The Phoenix Blade: Project Justice

by Andrew Hess

  Lilly slipped inside the house with Mike pushing his way behind her. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

  “Yeah, you’re welcome, Faith shouted. “You can sleep on the living room floor.”

  Mike scowled back but was dragged away by Lilly.

  Faith waited until they were out of earshot before grabbing my arm; pulling me towards the backyard.

  “Let’s go out back. We’ll have more privacy there.”

  Chapter 19

  Faith pushed open a large metal gate and brought me through to the spacious backyard where two Bernese Mountain dogs with beautiful black, brown and white fur ran around freely.

  “We can talk freely out here.” Faith escorted me up to the back patio; complete with a circular metal table and chairs.

  I took a seat at the table; looking back at the glass doors behind us. “Are you sure no one can hear us?”

  “The door connects to my bedroom. No one will bother us.”

  The dogs ran up and playfully put their paws on my lap.

  “So I see Mike’s still a jerk,” Faith snarled.

  “Only to you. He still holds a bit of a grudge I guess.”

  Faith froze as her butt hovered over her seat. “Are you kidding me?” Her eyes flashed with anger. “He wasn’t even part of our relationship.”

  “He feels the need to protect me.”

  “You’re a grown man. I think you can take care of yourself.” She waited for me to respond, but I refused to. “Let’s just drop it before getting into another one of our fights.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I don’t want to argue about your stupid friend who feels the need to involve himself in our relationship or friendship.”

  “He’s the one who’s had my back more than anyone.”

  She held up her hand. “Just forget it. You owe me a story. Start talking. How much trouble are you in?”

  “What makes you think I’m in trouble?”

  “I know you guys. Mike wouldn’t let you ask me a favor unless it was life or death; so out with it.” Faith took the seat across from me and waited for my answer.

  “Okay fine.” I told her about the Benefactor and how he had hacked into my emails; told her about the threat to put me in prison on treason charges and the offer to tell me who killed my mother if I worked with him by getting rid of the injustice in the world.

  Faith inched forward in her chair. Her mouth hung open; listening intently. “And by get rid of you mean…”

  “We kill them.” I watched her flinch at the word kill. “They provide the targets and we carry out the order. No one innocent gets hurt.”

  “How can you say that? How can you be so sure no innocent people get hurt?”

  It was a question that I overlooked. I didn’t know how to avoid this. We were relying on the word of someone we didn’t know. I ignored her question.

  “We were heading south towards our next target.”

  “So who is it,” Faith interrupted as she nearly fell out of her chair. Her eyes were locked onto mine filled with curiosity.

  “Who?”

  “You’re next target; who is it?”

  “We don’t know yet. That’s why we needed to stop.”

  Faith paused and thought about the possible targets. “Wait, you said your next target. Who was your first?”

  I didn’t know if I should tell her. Faith was friendly with Mona. In fact, Faith was the only one that liked Mona.

  I took a deep breath and sighed. “My father and Mona.”

  “But you said no one innocent would get hurt.”

  “And I meant it. The Benefactor sent me proof.” I wanted to turn away from Faith, but there was no holding back. “They killed my mother.”

  “Tell me you’re joking. Tell me you’re not serious.”

  I could feel my anger rising again; my hands slammed on the metal table. “They needed to pay for what they did to her.”

  Faith slid back in her chair almost cowering as my hands gripped the table. There was fear in her eyes. The first time she had ever been afraid of me.

  “I’m sorry,” I said as I sat back down in the metal chair.

  The door to Faith’s bedroom slid open. Mike stepped outside and squatted behind me.

  “We have what we need. We should get back on the road soon.”

  “We’ll leave in a little while.”

  “Good, I can’t stand being here.”

  Faith jumped to her feet; shouting at Mike. “I didn’t want you here in the first place.”

  “Hey, if I had it my way we would have kept driving.”

  “Then get out of my house!”

  Mike stormed back inside; slamming the glass door as he entered. I could hear him yelling and cursing as he stomped his feet like a child while he entered the living room.

  “Sorry about that,” I said as Faith made her way to the door.

  She slid it open a crack and shouted, “It’s not your fault he can’t get over someone else’s past.”

  “I guess we should leave before one of you kills the other.”

  Faith stood with her hands on her hips. “Don’t even joke about that. You’re in more trouble than you know.”

  “It’s not like I had a choice.”

  “You always have a choice.” She put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. “You need to find a way out of this before one of you gets hurt.”

  I pulled the door open to enter the house. “Thanks for letting us stay here.”

  “You can thank me by not screwing things up with her.”“What are you talking about,” I asked.

  “I mean Lilly. I see the way you look at her. You need to get out of this with her before you’re in too deep.”

  Chapter 20

  We had driven for nearly a day when we arrived in Tallahassee. The dark night sky helped conceal us as we pulled into a tall beige building with a bright blue sign sitting on top. A red six hung in the middle of the sign.

  I craned my neck in between the driver and passenger seats. “Are you sure this is where we’re supposed to go?”

  “The addresses match up,” Mike said as he handed me the file with disgust written all over his face.

