The Assassin and the Girl From the Coffee Shop

by Terry Towers

  "I assure you Lily. This is for your own good. If you want to stay alive you're stuck with me."

  She shook her head quickly, her blonde hair flying out around her. "No. No, I want out! I want out now."

  He reached over and patted her knee, which she jerked out of his grasp as if his hand were on fire. "Look. I promise once we get where we're going I'll explain things a little better. You’ll just have to trust me.'

  "Where are we going?" She turned in her seat to face him fully, her blue eyes shooting daggers into his.

  "Some place secure. I promise you'll be safe."

  She huffed and settled herself back in the seat; her arms crossed over her chest and she stared out into the darkened forest ahead of them.

  All things considered, she seemed to be taking things about as well as he could have expected. He hadn't expected Herrera's men to have found him so fast. The men who'd tracked him to the coffee shop were good, a little too good for his comfort, which meant they weren't Herrera's usual goons. He'd hired assassins -assassins just like Scott. He muttered a curse under his breath at the realization.

  It was close to an hour since they left the coffee shop and he would have bet that by now, they'd discovered who it was that was working that night and had already ransacked her home and left a man or two there keeping watch over the place - just in case. Yes, there was no way he could let her leave him now, not in good conscience.

  ****

  When he stops the car, I can make a run for it! Looking around her, the darkened forest looked menacing. Make a run for it and go where? She sighed. She'd end up getting herself lost in the wilderness, and mauled by a bear, or worse. Lily snuck a look over at Scott, who seemed to be content with not speaking for the moment. A freelance killer? So what he was telling her was that he was a hit man?

  She frowned. Wasn't it the hit men who did the killing, not the ones doing the running? Perhaps she'd watched too many spy movies in her lifetime, it's not like she had ever met an actual killer before. Which led her to the question of what in the hell had he done to make himself a mark? An even more important question followed. Did she really want to be with him when they caught up with him again?

  "Where are we going?"

  Scott made a left turn onto a dirt road that she hadn't even seen until they were on it. After traveling for close to ten more minutes, he finally began to slow the car. "We're here," he announced as they came up to a small cabin nestled deep in the woods.

  "Whose place is this?"

  Scott waved a dismissive hand at her. "Home. Like I said before, it's safe."

  Her eyes narrowed as she watched him slide from the driver's seat and slam the door shut behind him. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed her purse, which she was grateful she'd had enough sense to snatch as they rushed from the restaurant, and followed suit.

  She found herself amazed at how quiet it was outside, aside from the rustling of leaves and the faint sounds of crickets chirping somewhere out in the night.

  She turned her attention to Scott and watched as he strode up to the front door, removed his jacket, covered his fist with it and smashed out the lower pane of the door window. What in the hell?

  "Why did you just break out the window, Scott?"

  He carefully removed the remaining shards of glass from the window pane, reached through the broken pane and unlocked the door from the inside. He glanced over at her looking unperturbed by her suspicious tone. "So we could get in."

  Planting her fists on her hips she glared at him. "I thought you said you were the owner. If you are, then why are you breaking in?"

  He pulled his hand from the window and opened the door wide. "If you must know I happen to have lost the key a few weeks ago." he motioned impatiently for her to enter. "Come on, and watch out for the glass on the floor."

  She hesitated a moment, but a growl which she suspected was a bear pushed her body into action as she rushed past him and into the pitch black cabin.

  "There's a generator out back, I'll turn in on and be right back." He spun around and hurried around the corner of the cabin.

  What? Whoa. Hell no, he's not going to leave me alone here, not even for a minute! "Scott?"

  The darkened cabin sent a chill of fear through Lily. Born and raised in the city, she had never had exposure to the ‘great outdoors’, had never been camping, or even spent a night away at a cabin like this one so the forest seemed monstrous and intimidating. She was tempted to chase after him, but another low growl sounded from somewhere in the forest causing her to rush back into the darkness of the cabin, firmly closing the door behind her.

