Child of Recklessness (Trials of Strength Book 2) (12 page)

‘
I’ll help you finish it,’ I replied.

‘
Really?’ she laughed. ‘Say that once more with feeling, and
with a better gun.’

We stood
there in a tense stand-off, no one budged an inch. Finally, the
woman sighed and pushed Paul away from her, threw the knife at his
feet and showed her hands.

‘
This is the part where I tell you, if I wanted any of you
dead, you would be,’ she said.

‘
So before, that was what, charades?’ I pointed out.

‘
Well,
before
I wanted you dead,’ the assassin admitted.

‘
Suddenly you don’t?’ I spat. ‘What’s your name?’

‘
Jessica Reed,’ Jessica smiled, baring her pearly white teeth,
frighteningly similar to a wolf’s grin.

I walked
over, kicked the knife away and kept my gun levelled at her. I
warned her not to move, and asked Chris to find me something to
bind her with.

‘
Bondage,’ Jessica cooed. ‘Want to know my safe
word?’

‘
Quiet,’ I said as Chris threw me a thick rope he’d taken from
a curtain at the edge of the room. ‘Turn around.’

Jessica
turned and moved her hands behind her back. I holstered the gun,
and warily tied her wrists together as tight as I could, short of
dismembering them. Once done, I backed up, took the gun back from
its holster, and aimed again. She turned, that smile never
diminishing. It dropped off though once Anna stumbled into the
room.

‘
So I wasn’t going nuts,’ Jessica whispered.

‘
Can someone explain to me why the crazy bitch that tried to
kill us is here?’ Anna cried while her hand cradled her
stomach.

‘
Your little guns have some weak shit in them,’ Jessica
explained. ‘I’ve drank stronger alcohol than that. I guess it helps
I’m trained to be able to fight that stuff, but hey.’

‘
How are you here?’ I interrogated.

‘
Followed you guys,’ she beamed. ‘Wasn’t hard, I mean before, I
couldn’t even get a lock on your location, and I tried
everything.’

Paul
helped Brian to his feet, both sported bloody noses. Their injury
brought my mind back to mine. The glass still poked from my leg,
but there wasn’t much pain, just an insane itch that took all my
willpower to refrain from attacking.

‘
Who do you work for?’ I growled, determined for a definitive
answer, determined to have the thing we suspected strongly,
proved.

‘
Why the hell should I tell you that?’ Jessica said.

‘
We weren’t giving you a choice,’ Chris said as he shuffled to
my side.

‘
Oh?’ Jessica said.

It
happened in a flash. Chris moved forward and brought his fist into
her gut. Jessica doubled over and hissed, the fury in her eyes
terrifying, and even the hardened man Chris was, he was smart
enough to back up.

‘
Please,’ Jessica spat, ‘you think a little rough up will open
my mouth? I’ll pay you to try big man.’

‘
Why are you here?’ Anna asked from behind us.

Shockingly, the rage left Jessica’s eyes, and her expression
softened when they fell on Anna.

‘
My employer,’ Jessica said, standing upright, ‘wants you dead,
all of you. The only reason you aren’t is because they breached
something I implicitly made clear to them.’

‘
What?’ Anna asked.

‘
I don’t do children,’ Jessica whispered. ‘I
never
kill
children.’

We all
lapsed into silence again. Jessica swaggered forward and threw
herself down onto the couch. Chris lowered his weapon, and swung
his arms. I was fine, there wasn’t even a dull ache, so I kept mine
firmly aimed.

‘
That still doesn’t explain why you’re here,’ I
said.

‘
Usually I’d be hunting down the bastard that broke my number
one rule of service, but, it’s not every day a woman’s stomach
grows to the size of a watermelon in the space of five seconds,’
Jessica replied.

‘
How did you know I was pregnant?’ Anna asked.

‘
I put two and two together,’ she replied. ‘The way this chump
flipped out when you went down, your stomach, and the fact I know
what happened in Greystone.’

