by Angela Foxxe
She felt like it was her duty to make sure that his eyes never opened again. She took a step toward him, but Wahir held up his hand, anticipating such an action on her part. It frustrated her that he was right.
“What the hell are you two doing here?” Faraji cried, looking at them in terror, already breaking out in a nervous sweat.
Josie liked that he feared her. For the entire time she had been on the island of Tarobi, everyone had treated her like she was this weak, albeit sexy, little girl who t couldn’t do a thing. Sure, that had been fine back in the day, but now she wanted more. Seeing him like this was soothing to her. No, better yet, it was empowering.
“Where are they, Faraji?” Wahir asked, approaching him slowly, menacingly. It was like he was a wall of very angry flesh that didn’t need to raise his voice. He was going to crush Faraji whether he got angry or not.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Faraji squirmed and shuffled backwards painfully. His awkward way of moving only ensured Josie that there was no way that Faraji was going to escape. What, did they think that he was useless enough that they should just stick him in a building out in the middle of nowhere so he didn’t get in the way? “You two need to get out of here before my boys get back and mess you op,” he said.“I think we’re perfectly safe here,” Josie said with a heavy sigh. “Where is Kheem, Faraji?”
“Kheem? He’s dead, bitch,” Faraji growled through his fat, split lips. “You should have seen what my boys did to him. He was screaming so much that they thought they already cut off his testicles, turns out he was just a little pussy all along. Man, I never saw anyone roll over and take it like Kheem did. I know the Jaguars were all afraid of him for what happened in their little war, but damn. He was nothing.”
Wahir took a step forward and snatched up Faraji’s left arm. He grabbed him on the wrist and Josie watched as Wahir’s grip constricted and there wasn’t a single expression on his face. Nothing changed, except for his intense, angry gaze that burned right through Faraji. Screaming and squirming in pain, Faraji tried to get away, but when the cast started to crack and little chutes of dust were puffing up into the air all around him signaled his cast’s imminent demise, Faraji let out a very honest scream.
“Let go of my arm,” he shouted, like he was giving out the orders there.
“Tell the truth,” Wahir said sternly. “The Hunters are here, Faraji. If we get Kheem back alive, we won’t tell them we found you up here in your little playhouse. They don’t need to know that one of the Hyenas survived all of this. You can be our little secret, but only if Kheem walks out of this alive.”
“Bullshit,” Faraji hissed. “The Hunters ain’t here.”
“Why do you think they left you out here all alone?” Josie said, shaking her head, tired of this game. “They didn’t want you getting in the way when the Hunters showed up. You’re just a liability to them now, Faraji.”
Something about that rang true with Faraji and he stood there, silent. It was a moment that told them enough. Faraji doubted his own worth in his Clan and they had abandoned him here. That must have said something to him. She felt that they were close, just a little more doubt in his mind and he would sing for them.
Wahir wasn’t as patient. The cast shattered with a loud, dusty snap that made Josie cringe just by hearing it. Faraji screamed at the top of his lungs and fell forward, crumpling in the most awkward, pitiful fashion. She looked at him and only felt a slight amount of pity for him, but it was gone with a flicker of her memory. Whatever humanity there was in Faraji, he had sold it a long time ago for a life of crime and selling kidnapped children. She wished she could spit on him, but Wahir probably wouldn’t have allowed that.
“Where are they, Faraji?” Wahir asked again.
“Enough, man,” Faraji screamed at the top of his lungs. “They took Kheem back to Alizea’s house. She’s got a thing for him. She doesn’t want to kill him. They think she can seduce him.”
“That pole slut won’t shake Kheem,” Josie assured both of them.
“Yeah, well, we’ll see about that,” Faraji was crying as he gripped his shattered arm.
Wahir gave him a swift kick in the ribs. Faraji jumped and yelped, curling up the best he could and trying to protect himself, like getting beaten was his specialty. Wahir gave him another kick and before long, Faraji was a puddle of whimpering sadness that left them wondering if killing him might have been the greater mercy at this point.
“Who's guarding him?” Wahir asked.
“Christoph and Dubaku,” Faraji said, with a nervous quiver in his voice.
He was already black and blue, what more could he really stand up against? He wasn’t the man he thought he was or fancied himself to be. Josie wanted to smack him upside the head for being so ignorant and stupid. He should just act normal, like everyone else in the world.
“What about Alizea?” Wahir asked him.
“Yeah, she’ll probably be there too,” Faraji squirmed, trying to get away from the big man.
Wahir slammed his foot down on Faraji’s other arm, the cast cracking and grinding under the heel of his boot. He screamed at the top of his lungs. “When I ask who is guarding him, I mean everyone. Do you need to clear your head and think again before I leave here?”
“No,” Faraji screamed. “That’s it.”
Wahir bent down and looked at Faraji, glaring at him as he snarled into the battered man’s face. “Stay out of trouble, Faraji,” Wahir warned him.
Standing up and heading for the exit, Wahir didn’t need to signal Josie to follow. She knew right away that he meant business and that they were officially on the warpath. There was no messing around now. They knew where Kheem was and it was time to go get him.
