by J. D. Sloane
“Alicia…”
Alicia she cut through the lot and ran in the direction of the helicopter, her eyes running up and down the fence as she looked for some kind of connecting gate that passed from one courtyard to the next. She ran up onto a short path of blacktop, the posts near two of the connecting gates slightly askew and gripped the links with both hands as she saw the double doors to the courtyard fly outward all at once, a rush of white noise filling her ears as several men ran towards the helicopter in a quick moving huddle.
Alicia crouched down suddenly as she heard the soft patter of gunfire over the roar of the helicopter blades and curled her body closer to one of the signposts as she saw it touch down in the courtyard, the man out in front running up to the passenger door almost before it had fully landed. She saw another man follow suit as Emilio grabbed her by the shoulder and jerked away sharply as she saw Ronan climb into the carriage, two other men running around to the opposite side.
Alicia felt all the air leave her lungs at once as Ronan stood in the open doorway, swinging his gun around as he fired at someone below them, his face so bright and vicious it was practically on fire. She gripped the fence tightly as she saw Ronan grab the door handle and swallowed hard as their eyes locked, his expression changing slightly before he gave her a quick, heart-breaking smile, slamming the door shut as the helicopter began to rise. Alicia held her breath as it rose into the air slowly, her dark red hair whipping behind her and felt a dull sob rise into her throat as the helicopter turned suddenly, passing above the prison in a wide black arc.
Chapter Ten
“I’m fine, really,” Alicia said, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she pulled off her mic. “I just need a few minutes.”
She glanced around the sound stage as Renee followed her around the corner and bit back an annoyed sigh as she grabbed a styrofoam coffee cup off of the buffet table.
And it’ll feel empty for a while too, she thought filling her cup with a low sigh. With Matt and Lance both in surgery. Not to mention the three crew members who were killed during the raid.
Renee tapped at her phone and then twirled her wide blue eyes in her direction, her face so pensive it looked as if she was about to burst as Alicia stirred her coffee and then took a long drink.
And somehow that makes me just about the last familiar female face at Channel Six. I bet Piper would tear my heart out with her pointy little fingers if she could see me now. If she could speak. To anyone. About anything at all.
“I need a few minutes, Renee,” she said picking up her cup as she averted her eyes and headed down the hall, her jaw tightening with irritation as the wardrobe girl tried to match her brisk pace back to editing.
“Oh, I know, Miss Gale,” she said, her voice striving hard to be sympathetic and not quite meeting the mark. “We all know how hard you’ve been working. And Lionel said that he definitely wants you to get some rest before this next segment. He’s practically insisting on it…”
“But what, Renee?” Alicia said, pausing in front of the editing room as one of the camera men hustled past them, holding up his hands as he slid behind them. “I don’t have a lot of time. I still need to make sure the prison footage we have is good to go. Otherwise I may have to rewrite the entire spot.”
Renee let out a quick sigh, her face becoming contrite as she pressed her hands together.
“I know, I know. And it’s such a little thing. But I noticed you set aside the red skirt in your dressing room when I specifically put out the blue one. And I know it seems like nitpicking after everything you’ve been through, I mean I just can’t begin to imagine. But you have worn some shade of red now in practically every single segment for the last four hours, which I’m sure hasn’t even crossed your mind…”
“The red one, Renee,” Alicia said, stepping inside the dark editing room as she cut her off smoothly. “Send it to down to be pressed please. Is there anything else?”
“N-No. Nothing. Are you sure you won’t…”
“Positive,” Alicia said, her voice low and curt as she shut the door face.
She let out a quiet sigh as several dark monitors greeted her on one side of the room and relaxed slightly as Emilio looked up at her from his laptop, raising his brows as she paced over to the desk he was working at.
“Aren’t they letting you go home yet?” He asked, spinning around in his chair as she sat down at the station behind him. Alicia glanced up as a man she didn’t know got up from one of the monitors across from them and followed him with her eyes as he exited, rubbing her temples slowly.
“Why would I go home in the middle of the biggest news story this season?”
“Oh right,” Emilio said, smiling slightly as he spun back in front of his monitor. “Twenty-four-hour news cycle, right? Welcome to the big time.”
Alicia felt a sudden jolt of annoyance run through her as Emilio tapped at his keyboard cheerfully and then glanced out the one narrow window above the shelves of spare camera equipment, the full moon so large and bright that she glanced at her watch without thinking.
“Christ, is it really almost ten?” She asked, reaching for her cigarettes. “I don’t feel it at all. This entire day feels like some kind of a dream. Where did we land on the helicopter footage?”
“I have a good 90 seconds,” Emilio said, pulling up a file as he hit play. “You may not need to use the whole thing but it’s good. No one else has anything close to it.”
Alicia paused with her lighter between her fingers and felt a deep pang of regret run through her as a smooth image of a helicopter lifting up over the prison yard filled the screen. Her gold eyes darted over the image as she tried to pick out Ronan’s face in the dark window of the passenger door and looked down as Emilio tipped his brow in her direction, his expression softening as she passed her lighter in front of her cigarette with a quick wave.
“Have you heard anything?”
Alicia took a long drag and gave him a cool stare as she leaned back against her chair.