‘
And how’s that?’ I asked.

Jessica
shrugged.

‘
Because I’m the one that broke into Digilock to begin with,’
she explained. ‘Our employer didn’t have much information, but they
found out where we might get some. When I couldn’t track you down,
I waited for you to show.’

‘
How did you know we would?’ Chris said.

‘
Once Danny failed, you know the guy you murdered,’ Jessica
smirked, ‘I knew you’d find the information he had and look for the
rest.’

‘
We didn’t murder anyone,’ Anna growled. ‘He killed
himself.’

Jessica
laughed.

‘
I’m not surprised,’ she replied. ‘We all know the risks if
we’re caught.’

‘
So you kill yourselves to what? Stop people from questioning
you?’ I asked. ‘He didn’t do a good job, we got his
USB.’

Jessica
sat forward on the couch and looked up at me as if I was an
idiot.

‘
I’m not talking about who we work for,’ she chided, ‘that
changes depending on what contract we pick. I’m talking about the
group we’re part of.’

‘
That would be?’ Anna pushed.

‘
You ever seen
Fight
Club
?’ Jessica said. ‘Same rules, don’t ask
me again.’

Chris
bristled and shook his head.

‘
How do we know you’re even telling us the truth?’ he
spat.

‘
I have no need to lie,’ she drawled. ‘If I’m not telling the
truth, then I wouldn’t tell you anything.’

‘
That’s exactly what a liar would say,’ I pointed
out.

Jessica
gave another shrug and yawned. She stood slowly and walked around
as if she owned the place, as if we weren’t ready to take her out.
She stopped by Brian and Paul, and both of them backed up, much to
Jessica’s delight.

‘
Meow,’ she purred, and Brian jumped.

‘
Why
are
you
here?’ I asked impatiently.

‘
Figured you could use my help,’ Jessica smiled. ‘You’re going
after the guys trying to kill you, right?’

‘
Not yet, we have other things to finish first,’ I
said.

‘
Ahh, your father,’ she replied. ‘From what I know, he’s being
awfully quiet is he not?’

‘
So, Lucas was right?’ Chris said. ‘It is the government that’s
trying to have us killed, for definite?’

‘
Lucas is a smart cookie,’ Jessica said, her eyes darkening
when they turned to Chris. ‘If we were in America, I’d say you must
have pissed off Uncle Sam
a
lot
.’

So I was
right. I felt a rush of adrenaline make its way to my brain and I
sighed. Finally, some solid answers. I didn’t trust Jessica much at
all, but I believed her when she said she wouldn’t tell us anything
at all if it wasn’t true. Part of me was stumped though. The way
she looked at Anna, the way her face softened and her eyes almost
looked kindly at her. What had happened to this cold-blooded
assassin that gave her a soft spot for mothers and kids?

‘
Thank you,’ I said sincerely, and Jessica beamed, before I
shot another dart into her neck.

‘
I am seriously going to hurt you,’ she slurred, and her eyes
rolled back as she fell to the ground.

‘
What the hell, Lucas?’ Chris groaned.

‘
We’ll get more from her later,’ I said. ‘My leg itches like
hell and it’s late. We can tie her up more and deal with her in the
morning.’

Chris
nodded stiffly. He wanted to deal with it then, but I wasn’t lying
when I’d said about my leg. I shuffled over to the couch and tore
my trouser open around the glass shard. Anna waddled over and sat
beside me, peering over at the wound. I grabbed the glass, and to
Brian’s protests, ripped it from my leg. I winced. The shard
clattered to the floor and I bent over to blood sliding down my
leg.

‘
Oh,’ Brian whimpered.

‘
Come on,’ I said, ‘you’ve seen worse than this.’

Chris
was done with Jessica. He’d tied her arms and legs, tightened the
restraints around her wrists, and moved her onto one of the
couches. He then wandered into his room, and returned with a towel,
which he then handed to me.