  A shot of relief rushed through Lily when the sound of the generator roared to life and a number of overhead lamps burst into life displaying the interior of the four room cabin for her. When the lights came on she found herself in the kitchen area, to her immediate right was the living room which was sparsely furnished with a futon and plain wooden coffee table.

  Walking across the kitchen which had a wood stove, a sink, pantry and a small table with two chairs, she peered into the bathroom. Again, simple in nature with a toilet, and old style claw foot cast iron bathtub and large closet; no shower. The bedroom was located off the living room and again was simply furnished, with a bed, a dresser and an end table. The walls of all the rooms were varnished pine and the floors covered with short brown industrial type carpet. It was what she'd expect a hunting cabin to look like.

  It was far from the Ritz, but she supposed considering they had no other place to go, it would have to do. For someone who might enjoy ‘roughing it’ she figured it could be considered quite a desirable little forest getaway.

  "It's not much, I know."

  Lily jumped and yelped at the sound of Scott's voice as he spoke close to her ear, so close that his breath tickled her neck and send a shiver running down her spine.

  She spun around to face him and, as her eyes swept over the length of his body, she fully appreciated just how large his frame was in comparison to her. His shoulders were wide and powerful, his chest broad and torso lean. Her eyes dipped to his groin and she took notice of the crease his cock made in his jeans. She looked away hastily for fear he'd notice her eyeing his dick, though she couldn't stop the flush that she could feel coloring her cheeks. "I...um…It's great."

  He cocked his head and his eyes lazily worked their way down and then back up the length of her body, causing her blush to deepen. When his eyes finally met hers she saw they held amusement in them. "How old are you? Nineteen, twenty perhaps?"

  "Perhaps... So how old are you. Thirty? Thirty-five?"

  Scott chuckled as he shrugged off his jacket and tossed it onto a plain wooden chair by the door. Under his jacket he wore a plain black t-shirt that stretched across his massive chest and faded blue jeans. Again, she couldn't help the tremor of desire rush through her looking at him, or the heat forming between her legs.

  "It wasn't an insult, I was just curious." He touched a strand of her hair and let it run between his fingers. "Cheerleader in high school, I bet."

  "Class bully I bet," she countered, half angry at the fact that at the age of twenty-one she looked the part of a teenager to him.

  Scott laughed outright. "I just turned thirty, and no, actually I was the school nerd. Got stuffed into a locker more times than I can count to be honest."

  His arm grazed her left breast, as he walked past her and into the kitchen. A small electric jolt shot through her and she growled at herself in response. Damn him! "I seriously doubt that," she replied, following him across the room.

  Shrugging, Scott opened the cabinet above the single sink. "I was in the chess club and a D&D enthusiast. But believe what you want... doesn't matter either way to me." Pulling out the flour jar he removed the lid, reached in and pulled out a key. Setting the jar on the counter, he reached back into the overhead cabinet and grabbed a bottle of vodka, twisted the cover from it and took a deep swig.

  He walked over to her and passed the bottle t
o her. "Here take a drink or two; it'll take the edge off."

  Lily accepted the bottle and looked down at the vodka a little uncertain about whether - given the circumstances - drinking would be such a great idea. Fuck it! She shrugged and tipped the bottle up, taking a long swig. The liquid burned as it raced down her throat, making her cringe and choke slightly as Scott looked on with amusement in his green eyes.

  Deciding that perhaps drinking straight vodka wasn't her 'thing', Lily set the bottle on the small two person kitchen table and watched as Scott strode over to a large square ‘home sweet home’ mat just inside the front door. He pulled it up, slipped his finger into a knot hole in one of the planks and gave it a yank. A trap door of roughly four square feet opened to reveal a metal safe. He inserted the key in the safe and gave the handle a jerk, opening it to reveal a large black duffle bag and a laptop.

  "Do you know how to use a gun?" he asked, removing the laptop and then grabbing the handles of the bag and also pulling it up out of the hole.

