by Alexa Davis
“I just don’t see how just under one million is going to cut it,” I stressed. “It’s such a little amount. They know I’m aware how much my dad owed – they know far too much. I just... I don’t know think this will work.”
“It shows effort,” Braxton nodded, trying to convince himself as much as me. “It shows that you’re willing to play their little game. They will give you the chance to sort the rest out.”
“I honestly don’t think they’re that sort of people,” I insisted wildly. “I don’t think they’ll accept that. I think they’re going to kill us.”
“Just insist that you’ll wire the rest. We can even do it as we stand there and sort your accountant out afterwards. It’ll be fine, I promise you that.” He reached forwards and grabbed onto my shoulders with both hands. “We have to just get through this meeting, then everything will be okay.”
I nodded and sucked in some deep, calm breaths of air, but it did nothing to cool me down. The sense that something horrible was about to happen sat firmly in the pit of my stomach, and I didn’t think that any amount of telling myself otherwise would change that. I was heading right into the lion’s den, to see the men my father got involved with, the men who basically admitted that to killing my brother, the guys who would tear me to shreds in a heart beat as proven by the last time they saw me when they beat me to a pulp.
“Okay, sorry about this, Braxton. Shall we get going?”
The elevator ride down was a tense and silent one as neither of us really knew what to say to one another. The briefcase was heavy between us, a massive nod to what we were doing, which neither of us wanted to accept. At one moment, Braxton pulled the gun out of his pocket and he opened it up to check that there were plenty of bullets inside.
I wasn’t one to agree with firearms, I didn’t like the idea that anyone could have them, but for this it was essential. It was pretty much guaranteed that all the guys would have some form of weapons with them, so to be on even footing we need to, as well.
“Fully loaded, boss.”
I hated the way he said that with such regret in his eyes, like he felt like he wouldn’t survive what was to come. I needed Braxton to remain confident to keep me strong. He was the only one who’d gotten me to this point. Without him, there was a shameful chance that I would’ve run.
“Let’s just hope we don’t need it,” I told him with a sad smile. “I hope you’re right and it’s all very straightforward.”
Neither of us mentioned Mason – we didn’t need to. We were incredibly aware that his death was coming back to haunt us. He hadn’t ever mentioned these guys to me, he never said anything to me about Dad’s debt, and it seemed to me that his refusal to pay it off was what’d killed him. Maybe he tried, like I was now. Maybe he hadn’t. I guess that was something I might never know.
“Come on, let’s get into the car.”
On the drive towards Lights Out, I stared aimlessly out the window to watch the streets of New York City pass me by. This was my home, but right now it looked like a totally unrecognizable place. My eyes were swimming with fear, unable to even make out any shapes anymore.
Just let this go well, I begged. I need this to end okay.
“Well, it looks like we’re here.” When Braxton’s words jolted me back into the present moment, I was shocked at what I saw. I half expected it to be a rundown shit hole with nothing around it, secret so that if anything went down, no one would find out. But it genuinely looked like a garage, and a well lit one at that. “Shall we get out of the car?”
“It doesn’t look like anyone is here.” I scanned my eyes back and forth as I spoke. “So, I don’t see why not.”
But we didn’t do it right away. We sat there in the stillness, just embracing the calm before the storm. It could’ve been a whole lot calmer if my heart would stop thundering.
Eventually, one of us clicked the door open. I wasn’t totally sure which one of us it was, but we were taking action. I gripped tightly onto the briefcase and stepped into the big unknown.
As the brisk cold night time air hit my cheeks, sickness swirled in my stomach. This couldn’t go well. There was no chance in hell this was going to work, but we were doing it now. There was no turning back.
“Well, well, well...” The voice from the phone materialized, and I instantly recognized it to be the man from the street, one of the guys who had kicked the shit out of me. “What do we have here, then? I probably should’ve specified that you should come alone. Still, I didn’t, so who can blame you. Who’s this big fella?”
“That’s none of your-” I started, but the asshole had no intention of letting me get a word in edgeways.
“Who. Is. He?”
I glanced towards Braxton, who gave me an encouraging nod. “His name is Braxton, he works for me.”
“Works?” There was that spine-chilling laugh again. “You don’t know what work is, sunshine. You’ve spent you’re entire life comfortable, living on my money.”
“It isn’t your...”
“I’m going to say the same thing to you that I said to that punk Mason.” My blood ran ice cold at the mere mention of my brother’s name. I had the strong feeling that I was about to have my worst fears and suspicions confirmed. “That money was owed to us by your father. He died without paying it back, ergo the debt is transferred to next of kin. He was our first target, but of course, we all know how that turned out.”
His lips curled up into a smirk, which left my heart pounding like crazy. I had to roll my fist up behind my back to prevent me from lashing out. This situation was fraught enough without adding to it. He wanted to get a rise out of me, and if I freaked, I’d be giving him exactly what he wanted.
“So, let’s get down to business.” He appeared pleased with how much he’d rattled me. “I think you might want to put that briefcase down on the ground now, don’t you?”