“Have I heard anything about what?”
“Your friends. Your boss. The people that were hurt.”
Alicia dropped her eyes, instantly ashamed of herself and rubbed her elbow as she shook her head.
“No,” she said her voice dropping. “Nothing. Not since earlier. I heard that Lance was…he was in surgery, but that it wasn’t supposed to be serious. Matt though, I don’t know. I need to call, I do. I really should just go down there…”
Emilio nodded as he held her eyes and then tapped his lips thoughtfully before passing her a yellow envelope.
“What is this?” She asked, picking it up.
“Don’t know,” Emilio said shrugging. “Someone dropped it off for you. Said that it should go into your hands only.”
Alicia opened the package, her eyes narrowing as she pulled out a small SDR card and glanced at Emilio quickly as she turned over the envelope, her heart thudding in her chest as she recognized the handwriting.
“This is from Lance,” she said handing it to him as she tapped her cigarette out without thinking. “Pull it up.”
Emilio took the card without speaking and tucked it into the side of his laptop, his foot tapping the floor impatiently as he waited for the file to appear. He glanced up as Alicia slid her chair closer and moved his curser over the file as he glanced around the empty editing hall.
“Ready?”
Alicia waved her hand without looking at him and made a low noise of surprise as an image of Ronan in the visitor’s hall jumped into sudden focus.
“Holy shit,” Emilio said, his eyes going wide as he tried to sharpen the image. “Is this during the riot?”
Alicia leaned forward without speaking, her eyes moving over the screen frantically and pressed her fingers against her lips as the camera zoomed in, the low, sputtering ceiling lamps covering every sharp edge in what looked like a fine, silvery mist.
“Hello there, fans, followers and nonbel
ievers,” Ronan said, his low voice smooth and restless as his wide dark eyes locked on the camera in front of him. “My name is Ronan White. I’m talking to you today from Wonderland prison. And please excuse the mess. We’ve been having some minor- technical difficulties today.”
Ronan leaned forward, cocking his head as his wide dark eyes gave a sudden, vicious twirl.
“Always when there’s company,” he said, making a careless gesture towards the news crew. Alicia glanced at Emilio as she heard the low sound of someone crying and dug her nails into the desk as the camera spun in Piper’s direction, rolling back to him sharply as Ronan snapped his fingers behind him.
“Don’t mind Piper,” Ronan said, his pale face so charged and violent it seemed to draw the lens like a magnet. “It’s difficult for such a young, impressionable girl like her to see all of her big dreams go up in smoke. Quite literally.”
Ronan grinned brightly for a moment, the light from the overhead lamps turning it into something vaguely unpleasant.
“So, as some of you know, and by some of you I mean every corrupt law enforcement professional who had a hand in my conviction, I just want you know that I haven’t forgotten any of you, and I intend to pay you all a friendly visit very soon. Nothing fancy I promise. Just some good old-fashioned one on one time between me and you and everyone you hold dear. And trust me when I say that I won’t take no for an answer.
“Especially you, Nolan,” Ronan said his voice changing slightly as he brushed his long hair away from his brow with an impatient swipe of one hand. “Seeing you the other day made me realize how much I’ve missed all of our misadventures on the job. I know I’m not alone in saying that this city just hasn’t been the same without you. Which is why, as of today, I’m pulling you out of retirement for one last game of Who’s Who. And don’t worry. You’ll like this game. Happy endings guaranteed.”
Ronan rolled his wide eyes toward the ceiling as the lights flickered overhead and then went dark all at once before sputtering back to life, the room behind him becoming a rising chorus of panic. Alicia swallowed hard as Ronan stood up and reached for his gun, giving the camera a friendly wink.
“Well, have to run,” he said, his low, gravelly voice calm and conversational. “Looks like our neighborhood watch group is feeling a little left out. When it rains, it pours. Oh. And I know it sounds like empty words to tell you all to live each day as if it’s your last, but believe me, no one could wish that more for you than I do. Right. Now.”
Ronan took a step forward as Lance tipped the camera upwards, his pale, handsome face eating up the entire frame.
“So, kiss your kiddies good night, boys and I’ll see you all very soon. I can’t wait to catch up with some of you. I honestly can’t.”
Lance dropped the camera as a low scramble of bodies suddenly ate up the forefront of the screen and Alicia placed a hand on Emilio’s shoulder as he shook his head, his face warring somewhere between absolute disbelief and a low tremor of greed.
“When did he shoot this? This footage is insane. It’s like…it’s like…a direct message to everyone on this guy’s personal hit list. I don’t even know if they’ll run it, but do you have any idea how much footage like this is worth…”
Alicia glanced down as she saw someone’s hand right the camera again and crouched down as Ronan glanced over his shoulder and then rolled his eyes back towards the lens, his face relaxing into an expression that was almost intimate.
“Enjoy the spotlight, Miss Gale,” he said, his low voice pulsing with malicious sort of good humor as his dark eyes dipped and twirled. “Hope that ivory tower of yours isn’t too lonely.”
Alicia bit her bottom lip as he leaned closer, tilting his head slightly as someone screamed behind him.
