The Fallen (Angelic Redemption) (13 page)

Heidi sighed, pushing hair from her face as she
twisted in bed to see him better. “You’re right. I am afraid, but not of dying.
When I die, I will go to Heaven. I’m afraid of where you’ll go.”

“I don’t deserve Heaven.”

“It’s not your decision.”

Joaquin moved closer, the gun lowering slightly. “I
will make it quick. I’ll then do what I should have done in the motel.”

“If you had died, those men would have found me.
You lived for a reason. Why are you so afraid to see what God has planned for
us?”

Joaquin didn’t answer as his finger caressed the
trigger. She would keep talking until he grew weak from his feelings for her.
He would then give into those feelings and she would die like a dog in the
street.

Her gaze frightened, Heidi asked, “Will it hurt?”

“No.”

“How can you know that?”

“It will be quick.”

“But it could hurt?”

Joaquin hated how he kept talking, kept extending
this torture. She was afraid now. If he were a good man, he would have shot Heidi
before she had a chance to understand and the fear set in. If only he were a
good man, he might not have wanted these last selfish moments with her.

“Stop talking,” he whispered.

“I don’t want you to die,” Heidi said as the tears
finally broke forward. “I want you to be saved.”

Joaquin sighed, his eyes searching the room for
strength.

“It has to be this way. Can’t you see how there is
no way out for us? No magic plan that allows me to save you.”

“I don’t care about getting away. I want you to be
saved, not me. Can’t you wait and see what happens?”

Joaquin leaned down and wiped a tear from her
freckled cheek. “Don’t cry. You’ll be safe soon. Think of finding peace and not
of the gun or my fate. Think of being with your god.”

Heidi reached for his hand as he wiped the tear.
Squeezing it gently, she stared at him with her soothing green eyes.

“If God wants this to happen, it will happen. I’ll
stop talking and leave it to Him.”

Joaquin nodded, one hand holding hers, the other
the gun he planned to use to end her life. He might have put the gun down, if
not for the darkness assuring him how her death later would be slower and more
painful. Stepping away from the bed, he let go of her hand and raised the
weapon.

Heidi did not close her eyes. Instead, she stared
at him, eyes damp, but the crying over. He gazed into those kind eyes and counted
in his head. At that moment, Joaquin knew he loved her and the thought sickened
him.

His gaze holding hers, he pressed gently at the
trigger as his countdown reached four. When his countdown reached two, Heidi’s gaze
moved to the door.

The impending threat itched at him and he followed
her gaze to where shadows passed under the door. Hushed voices were barely noticeable,
but Joaquin knew, just as he always knew.

“Go,” he said, waving for Heidi to move to the bathroom.

Before she made it off the bed, he fired twice
through the door, hitting the men coming to kill them. Rushing now in opposite
directions, Heidi hid in the bathroom while Joaquin grabbed another weapon and
threw open the door. The men lay on the ground, in great pain and barely alive.
He noticed an ear piece on each of them and grabbed one. Others were here,
making plans downstairs. Surveying the empty hall, he called for Heidi who
grabbed her bag and stood next to him.

“They’re here.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I will draw them towards the entrance while you
slip out back.”

Heidi grabbed his arm. “We need to stay together.”

“Do as I say,” Joaquin said, taking one of the
smaller guns and handing it to Heidi. “Go hide in the stairwell above us until
you hear the gunshots then make your way downstairs and outside. Don’t go to
the van. Just find a spot where you can hide and wait for me.”

“I don’t know how to use a gun,” Heidi said, her
lower lip trembling as she stared at him.

“They don’t know that. Once they see me, they’ll assume
you’re close by.”

Heidi nodded, edging away from him, her face
twisted with uncertainty. Joaquin left her and headed towards the opposite
stairwell. Suddenly pausing, he wondered if he would ever see Heidi again. This
thought forced Joaquin to return to where she waited for him.

Joaquin slipped his guns into his waistband then
took her face into his hands. Kissing her softly, he imagined her lying dead in
the parking lot. He imagined all sorts of awful outcomes. When she returned his
affections though, Joaquin decided he would make it as difficult for the cartel
as possible. It was all he knew how to do anyway.

Heidi didn’t smile at him when he let go of her.
She didn’t say a word, just held her gun awkwardly and walked away. Watching
her disappear into the stairwell, Joaquin hurried downstairs to create his
diversion.

The hotel lobby was tackily decorated, but tidy
when Joaquin checked in a few hours earlier. The once empty lobby was now
filled with armed men who took a second to notice his arrival. While initially
startled, the killers quickly reacted by firing wildly in his direction.

Bullets tore apart the lobby, ripping through
flesh and furniture. Joaquin moved easily through the mayhem, firing his
weapons until they were empty. Tossing them aside, he retrieved more and chased
down each fleeing man who had come to harm his Heidi.

The lobby finally fell silent - bodies and bullets
and blood the new décor. Joaquin was unharmed, only a single bullet had ripped
through the sleeve of his shirt, never touching flesh. His eyes scanned the
cowering hotel staff behind the counter, the bodies scattered around the lobby,
and the street outside for more trouble. The staff remained docile, the corpses
stayed dead, and the street was still empty.

Calm overtook the darkness in his heart and
Joaquin felt God. The same certainty from the day before flooded his heart and
he again embraced hope.

Moving towards the back door to find Heidi in the
parking lot, Joaquin flinched when shots rang out upstairs. His actions should
have drawn all of the men to the lobby. No others should be upstairs shooting.

Barreling up the stairs, his mind again showed him
so many awful outcomes. Her death was his fault. His plan was flawed. He left
her to die because he knew she would die anyway. Now, Joaquin ached to see Heidi
once more - her gentle green eyes, her kind smile, and those freckles.

