Heller’s Decision

by JD Nixon

  “What about the others?” I puffed.

  “We’ll meet them a few blocks away.”

  “Are they going to be all right? Everybody had guns. And the police are coming. I don’t want anyone to be arrested.”

  “Kirnin lives here. His neighbours are probably his friends – if anyone could befriend an arsehole like him. But I do know that he wouldn’t be happy about attracting the attention of the police. That’s a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”

  We drove a couple of blocks in silence before he pulled over and parked again. The street he’d chosen was deserted and quiet, though the sirens cut through the peace.

  Farrell leaned over and cupped my chin, examining my face. “They roughed you up, sweetheart,” he said simply.

  A few tears gathered on my lashes. “I’ve definitely looked and felt better before.”

  “Hey,” he said gently, wiping one tear trail away. “None of these. You’re safe now.”

  “Thanks for getting me out of there.” My voice trembled and broke.

  “Anything for you.”

  He placed his hand on the back of my neck and drew my head towards him. He leaned over and pressed his warm lips on mine, the kiss tentative at first, as though he expected rejection, his assurance, and the pressure of the kiss, growing with each passing moment.

  “Thank you again,” I whispered when we separated.

  “That was thanks enough for me,” he whispered back.

  Three Heller’s men ran towards us, breaking the moment and making us spring apart. They piled uncomfortably into the backseat, a space far too small for such muscularity, but I wasn’t giving up the front. They assured us the others were on their way and that everyone had escaped before the cops turned up. Farrell didn’t wait for them, but commenced the drive back to the Warehouse.

  “Shouldn’t we tell the man with Kirnin’s family to go home too?”

  I half-expected to hear that Rose and Marcus had never left the Warehouse in the first place. I’d presumed from the lack of any real negotiation that Clive never had any intentions of reuniting the small family tonight. He’d come solely to secure me, while also keeping Rose and Marcus. Holding all the cards in this cutthroat security game provided an ideal opportunity to extract more concessions from Kirnin about his dealings with Heller’s.

  “Ring him,” Farrell instructed the men in the back.

  I was surprised to hear that Clive had brought them along. I could only imagine it was in case he decided to parade them in front of Kirnin for some reason. But as it was unlikely Clive and I would ever share a deep and meaningful conversation about anything, I guess I’d never know.

  One of the men in the back pulled out his phone from one of his many pockets and dialled his colleague. They spoke for a couple of minutes and from the tone of his voice, it became apparent that not all was well with Rose and Marcus.

  “Oh man, his nuts are in so much trouble,” he told us when he hung up. “He went off to take a leak. Reckons he was gone no more than a minute and when he returned, they’d done a runner on him.”

  “He lost them? Both of them?” I asked.

  “Yep. They scarpered. Probably back home by now.”

  “One great, big happy family,” I said sadly. “Rose must have forced Marcus to leave, because he didn’t want to go back to Kirnin.”

  “It’s not our problem, Chalmers. Let them sort it out for themselves,” said Farrell. “I’m sure we have enough problems to worry about without taking on everyone else’s.”

  Yeah, I thought glumly, like a missing boyfriend and being unemployed. Not to mention a number of injuries that were currently reminding me of just how much they hurt. All three of which I was going to have to attend to back at home.

  The rest of the trip back to the Warehouse passed in a daze, none of us speaking. I was weary to my core by the time I’d exchanged heartfelt soggy greetings with Daniel and Niq and made my way to my flat, followed by a retinue. I lay on my bed, lapping up everyone’s overwhelming sympathy for my injuries. It was pretty crowded in my bedroom and I wondered just how many people exactly could squash into it because, at that point, we seemed to be pushing a world record. There was barely room for me amongst the people perched on my bed and standing around it. But despite the room being filled to capacity, I still suffered from the noticeable absence of one.

  Where was my Heller?

  As we waited for the doctor, someone handed me a padded icepack for my eye. Daniel and Niq both filled me in on what had happened without me, talking over the top of each and sometimes contradicting each other. When I hadn’t arrived to pick up Niq as promised, he rang Daniel again to find out if I’d been delayed by something. As Daniel had seen me leave to go to the basement with all intentions of picking Niq up, he began to worry about me. He drove to pick Niq up, screeching to a halt when he came across my abandoned car in the street.