  Lily shook her head. When he looked up at her with an eyebrow arched she realized she hadn't actually spoken her answer. Clearing her throat she replied, "No. But I can't. I…"

  Scott's expression softened as if it was finally hitting him how overwhelming the situation was for her, "I'm going to teach you." Unzipping the bag, he pulled out a pistol and a large, scary-looking gun, and placed them on the floor beside him, with some ammunition.

  "But…"

  "Not tonight, I'll teach you in the morning." Zipping the bag he tossed it, along with the numerous guns still remaining in it, back into the safe and closed up the hatch, placing the mat back where it had been. Gathering up the guns he nodded to the laptop, will you bring that over and put it on the coffee table for me.

  "Ummm. Sure." She picked up the computer, feeling secretly relieved that he hadn’t asked her to carry the guns and followed him into the living room where she placed it on the coffee table in front of him as he sat down on the futon.

  Flipping open the laptop, he plugged it into the charge that was already inserted into the wall outlet and turned it on. While he waited for it to start up, he set to work inspecting and loading the guns he'd grabbed from his safe as Lily looked on in awe. The way he handled the guns, with such familiarity and ease, both frightened her and gave her a feeling of security.

  "You need to learn how to handle a gun, just in case," he explained passing the pistol over to her, which she hesitated to take. "The safety is on. It's safe for you to handle."

  Taking the gun from him, she examined it, turning it over in her hands, inspecting every nook and cranny. She examined the muzzle, taking note of the manufacturer's stamp.

  "That is the gun I'll be giving you. It's a semi-automatic pistol." Scott watched her intently as she examined the gun.

  After finishing her inspection of the firearm, she gingerly passed it back to him. "I couldn't kill anyone, Scott. It would be of no use to me even if I did know how to use it."

  Scott reached over and patted her knee, but this time she didn't pull away from his touch. After everything that had transpired, she suddenly felt as though she needed the contact; the reassurance that whatever mess she'd wound up getting herself involved in wasn't going to last forever. She needed reassurance that the stranger sitting beside her would make things better.

  She caught his eye; the cool indifference that had been in them so far had warmed slightly and there was an underlying hunger in them. All of the craziness of the night's events seemed to wash away as her eyes lowered to his lips, and she wondered what they would feel like against hers. How would his strong arms feel wrapped around her, drawing her body against his?

  She unconsciously ran her tongue along her bottom lip, drawing his eyes to her soft lips. He leaned in slightly; she was certain he was going to attempt to kiss her and she suddenly wanted him to.

  He leaned closer, and just as his lips were about to brush across hers, a beep sounded from the computer. Scott jumped back, cleared his throat and refocused his attention on the screen before him.

  "While I'm doing this, you should run into the bathroom and put some peroxide on your cheek. It's just a surface wound, but you can't be too safe."

  Lily touched her left cheek, and was surprised she'd forgotten about it. However, with his mentioning it, the area began to throb. Standing she made her way to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She opened the medicine cabinet above the pedestal sink and found the peroxide and cotton balls. Closing the cabinet back up, she peered at herself in the mirror. The wound didn't look too bad, some blood, but it was more of a scrape than anything.

  She gingerly cleaned the blood off her cheek easily enough with a cotton ball and peroxide, but what disturbed her most was how horrid she looked. She looked exhausted. Her hair, which usually shone, looked dull and her eyes had dark circles under them. "Damn, no wonder he didn't kiss me," she grumbled.

  Tossing the bloody cotton ball in the waste basket beside the sink, she went into the kitchen and grabbed her hairbrush from her purse. The least she figured she could do was run a comb through her hair.

  Once she was satisfied her hair was tangle free she tossed the brush back into her purse and strolled back into the kitchen just as Scott was shutting the computer down. Digging into her purse once more, she pulled out her mobile phone, but as suspected, there was no signal so she tossed it back into her bag. "Does your computer get an internet signal out here?" She'd doubted it, but could have sworn she'd seen his laptop hook up to a signal.

