Assassins the Florist Book One Part One

by Haley Langwood

  “Did you see them?” “Nope.” Marc sighed; he would go into town to check what was going on. Even though Marc had always been careful, there was always a possibility that someone had found out about his true identity. Marc knew that if that were the case, then all hell would break loose. “All I know is that they are seen near the mall,” Byron told his brother.

  “Thanks for the info, brother,” Marc said as he sat down on the couch. “I know what you’re doing for a living, so I thought that you needed to know. I probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought if you had been a barista or something,” Byron said, and the man looked so serious. “Barista? Really?” Marc chuckled. Then, he was serious again. “Then it’s good that I told you the truth,” he replied. He was smiling, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “I can go to town and make some inquiries. I know some residents because I met them at the restaurant,” Byron said. Marc frowned. “Explain to me why strangers would talk to you just because you were at a restaurant?” Marc didn’t understand. “When I was at Captain Jack’s for my second interview, some customers got curious, so they asked me if I was going to be the new cook,” Byron explained.

  “So, you made new friends?” Marc asked; he knew that Byron was good with people and easy to talk to. The man could be very charming if he wanted to. “Not friends, but I talk to people, and they love to gossip,” Byron grinned. Marc nodded his approval because friends, real friends, who had your back and never turned on you, were rare, very rare. It was good that his baby brother knew the difference as well.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Hey, it’s me,” Bailey began, and he fought back the tears that threatened to fall. “I miss you so much, and I’m so sorry. It should have been me lying here, not you.” Then the tears began to fall; it was like the floodgates opened, and there was nothing that he could do about it. “How do I continue without you? Tell me, please, because I don’t know. Keith is so kind and patient, but it’s still so hard,” Bailey sagged to the ground in front of Brendan’s headstone.

  Bailey didn’t even seem to notice that it was pouring and that he was soaking wet. All he knew was that he didn’t know how to go on without his big brother. Three years they had been living in peace; now it was gone. Bailey knew in the back of his mind that it was time to move, but he was tired of running. The bomb they placed in his car and had killed Brendan instead of him was a sign that they had found them.

  Despite being in the witness protection program, they had found them. So, why move away? It wouldn’t do him any good; they would catch up with him sooner or later. And in this case, Bailey thought that would be sooner rather than later. He had heard people talk about the strangers in town. “They look like the men in mob movies,” Luke had said. Luke was a volunteer at the hospital, just as Bailey was, and he was always the first with gossip and news.

  “Are you alright, buddy?” said a voice from behind him. Bailey opened his eyes and closed them almost immediately again. It was Keith, and Bailey so didn’t need that right now. He wanted to be alone with Brendan; he needed his brother’s advice. “Bailey?” Keith said, and he sounded worried. Bailey didn’t respond. “God, your lips are blue,” Keith whispered.

  Bailey slowly woke, and he didn’t know where he was, but he knew that he wasn’t home. “Hey, buddy?” said a soft voice. That was Keith’s voice. “The lights,” Bailey croaked. “Wait a second,” Keith said, and a moment later, the lights were out, and Bailey could open his eyes. “Why am I in the hospital?” he softly questioned. Keith looked uncomfortable but finally said, “I found you at Brendan’s grave. You suffered from hypothermia; I brought you here because I was worried.” “I’m fine,” Bailey insisted. “You were not fine; you were unconscious when we arrived at the hospital,” Keith informed Bailey.

  Bailey frowned. “What do you mean?” “I checked on you when you were visiting Brendan’s grave. Your lips turned blue, and then you lost consciousness. I couldn’t get you to wake up, so I brought you to the hospital. The doctor told me that you had hypothermia,” Keith explained.

  Bailey sighed. “When will it be over?” he whispered. “I don’t understand,” Keith replied. His heart broke at seeing the defeated expression on Bailey’s face: this was not how it was supposed to be. Brendan was dead, killed by God knows who. Bailey was a wreck who couldn’t deal with the loss of his brother. Bailey and Brendan had been so much more than just brothers. They had been best friends and had each other’s back, always.

  Brendan had always been the one who steadied his younger brother. He had been Bailey’s rock, and now he was dead, murdered. Keith had demanded information about the car bomb investigation. Keith now knew that it wasn’t the Delossantos Family who had placed the bomb in Bailey’s car. It irritated Keith that he was in the dark about the attack on the Hudson Brothers.

  “What are you doing?” Keith asked when Bailey pushed upright and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “I’m going home because I have a business to run,” Bailey replied. “No, you’re not going home until the doctor releases you,” Keith said in a firm voice while he gently pushed Bailey back into the pillows. Bailey scowled, Keith chuckled. Even though he had the task of keeping Bailey safe, they had developed a deep friendship.

  It was approximately two hours later, and Keith had left to get some coffee when the doctor finally showed up. “Can I go home now?” Bailey asked because he really wanted to get out of the hospital; he hated hospitals. Brendan had died here, at the same hospital he was in right now. Yes, he wanted out of there.