  Panicked, he rang Clive, who took over so Daniel could keep going on his journey. Everyone knew something bad had happened to me, but it wasn’t until Daniel saw the photos sent to the office administration email address that the picture became clearer. It hadn’t taken long for Clive to find a cowering Rose and Marcus in my flat. Daniel told me later that all hell broke loose with that discovery, and I’d probably been better off not to be around to witness Clive blowing his lid. He was probably right about that.

  I wanted to take a shower to wash away the contact with Kirnin, but both Clive and Farrell advised me not to so that the doctor could clean and attend my injuries properly. And on his arrival, Dr Kincaid agreed with them. He shook his head jadedly as he opened his bag.

  “Am I ever going to receive an uninterrupted night’s sleep with you around?”

  “No more than I am with me around,” I quipped, but as he’d been born entirely without a sense of humour, much like Clive, he failed to even crack the hint of a smile.

  He pulled out some swabs and started daubing at one of the gashes Kirnin’s ring had caused, having to bend at an awkward angle because of the people sitting on the bed.

  “Clear some room,” he grumped, creating a purposeless shuffling of the bed-sitters that achieved nothing except an artful rearrangement of some limbs.

  Even from in the bedroom, we all heard the door to my flat burst open and slam shut. Footsteps strode across the floor.

  “What’s one more to add to the crowd?” I muttered, expecting Sid to materialise. He’d been downstairs scouring the Warehouse security footage to see if he could pick up any material evidence against Select Security about my abduction. It hadn’t been decided what we’d do about the matter, but I suspected the police wouldn’t be involved, even though that was my preference.

  I turned my head to give Sid a brief smile on entry, but it wasn’t him.

  “Heller,” I said faintly, all heads turning to look.

  He showed no manners, pushing everyone aside to reach my bed, even forcing the doctor to take a step sideways. He didn’t say anything, just looked down at me, his face stony, the backs of his fingers brushing my cheek.

  “Everybody except the doctor, out of the room,” he ordered in a harsh voice.

  “Thanks for including me in the list of honoured guests,” the doctor snarked, as everyone else trailed out, some more reluctantly than others.

  Heller was filthy and looked tired. He appeared as though he’d just driven all night through a hundred small towns to reach home, a fact he confirmed immediately.

  “I came as soon as I saw all the messages when I finally returned to a township. I was out of range for most of the other time.”

  “I’ve tried and tried to ring you.”

  “I would have come sooner, my sweet, but I didn’t know. I hate not knowing what’s happening to you. It was Kirnin?” I nodded. His face set even harder. “I’m going to kill him.”

  “Excuse me, but I’d prefer it if you saved your expressions of homicidal intent for when I’m not in the room to bear witness,” the doctor said mildly
, probing around the same gash. “I think we’ll err on the safe side and put in a couple of stiches here, Miss.”

  “Okay. And no, I won’t faint,” I said before he asked me, something which he seemed to do frequently, even though I told him that just as frequently.

  “Good to know. I must keep that in mind for future reference.” And the sparkle in his eye as he said that made me wonder if perhaps he wasn’t quite as dour as he seemed.

  He cleaned and patched up the second, smaller gash, deciding it didn’t need stitching.

  “As for the shiner, it’s going to be a beauty, and I bet it hurts, but there’s not much you can do about it. The eye puffiness will reduce in a day or so, and here . . .” He rummaged around in his bag, dropping something in my hand. “Some anti-bruising cream. It won’t make the bruising invisible, but might reduce its level, if you decide you need it. And of course, more painkillers.”

  “Can I have a shower now?”

  “Yes.” He cast Heller a disdainful sideways glance. “Take him in there with you. He looks like he needs a good scrub.” At the door, he threw over his shoulder, “But remember, no sexual intercourse in there. I’m not coming back here again tonight, no matter what you do to each other.”

  We took his advice and showered together. We lathered each other slowly and methodically, not in any kind of lustful way, but in the way of having someone you’d craved seeing and touching re-enter your life. Our bodies all soapy, he pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me so that we touched at every point. And we kissed – long, intense, deep kisses, more tender than passionate, more dreamy than sexy – while the water sprayed over our bodies and whirled down the drain.

  He dried me off gently, but was much brisker on himself. I stared into the bathroom mirror in horror.

  “I don’t even want to look,” I decided, gratefully tearing myself away from the sight.

  “Then don’t.”

  He switched out the lights and led me by the hand to bed where we slipped under the covers and immediately entwined our legs. And though I felt him stirring and hardening, he didn’t press me. I didn’t press him either, both of us content to just be together again.

  “I’m very tired, Matilda. It was a long drive.”

