Saints and Assassins (The Sentinels) (11 page)

“Huh? Yes, oh I’m fine I think. I just moved too quickly.” She took a moment to calm down. Adam got out
of bed and went to the bathroom. W
hen he came
back
she had already changed back into her clothes so that they could go get her bag.

“Ev
e. I need to tell you something—
” Adam’s phone rang. Most inopportune, she thought. He again stepped outside to take the call. Adam returned a minute later, still on the phone and motioned for Eve to follow.

They left for the marina
and Adam finished his call. It sounded all business on her end. She was not in the least bit interested.

“What was it you wanted to tell me?” Eve anxiously awaited his response.

He sat silent for a moment as if he had changed his mind. Then he spoke.

“Well I was just wondering if you wanted to spend the day with me? We can see the island together.” 

“I would like that.” He’s hot. He’s cold. It makes no sense.  Eve decided to go with it. Maybe he was just being chivalrous and didn’t want to take advantage of her. They continued
maki
ng small talk on the way. Surprisingly,
Eve
felt
different about their
relationship
and how easy he was to talk to
suddenly. Did someone flip a switch?

“
I would never go back to Chicago if I didn’t have to. It’s just so perfect here. The ocean, the mountains, well it’s just everything.” Eve smiled and turned toward Adam as he drove. She couldn’t help but notice a slight smile on his face. She was about to ask him why he ever went back to Chicago when t
hey arrived
at the marina.

Adam had her wait in the
car and she watched as he
strode back toward the car with her bag in hand
.
B
efore he reached the
vehicle,
he stopped and turned back to the yacht. There was another figure at the far e
nd of the dock. Adam yelled
something at him but she
could not
make out what it was
. As he climb
ed into the
car,
he muttered
something unintelligible.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No.”  He started the car and almost ripped the
gearshift
out as he jerked it into drive. The tires burned
against the pavement
as he forcefu
lly depressed the gas pedal
to the floor of the car. Not wanting to annoy
him,
she stayed quiet as he drove, but it was obvious that he was pissed.

They were on the highway within seconds.  Adam’s lips were
pressed
into a thin line
and while she didn’t f
ace
him,
she could see that his eyes were focused and his gaze narrowed.
She didn’t stare but glanced
back out the window, wondering
where
they could possibly be going. S
everal minutes
had passed
she sensed the tension start
to subside as he decelerated. They were driving right next to the beach, but in a place that
was
near
a densely
forested
area. Adam stopped the
car at a spot marked beach access
. 

“Stay in the car for a minute,” he ordered.
His bossiness was beginning to get old, but for some unknown reason Eve thought twice about asking him what his problem was
. He exited the vehicle and
pulled out
his cell phone.  He paced as he spoke loudly on the phone. His voice carried, but she
still
couldn’t understand anything that he
said. Slightly
nervous, she didn’t dare open the window to
eavesdrop.
Adam shoved the phone into his pocket
as
he
headed for her side of the car.

“Let’s walk.
” Adam
stated
softly
as he opened the door, even though it sounded
more
like another order. Eve kept hold of her bag as she turned to get out of the car.
Adam’s brow smoothed out
as he reached
his hand down and offered
it to her. Pausing for a moment she
looked up at him and with a
resolved
look on his face
she placed her hand in his and he gently pulled her out of the car.
K
eeping
a firm but delicate grip
on her hand Adam led her away from the car.

H
er curios
ity had peaked
.
Was he thinking about work? Or was it something that she had done to irritate him?
Minutes later the
beauty of their surroundings grabbed Eve’s attention.  They were in the forest, the trees we very large seemingly
blending
at the t
ops to create a canopy.
The ground
below them was
covered with growth, making it appear like a lush green carpet under their feet. 

Eve
slowed her pace to take in all of the sights around them, the mimo
sa trees were all in full bloom and
vines hung
fro
m the sky scraper like trees and there were
the
countless other plants, and flowers
around them
. Feeling a slight tug from Adam’s hand she pulled back releasing her hand from his grip.

“What is it?” he said quietly. 

“It’s beautiful
,
”
she quietly responded.

He stopped walking and
stared up at everything around them as she had. They were under a canopy of the most beautiful trees. It felt safe.
He faced her with his undivided attention
.

“I owe you an apology.
”

She didn’t respond verbally, instead tilting her head with a questioning look on her face she stared at him.

“My behavior was inappropriate earlier. I was very upset and shouldn’t have let you see that,” he continued. “Please don’t be offended by my tone or mannerisms, I’m just doing my job a
nd sometimes it is very… stressful
.”