I dropped it to the floor with a clatter, hating every bit of the contents inside. There was nowhere near enough money in there, and as soon as that fact was revealed, hell would break lose. That was when we’d discover the true meaning of this meeting.
But as four more men burst around the corner, it instantly became obvious to me that they intended to kill me anyway, no matter what happened.
“Now, we can both see that briefcase is too small,” the voice continued with a smirk. “There’s no way in hell that contains all the money your family owes me, and I want to know why.” He paced up and down, trying his best to intimidate me. The sad thing was it was actually working. “Why would you shame me by coming here with less than what you owe?”
“I... I’ll get the money to you,” I did my best to insist. “I just didn’t have time. You don’t want the cops involved, do you? Well, neither do I. If I take out seven hundred million dollars from my accounts, my accountant will know that something is up. I want to protect you-”
“Oh don’t give me that,” he sneered, all the while reached slowly around to his back pocket. “The last thing I intend to do is let you take me for a ride.” As his hand came back around, much to my dismay, but not shock, he had a gun dangling between his fingers. “After dealing with your little shit of a brother, I should’ve known that you’d be the same. I guess I’m just disappointed, you know?”
“I...” I wanted to try one last time to defend myself, but I couldn’t. Before I could get even another word out, an unexpected hand stuffed its way into my mouth, silencing me. I tried to struggle against whoever had me, but no amount of thrashing and lashing out behind me was enough. Whoever had hold of me was a strong bastard.
All of a sudden, I heard the muffle sounds of the other guys jumping on Braxton and beating him down. That made me thrash harder and more desperately. I’d brought him here to help me, not to get himself hurt.
With every pained sound, I winced as if in agony myself. Braxton was strong and could defend himself, but not against a group. That was the cowardly way to fight, and Braxton couldn’t take a lot of them.<
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The guy from the phone was walking towards me with malice in his eyes. He was about to take his revenge, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was being fixed in one place, and that was all there was to it.
I saw the fist coming for me, so it shouldn’t have been any kind of surprise when it hit, but the hot pain that radiated through my temple stunned me regardless. I kicked my foot out hard, and it connected between his legs hard enough to double up in pain. He loosened enough for me to spin around and clock him in the face, too.
The adrenaline was coursing through my veins as I lashed out, so even when the guy with the voice wrapped his hands around my neck to strangle me, I didn’t really feel it. I was pumped, I felt like I could absolutely take on the world.
Then the bangs started. The guns were being fired, and shit had taken a turn for the worst. I couldn’t see what was going on. Every direction I turned in resulted in me being punched or smacked by someone else. The pain was so much now I couldn’t even see. My head thumped, I wanted to vomit, and the only thing I could really think about was my intense need to see Braxton. I had to check that he was okay.
“Braxton?” I whispered. “Braxton, where are you?”
By the time my vision cleared enough for me to actually see, all I could notice was red blood tainting the streets, flowing everywhere. People were dead. I could see their bodies everywhere, and I didn’t know where to look. It was like a scene from a horror movie, like being in hell.
And then I saw it: Braxton, with a bullet wound piercing his body.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Morgan
Tuesday
I hated working the night shift. I wasn’t totally sure why I’d agreed to switch with Franky when she asked me, especially now that I could not stop yawning, however hard I tried.
Actually, I did know. She had asked me after Terrance said he couldn’t see me, so I agreed to spite him in some way. It was a silly decision that was now biting me hard on the ass. It was also very strange to be working without Nickie here for a catch up during break, but it was only the once. It would be okay. I’d just sleep all day tomorrow.
Plus, being at the hospital was better than being at home alone with my thoughts circling around and around in my mind. Being in the emergency department wasn’t easy, but it always kept me busy and kept my mind off my very confusing life.
Or so I thought...
“Gunshot patient, coming through,” a loud voice screamed out, setting me right back into action. I snapped into professional mode and raced to where the ambulance would stop and the paramedics would wheel people through.
I’d been going through this same routine all night long, but it never got any easier. It was always hard to see someone in such distress. I was just glad I could get to help them.
But as this patient’s body came into view, it was even harder to deal with because I knew the victim laying on the gurney. Not well, but enough to stop dead where I was and stare with wide eyes.
I’d recognize that gentle giant anywhere; he was sweet and kind, even if he was potentially mixed up in something very dangerous – a fact that was pretty much confirmed by seeing this view. It was incredibly unlikely that anyone being wheeled in here with gunshot wounds was simply an innocent bystander. It did happen, but not very often. Not regularly enough for me to attribute that to this situation.
The blood pumped from a wound on Braxton’s chest. Even through the bandages that the paramedics had administered to stop the blood flow, it cascaded over him. It wasn’t a good sign. Even if they got to Braxton quick enough, there was a strong chance he’d already lost too much blood. He actually could die. I might have been about to lose someone that I actually knew.
But even as that information washed over me, I felt numb, like it was an out of body experience, happening to someone else and not me. Not him. My limbs were frozen to the spot, my heart had stopped beating, and I couldn’t breathe at all. I was stuck in the moment, frozen forever, watching the same scene roll over and over again.
