Elite Metal-ARE-epub (80 page)

They must have some kind of interesting relationship.

He shrugged. She was a widow. He’d follow up with Steele and see if he wanted him to track the spotter down or leave it. Without Rodgers to assist, she wouldn’t be much of a danger to anyone anymore.

Silence retreated and he could hear the birds chirping in the distance. A plane sped by somewhere in the clouds. The sounds of life, the sounds of normal.

He’d known a touch of that life. Nine months earlier with his Rose. For once, he let her thought travel through his mind. It had become a second full time job to not let himself remember her.

Usually, he would leave. The bullet he used to take out Bernardo would be untraceable by any authority looking into it. He’d taken great pains to not be seen by anyone when he’d come to the location. Certainly Bernardo hadn’t seen him.

He walked the mile to where Bernardo lay dead. Squatting down he looked at the man who caused so much pain in the lives of his crew.

Dead bodies always looked the same. With the soul gone, the shells resembled something out of a movie set. Not real anymore, at least to Platinum. It didn’t seem to matter where he found them. The battlefield, the dead homeless man on the subway in New York, his father at the funeral home.

The second they died, everything about the physicality of their bodies changed.

He’d wanted to help people for a change. Not continue to put them into the ground.

Except some folks needed to die for everyone else to live.

He shook his head, staring down at Bernardo’s unseeing eyes. “You didn’t even see it coming. You should have. Fuck, you should have.”

Or maybe that was the way it was for people like them—even if he didn’t want to put himself in the same category as the dead man—there were too many things in common to deny the comparison entirely. Perhaps they all took a bullet in the back of the head some day when they least expected it.

Would Rose be sad if she heard of his death?

He shook his head. “God damn it, Platinum, stop thinking about her. She’s moved on. She has someone else. And it’s better for her you left. She hates you the way you deserve to be despised.”

By all the way holy, he needed to get out of there. His bones ached and he felt a million years old. Maybe he needed a physical. Something could have gone terribly wrong with his endocrine system.

He kicked a rock as he stormed toward the exit path he mapped out to return to his car. Shit. Double shit. There was nothing physically wrong with him. He had a full work up every six months. No, this was some fucked up psychological break down because he missed his girlfriend.

Ached for her soft skin, the sound of her voice while she talked so he didn’t have to, and the way her eyes met his in the bedroom when for a single second they were completely as one.

He made his choice and he lived with it. If he hadn’t taken Warbucks up on his offer, something was going to have to change anyway. He loved medical school except the constant nightmares and the inability to sleep when he wasn’t with Rose made studying extremely difficult. There were only so many runs through central park and cups of coffee he could use to stay awake.

Maybe it should have surprised him, although it didn’t, that as soon as he’d joined back up with the others to take down Red Wolf, he’d slept like a baby. Twelve hours straight sometimes.

Yet, he felt nothing except tired. Could loneliness actually be pressing down on his bones?

He should never have given in to the urge to go down and look at the body. It was maudlin and put him more out of sorts than he needed to be. What he required was a big drink and maybe a quick fuck.

If only he could jerk off. His own hand wasn’t getting the job done and not a single woman he’d laid eyes on had done anything for him since he’d left Rose. He wouldn’t be surprised. Rose was the only lady who did it for him.

Her image wasn’t enough. The feel of her. The ropes on her wrists. The way she came around him. He needed those things.

He wanted his Rose back and the chance to spend time with his son.

Kent—the constant ache even when Rose was with him. Jesus, everything was so completely fu…

Silence hit the back of his neck and he stopped moving. The random whining of his thoughts quit immediately. He whirled around. What caught his attention and made the Silence come back?

He waited and the sensation passed. No one was there. He would have known and certainly if someone saw him by the dead body there would be yelling and screaming. Fury. Terror.

Only nothing happened and after a minute the sensation completely fled. Yeah, it was time for him to leave. Before everything went really down the toilet.

