by J. N. Chaney
A kick from her booted foot cracked a rib or two, and I winced in pain. But my hands came down around her legs, and I rolled, pulling her down with the motion. I jabbed my blade at her face but missed, and she wrapped her arms around mine, twisting around.
Godsdammit, not this again.
Her arms locked around my shoulder and elbow, twisting painfully. Her grip was like steel. I couldn’t tell if she’d been holding back in our sparring sessions or if she’d gotten a lot stronger over the year that she’d been gone. Either way, my defenses were fading quickly.
I heard a loud pop, and a bolt of pain shot through my shoulder as she yanked it out of its socket. I roared in agony, gritting my teeth as I dropped the knife from my left hand.
I caught it with my right before it hit the floor.
The look of alarm in Clem’s eyes almost made the dislocated shoulder worth it as I swept the dagger up with my uninjured hand and stabbed it as hard as I could into her thigh. When she wouldn’t let my broken arm go, I twisted the knife into the muscle.
She screamed and let go, dragging the knife out of my hand as she pushed me away again.
“What the fuck?!” a voice screamed from the door.
Clem turned to see who it was as I twisted around to do the same.
Pearl wore a shocked expression as she tried to process the chaotic scene in Mulberry’s quarters. I turned back around toward my sister. If Clem were going to make a move on Pearl, she’d have to go through me first, and I refused to make it easy for her.
Clem didn’t move. The look of bloodlust had faded into something more subdued. She stared at Pearl, the gears turning in her mind as she seemed to come to a sort of decision. Clem was wounded and winded, probably too much to stand a chance at taking down her former teacher.
Pearl went for her pistol, but in doing so, Clem reacted and began moving. My sister dashed toward the nearby window—the only one in the room. She drew a trench knife and used the butt of the weapon to smash through the glass.
She dove through the opening, shielding her face with her arms. Pearl shot off a couple rounds before Clem cleared the window, but I couldn’t see the result.
We were on the second floor, and I ran to the opening to see where she landed. “She’s gone!” I said, finding only an empty alleyway with shards of broken glass on the ground.
I pulled the knife out of my side, groaning softly before dropping it to the floor. Pearl holstered her gun and squatted by Mulberry.
He’d lost so much blood.
Pearl took off her green vest, pressing it into the wound in his stomach with tears in her eyes.
I’d never seen her cry before.
“You okay?” she asked tersely, looking at me from the side of her eyes.
“Yep,” I answered, helping to keep pressure on the stomach wound as she wrapped up the cut on his wrist.
“Won’t do much good,” Mulberry said, coughing hoarsely.
“You’d better not die, you son of a bitch,” Pearl said. “You stay with me, you hear?”
Mulberry ignored her, gripping my arm weakly. His fingers were cold and clammy. I looked into his old, blue eyes, and for the first time, I noticed how wrinkled and tired his face had become.
“I’m so sorry, Abby,” he said, wheezing. “You were never meant to be here. You were—” He coughed again.
I clutched his hand, trying to rub some warmth into his trembling fingers. “Come on. Just stop.”
He smiled. “I’ll do whatever I damn well please.” Another cough. “I picked Clem out for this life. I saw how she was, even back then, and I tried to help her. I tried to cage what was inside of her. It wasn’t her fault. She’d had a rough go of things. But she saw enemies in everyone, including her friends.”
I knew Mulberry was right. Clementine had lived for so long in pain. She’d found a way to channel that into something she could use, but in doing so, lost herself to it. In that time, she had protected me from that same torture, always seeking to save me, but now I’d thrown myself in front of her and rebuked her offer of freedom. She must think I hate her, I thought. She must feel so betrayed.
But the impulses overtook her. The need for violence burned her insides apart. “I see the pain in your eyes, Abigail,” continued Mulberry. “But this is not your fault. It’s mine. I failed her, and I failed you. I’m so sorry, poor girl. I ruined both your lives.”
He coughed again, and blood flecked his lips.
“We need a fucking medic,” Pearl said into her comm for what had to be the third time in as many minutes.
Mulberry gripped my hand again with what little strength he still had. “Leave this place behind. You deserve better than us. You deserve to be happy.”
“Stop,” I whispered, hot tears streaming down my cheeks. “Don’t be so dramatic, old man. You heard Miss Pearl. She’ll kill you if you die.”
Pearl swallowed but said nothing.
“If you see Mable again, tell her I love her,” Mulberry continued. “Tell her I’m sorry. I was a fool. I should have left this life behind when she did. I should have—” His voice started to fade. “I should have…taken her away, like she asked. I should have…”
I held Mulberry’s hand as his grip loosened, all the strength of a great man evaporating before my eyes, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“Mulberry? Mulberry!” Pearl turned away from her comm, shaking him for a response.
I couldn’t say anything. I let his hand go and sat back on the floor, my eyes staring ahead, my mind empty and cold. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move.
I could only watch as he slipped away.
Nineteen
“Good gods,” the voice said through my comm. “You know what time it is?”
I kept my eyes on the road ahead of me. “Obviously Pearl hasn’t filled you in on the situation.”
He paused as I merged onto the highway.