‘
Thanks,’ I said, pushing the towel against the
wound.

‘
You need stitches,’ Chris replied as he squinted at my
leg.

I shook
my head.

‘
Nah,’ I muttered. ‘I’ll be fine by morning.’

Thanks
to my new abilities, I had insane healing abilities. Back in
Greystone I had been shot twice through my torso, and when I
changed, the bullets holes healed in no time. There wasn’t even a
trace of the wounds left.

We made
sure the assassin was secure, and everyone left for the night.
Brian promised to take a look at the drive the next morning, but I
could tell by his voice that he wasn’t holding out much hope. We’d
risked our lives for nothing, and the realization felt like someone
had taken a pin to my balloon insides. I helped Anna into bed and
looked at her helplessly.

‘
Are you sure you’re okay?’ I asked for what felt like the
hundredth time.

‘
I wouldn’t say I’m okay,’ she replied, ‘but physically, yeah,
I think we are.’

Anna
rubbed at her stomach absently, but her voice trembled, and her
eyes slid down.

‘
What is it?’ I said, taking her hand.

‘
We’re still no closer to my brother, Lucas,’ Anna whispered,
trying to smile. ‘When we were younger, the house we were staying
over in while our parents went out caught fire. It was some stupid
electrical fault, and our babysitter was killed. I remember waking
up in pitch black, smoke clogging the air…’

Tears
gathered in her eyes, and she rubbed at them as they
fell.

‘
Tony was seven, and I could hear him crying for help, but I
couldn’t reach him,’ Anna gasped. ‘I thought we were both going to
die, but, someone must have called Emergency Services, because a
fireman appeared out of nowhere and lifted me out. I was out on
that street terrified. I’d thought I’d lost my baby
brother.’

I
grabbed her into my arms as sobs shook her body. When she managed
to regain her composure, she continued on with the
story.

‘
Luckily they got him in time, but, I was so angry at myself. I
couldn’t believe I’d failed him, and from then on I promised
myself, I promised
never
to fail him again,’ Anna whispered. ‘Ever since
that day all he’s wanted is to be a fireman, to help people the way
someone helped him. I’m failing him Lucas, I’m failing
him.’

The full
force of Anna’s emotions seemed to hit her. The tears slid fast
down her cheeks, and her whole body trembled. I tried to reassure
her as she wept in my arms. She hadn’t failed him. She wouldn’t
fail him. I promised her with all my being that I would find us a
way out of all that plagued us. I promised her we would have a life
again.

After a
while Anna passed into the realm of dreams, and I lay awake
counting my promises, hoping that I could pull each and every one
of them off.

The Gesture

I let
Anna sleep in the next morning as I showered and changed clothes.
Sleep hadn’t helped the throbbing in my head, and I tried to work
through the most pressing issues we had. Naturally, I was finding
it mighty difficult to categorise our problems. I came back to the
one we had tied up in the other room, and decided it was best to
start there.

Jessica Reed was a pain in my arse. I felt the honesty behind
her words, and sensed that she was holding more back, but I still
couldn’t count on the fact she was there to help, rather than hurt,
and I knew we needed more to go on. The people who had hired her,
the ones who were relentlessly hunting us down and had framed us
for mass murder, had broken Jessica’s number one rule, if that rule
could be believed. When she’d told us though, I’d felt pain,
her
pain.

Once I was ready, I sat gently back onto the bed, and rolled
up my trouser leg. The wound that had been gaping the night before
was now a thin red line. I stood, rolled the trouser back down, and
walked over and into the main room. Brian was at his array of
computers, a laptop resting on his knees as he typed furiously. My
eyes moved to the couch were Jessica
should
have been
restrained.

But she
wasn’t there.

‘
Coffee tough guy?’ Jessica’s voice, sweet and innocent, echoed
from the kitchen.

I jumped
slightly, a chill shot up my spine and I grabbed for the gun at my
side. But I hadn’t strapped it on. Jessica laughed.