* * * * *

Now

He waited a beat watching the woman arrange her equipment. Did she really think she was going to shoot him from her current position? Platinum was so close behind her he could have reached out and touched her.

Instead he pulled out his handgun. It was his personal revolver. He wouldn’t use anything attached to the team. Of course, if the weapon was traced it would only lead to a dead man named Tim O’Connell.

Still, he’d inadvertently exposed all of his crew to danger by simply getting found in the first place. He wouldn’t risk them—or Rose or Kent—again.

“I could shoot you in the head.”

Dora jumped and spun around. Seeing her up close he did a quick scan of what he’d seen earlier from a distance. She looked roughly the same age as her late husband. Mid-forties. Short and fit, her hair stopped below her ears in a cut which looked as if it came from another decade.

Her eyes were red rimmed, her mouth open in shock.

He took the chance to rip the rifle from her eyes. She gasped as she took a step back, nearly toppling over.

“Tsk. Tsk.” He hadn’t moved from his spot. “You don’t get to die breaking your neck. Not at least until I’ve had a chance to speak with you.”

She steeled her spine and he waited while she said exactly what he expected. “You killed my husband.”

“And he killed hundreds of people... Probably more. Come to think of it, you were as culpable as he, weren’t you? Both of you took paychecks from Red Wolf?”

She didn’t move except when she spoke he wished he already shot her in the head. “Red Wolf was a great man. My husband is a patriot and…”

He raised his hand and she shut up. He really didn’t know if he had it in him to hit a woman. Killing her constituted a different matter. Striking her? He didn’t have the stomach for it. However, Dora didn’t need to learn about his personal limitations. Let her be scared.

“Stop.”

She closed her mouth and he let her stand there silent for a moment or two.

“Did you see me the day of his death? Afterwards? When I was leaving?” When he’d felt the momentary prick of awareness. “Was that how you found me?”

“How I first discovered it was you who murdered him, yes.” Her voice sounded hoarse. “Finding you after proved more difficult. Until your picture came up on a web search. An old woman looking for a man who should have been dead. You were in your marine uniform and…”

“Got it.” He interrupted.

When he got things settled, he’d get it all down. And anything the poor woman’s search stirred up. She’d certainly paid for her questions with her life. He’d have to live with that. Another constant pang on his conscience.

“You shot my son’s grandmother. Terrified him. You’ve left him in a state where he will have to recover from. I don’t know if he can. Is it possible for an eight, almost nine, year old boy to come back?” He shook his head. This woman didn’t deserve so many words from him. They were Rose’s to have. “You took a shot at my love’s head.”

“She got in the way…”

“Are you under the impression I care what you have to say? I don’t.” He stepped toward her. “I could have killed you the second you appeared. I have people watching you. So many eyes in your direction and you had no idea. What kind of spotter were you? Did Bernardo do all the work and you came around only to watch?”

“I…”

“Don’t talk. The things I have to say to you don’t require your response. I’d rather not hear the timbre of your voice.” He held up his revolver. “This was my father’s gun. I don’t really remember the story of how he came to have it. You’re going to kill yourself with it.”

“I certainly am not.” She gritted her teeth.

He hadn’t expected an immediate agreement. It went against the very nature of people who did their jobs, ones who walked in the darkness to either hurt or protect the innocent. They survived. Like cockroaches.

“You are because you have two options. Die by your own hand—one bullet through your temple will likely suffice or I’ll kill you.” He paused to let his words sink in. “And I won’t do it fast.”

“What do you mean? I’ve seen how you can shoot. You and Bernardo. You can do the same as he could. A single shot. Don’t act as if you can’t.” She rushed him and took a swing at his head. He laughed as he ducked out of her way and grabbed her wrist.

In under two seconds he restrained against the tree. At least he had to give her credit for trying. “You should have been trained better.”

She struggled for a few second and he felt the second the fight moved out of her. Death was in the air. She might not feel it the same way he did but deep down inside she had to feel her time was up. He’d seen it with patients in hospitals. The fight left.