  Leaning forward, his elbows on his knees he peered over at her. "Generally, no. We're off the grid, but my laptop is set up a little differently."

  Set up a little differently? She chewed at her bottom lip as she eyed the computer and then moved her gaze back up to meet his. She was temped to press him about it, but she was frankly too tired and doubted he'd give her the details. Not that she'd understand the details anyhow, she never was one for wrapping her head around 'teckie' stuff.

  "You’ll find some old clothes of mine in the dresser if you want to change into something more comfortable. You can have the bed; I'll stay out here on the futon."

  Lily sighed. She was exhausted, but she doubted she'd be able to sleep, though her body demanded she try. "Alright. Thank you, Scott."

  Chapter 3

  Scott grabbed a pillow and blanket from the bedroom closet, stripped down to his boxer briefs and laid on the futon in the living room. The curtains on the few windows of the cabin were thick, but he could already see the hint of morning peeping through. He wasn't in the least bit tired, but hoped to get at least a few minutes of sleep, before Lily awoke.

  Part of the reason for his restlessness was due to the fact that, at any moment, the alarm he had set up around the perimeter of the cabin could be tripped by unwanted company - it wasn't likely, but it was possible. Now that 'professionals' were in the game, things just got a lot more dangerous. The other reason was because he couldn't get his mind off the young woman from the coffee shop.

  All things considered she'd handled herself as well as anyone could expect, so he had to admire her for that. However, he'd heard her sniffling in the bedroom for some time before she fell asleep, which had made him long to go to her. He'd ached to cradle her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay.

  He didn't even want to think about how hot she'd looked in the boxers and undershirt she'd grabbed from his dresser, he couldn't get the image of her out of his mind. The way the boxers hung low on her curvy hips and the way the shirt clung to her naked breasts, her nipples tight and straining against the cotton, it had given him one of the worst hard-ons of his life.

  Once she was in the bedroom and snuggled under the blankets he had come back out to the futon and rubbed one off. It helped - slightly. Though knowing she was on the other side of the wall, combined with the fact he hadn't had sex in nearly three years, was like putting cocaine within reach of a drug addict.

  Scott had jus
t begun to nod off when her screams jarred him awake. Within seconds he was in the bedroom and at her side with the pistol in hand. Scanning the bedroom, he realized it was not an intruder, but a dream that had awoken her. He sat on the bed beside her trembling body and stroked her silken hair; the strands were as smooth as satin running through his fingertips.

  "I... I'm scared." she admitted weakly, "What if they find us?" She looked up at him, with her big blue eyes teary and his heart ached for her. "Could I ask you a favor?"

  Scott shrugged. "Sure."

  "Will you stay with me?"

  "But Lily... I…" He squirmed uncomfortably as his cock began to rise at the thought of lying next to her soft body and of having her generous breasts pressed against him.

  "Please." She pulled back the covers and patted the empty space beside her on the double bed. "I’d feel safer if you were next to me."

  His conscience reminded him of how dangerous the situation could be. He couldn't get involved with her in any way. Getting involved with her would mean he'd be linking her life to his and no woman deserved to be involved with him - at least not at this current point in his life.

  But maybe she just needed comfort. Or maybe just sex. Nothing more, just a good fucking and a warm body to curl up to. His eyes caught hers and he knew instantly she wasn't the type of girl that you could just have sex with and not get emotionally attached to. Getting into bed with her, even with good intentions, was not a sensible idea.

  Scott sighed loudly and ran a shaky hand through his short brown hair. Then again, how could he refuse her request after dragging her into his mess? "Alright." Setting the pistol on the night table he slid under the covers and settled on his back.

  Lily immediately cuddled next to his side, placing her head on his shoulder, and draping a leg across his thighs. He closed his eyes and tried to calm the storm of sexual energy building within him, but she felt so soft and the lavender smell of her shampoo, mixed with the faint smell of coffee assaulted his nostrils. Coffee and lavender wasn't the best of combinations, but it seemed to work on her.