  The doctor smiled, but somehow it didn’t reach the man’s eyes. Now that he was thinking about it, Bailey didn’t know this doctor either. Bailey worked at the hospital, it was a small hospital, and he knew every doctor and nurse who worked there, and this man, he didn’t know. Just when the doctor opened his mouth to say something, Keith entered the room.

  “What’s going on, and who are you?” Keith was on high alert, which surprised and confused Bailey. “They are paging me; I’ll be right back,” said the doctor, and before Keith could react, the doctor was gone. Bailey glanced at Keith. “What the hell just happened?” Bailey whispered. “I don’t know,” Keith replied. “What aren’t you telling me?” Bailey suddenly said, throwing Keith of kilter. The man, however, regained his composure quickly.

  “Well?” Bailey said, and the expression on his face said all that Keith needed to know. It was time to come clean if he didn’t want to lose Bailey’s trust. “Alright, I will tell you everything, but not here,” Keith said, and before he could go on, the actual doctor walked into the room, waving Bailey’s release papers.

  When the doctor had left, Bailey eyed Keith, and there was suspicion in his eyes, something that Keith couldn’t blame the man for. “All that I can say for now is that I’m not here to hurt you. Everything else I’ll tell you once you’re home again,” Keith promised. “How can I trust you? How do I know that you won’t kill me once I’m home?” Bailey said.

  Keith’s smile was rueful when he said, “If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you already.” Bailey thought about that statement and concluded that Keith was right. The man had so many opportunities to murder him, but here he was, alive and kicking. “I’m confused right now,” Bailey softly admitted. Keith could relate to that; he had dreaded the day that he had to come clean about why he was in Bailey’s life.

  “Start explaining. Why are you in my life?” Bailey questioned as soon as he closed the apartment door behind him. “Living room,” Keith said. Bailey sighed but went into the living room. “Believe me when I say that it was never my intention to mislead you or lie to you.” “Well, you did, and now it’s time to tell me the truth, don’t you think?” Bailey snapped. Keith frowned; Bailey quickly apologized for lashing out.

  “When you and Brendan went into protective custody,” Keith began. Bailey winced at hearing his brother’s name. If Keith had noticed it, he didn’t show. “My client hired me to watch over both of you.” Keith
paused. “So, you’re not really my friend; you only pretended to be?” Bailey sounded so defeated, and it nearly broke Keith’s heart.

  “That part wasn’t a lie. However, I didn’t want to become friends. I only wanted to keep an eye on you and Brendan. Then, I got to know you, and I started to like you. I kept secrets from you, yes, but the friendship I feel for you is real. If you don’t believe anything, believe that,” Keith said. Bailey saw the pain in the man’s eyes, and it made him reconsider.

  Bailey eyed Keith, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to do or what to say. “Go! Leave, please?” Bailey softly demanded. “I need time to think. I lost Brendan, and now you’re telling me that you knew who I was all this time? I want to hear everything, but not right now. Call me in a day or two, okay?” Bailey added when he saw the hurt look in Keith’s eyes. All he wanted was to be left alone; he needed to think.

  Keith didn’t like to leave Bailey on his own, but what choice did he have? So, there was nothing else that he could do other than leave. Bailey watched Keith walking out the door, and he was so close to calling the man back. As it was, he really needed time to put everything in perspective, and he couldn’t do that with Keith nearby.

  Bailey wanted to believe Keith because he actually liked the guy. But how could he trust someone who had lied to him? Keith had lied from day one, and Bailey didn’t know how to deal with that. How he wished that Brendan was here, he would have known what to do. Bailey was at a loss, and he had never felt so alone in his life. Brendan was dead, killed by a bomb in the car. A bomb that probably was meant for him, not Brendan. The thought of Brendan being dead because of him pulled Bailey once again in a downward spiral. Tears rolled over his cheeks. “I need you so badly,” Bailey said to an empty room. He knew that he would never see Brendan again. Then, rage, as Bailey had never felt before, surged through him.

  He would go to the mall right now and look for the strangers that the residents had talked about. Bailey knew almost everyone, which should help in finding the men. He grabbed his coat and stalked toward the front door.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Bailey?” Marc called when he saw the florist walking in front of him. Bailey glanced over his shoulder, and Marc was shocked to see the grief-stricken look on the man’s face. Damn, he felt for the guy, and that was so not his intention. Marc still didn’t know if Bailey was Fabian, the child molester, slash murderer. As long as he wasn’t sure of Bailey’s true identity, Marc would keep his emotional distance.

  For a moment, Marc thought that Bailey would continue walking, but then the man stopped and waited until Marc had reached him. “How are you?” Marc asked because he didn’t quite know what to say. He didn’t know Bailey that well, and that’s precisely how Marc liked it, for now.

  Even so, Marc had, at least, admit to himself that he was attracted to Bailey, and it was something that he couldn’t fight. What he could do was not to act on the feelings that he had for the florist. Marc knew that a person couldn’t help falling in love, but one could choose not to act. Marc had chosen not to act on his growing feelings for Bailey.