“So, what’s the plan?” Josie asked Wahir, following after him as he headed back toward the town. “Do we call King Ronald now and set up the strike team?”
“No,” Wahir said grimly.
“No? Wasn’t that the plan?” Josie asked him, rushing to keep up with him.
“It was,” Wahir said ominously. “We don’t have time to spare. If they have Kheem at Alizea’s home, then the Hunters will be closer. We have to hurry.”
“We have the time, we could call for help on the way there,” Josie was being optimistic. Who knows how long it would take for help to mobilize and get there. Who knew if they would ever make it in time?
“If we call for help, the Hunters will track them,” Wahir said wisely. It was like he’d figured everything out already. She wished she could think of things that quickly. “Come on, we’re running out of time.”
* * *
“They’re following us,” Wahir said as they were in the middle of Tarobi, the tourists and the bustle of the townsfolk were not enough to lose the two Hunters that they had picked them up the moment they entered the town. Auben wasn’t an idiot; he clearly had people on alert for any movement she made. He had to know about Kheem by now and he was probably banking on her leading his recon teams right to the Hyenas or the Jaguars. Josie had the nervous feeling in her stomach this was exactly what she was going to do if they didn’t think of something to do quickly.
She knew there were at least two, a man and a woman who were tracking her, both wearing sunglasses over expressionless faces. They both had hats on their heads, trying to shield their faces so that the people that they were following couldn’t recognize them or focus on them. She glanced at them, feeling like they stuck out in the crowds of tourists like sore thumbs. They were so obvious that Josie felt like they should just walk up to them and confront them. But that seemed like a stupid plan.
“What are we going to do?” Josie asked Wahir, trying her hardest not to look straight at the duo that was staring straight at them, while still trying to be covert as spies.
“We need to get rid of them,” Wahir said. He looked at her for a moment and hesitated.
Whatever he was about to ask her, she felt nervous. “They’re tracking you. No one care
s about me. If you lead them away from me, I can make my way to Alizea’s house. I can get Kheem and deal with the others while you keep them busy. We’ll meet up and head back to the resort.”
“There are three of them there,” Josie shook her head. “There’s no way you can take all of them alone.”
“You think too little of me,” Wahir assured her with a wry smile. It was the first time she had ever seen any kind of emotion on his face that was even close to mischievous or happy. She felt like she was meeting an alien for the first time. It was unnerving. “Go, lead them south and I’ll get to work. Do you know which house is hers?”
“The yellow one,” Josie nodded across the street to a small house that was two stories high but looked like someone had grabbed a house and squeezed it extremely hard together. She had seen the Hyenas hanging around there several times. In fact, she had seen more men from other Clans hanging around there, looking both ways before entering, hoping no one saw them slipping into the house where the half-naked slut was waiting for them.
“Okay,” Wahir nodded to her. “Make sure that they follow you and I’ll deal with the Hyenas. We’ll meet up after you’ve shown them that this has been a waste of time.”
“Got it,” Josie nodded to him, still feeling unsure about all of this. He was outnumbered, but Wahir was certain that he would be fine. She didn’t want to insult him, but at the same time, she would feel a lot better if there was just one other person going in there with him.
“Then go,” Wahir said, slipping into a cantina and gesturing for Josie to leave.
Looking as suspicious as she could, Josie made sure that her stalkers could see her and that they were more interested in her. Glancing over her shoulder, she made sure they were there. Two figures, walking against the crowd made their way after her, certain they were keeping the right distance from her as they moved like golems.
She made her course south, looking for places to take them. She moved at a cautious pace, not wanting to outrun them or to put distance between them. She would take a corner and wait for them to catch up, watching as they made their way after her, talking into the radios, updating who else was out there.
When she was tired of playing the game of cat and mouse, Josie decided it was time to get back to Wahir. No matter how confident he was in his skills, there was no way he would easily take three Hyenas together. She made her way into a back alley that was a dead end, an easy place for her to confront the Hunters.
There was a small part of her brain that was concerned they would shoot her dead right there in the alley but she was unarmed and she wasn’t interested in threatening them. She just wanted to confront them, ask them what they were doing following her. If anything, it would be good fun at the very least. She would chance it.
The man and the woman rounded the corner and stopped immediately when they saw Josie. Both of them had their hands hovering over the handles of their pistols on their hips, the holster unbuttoned and ready to shoot her down if they so much as felt a little insecure about her. She looked at them and sized them up. She was certain in a fight, she could hold her own against both of them. She didn’t work out every day for nothing. She was ready for a brawl whenever she needed to be.
“Be advised, target has stopped,” the woman said into her radio. It was hard to tell if behind her glasses she was looking at Josie, but she had a pretty good idea that she was looking right at her. “Contact.”
“You were given orders to remain at the resort,” the man said to Josie. It was odd, she didn’t remember him in the room with Auben or the others. The woman wasn’t there either. These two were just lackeys.
“Is that why you’re following me?” Josie asked them. “Or were you thinking I’d take you somewhere?”