“I’ll shoot you first in the gut.” He could picture the wound. “Gut shots hurt. And you don’t die right away from them. From there I can become downright creative. I’ll…”

“Okay.” She interrupted him and he let her. Would he actually shoot a woman in the stomach? No. She’d terrified his people. That meant she got to suffer before she died.

“I could take the gun and I could shoot you with it.”

He whispered in her ear. These would be the last words he’d speak to her, one way or another. “You could try.”

* * * * *

Now

Platinum knelt down in front of his son. Kent sat in a lounge chair too big for his small body and stared intently at a tablet where he must have been playing a game. His hand moved fast, tapping frantically.

“Hi.”

Kent’s head shot up. “Hello.”

They stared at each other for a second neither of them speaking. He supposed he should figure out something to say. It couldn’t fall to Kent to take charge of their relationship.

“Where did you acquire the tablet?” He pointed to it.

“A lady gave it to me.”

The woman in question must be Poppy. The face of Warbuck’s organization. She was in charge of all the toys. The big, dangerous ones and apparently the smaller fun ones too.

“Did you say thank you?” His response felt like a really inane thing to say. The kid hardly knew him. He wasn’t really in a position to be giving lessons in manners.

“I did.” Kent sniffed. “Did you give me the money to pay for school?”

“Yes.”

“That’s what I thought.” Kent nodded, chewing on his bottom lip. “Ms. Rose says you guys take care of bad guys here.”

“She’s right. We do.” Had there ever been a harder conversation in the history of the world. At least Rose wasn’t calling him the devil to his son.

“Did you find the bad guy after me?”

In all the world, Kent should never have to ask such a question and Plat’s heart sunk into his gut. Never-fucking-again. “Yes.”

He wouldn’t elaborate, wouldn’t tell The Boy the details. Kent never needed to learn it was a woman. The particulars of her death would remain with Platinum. The team with him hadn’t seen the final moment.

The bang and then the Silence. His friends wouldn’t have felt it anyway, not the way he did. Hell, maybe he was crazy.

He was all Kent had left and someway he’d have to figure out how to be a father.

“Good. Ms. Rose, she took me and ran. Is she going to be in trouble?”

“No, son.” He couldn’t believe how easily the word came out. “The people who run this place, they’re fixing it all up. Everything is going to be fine for Rose.”

“Good.”

“Yep. Real good.”

Kent held up the tablet. “I’m playing Minecraft.”

“Yeah?”

Kent patted the side of the chair. “Would you like to sit here and play it with me?”

“I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”

Kent smelled of soap and icing. Maybe Polly had given him more than the tablet. He’d have to find out all the things the child liked and what he didn’t. They’d have to figure it out together.

It looked as if they had plenty of time.

* * * * *

Rose stared out the window of her room. Platinum would have to teach her to lock her door. He knocked on the side of the wall and she didn’t turn around when she spoke.

“I knew you were there.”

That was surprising. “You did?”

“The air always moves differently when you’re in the room.”

Huh. “Really?”

She finally turned around. “Yes. Like tickles on the back of my neck.”

He knew the feeling well. Of course, he had no idea she could feel it or why she did when he was there.

It was time for the truth.

“I’ll never be able to undo the hurt I caused you. I can’t begin to try. What I can do is try to tell you so maybe you’ll understand some things I don’t really get myself.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay. I’ll listen to whatever you to say to me, Eli. Oh damn, I’m sorry. I might never be able to stop.”

“Don’t try. I actually want it. I want to be Eli for you. I liked who he was. Either way, I need you to see me.”

She walked toward him. “I’m so stupid. I should be getting out of here as fast as I can. Yet, I’ve found you again. I was going to be killed in a cabin and you showed up. I don’t want to let you go again. Although I am so mad at you…”

“Rose, sweetheart. Out there in the world there are people who are trying to sell plutonium. There are people trafficking drugs. There are folks who have devoted their lives to destroying others.”

She shifted her weight on her feet. A small movement. Still, a tell spoke volumes as to her discomfort.