The Keepers of the Rose

by DJ Dalasta

  The doorframe shook, threatening to splinter under the heavy pounding. Anna shot to her feet and scanned the room for a place to hide. But it was already too late. They knew she was here.

  Above them, Randy bounded down from the second floor like a teenager ready for the weekend and tossed two books on the coffee table. “Found a couple more,” he said. “You can start reading them, I gotta see who’s here.” Anna quickly picked up the books and tossed them to Nate.

  “Get to the back of the house. Get that information to Rock and if not, get it to Wallace and tell him everything.”

  Nate tensed. She could tell he wasn’t going anywhere. “I’m not leaving you,” he said.

  “Then you’re a fucking idiot. We can’t do much if we both get caught. Go!” Nate frowned but then scurried out of sight.

  Anna turned as Randy open the door. Immediately, one man pushed inside and knocked the boy to the ground. A second man entered adding a violent kick to his stomach. Randy writhed on the floor, gasping for air.

  The first man quickly scanned the room and found her. Her heart jumped at the connection. His muscles bulged underneath a tight white t-shirt. The overhead lights reflected off a slick, bald scalp. Behind him, a smaller man waited. He looked foreign with a thick eyebrow that spanned the width of his forehead and the beginnings of a dirty mustache.

  “Anna Riley.” The first man said. “There are a few people who’d like to have a word with you.”

  “Malcolm?”

  “He and his brother are no longer making any decisions seeing how they let you get this far.” Anna didn’t like that. She knew Malcolm had a soft spot for her, one that she may have been able to manipulate. “Where’s the boy? Your assistant.”

  “Back at our hotel,” she answered

  “You’re not staying in a hotel.” He looked to his sidekick, “check the house, he’s here somewhere.”

  A sudden gunshot rang from the doorway. Anna flinched at the sound and dropped to the floor. She opened her eyes from a huddled position watching the foreigner collapse face first into the wooden floor. The bald man ran towards her and reached for his weapon but a second shot sent him jerking to the side. He grimaced in pain and started clawing at his back. He lost his balance and dropped, landing full atop the coffee table and bouncing off. Dark blood began seeping through his shirt, coming from a hole between his shoulder blades. Near the door, the foreigner lay perfectly still with a red pool building beneath his body.

  “Anna.” A voice from the doorway caught her attention. She recognized the large man but couldn’t immediately place from where. He looked to be mid forties, well built with dark hair graying on the sides. He had a small scar on the left side of his chin. She stared at his pistol.

  You’re one of Delega’s,” she said, finally placing him.

  “Burke Black.”

  “I remember you, in the office that first day I interviewed.”

  “Is there anybody else in the house?”

  Anna looked around, still crouched on the floor. Randy sat on the ground in shock, whimpering. The bald man and his partner were no longer moving. She averted her eyes from the bodies, trying to stay calm. She had never seen someone shot before.

  “No, I came here to see the boy about a ring. You killed everyone else,” she said. Her voice more collected than she anticipated.

  Burke immediately pointed his gun to the side and shot Randy once in the head. Anna jerked backwards. “Now I’ve killed everyone else,” he said.“He had nothing to do with this!” She gained her feet and ran over to the young man. She bent down to hold him up but a vacant stare revealed the truth. “He didn’t need to die,” she said. She felt a deep sadness press in on her. She let go of the body.

  “You brought him into this when you came here. He saw me, he saw all this” Burke said. “Let’s go,” he grabbed her arm and yanked her up.

  Outside, next to their rental car was a blue sedan and a red pick-up. “Get in the truck,” Burke ordered. She slid into the passenger seat. “Don’t try anything, I am not here to hurt you though if it comes to that.” He omitted the last part. Anna simply nodded. “Put your phone on the dash,” he ordered as they turned around in the driveway. She complied.

  Burke made a few phone calls as they drove back towards Boulder. He relayed the information about having her in the car and the incident at the house. She assumed he was speaking with Seth Delega but couldn’t be sure. Anna decided to stay silent. She wasn’t going to be able to talk herself out of this and if she opened her mouth, she might just say the wrong thing.

  Almost a half hour later, they turned into a gated entrance just outside of Boulder. The sign read, ‘Lemons Private Strip.’ She gazed out towards the small planes that zipped away to their destinations. She was being taken out of Colorado.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You are to see Mr. Delega. He has some questions for you.”

  “What’s he going to do with me?”

  “That depends how you answer his questions I would suppose.”

  “As soon as I get out of this car, I am going to be screaming my head off.” Burke brandished his revolver and smiled. Anna looked at it and then back to the man. “I’m not scared of that. If you use that thing here, you’re in as much trouble as I am. That gun is an empty threat.” She bluffed. The gun terrified her.

  “Oh I’m not going to shoot you,” he flipped the gun and held the short barrel. “I’ll just beat you unconscious and load you on the plane. I’d rather do this the easy way but that’s entirely up to you.”

  Moments later Burke drove them into a hanger and parked. He jumped out and came around, opening her door from the outside. He held his hand out for her to take. She refused.

  The hangar was almost empty save for a small plane situated in the middle. A stocky man made his way from an office in the corner. He was bald except for the grey ring of hair around the crown of his head, accentuating the absence in the middle. Burke greeted him and they started talking quietly to each other.

  Anna glanced towards the way they came in. The main entrance was wide open, begging her to run out and find either someone to help or somewhere to hide. She looked back towards Burke. They were still turned away. She had to decide, they wouldn’t be that way much longer.

  She took a deep breath and ran.

  She was a good runner, always had been. She breathed evenly, swung her arms and only lightly touched her feet to the ground as she pushed off for more speed. Her hair whipped out behind her and a burst of adrenaline made her feel almost high.

  Behind her, she heard Burke yelling but it was too late, there wasn’t much he could do, she had a good lead on him. She knew that once she cleared the door, she just had to find security. And even at a small airstrip, they should be out in numbers.

  Anna was only ten yards from the door when two men jumped from the shadows and blocked her route. She should have known. Anna stopped quickly and darted to the side trying to avoid them. One slipped as he tried to move with her and fell to the ground. The other stayed close and then wrapped his arms around her. Anna felt the weight of the man dragging her to the ground. Her legs buckled and she felt herself tumbling. She tried to reach up to brace her fall but her arms were wrapped inside the man’s grip. The ground rushed up at her and she shut her eyes the moment before her head slammed into the cement.

  Chapter 25

  Boston, August 2012