  “Where were you?”

  “A distance from here.”

  “That doesn’t tell me much.”

  “It’s not supposed to.”

  “What were you doing?”

  He paused before answer as if considering whether or not to answer. “Training.”

  “For what?”

  “I wasn’t the one being trained.”

  “You were training people? What in?”

  “Some particular skills I possess.”

  “Is it dangerous?”

  He sighed. “You have too many questions.”

  “You don’t have enough answers,” I retorted.

  “It’s not dangerous at the moment. It’s training.”

  “What do you mean it’s not dangerous at the moment? Will it become dangerous at some point?”

  “Most probably.”

  “What will you decide then, Heller? Will you continue doing these special projects, or will you decide to keep your focus on your business?”

  “I have already made my decision, Matilda. I will continue to do them.”

  “You weren’t there for me tonight.”

  “I’m here for you now.”

  “Farrell helped me escape from Kirnin’s place.” I wasn’t quite sure why I said that. He stiffened beside me and then made himself relax.

  “I must thank him for that.”

  “He wasn’t the only one there,” I mumbled, not wanting to bring any ‘special’ attention from Heller to Farrell.

  He kissed my forehead. “Sleep, my sweet.”

  I dozed for a while, then half-roused. “Heller?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Will you be here in the morning?”

  “Yes. But I must go away again in a couple of weeks.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “I must.” He was quiet for a few minutes. “Matilda, I’ve been thinking a lot lately.”

  “Yes?”

  “I’ll be away on and off now. Because of what has happened tonight, I’m now worried that when I leave you, nobody will supervise you.”

  I sat up in anger. “Supervise me? I’m not an unruly toddler, Heller!”

  “I’m sorry. Poor choice of words. I need to know that someone is looking over . . .” My eyes shot daggers at him. “. . . looking after you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Knowing where you are and what you’re doing. The fact that you were hiding enemies in my home without anyone noticing speaks volumes to me. The fact that you were abducted and nobody noticed for hours until Kirnin sent those photos speaks volumes to me. I don’t want these things happening in the future when I’m not here and not contactable. I want you to be accountable to someone. I want someone to notice when you’re not where you’re supposed to be or not doing what you’re supposed to be doing. And for that reason, I’ve decided –”

  “Another decision. Aren’t you quite the decisive man lately?” And yeah, maybe my tone was a little sarcastic.

  He laughed to himself. “Matilda, I make hundreds of decisions every day. This is one of them.”

  “So glad to hear you spare me one-hundredth of your attention every day.”

  He only laughed again, ignoring my attitude, probably realising it resulted from his absence and my pain, rather than any real petulance. “I’ve decided to reinstate you as an employee.”

  I sat up again. “What?”

  “You will return to work here as a security officer under Clive, starting tomorrow.” He caressed my back. “Or when you feel better. You will answer to him.”

  I barely heard the second part, interested only in the first. “Really? I can work here again?”

  “Yes. That’s what I’ve decided.”

  “But what about the whole punishment thing? The need for discipline?”

  He smiled and clasped me to him. “What’s the point of being the boss if I can’t do what I want?” But then he became serious, brushing a loose lock of hair from my forehead. “Your safety is so important to me. I can’t stand to see you in pain, my sweet.”

  “Thank you so much, Heller. I’m excited about returning to work.” It was only much, much later that the ‘answering to Clive’ part of what he’d said started sinking in.

  “Go to sleep now.”

  We settled against each other and I’d nearly dozed off when something began to needle me.

  “Heller?”

  “Mmm?”

  “All this is now going to end with Select Security, isn’t it?”

  He kissed my forehead again. “Go to sleep, my sweet.”

  And though I realised that was not an answer, after a while of listening to his even breathing, I slept.

  ~~~~~~ ###### ~~~~~~

  About the author:

  JD Nixon lives in Queensland, Australia, letting a wild imagination run free.

  Discover other titles by JD Nixon at Smashwords.com:

  Heller series

  Heller (free ebook!)

  Heller’s Revenge

  Heller’s Girlfriend

  Heller’s Punishment

  Heller’s Decision

  Heller’s Regret (to be published)

  Little Town series

  Blood Ties (free ebook!)

  Blood Sport

  Blood Feud

  Blood Tears (to be published)

  Want to contact me? I’d love to hear from you

  Drop me a line via email.

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  Check out my blog, Tilly and Tess.

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  Thanks for reading!

  sp; JD Nixon, Heller’s Decision