First Light (42 page)

‘We can take them, K, especially if they underestimate us like these guys did,’ Denver’s voice came from ahead of us. ‘I’ve got to admit, this has been kind of fun. It’s been a long time!’

‘No,’ Kalen said, impatiently, ‘not with Ronnie here. I need you all to do as I said: fire exit and get yourselves out.’

I stood by the front door helplessly while they dragged the unconscious men out of sight and Ace rummaged around inside the huge helicopter. I prayed he wasn’t trying to fly it. Kalen and the other boys ran from room to room with their rucksacks. I guessed, to start the fire, covering their tracks.
Fire exit one
.

Finally, they all gathered beside me. I felt a clamp around my heart as Nash caught my eye. With his cap turned backwards, his long hair and boyish looks, he looked like an angel incapable of hurting a fly, but spoke with an assertiveness of a man three times his age. I wondered if he had any idea how impressive he was.

‘Ronnie, I’ve enjoyed knowing you and despite what you think, none of this has been your fault. Take care of yourself.’

I wanted to say something, but he’d already moved to give Ace room. I gulped as he stepped forward, his eyes trained on his feet.

‘Ron, I really wish things had been different.’

‘Ace–’ I choked.

He silenced me with a shake of his head. In contrast to his friend, Ace had never looked as old as he did right now. ‘Miss you,’ he said, finally looking me in the eyes.

My voice failed me completely. I reached out and squeezed his hand.

As his eyes glassed, he looked away from me and with a clear of his throat he said to Nash, 'Land or sea?’

Nash looked at him sympathetically. ‘I’m thinking sea this time, buddy.’

The youngest nodded and without hesitation the two of them took off running to the cliff’s edge, launching into the air in perfect unison and disappearing from sight, headed to what I knew was the ocean below. I wondered how far they could swim. I wondered where they would swim to; I wondered a lot of things as my time with Kalen began to run out and I was forced to prepare myself to lose the only thing I wanted in the whole world.

Police sirens sounded in the distance. ‘I’ll take the bike and lead the cops away from here,’ said Denver to Kalen before he looked at me. ‘Bye, Ron. What N said, yeah?’ Without waiting for my response, he fled the house.

‘How will he get away?’ I asked Kalen robotically.

‘He’ll be fine. The police are the least of our worries.’

I managed to nod.

‘We need to get out of here, Red. That helicopter is going to explode in about three and a half minutes. Then this place.’ He closed his eyes, and when he looked at me again his face crumpled. ‘I don’t know how to say goodbye to you.’

In that second I would have happily remained in the house with him while it went up in flames. The tears I had been holding back flooded down my cheeks.

‘Take my hand,’ he said quietly, ‘We need to run.’

I did as I was asked and we left the house, the cold air giving us the jolt we needed to pick up our pace. All of my thoughts were of him leaving. I hadn’t even considered we might die before that happened. We reached the car and Kal opened the driver's side door, I was about to jump in and crawl across to my side, when something ahead of us caught my eye. A man in a dark grey suit walked out causally from behind the bushes and stood in front of us. The moon was bright, lighting his face. I could see he was older, perhaps in his late forties, with dark hair combed into a side parting. His mouth pulled into a smirk as he eyed us both. I didn’t see a gun, but in the shadows I couldn’t be sure. The way Kalen stopped in his tracks told me – gun or not – this was bad, bad news.

‘Dave Steinberg.’

‘Agent K,’ the man nodded.

Keeping the door open, Kalen took a step forward so he was between me and the new threat.

‘You boys have been a thorn in my side now for some time. Barker has been beside himself.’

‘I’m real sorry about that,’ Kalen said humourlessly.

The man’s pleasant demeanor faltered. ‘They want you alive, K. Come quietly and tell us where we can find the others and I’ll let the girl go.’

‘What others?’

‘Let’s not play games.’

I was very aware that our three-minute count down was running out fast. Shortly, we would all be dead.

‘Did they only send you?’ asked Kalen. ‘You guys don’t think much of us, do you?’

The man’s scowl intensified. ‘No, as a mater of fact I don’t. I never understood why they’d send children to do a man’s job and I can’t fathom why they don’t just let me kill you now.’

‘Maybe I’m better than you think?’

‘I doubt that,’ he sneered. ‘And to answer your question, no, I didn’t come alone. You’re surrounded. There’s no way out. You either take the deal, or a body-bag for you and your girlfriend. This is a man’s game, K. You lose.’

Kalen glanced swiftly in the direction of the roof before ushering me inside. I scrambled over to the passenger seat, confused as to what was happening and sure we were about to be blown to pieces. Before Kalen got in, he leaned casually on the open door frame and stared at the one he’d called Steinberg.

‘Were you there when they killed Jesse? Did that make you feel like a man?’

‘J died crying like a little girl.’

‘Come on now, Dave, you know I don’t believe that. Jesse was way tougher than you and he was just a kid.’

‘Last chance, K.’

‘Na... it’s yours.’ Kalen said and slipped in front of the wheel, starting the car before he had even fully got in his seat. We sped forward, leaving a trail of dust surrounding Steinberg as he stepped easily out of our path wearing a satisfied smile. I couldn’t understand why he was letting us go – or why he appeared so smug about it. Then it became clear.

‘Head down!’ Kalen growled.