“If it is, feel free to look me up sometime. We’re bound to have a few friends in common by now.”
Alicia held her breath as Ronan stood up and restrained herself from reaching for the replay button as the screen went dark. She cleared her throat as she noticed Emilio watching her, a low undercurrent of worry entering his eyes.
“Who brought this over?” Alicia asked, standing up and Emilio tipped his chair in her direction, sweeping his eyes over her carefully as she reached for her cigarettes again.
“I don’t know. Some girl. Looked like a hospital worker to me.”
Friends in common. Friends in low places. Friends of friends of friends…
Alicia tapped the cigarette in her hand against her lips, pacing beneath the window and then stuffed it back into her bag as she threw it over her arm, finishing her coffee in one shot.
“Can you clean this up?” She asked, her voice suddenly pulsing with authority and Emilio nodded and swung back in front of his desk.
“So you are going to give it to them,” he said, tapping at his keyboard. “All right. Yeah. I can clean it up. I’ll just need like a half an hour…”
“All but the last part,” Alicia said, meeting his gaze quickly as she grabbed her keys. “Delete his message to me. Everything else I want.”
Emilio’s brow furrowed as she headed for the door and he turned in his chair to watch her as she passed behind him.
“Are you leaving?”
“Just going to get some air,” Alicia said, giving him a stiff smile as she opened the door. “I’ll be back before the next segment.”
Emilio nodded to her, his expression still a little too curious for her liking and then sighed and slid back in front of his desk, tapping at the screen as he brought the footage back up.
“I like the red by the way,” he said without turning.
“You like the what?”
“The red,” he said, tipping his eyes in her direction. “It suits you. That wardrobe girl. She’s kind of an idiot.”
Alicia cocked her head at him, her brow furrowing slightly as her grin widened and then shut the door behind her, looking up and down the hall as she headed for the nearest exit.
Ronan sat in the shadows of the long unfinished loft above Alex’s gaming house and turned his head as the metal doors creaked open at the end of the wall, the full moon giving the threshold a soft square of spotlight. He felt an amused rush of gratification as one of Alek’s men hauled Alicia inside by the arm, holding her away from his body like a wild animal that couldn’t quite be trusted.
He looked her over as the guards next to the door cracked their guns in her direction and watched the man leading her yank the hood off of her head, raising his brows as Alicia turned on him like a sacked cat.
“Thanks,” she spat, raking her hand through her short auburn hair as she flicked her long nails in his direction. “Really. Did it ever occur to any of you morons that it was your boss that sent me here? Or do you treat all your women this nicely?”
The guard said something to her he didn’t catch, and his lips twitched in amusement as Alicia spun on the men closest to her, ignoring their guns as if she would simply pounce at them from a standing position.
“And I already told you that it was none of your business,” Alicia said, her pale face flushing with fury. “I only speak to Ronan. Get it, Sergei?”
“Miss Gale,” he said without getting up, his low voice clipped and polite. “What a nice surprise.”
Ronan tilted his head slightly as she froze, watching her search for his face in the darkness and made a quick gesture as the men at the door dropped their guns to waist height, regarding her with more interest as she brushed her long bangs behind one ear. Ronan considered her short red dress carefully for a moment, the tight lace material clinging to her curves as she shifted on her high black heels and followed her gaze as her eyes ran across the bank of windows behind him, the long row of candles making her irises seem to glow.
He paused as she took a step forward, the lost, hungry look on her face when she had watched him escape pulsing through his mind and cleared his throat as she threw him a haughty pout, the annoyance in her expression filling him w
ith a sudden infuriating wave of want.
“Don’t tell me you’re lonely already,” he said, the smooth edge of mockery in his voice turning the phrase into something almost unpleasant.
“Hey,” one of the men closest to her said, snapping his finger as he dropped the muzzle of his gun. “Don’t I know you? You’re that weather girl, right? The ah…Channel Six news?”
Ronan glanced at the crewman who had spoken as Alicia snapped her head in his direction, her expression suddenly so feral he cleared his throat to cover his smirk.
“If you gentlemen need something else to do all you have to do is ask,” Ronan said, his voice creeping with an off-handed note of warning as he tilted his head at her. “I’m sure I can find a more creative way for all of you to round out your time cards for a while.”
Alicia glanced to her right as the men closest to her swept their eyes over her curiously and then dropped their weapons in a quick, casual succession as they fell into lockstep towards the exit. She turned her head, watching them shuffle through the yawning metal double-doors single file and then glanced back as they yanked them shut, the sharp, metallic slide of an external lock echoing throughout the room. Alicia glanced around the large moonlit space, her eyes widening as they adjusted to dark and then paused as she turned slowly in the middle of the floor, walking towards the shifting flicker of candles along the window sill.
“Nice view,” she said, her voice light and ironic as she surveyed the tangled industrial wasteland below Alek’s gambling hall, her tight red dress sliding over her delicate body like a second skin.
“Think so?” Ronan asked evenly, his voice so inflectionless it was almost serene. He turned away from her, his shoulders twitching as he heard her approach and kept his eyes closed as she stepped up beside him, the smooth crack of her heels punctuating her steps across the polished wood floor.