  We looked over at Lilly, fast asleep in the passenger seat; hoping she was going to wake up to a five star hotel or that the last two days had been a dream.

  “I’ll take care of her,” I began as I opened my car door. “Go check in, and remember to pay in cash. We don’t need anyone tracing us back to this place.”

  Mike was gone for fifteen minutes before coming back with two room keys.

  “We barely have rooms,” he said as he forcefully turned the car on and pulled it around back into a half packed parking lot.

  “How much was it?”

  “Two hundred just to get the rooms. He said he needed everyone’s ID before renting the room to us. I didn’t have either of yours and didn’t want to run the risk of anyone seeing you; just in case they have your ugly mug on the news.”

  You’re no prize yourself I thought, but decided to keep the comment to myself. Instead, I sat back in my seat and smiled.

  “At least we have rooms.”

  “Yeah, but only one queen sized bed in each.”

  We opened the car doors and gently woke Lilly up.

  “What? Where are we,” she asked.

  “Somewhere safe,” I replied.

  I grabbed Lilly by the hand; helping her from the car when Mike came up from behind twirling the two room keys around his fingers by the key ring.

  “So what are we gonna do about this room situation.”

  Mike and I eyed each other up; both wanting our own rooms so we didn’t have to sleep on the floor or a chair.

  “I’m not sharing a room with you,” we said simultaneously.

  “You hog the sheets and take up all the room,” I laughed.

  “How would you know? You’re too busy snoring louder than a chainsaw.” Mike stopped twirling the keys and left t
hem in the palm of his hand.

  Lilly took one of the keys. “I’m taking this one. Andrew, you’re more than welcome to stay with me.”

  Mike grasped the remaining key with excitement. “Great, I get the whole room to myself.” He grabbed the largest bag which contained the rifle and swords along with his own duffle bag and entered room one eleven. “See you in the morning.” He placed the do not disturb sign on the door and locked it.

  We followed Mike up the stairs and entered room one twelve; dragging the remaining bags with us. We entered the room; finding an old blue carpeted room with a blue multicolored bed spread thrown over a small queen sized bed. A massive TV sat on an eighties style dresser.

  There room was filled with an uncomfortable silence as I placed the bags in the closet. It had been over twenty four hours since I talked to Lilly one on one and I was at a loss for words.

  “I’m going to change in the bathroom,” Lilly said; breaking the silence as she pulled a pair of red plaid shorts from her bag.

  She disappeared behind a paint chipped white door; leaving me to question if this was going to be how we lived for the rest of our lives.

  The door slowly opened; revealing Lilly in the red plaid shorts and a tight black tank top. I couldn’t help but smile. Part of me didn’t care if I had to live my life on the run in two star motel rooms if it meant rooming with Lilly.

  “What,” she asked; catching me staring at her long tan legs.

  “Nothing, I was just thinking of what would be more comfortable the floor or a chair.”

  “What are you nuts?” Lilly walked over and took my hand; leading me towards the bed. “We’re both adults. I think we can sleep in the same bed. I mean it’s not like we’ve never slept next to each other before.”

  I wanted to climb in that bed with her and wrap my arms around her, but someone needed to keep watch.

  “I need to stay up and make sure no one saw us come in.”

  “And do what? There’s only one way out of the room and one exit from the parking lot.”

  “That makes me feel so much better.”

  “Just come to bed. We’ll worry about everything else in the morning.” Lilly gently patted the bed. “I promise I won’t bite,” she laughed while pulling the comforter off the pillows. She slipped under the covers and fixed her pillows.

  “I guess you’re right,” I mumbled.

  “Of course I am. Now, take off your pants and get in bed with me,” she laughed; realizing the dirty comments that were running through my head.

  I took off my shoes and laud on top of the sheets; staring at the ceiling until I finally drifted off.

  Chapter 21

  The next morning came too quickly. The sun crept through the thin dusty beige blinds; blinding me as my eyes opened slowly. The last few days felt like bad dreams, but the blinding sun reminded me I was living a nightmare.

  As I tried to stretch my arms, I felt something resting on my chest. It was Lilly’s head; her arm draped across my stomach and her body curled up next to mine. I smiled; the first real smile in days. My arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her in tightly. I closed my eyes and pictured a future I wish we could have. We would wake up in bed with my arms wrapped around her before the door would be thrown open by our kids; running in to get us up and make them breakfast or to hurry downstairs to see what Santa brought them.

  It was the one dream I had left. But the one brief happy moment I envisioned was instantly ripped away by the alarming sound of someone pounding on our door.

  I jumped to my feet; letting Lilly’s head hit the lumpy pillows.

  “What’s going on,” she asked.

  I ran to the closet and took a twenty two caliber from the bag and handed it to Lilly. “Get in the bathroom and don’t come out till I tell you too. If anyone else opens that door, point and shoot.”

  I knew I was asking a lot from her. She didn’t want to hurt anyone and the last thing she wanted to do was fire a gun, but we had no choice. Someone was persistently trying to get our attention and had no idea who that someone was.

  I checked the peephole in the door and found a blond man in khaki shorts; wearing a white polo shirt and sunglasses. For all I knew he could have been one of the motel employees.