“Apology accepted. May I ask what happened to make you so angry? Was it my fault?” She couldn’t possibly think of a reason as to
how she had done anything wrong, but with his mood swings she didn’t know what might have set him off.

“I can definitely say it was not your fault, other than that, I will have to answer the rest of your question at a later time,” he replied.  Eve
stared at
the ground
looking at the rocks and shells as she pondered his answer.
It seemed
extremely odd. Still staring down she heard a clicking noise. Her eyes scanned slowly upward, right into the barrel of a pistol.

“Don’t move.” He demanded through clenched teeth.  Although she had felt that she wanted to die countless times, for some reason now as she faced a weapon that could do the job and someone else to pull the trigger, she did
not
want to die. The adrenaline pulsed through her veins instantaneously as she contemplated everything that had happened in her life, good or bad.

What
the fuck?

Before she could respond to him in any way she heard another click, but it
came
from behind. Eve started to turn toward the noise when suddenly she felt like
a car
had hit her
. Pain swept through her shoulder and side as she fell to the ground. Then, almost
simultaneously,
Adam fell toward her. During
this,
she had heard a very loud pop and then another followed right after.
All in just
a few short seconds
,
i
t
took her
brain
a
nother
moment to process and she
finally registered that they were gunshots. Taking personal inventory of her
body,
everything seemed to be intact.

The same couldn’t
be said for Adam as blood trickled
from his right shoulder. She jumped up to reach for him but he pushed her away as he stretched his left arm out for the pistol that had fallen out of his right hand. He fired two more shots and they found their target. Her eyes were obviously much slower than the speed of a bullet, but they followed the path it had taken to a man lying on the ground not twenty feet from where she
had stood
.

“Adam
.” She forced his name out somehow even in a breathless state
. Moving to him
quickly
, she wan
ted to assess how bad the gunshot was
. He
had dropped to
his knees
and she could see the blood continue
to flow from his shoulder. She
leaned over
him to see if there was an exit wound or not.  There wasn’t
,
which meant that the bullet is still inside of him.

“The bullet is still in there.  We need to get it out before it moves,” she pleaded with him. She would have to wait unti
l later to ask for explanations.

Winded,
Adam pushed himself up.
“We need to leave, but we will have to go on foot, they’ll
be expecting us back at the car.
”

“Are you crazy? You’ve been shot!” she exclaimed. He
acted
as if nothing had happened.
Now she knew he was completely mental.

“Yes
I am crazy and
I
know I’ve been shot,
but I can’t think of a better
person to care for me than you.
”
Adam winked.

What the hell?

“Was that supposed to be a joke? Before I go traipsing off into the forest with you, I demand to know what’s going on!” Now she was more than determined to find out what was going on before anything
else
happened.

She applied pressure to his should to try and slow the bleeding.
He sucked in a sharp breath
at the pain.

“He was going to kill us and I had to stop him,” he snapped.

“I figured that part out.
” She gave him her
“
n
o shit”
look.
“
I want to know why!”
Eve demanded.

“Becau
se of you,” he answered quieter. He hung his head and
wouldn’t
look at her.

Her heart fe
lt like it was in her throat
.

“What are you talking about?” Her voice quiet, it was all she could do not to let it quiver. Frozen, she stared intently into his eyes trying
to comprehend what he just said.

“There is a contract on your life,” he stated solemnly. “I am here to protect you.”

Everything raced through her head as fast as a bolt of
lightning
and she knew she was definitely going to have a headache over this.

“What do you mean there’s a contract on me? I mean I understand what it is
,
but why?” Eve felt her own heart beating in her throat now as she breathed in deeply and forced the air out waiting for some sort of logical explanation.

“Your husband wa
s the root of this. He knew things
that he wasn’t supposed to
and he died because of that
knowledge
.  The company that he worked for had uncovered fraud and embezzlem
ent within one of their clients. T
o clarify
,
he
uncovered the issues.” He pulled her hand away from his shoulder
.

“Michael?” She whispered
as it all went through her
head.

“Michael had been working on
bank
records
and
major
discrepancies were discovered. He was murdered Eve. They put a contract on him and lured him away that night making his death look like an accident. You were left alone because they didn’t think that you knew anything. Apparently now they feel that you know something and want you to disappear too.”

Her eyes widened, “Michael was murdered?”

“Yes, I’m truly very sorry.
”
Adam
reached up and cradled her cheek in his hand
. Eve stood there speechless, she felt numb.