“What happened?” Alec asked, his voice going more serious.
“Clementine happened,” I answered, simply. “She took out Mulberry and three others, including Galion.”
I could hear him start to say something, but then pause, processing everything. I knew that feeling all too well. “I thought she was just a snitch. I never imagined she’d go this far. I should have called Mulberry’s emergency line when I saw the footage from that salvage yard. I can’t believe how stupid I was. I—”
“Stop it. There’s no time to feel guilty. You want to fix this? Then help me find Clementine,” I said, letting that chilly fire in my stomach dampen the emotion from my voice. “What happened is nobody’s fault but hers. She got away, but she’s hurt. Pretty badly, too. I need you to get to work, Alec. Right away.”
He cleared his throat. “I’m already at my screen.”
“Good,” I said. “She stole one of the shuttles on her way out. I’m assuming she turned the tracker off, too. Is that right?”
A short pause. “Looks like it.”
“She doesn’t have much of a lead,” I told him. “And she’ll need to stop somewhere soon. Probably won’t leave the planet yet. She needs to patch those wounds. Pearl’s already talked with our contacts at the local precinct, so we’ll know if she’s flagged. Are there any transports headed out soon?”
“I have a few listed for departure later tonight, but nothing for a few hours, at least,” said Alec.
“That gives us time. She likely has her own contacts, maybe someone to fix her up.”
“I’m not seeing anyone admitted into a hospital with knife wounds fitting her description. Where was she stabbed?”
“In the thigh,” I explained. “But I doubt she’ll go there.”
“I’ll keep an eye on it anyway. You never know when we might get lucky.” Alec sounded fully awake now.
“In the meantime, use the registry to track all outbound tickets at both major ports. The facial recognition software should be able to tag her as soon as she tries to leave.”
“I’m alrea
dy on it,” he told me.
* * *
It didn’t take long for Clem’s face to pop up on the system, pulled by a local security camera in a neighboring area. Not long afterward, Alec pulled a ticket with her face on it, purchased remotely and by someone else. In the image, she’d changed her clothes, cut and dyed her hair, and changed her eye color. Not bad for someone with a knife wound, and it had only been a few hours since I’d seen her last.
I stared at the picture, which had the name Juliana Dyne under it. I’d never heard of that alias before, and I barely recognized Clementine in the image. Her skin looked a few shades darker, her lips a little more lush and red. In the time since we’d gone our separate ways, she’d gotten better at blending in. I had to give her that.
“Who bought this ticket for her?” I asked.
“Looks to be a Jared Vera. He purchased it using his personal holo, but the picture is hers. The system requires it,” he explained.
“When does the shuttle leave?”
“In four hours,” he said. “I have a home address for Vera if you’re interested.”
The address pinged from my comm to the HUD. I was already headed in that direction, based on the last available camera footage from that neighborhood. “What can you tell me about him?”
“He’s former Conference. He was a member of Jodie Crom’s section of the cartel. When Crom died, he disappeared and went into business for himself.”
“I thought he sounded familiar,” I said.
“Yep,” Alec said, sounding distracted as he dug furiously into the man’s life. “Not married. No children, and lives in an apartment alone in the lower east side, near the docks. About ten minutes away if you hurry.”
I sighed, leaning back into the seat. “I’m on my way.”
I gripped the controls. It was hard to focus. So many feelings rushed through my mind. If I failed, I’d probably never get a second chance to stop her. She’d go after Mable, and that would be the end of it. She’d kill the woman who’d saved us, and I couldn’t let that happen. My own feelings about Clementine didn’t matter anymore. I would always love her, but I couldn’t let her do this.
I took a deep breath, trying to silence the voices in my head. One thing at a time. I had something to do now. Someone to go after. I wasn’t just flailing helplessly at the universe.
Focus, Abby, I told myself. You have a job to do.
* * *
I took a few minutes to case the building. It didn’t need much more.
I’d grown so used to targets that had extensive security systems. If they didn’t have guards on the ground, they had alarms at every entrance. Fortunately, I’d been trained to deal with all of them.
In this instance, the building had several hidden cameras located along each of the outside walls. They were military-grade, suggesting they likely belonged to Vera. After all, considering the state of the building, it stood to reason the owner probably didn’t care much for upkeep.
Vera had chosen this place because of that, but he also needed to ensure his own safety. That was fine, I supposed, but it wouldn’t keep me from my target.
Alec used his government security codes to break into the network in under five minutes, disabling all cameras around the building. If Vera and Clem were inside, not only would be unaware of my location, but we’d be able to monitor their movements, using their equipment.
The lower east side wasn’t the most welcoming part of the city. The apartments were rented mostly by dock workers who spent the better part of their time on the water, whether that included fishing, packing seafood, or loading the hauls into crates and shipping them out.
Maybe that was why the building was so empty. With everyone out to sea for the season and considering the time of day, there was no one around to get in my way.
I found the apartment quickly, and while the door was locked, I managed to use my pad to emulate the right RFID frequency, unlocking it with little effort. As the door eased open, I held my pistol at the ready and took my time checking the corners. Doorways were kill zones, which meant you had to go in slow and tight.