  “Can I help you,” I asked as I opened the door. The man turned around with a sly smile; the same one I saw a few nights ago at my apartment.

  Agent Fields was standing in front of our door with a small accordion folder. He pushed it into my chest and shoved me back inside the room.

  “The Benefactor sent me to deliver your briefing.” He looked around the room and smirked. “Not much of a hideout.”

  “No, hopefully we won’t be here long.”

  “I suggest looking the files over with your team to find out.” Agent Fields exited the room and had vanished by the time I walked outside to get Mike.

  I pounded on Mike’s door for several minutes before he violently swung it open in response; pointing his thirty eight Beretta in my face.

  I reached up quickly; pushing the gun down. “Are you nuts? You can’t answer the door like that. We need to keep a low profile.”

  Mike looked at his hand and slipped the Beretta into the waist band of his blue boxers. “What’s wrong?”

  I looked at Mike questioningly. “I wouldn’t leave that there. You’ll put a bullet in your ass.” I laughed until Mike took the gun out and placed it on his bed.

  “Happy now,” he snapped as he returned to the door. “You mind telling me why you woke me?”

  “We got our mission; get ready and come next door.” He went to shut the door, but I held a hand up. “How is it you sleep through everything?”

  “It’s a gift.” I removed my hand; letting him close the door as I returned to my room.

  I placed the folder on the bed and heard the bathroom door creak open; allowing me to see Lilly poking her head out to check if everything was all right.

  “It’s safe.”

  Lilly exited the bathroom with the gun shaking in her hand. I hurried to her; taking the gun away before she dropped it and accidentally fired the weapon.

  She flung herself into my arms. “Don’t scare me like that.”

  “I won’t,” I whispered as I held her tightly.

  Lilly wiped her eyes; pretending like she had an eyelash stuck in them and sat on the bed. She glanced at the brown accordion folder on the bed and turned her head quickly towards me.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  “It’s our next mission.”

  Chapter 22

  Mike entered our room and huddled up around the folder. There were three sections marked off and filled with documents. We divided each section between us and dove in; half being curious to see what we were there to do and the other half being afraid of what we might find.

  Lilly took the first section; finding two pages of notes and a map. “I have our escape plan.” We turned our attention towards her as she read from the notes. “After the mission, we’re supposed to return here to drop the car off with the Benefactor’s associate.” She looked up from the papers. “That doesn’t give us a lot of time to get out of Florida.”

  “That’s gotta be Agent Fields,” I interrupted. “What else does the file say?”

  Lilly skimmed through the pages. “Just notes on how to get around Tallahassee, directions to get out of Florida, and a note telling us to head west towards Texas when the mission is complete.”

  I looked back; finding the color drained from Mike’s face.

  “What’s wrong,” I asked. He refused to look at either of us. His eyes stayed focused on the file in his hands. “What’s the matter? Does it say why we’re here?”

  “It’s not for you guys,” Mike said as he spoke in a low raspy tone that I never heard him use before. “The Benefactor sent me a personal mission.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “I guess he wanted to make sure we’re all in this for the long haul.�
� Mike gently placed the file on the bed; his eyes were bulging from his head as if he saw a ghost.

  “Well, you don’t need to do it.” I tried to wrestle the papers from Mike’s hands. “I’m the only one with blood on my hands and that’s the way I want to keep it.”

  Mike looked up at me. His worried expression was beginning to freak me out. “It’s not that easy. He wants me to kill Tom and Anthony.”

  Lilly turned her head from left to right; looking at each of us momentarily before asking us who we were talking about.

  “They were friends of mine from high school. I met them back in middle school and remained friends until senior year.”

  “Okay, but why does some government official want you to kill them? What purpose would it serve?” Lilly thought about her questions silently. “Better yet, why would you want to kill them?”

  “It started when I dated this girl named Jessica,” Mike began as he recalled one of the most painful times in his life. “She was the perfect girl for me. I wanted to marry her one day; even considered asking her once we graduated from high school. But all of that was taken from. All of it disappeared after Tom’s eighteenth birthday party.”

  “I think I remember you mentioning that party,” I said; thinking back to our high school days.

  Mike gave me a sideways glance; remembering how we argued over him going to the party after his friends Tom and Anthony stopped talking to him for a week when Mike decided to not drive them around anymore unless they chipped in for gas.

  “I wasn’t planning on going,” Mike began. “Jessica insisted I was over reacting and convinced me to go.”

  “So all of this is over a girl and some house party?”

  Mike shot Lilly a nasty look and continued to tell us about having a few drinks with Jess before finding Anthony outside. They talked about putting their issues behind them and moving on from it.

  “When I rejoined the party, Jess was missing. No one seemed to know where she was, but one kid said he saw some guy taking a blond upstairs.”

  I put my hand on Mike’s shoulder; letting him know we were here for him as he finished his story.

  “I found her in one of the bedrooms. Her shirt was resting on the pillows and her pants were hanging on by one leg.”

  Lilly cupped a hand to her mouth. “Oh my god.”

  Mike told us how he dressed her and brought her to the car before running back inside to interrogate the people at the party.