you don’t care about.”
She looked down her nose at me.
“All right,” she said, nodding. “I wanted to talk to you about the Corps.”
“What about them?”
“They haven’t stopped by, have they? They haven’t spoken to you or any of the residents?”
“No.”
“No messages. No letters. No texts. No emails. No threats of violence.”
“If you want to go inside and ask the residents if any strange, ex-military men in fatigues have been talking to them, be my guest. It’ll probably be a waste of time though.”
“And how would you know that?”
She narrowed her gaze. I had nothing to hide though.
“The residents are in a good mood,” I said. “If there was something wrong, I’m sure they’d tell me. Even if they didn’t tell me, then they would be in a bad mood. And the only time anybody in the shelter is in a bad mood is when you show up.”
She pursed her lips. She was probably thinking of something clever to say to try and get me to give her some information that I didn’t have.
“I thought you’d be interested in hearing about the Corps,” she said. “After all, they are the ones who attacked the shelter.”
“I’m only interested in making sure they don’t do it again.”
“They won’t. Abigail and the two men who abducted you missed their court appearance. Apparently, they should not have been let out on bail. It’s as if they just… disappeared.”
“They’re wanted criminals. If they showed up to court, they would’ve been convicted.”
“Perhaps. I have another theory though. I don’t
think they skipped town. Men like the Corps don’t just run away. I think they were dealt with.”
Lieberman stared at me, her eyes unblinking.
“What do you think, Miss Roberts? Do you think it’s possible that something happened to the Corps?”
“How long have you been in Ivory?” I asked.
“I’ve been in here for more than a year now.”
“Then you should know by now that, in this town, anything is possible.”
She took a step toward me and crossed her arms.
“I only want what’s best for this town—”
“I already know that’s not true. You gave me up. You gave the shelter up. All because you’re so desperate to get your hands on some Chinese Triads. I’ve lived here for most of my life and I’ve never seen an Asian gangster before. So you can’t tell me you want what’s best for this town when you’re willing to sacrifice everything else for something that doesn’t even exist.”
I stared at her and sighed through my nose. I could never get through to a woman like Lieberman. That ice-cold stare of hers was like looking at someone that wasn’t even human.
I swallowed and held my ground despite how intimidating she might have seemed. Before she could question me any further, I heard the rumbling of an engine next to me. I looked to the side and saw Jon on his bike next to the curb.
He walked over to me and Lieberman shifted her eyes toward him.
“What’s going on?” Jon said. “Everything all right, Anna?”
“Everything is fine. Agent Lieberman here was just updating me on the Corps.”
“The Corps? You find those assholes yet?”
“No, as a matter of fact, I haven’t,” Lieberman said. “As I was just telling your friend here, it seems as if they’ve disappeared.”
“Disappeared,” Jon said with a nod. “A kidnapper. A vandal. A potential rapist. It’s a shame they won’t get their justice.”
“Yes,” Lieberman said. “It is a shame.”
Jon stared at her with a smirk on his face. Lieberman didn’t even try hiding her disdain.
“You have a good day, Miss Roberts.”
She got back into her car. I watched her drive down the road and disappear into the distance.
I sighed a deep breath of relief.
“It’s all right,” Jon said as he put a hand on my shoulder. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”