Throwing open the door to the hallway, Joaquin
raised his gun, ready for revenge. He only found Heidi standing with her own
gun raised at him. Between them lay two men, each dead from a single shot to
the head. Joaquin walked to Heidi who stared at the dead men. Taking the gun
from her hand, he touched her face gently, gaining her attention.

“I came back to help you,” she said.

“I told you…”

“God told me different. I shot those men.”

“Yes, we need to go.”

“Are you hurt?” Heidi asked, probing the hole in
his shirt.

“I’m fine. We need to hurry.”

Joaquin took her bag and shoved it into his duffle
bag along with his spent weapons. Holding her hand, he hurried down the
backstairs and towards the parking lot where he searched for a new car. A
silver sedan spoke out to him and he found it was not only unlocked, but
blessed with a spare set of keys in the glove compartment. Heidi stood next to
him as he checked the car, but made no move to get in.

“We need to go,” Joaquin said, trying to calm his
nerves.

“Are you still going to kill me?”

Joaquin sighed, hating that he ever considered
such an option. “You left it to God and He gave us the answer. How can I argue
with His will?”

Nodding with a relieved smile, Heidi joined him
in the car. As they drove away from the hotel, Joaquin heard sirens
approaching.

“We’re stealing a family’s car,” Heidi said,
eyeing the children’s toys in the backseat.

“We have no choice.”

“Are you scared?”

Joaquin shook his head, unwilling to look her in
the eye.

“I am. How did they find us so soon?”

Joaquin didn’t answer, for he sensed not even the
cartel was this powerful.

“Tell me about the monster from your dream.”

Heidi shrugged. “Just some moldy thing talking to
a man in a nice suit. The monster told the man about our hotel and even the
room number.”

“Did it feel real?”

“No, it felt like a dream.”

“Then why bring it up?”

“Because I didn’t think the cartel found us on
their own.”

Joaquin sighed. “I’m beginning to think the same
thing.”

Recalling his past dealings with the cartel, he
wondered why they would put such effort into finding Heidi, a young woman with
no apparent connection to them. Something else was at work here and a monster
made as much sense as anything else.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Heidi asked in a
voice much quieter than usual.

“No.”

Nodding, Heidi stared out of the window as the
resort town faded into the distance.

“What you’re feeling is okay,” she said, still
looking out of the window. “I’m feeling it too.”

“You don’t know what I’m feeling.”

Heidi leaned over and flicked his ear. “You’re
not quite the mystery you think you are.”

Joaquin glanced at her with a grin. “We’ll see.”

Lila woke just after dawn next to a man she
barely knew, yet loved completely. His restful breathing almost caused Lila to
fall back to sleep, but she was roused by Sophie who sat up and yawned.

Tiptoeing to the bathroom, the women spoke in
hushed voices.

“We should let him rest,” Lila said, retrieving a
pair of jeans from her bag. “There’s a Denny’s next door. Let’s go pick up some
food and bring it back.”

“By ourselves?”

Lila frowned at the blonde. “You once hunted in
the presence of the greatest warrior, Micah. You ran with the best pack, mine.
You can take on any villain and win. You need faith in God to gain your power
though. Get it?”

“You’re saying a trip to Denny’s shouldn’t be a
problem then?”

“Yeah, that’s basically what I’m saying.”

While Sophie finished dressing in the bathroom,
Lila returned to Roman who slept as if exhausted from years of hoping and
waiting and suffering. All of the pain now washed off him with every soft
breath he exhaled. Watching him sleep, Lila wished he would wake up and tell
her everything was alright.

Faced with hunting down a big dog rogue hunter,
Lila suddenly didn’t feel ready. Knowing she died not once, but twice, ate at
her confidence and she needed Roman to comfort her.

Roman didn’t wake though. Even as a family with
chatty kids passed by the window, he never stirred. Too deep asleep to casually
wake, Lila gave up on finding immediate reassurance. She only hoped the smell
of breakfast roused him.

Sophie emerged from the bathroom, hair back in a
ponytail, wearing a pair of jeans and one of Lila’s tank tops. The two women
could be sisters in their matching outfits, not to mention their matching
freckles. Lila didn’t notice though. She only had eyes for Roman.

Slipping out of the room, Lila gained reassurance
from the butt of the gun against the small of her back. Two more guns poked at
her ribcage. Overly nervous about a simple trip to breakfast, Lila forced
herself to calm down before the anxiety rubbed off on Sophie.

This little piece of interstate nothingness
possessed one hotel, two gas stations, an Arby’s, a Burger King, and the
Denny’s. Large semis lined the roads, filled the parking lots, and blocked much
of Lila’s view.

Entering the restaurant, Lila spotted a dozen
humans and one hunter. The waitress, who hurried them to a booth, immediately
caught Lila’s eye. Her nametag read Olivia and she was stunning like most
hunters. Lila noticed underneath her beauty though, this hunter was miserable.
Living a lie would do that.

Lila sensed Olivia was in a hurry and had no time
for chitchat, but mostly she sensed the waitress was aware something was
different about Lila and Sophie.

“You work here long?” Lila asked, not allowing
the waitress to leave yet.

“Yes,” Olivia said, a tight fake smile plastered
on her lovely face. “I’m working on my AA at the community college. This pays
the bills.”

“What are you studying to do?”

Olivia shrugged as her blue eyes fluttered from
Lila to the front door.

“I’ll figure it out when I get there.”

Nodding, Lila smiled. “Been there.”

Olivia grinned at Lila, holding her gaze. For a
moment, Lila thought the young woman might acknowledge their shared destinies,
but Olivia didn’t act on her feelings.