Then Terrance crashed into the building behind him, and that sickly feeling came back over me, sound whooshed back into my ears, everything sped right back up again. Just having him here reminded me of all my own current issues. It overwhelmed me completely.
“Morgan, we need your help, what’s wrong with you?” One of the doctors yelling at me was the only thing that managed to get through to me. I forced my heavy legs to move towards the room where they were taking Braxton, trying my best to forget that this was someone I knew. Just because I could feel Terrance’s gaze prickling on the nape of my neck didn’t mean I couldn’t act professional. He would be pushed into the waiting room any minute now anyway, leaving me to do the job I was hired to do.
I needed to just get this done.
A hushed calm overtook the room as everyone set about working to keep this man alive. Admittedly, I had to keep pushing my panic to one side, but I did okay. The one good thing about being in the line of work for so long was that I could keep my focus when I really needed to, even if it felt impossible at the time.
It took a while – it probably felt a little longer to me than it actually was – but we eventually got to the point where Braxton was stable enough for us to stop working on him. He was still in critical condition, but there was nothing more we could do. We had to just wait and see whether his vitals would go up or down, making the next move obvious.
I huffed loudly and wiped the sweat from my forehead as I left the room. The exhaustion was even more intense now, racking through every part of my body, and was made a lot worse by the knowledge that Terrance was somewhere in the building. One of the doctors would probably tell him what was happening with his friend, but I couldn’t not speak to him – it would just be an awful thing to do. Whatever weirdness was going on between us, this was a horrible situation and I couldn’t be a bitch.
Before I braved going to find him, I went to the nearest vending machine to buy myself a cold drink. I needed something to cool down my insides. While I was at the machine, waiting for the drink to fall, I caught a glimpse of my face in the glass. I looked as terrible as a nurse working a nightshift in the ER could be expected to look, which was disappointing...but at the same time I didn’t fully care. Looking good wasn’t helping me with Terrance anyway, so what did it matter?
Come on, Morgan, I told myself firmly in my mind. Just go and speak to Terrance already; stop being a wimp.
I sucked back as much of the drink as I could in one go and determinedly walked down the hallways to where the waiting room was.
Once I popped my head around the corner, I spotted Terrance right away, slumped forward in his seat with his head in his hands. Someone had already been in to tell him about Braxton, and clearly, he wasn’t taking it well. My heart went out to him, and all I wanted to do was comfort him.
Even if both men were involved in something sketchy, even if they weren’t the sort of people I should be mixing with, they’d never been anything but nice to me. I had to remember that.
“Terrance?” I called out kindly, keeping my tone soft and caring. “Are you okay?” He nodded his head, but he didn’t look up to see me. “Do you need anything? I could go and get you a drink or something to eat if you’d like?” If there was one thing I saw a lot, it was people not taking proper care of themselves while they looked out for their loved ones. It felt a bit heartless to remind people that they needed to keep themselves going, but quite often, it was essential.
“I don’t want anything. I just want Braxton to be okay.”
As he looked up to finally see me, I could see blood all over him, too. He had obviously been there when Braxton got shot, which didn’t bode well for either of them. His pale face was stressed, his whole body was trembling, and he had his walls up high, but I couldn’t leave him right now – not when he was in so much distress.
“What happened?” I asked, reaching out to touch him. As my fingers connected with his skin, he flinched badly.
“Are you hurt, too? Should I get someone to look at you?” The more I examined him, the more obvious it was that there had been a struggle. “You look-”
“I’m fine,” he snapped quickly, too quickly. “I don’t want you to worry about me. I want to worry about Braxton.”
“He’s stable; the doctor came out to see you, didn’t he?”
Terrance didn’t answer that; instead he stood up and he paced the room. “I want to stay here. I want to wait until Braxton is awake again, but I can’t. The police are obviously going to want to interview me, and that’ll happen sooner rather than later. I don’t want Braxton to wake up and to find me gone.”
“I will make sure he knows,” I insisted, while pulling him back onto his seat. “I’m here for the night shift anyway. I’ll make sure if he wakes up in that time, I’m here to tell him where you are. If you aren’t back by the time my shift is over, then I’ll stay, wait until you are here.”
My body protested hard at that remark, but my brain stayed strong. I had to do this for Terrance. It was just the right thing to do for a friend...or a whatever he was to me. My hand fluttered down to my stomach – not that he noticed – and I held onto the thing that bonded us.
“Are you sure you don’t need looking at?” I asked him cautiously. “It might be a good idea for me to at the very least clean you up a bit. It might not help your case if you’re taken to the police station looking like that.”
Terrance glanced down at himself and reluctantly nodded. “Yeah, okay, you might be right.”
I took him into the nearest nurse’s office and started to clean him down. As I ran the cotton wool down his face, I couldn’t help being reminded of the first time we met. I didn’t know him at all then, I wasn’t even sure of his name, but there was an intimacy to the moment that was still there now. Brushing his skin in a non-sexual way, cleaning him, looking after him...it built a connection that was on another level entirely.