I watched in horror as at least ten men holding guns stepped out of the trees, blocking our exit. We had no way out. I screamed and ducked. Bullets rained down on the car. Kalen slammed his foot on the brake and shifted into reverse, flooring the accelerator once more. We rocketed in the direction of the cliff’s edge.

‘Red, sit up and put your seatbelt on.’

In the midst of so much carnage my adrenalin kicked in. I no longer wanted to cry or scream. I lifted my head and clicked my belt into place. Ahead, the line of agents stood firing at us. Behind us, the cliff edge was approaching at high speed.

‘Kal?’

Kalen looked at me, his eyes holding my focus.

‘Do you trust me?’ he asked.

I nodded. I could no longer hear the screaming engine or the torrent of bullets. Every sound fell away until there was only us.

‘It’s going to be okay, Red. I promise.’

And then the mansion exploded into a ball of flames and we drove off the edge of the cliff.

45 – Choice

I woke up in my bed and blinked away the sleep.
The ceiling was moving above me in uncontrolled waves and my gut wrenched in a way that told me something was very wrong. In a split second, the haze cleared and the previous night’s events rushed back into my mind.

I sprang upright.

Patting myself down, I scanned my room, everything was just as I’d left it and my clothes – how come I was in my pyjamas? I remembered us crashing into the ocean! How was I not dead?

My phone lay beside me, the screen black and waterlogged. It was the only proof I hadn’t dreamed the entire thing. I pressed one hand to my forehead, trying desperately to recall what had happened. Images and sounds flashed through my mind. Kalen’s soothing voice:
‘Stay calm Red. Water’s going to rush into the car now...’
and then he’d kissed me. The icy water flooded in quickly. I was crying. ‘
When the pressure is the same inside...’
and
‘take a deep breath now, okay? Look at me, Red…’
Then the water had taken me under.

I could remember nothing else, but I was here – I was alive. That meant Kalen was, too. With that thought, an envelope at the end of my bed caught my eye. I threw back my covers and lunged for it, my fingers trembling as I tore open the paper.

Red,

As I sit here and watch you sleep, I find I’m almost incapable of doing the right thing, but I told you once that it is fear which drives us all in the end. Well, the only thing that scares me more than not being with you, is you dying because of me. I can’t let that happen. I hope one day you’ll forgive me.

In the top draw of your dresser is the gift I wanted to give you yesterday. I hope it makes you happy. If it gives you a tenth of the happiness you have given me then, for once in my life, I will have done something right.

Know that I love you. I love you like I’ve never loved anything in this world and I’ll love you with my last breath.

K

I doubled over, a pain like nothing I’d ever experienced twisting my gut. Stumbling to my dresser, I struggled to breathe as I yanked open the top drawer. A thin black velvet box sat inside. I pried it open and a stack of papers burst out. I scanned them, confused. It looked like the deeds to my house, bought and paid for in the names of Rachel and Veronica Rose.

Kalen had bought me my house.

It was everything I’d thought I wanted – my father’s legacy, my home. Afraid my legs wouldn’t hold me up much longer, I fell back on the bed as numbness crept through me. The sound of the front door closing downstairs interrupted my thoughts. I recognised my sister’s footsteps running up the stairs.

‘Hey,’ Rachel said, stepping into my room with an uncertain smile.

I wiped my cheeks to catch the stray tears.

‘I heard what happened with Jar. I didn’t get to talk to you last night, but I’m sorry it came to that.’

I managed to shrug as I took her in. She was going to be twenty-seven this year. She had a boyfriend, a daughter, a great job and now a house.
She’d be fine
, I told myself.

‘What you got there?’ she ventured.

‘Nothing.’ I folded the papers and stuffed them back in the box.

Rachel shifted awkwardly, toying with her hair the way Kalen once told me I did. ‘Did you see the news? There was an explosion at the old Taylor mansion. A gas leak apparently. The whole thing burned down.’

‘I haven’t watched the news.’

‘Isn’t that where those boys were staying?’

‘Not any more.’

‘Ronnie, I’m trying to be nice here. Throw me a bone?’

‘What do you want me to say?’

‘Well, have you made a decision?’

‘They’ve gone, if that’s what you mean. For good.’

‘Oh, thank God,’ she sighed. ‘You know, you’ve made the right choice, Ronnie. It’s very grown up of you. This is the right thing – for all of us. Now we can get back to normal.’

I gave her a small smile. It was all I had.

‘Are you going to be okay?’ she asked.

I swallowed, trying not to cry. ‘I am.’

‘Okay, well, I have to go. I’m meeting some friends from work. Maybe we can have dinner tomorrow? Cook something lovely and I’ll bring Jar and Cloud.’ She rushed to me, kissing my cheek before turning to leave.

‘Rachel,’ I called, as she reached the door.

‘Yeah?’

‘I love you.’

‘Me too, sweetie. Everything will be great now, you’ll see. He really was no good for you. We’ll find you someone better, okay?’

The door fell shut behind her. Her words resonating inside me as I stared at the void she’d left behind.

I fell back so I was staring at the ceiling and tried to collect my thoughts. It was six p.m.; I’d slept most of the day. But I still had time. I didn’t believe Kalen would have left yet. He’d be watching me to make sure I was safe first, I was sure of it. With that thought, I knew what I had to do.