The single bedroom apartment that greeted me was less than impressive. It wasn’t a terrible place to live, but it had a rotten smell to it. Cigarette smoke had stained the walls and turned the carpet yellow.
I couldn’t imagine Vera was happy here. Maybe that explained his helping Clementine. She probably offered him a decent amount of credits to get her that ticket.
I hugged the wall and moved quietly through the apartment, sweeping every room as I moved. When I finally found Vera, he was face-down in his bed and covered in blood.
She’d killed him and left the body behind.
I cursed, mostly at the time I’d lost coming here. I could’ve gone to the port and waited for her there, but I was hoping to avoid the civilians. “Alec,” I said, touching my comm.
“Let me guess,” he began. “She’s gone.”
“And Vera is dead,” I added.
He sighed, letting it linger in my ear for longer than I cared to hear. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat. “Should I deploy the drones to search the city?”
“Do it,” I said, checking the room before leaving. There was nothing here, and I didn’t have time to run a more thorough search. Not that it would make a difference. I knew where Clem was headed, so all I had to do was get there first.
“Understood,” he responded. “I’ll have a few head to the port, too.”
“Anything out of the ordinary,” I told him. “Report it all.”
* * *
As I walked to the building entrance, the sun broke through the window and I paused. I couldn’t just run outside. Gods only knew whether or not Clementine considered me a threat. She killed Vera and might be waiting out there with her rifle trained on me. Then again, she always favored a more personal touch—blades and strangulations. A more personal kill. I wondered, would she be so brutal to her own sister?
A small boy rode his bike down the nearly empty street. We locked eyes, but he kept going, heading into an alleyway—the one directly beside Vera’s building.
“Anything from your angle?” I asked into my comm.
“Nothing yet,” said Alec. “Still looking.”
I let out a short sigh, thumbing the butt of my pistol, getting antsy. I opened my mouth to ask Alec the same question once again, but he cut me off.
“Hold on,” he said, and I could sense he was looking at something. The words lingered on the comm for a few seconds. “Huh.”
“Will you just tell me already?” I asked.
“That boy on the bike,” he said.
“The scooter?” I asked.
“Whatever, yes,” he replied. “He’s doing something.”
“People tend to do that,” I said.
“It looks like he’s taking a duffle bag from behind the dumpster,” Alec said. “He’s also talking, but there’s no one else around. Must be a comm.”
I tilted my head. It wasn’t unusual for a boy his age to have a communicator. “What’s he doing with the bag?”
“It’s over his shoulder, and he’s back on the scooter. Looks like he’s leaving. Want me to follow?” Alec asked.
“Do it,” I said. “It could be nothing. Cartels use kids for this sort of stuff all the time, but it could be—”
“Clementine,” Alec finished.
I ran to the other end of the hall, towards the rear exit. This one led into another alley, which would take me around to where the boy was leaving. I’d have to keep my distance, but the drones could watch his movements from afar.
“I’m moving outside,” I said, easing the back door open. A stench like sour bread and rotten cheese, struck me in the face and made me flinch. The boy would be a block away by now, which was far enough to follow safely, thanks to my eyes in the sky.
I pursued him for nearly ten full minutes before Alec told me to stop.
“Wait a second,” he said, once I’d gone about six
city blocks from the apartment building. “There’s a ground transport. He’s running up to the driver’s side with the bag.”
I hurried around the corner and pulled out my scope, trying to get a clear view.
I quickly withdrew my rifle from my back. I trained my scope on the boy, trying to get a good look at him.
The boy tapped at the window, saying something that I couldn’t hear. From the look on his face, I guessed he was asking for money. The window rolled down, and a gun came out from inside, pointing at the kid’s head. He raised his hands, fear washing over his preteen face.
I watched him hand over the bag.
That was when I saw her.
Clem leaned out the window, her dark hair catching the first few rays of sunlight.
My heart hammered in my chest, and my mouth went dry.
I still wasn’t sure I could kill her. I could see her face now, profiled in my scope. She had that same manic look about her. I always used to think that it was a façade she put on when she needed to intimidate someone. Maybe that was still true, but she wore it so often, I was beginning to think the other side had been the mask and this was the true Clementine.
I gripped the rifle tighter, watching the scope tremble slightly.
Don’t even think about it, I told myself. Just squeeze your finger a little bit more. Kill her. End this. Don’t let it go on.
I closed my eyes, feeling a warm tear run over my cheek.
And I pulled the trigger.
The rifle boomed, jumping hard into my shoulder. I sucked in a breath as I trained my scope down to where I’d shot, spotting a smoking hole in the hood of the cab.
The shot sent the nearby bustling crowd into a wild panic as they fled and scattered.
The engines failed with a loud cough and backfire, and the vehicle stalled on itself, going dead. The kid had ducked down, covering his head and screaming for help. Clem was looking up, scanning the street. Seeing me, she pointed her gun up.
I exploded away from the corner of the building just in time as three rounds clipped the concrete where I’d been standing a second before.
She’d returned fire in a hurry, and while she wasn’t bad with a gun, the distance between us was too great. Meanwhile, I still had a chance at tagging her and ending this.