  “I’m alright,” Bailey’s answer was short and let Marc know that the man had acknowledged him out of politeness. Bailey looked miserable, he was too pale, and his eyes were void of emotion. “Care to join me for coffee?” Marc asked before he could stop himself.

  Bailey shook his head. “No, thank you!” he softly replied. Marc had the urge to stop Bailey when the man started to walk away from him, but he stopped himself at the last moment. Bailey was in a very bad place right now, and Marc’s instinct told him to leave the man be. So, all that he could do was watch the man’s back as he walked away.

  Bailey didn’t know what to think of Marc. The man seemed nice enough, but what did he know? He had fallen for Keith’s lies. Bailey had trusted the man, and it had hurt when Keith had told him that he had known from the beginning who they were. “Damn the Delossantos Family,” Bailey muttered to himself while he was strolling through the mall.

  The Delossantos Family was a mob family led by Mario Delossantos, he was the head of the family, and he wanted Brendan and Bailey’s heads on a stick. Well, in a matter of speaking, or not.

  Three years ago, Bailey had filmed Brendan while the man showed his skills on his jet ski. Bailey also had recorded his environment because of the magnificent butterflies and birds. It was when he had recorded a songbird that he also had filmed the dumping of a body. Bailey had not witnessed the killing, but he had recorded the body dump.

  Brendan and Bailey had decided to go to the police and tell them what Bailey had seen and to hand over the footage of the body dump. The detective had watched the footage and immediately had grabbed the phone and called the FBI. Bailey and Brendan had been shocked when the detective had told them that they had recorded Mario Delossantos in person, dumping a body.

  However, for Bailey and Brendan, it had been a nightmare because they had no other option than to join the witness protection program. That meant new identities, moving to the other side of the country. It meant starting all over again, leaving everyone and everything behind them. They hadn’t said goodbye to friends and even family. A black SUV had come in the middle of the night and had transported them to a small airport. Now, Bailey lived in Madison Valley, a small village with less than five thousand residents.

  Even so, life had been good until Brendan was killed, murdered. Bailey reeled when he thought of Brendan being rushed into the ER, and then the doctor telling him that they hadn’t been able to save Brendan’s life. Bailey stopped, looked around, and asked himself what he was doing. He didn’t know every resident, so how could he recognize strangers?

  Bailey turned and started his way back to the flower shop when he heard someone call his name. Bailey looked to the left and saw to his horror that Marc was standing at the newsstand, paper in hand. “God, not now. Not again,” he mumbled as he nodded in greeting. He had seen Marc once today, and that had been enough. Then things got worse when Marc came toward him. Hopefully, he wouldn’t invite him for coffee again.

  For a moment, they stood opposite each other, not knowing what to say. Then, Bailey saw the man from the parking lot walking toward them, thank God. Bailey had seen this man talking to Marc in the parking lot in front of the Flower Hut. Marc had wanted to see him shortly after Brendan was killed. Keith had prevented that, and when Marc had left the shop, Bailey had seen him talking to the blond man who was coming their way.

  Marc smiled warmly, and it made the man look ten years younger, Bailey thought. “Hey, Byron. What are you doing here?” Marc asked because Byron hadn’t said anything about going shopping. “I’m on my way to Captain Jack’s,” Byron smiled. “That must mean that you made it to the final round,” Marc said. Then, he turned to Bailey. “Bailey, meet Byron, my younger brother,” Marc introduced both men. Byron held out his hand in greeting, and Bailey couldn’t do anything else than shake the offered hand.

  Byron seemed genuinely pleased to meet him, and that startled Bailey somewhat. “I need to go now, or else I’ll be late for my appointment,” Byron said. “It was nice to meet you,” Byron addressed Bailey as he held out his hand again. Bailey shook the offered hand again. Byron playfully clapped Marc on the shoulder and said, “I’ll see you at home.”

  “I have some errands to run, so I’ll see you around,” Marc said as he walked past a stunned Bailey and disappeared into the shopping crowd. Bailey blinked a few times. What the hell just happened? But wasn’t this exactly how he wanted it? Why wasn’t he happy that Marc had walked away instead of asking him out for a coffee or dinner?

  Marc walked to the mall exit; he didn’t need to run errands. He had been on the verge of asking Bailey one more time to have coffee with him. Marc had been shocked to see a pale and weary-looking Bailey. The man wasn’t doing well, and Marc suspected that Bailey still was suffering the loss of his brother.

  Marc was easing his car into traffic when his work phone rang. He frowned and did
n’t answer the call because he was in his car. For a moment, Marc debated if he should destroy the phone but then decided to keep the damn thing a bit longer; after all, one could never know.

  Marc’s work phone rang again when he was in the living room staring out the window into the darkness. He answered the call and listened to the voice; he still couldn’t define it as male or female. Then he fired up his laptop, the one connected to the internet, and checked his incoming mails. And sure as hell, there it was, the assignment that would be his last one.