“She’s just a decoy,” the woman said, her fingertips brushing the handle of her pistol. “Bitch has us following her. We should have kept on the other.”
“Should of, would of, could of,” Josie said with a simple shrug. “What are you going to do about it?”
“We’re taking you into custody,” the man said stepping forward and reaching for her.
It frustrated Josie to no end that men always thought they could touch her, that they could handle her if they wanted her to move or to come a certain way. They always thought touching her would somehow give them the authority or privilege they lusted for, to actually put their hands on her. But Josie wasn’t just some piece of meat for them to handle and to play with. No, she was a person who had the freedom not to be handled by men whenever they saw fit.
She snatched a hold of his wrist with her left hand and planted her right hand on his elbow, driving him into the wall headfirst. The hard, stucco wall met his head mercilessly as it crunched his skull. The man’s glasses bent and his hat fell off before he crumpled to the ground. The woman, all talk, turned out that she didn’t have the game she was sporting.
Reaching for her pistol, Josie launched at her and slammed her into the wall as well, knocking both of them unconscious in the flickering of a second. They dropped, crumpled on top of each other like rag dolls. She stared at them and shook her head. That was insultingly easy. They weren’t planning on her being able to do anything.
She was hoping the Hyenas would share their ignorance.
Making her way back through the town, she kept her eyes over her shoulder and glanced down every alley that she passed, looking for any sign of trouble or other stalkers that might be following her. From everything she could see, she was alone, but that didn’t mean that she was confident in her ability. There was something about surveillance that made her feel like she couldn’t do anything right. She didn’t understand how you could see every little spot where people could hide. There were practically a million places where a person could watch her in secret. But, she did the best she could do, scanning everything.
At the point where she found Alizea’s house again, she was still feeling fairly confident she hadn’t been followed and she had effectively avoided any kind of tail. As she made her way to the front of the house, there was something alarming about the whole thing. It looked like she was going to have a clear entry into the home. Wahir must have already gone inside and as she approached it, she wondered if there was anything inside left for her to do.
It was quiet. He must have gotten the drop on them and dealt with them accordingly. He seemed to have a score to settle with the Hyenas. She couldn’t imagine a reason why he would actually stick his neck out for her, otherwise.
Pushing open the door that was slightly ajar, Josie stepped into the house and immediately felt something cold inside of her. She could feel there was something wrong here. Something was seriously wrong. She took another step into the room and felt something ripple down her spine, causing her to shiver and stare around for something to give her a hint as to what had happened in here. There was blood on the walls, blood that made her heart race faster and faster.
“Is there anyone there?” A voice called from the other room.
It was the kind of voice that had been through something, maybe nothing, maybe a lot, but definitely something. She took a step forward and realized it was Kheem. He sounded bad, like he’d been beaten or that he was exhausted. She began to walk faster, kicking herself for having taken so long to get to him. She should have come for him first thing. She should have come for him at all costs. What had she been thinking?
Rushing into the next room, she realized she was in the kitchen. The kitchen was completely demolished. There were cabinets that had been smashed, utensils were scattered all around, there was shattered plates and shards of glasses, and a bloody knife was stuck in the wall. Nervously, she took a step toward the knife and looked around the island of the kitchen. She could see feet and cautiously walked around the island, looking for who the feet belonged to. Staring at the body, she realized that it wasn’t one of the Hyenas, but it was Wahir.
“Wahir?” She hissed, looking around.
If she were planning an ambu
sh, this is exactly what she would do. She would drop Wahir right here in the middle of all of this and then sneak up behind her. The fact that no one hopped out just yet might mean that there was probably no one around to come up with that kind of a brilliant plan. Wahir was in bad shape, his hand was clutching his neck and there was blood smeared all over his fingers and face. His skin looked pale and his lips were trembling as his whole body shook like he was extremely nervous about something.
“God, Wahir, hold on,” she said.
“Too late,” Wahir shook his head.
From the blood that was covering him and spread across the floor, she knew that he was right. Something inside of her told her you didn’t just give in to the demands of someone like that. You had to stay with them and keep them encouraged. You had to keep hope alive until the end. As she looked at him, she turned around and saw that Kheem was certainly in the next room, tied to a chair and blindfolded.
“Got Dubaku pretty good,” Wahir murmured. “Slashed Alizea too.” He looked at her with a struggling expression on his face, like he was trying his very hardest to stay with her. “Sorry I let you down.”
With a few raspy breathes and a shallow pulse, Wahir was gone within seconds, just long enough for her to keep a strong face. She couldn’t hold it for long and thankfully, his neck went slack, his head lulling to the side as his eyes stared vacantly into oblivion. Her ally was gone, but she now had Kheem with her. Standing up and stepping away from Wahir, she headed into the living room where Wahir was tied to a metal chair.
He was blindfolded and bruised pretty badly, but he looked like he would be just fine with a good night’s rest. If they were lucky, they would be out of here in a few hours, completely safe from everything that was happening around here. Grabbing the knife out of the wall, she started hacking away at the bonds that kept Kheem tied to the chair. She hacked them away and he quickly started to help her.
