Deadly Target: Force of Nature

Chapter 7 The Dead Man

I jumped back into the car with Samantha and Bean. I told Bean to drive to a gas station where there is a payphone.

"Not many of those around," she said.

I gave her a I know look, mixed with a just f*****g find one look. I swear between Bean's smart ass mouth and her mother screaming at her because of her driving, I felt like a mother ready to smack the hell out of her kids. We were finally at a gas station. I got out and found the payphone on the other side of the building. I took a deep breath as I dialed the number.

"Hello," a deep voice from the other side said.

I swallowed hard, "Hey, it's me. How are you?"

"I'm fine. What's up?"

"I need help, and by help, I need to come to your place and do some research."

"Really, what happened?" I could hear him laughing on the phone.

"Have you seen the news?" The tone of my voice sounded annoyed.

"Ha!! I knew that was you. I miss you. Bring that sexy ass to me."

"Oh my God, Jay. Don't make it weird."

"Babe, you made it weird when you called me and acted like we are just buddies. Just bring your ass. You know I got you."

I hung up the phone. I came back to the car as Bean finished getting gas.

"You got cash, right?" I asked her.

"No, I was just going to use this card." She flashed a gold card.

"No, hold on." I went to the glove box, opened a panel on the side, and pulled out some cash. I looked in the back seat and asked Samantha if she wanted anything.

"Yea," she said, "A knife and two bottles of wine." I looked at her and said, ok.

I knew what she was going to try and do. I was not going to stop her. I am pretty sure she has done it before. Bean and I went into the store and got all the supplies we needed for a three-hour trip. The car ride started off as quiet and calm. Then Samantha began drinking her wine. She poured some of it into her womb. Hissing from the pain, she took a swig then poured some more in her womb. When the bottle was half full, she pulled out the knife and quickly jammed it in her leg and twisted it around, and she screamed a little but mostly grunted and dug the bullet out of her leg. Blood was all over the back seat, her clothes and hands. She showed me the bullet while blood was oozing off of it.

"Look, Aza, isn't it nice?" She was full of laughter.

She was starting to slur her words. I turned around and shrugged in disgust. She had the knife in her other hand dripping with her blood. I looked at the back seat and thought, well, gotta get rid of this car. She poured more wine in her womb and let out a grunt and mild scream, took a lighter, and set it on fire to cauterize it. I handed her some gauze, and she wrapped it up, then proceeded to drink the rest of the wine.

"Damn, you are one tough old broad," I told her, smiling.

"I am not old, I'm prime, and yea, torture pays off."

I laughed loudly. "Yea, sometimes it does pay off. I take that back. It pays off all the time."

She continued to drink and talk. The more she drank, the more she slurred. Her words became an unrecognizable mess. Then it got quiet. It's been about three hours, and Samantha has fallen asleep. I looked at Bean. She was concentrating on the road.

"Look, there is a left coming up. I need you to take that." I was whispering, trying not to wake Samantha up. Bean sighed like she was over it.

"I know this is a lot for you. It's going to be ok. I will make sure of it. We will get out of this," I reassured her.

Bean started shaking her head. "It's not that. I know you are going to try and get us out of this. I am just happy she has shut the f**k up. She was driving me crazy."

I tried to hold my laughter in but couldn't and just let it out. Bean took a left down a long dirt road.

"So, who lives here?" I can see she was looking at the scenery.

I looked at her and kept quiet. We pulled up to a beautiful two-story wood cabin. It looked to have about four or five bedrooms. Flowers outside of the house. A tree swing. Yard furniture, beautiful trees around the house. It looked like a family home.

"Hey, wake your mother, and I am going to knock on the door."

I went to the door and knocked twice. A man answered. He was 6' 5" tall, brown hair, big dark blue eyes, plump light pink lips, light bronze skin, he had a tight white tank top on, showing off his muscular build, and I can see his six-pack through it. He looked like he was chiseled from marble. I gasped. He was the only one that could make me weak just by looking at him.

"Hey, sexy." His sweet, velvety voice broke me out of my trance.

"Don't call me sexy." I was stirring into his deep blue eyes. "I have people with me. One has been shot."

"And what about you?" He pointed to my arm that got grazed by a bullet.

"I'm fine. I don't need it as bad as she does." I stood there waiting for a reply.

"Well, Aza. Let me go help." He walked past me, going down the stairs.

I tried to stop him from going to the car, but I was too late. He was headed that way, taking long strides. As he got close, Samantha yelled out.

"WHAT THE f**k!!!" She was profoundly slurring her words now. "Why are you alive?"

"Excuse me," Jay said, confused.

"You can't hear now? Are you deaf too?" She was trying to form words.

Bean was holding her up as she tried to talk. "Mom, please let's just go in."

"I go in when I f*****g want to go in?" Her drunken protest was amusing. I could not help but laugh. I ran over and grabbed Jay by the hand.

"Come over here. Let's talk for a moment."

We walked away as Bean was taking Samantha into the house.

"DEAD, I SAY!!! DEAD!!" Samantha yells as they enter the house. Jay was looking at me with questions.

"I did not tell them, Jay'."

"Why not?" I noticed his voice was starting to rise a little, and I can see he was beginning to get angry.

"Just let it go, Jay."

"WHY Dammit? Could you not even tell them? You almost died with these people, and you could not even let them know where you were taking them?"

"Because nobody is supposed to know that you are here, let alone alive." We stood there quietly for a while.

I've known Jay for a long time. Since we were kids. I wanted to make sure he was safe at all times, no matter what. Even the situation we were in was not ideal, but I had nowhere else to turn to. I know he thinks I am crazy for not telling my associates, but I don't trust them yet.

"When I found out that you were my target, I had to protect you." I grabbed him by his waist, turning him to face me.

"So now I just need your protection? He was being sarcastic and biting his lip. "That's all I mean to you?"

"What was I supposed to do, Jay? Kill you?" I started raising my voice. "You know you mean more to me than some damn contract. I protected you as you did for me when we were kids. You remember that day when my father came home drunk. He had a bad day at work. Yelling some s**t about loyalty. I walked in to make sure he was alright, and 'BAM' I was on my ass. I ran out of the house so fast." I began to tear up. "Where did I run?"

"You ran to me. I told you, don't worry, I will protect you. We had our first kiss." I wanted to ease the tension a little. He placed his hands on my waist. "And now you're hooked on me, baby." He was smiling like a mad man.

I let out a scuff and hummed. "Don't get cocky."

"Your father was weird. We never knew what he did, but he made money like a motherfucker. He loved your mother but treated you like you were a disease."

"Don't remind me. Growing up there was horrible. I had to leave." Tears started rolling down my cheek. Every time I came here, we would go down memory lane just to avoid our other problems.

He held me close to his chest. "You left me too."

"I talked to you every day." I started to defend myself. He was not wrong, but I needed to handle my business.

"It was not the same. You knew how I felt about you. I had to watch you leave me."

"Stop, Jay, I can't do this right now." Egh, he makes me sick with his fine ass, I thought. "Well, I think we should go inside."

He looked disappointed but began walking to the house. "You have the files, Aza?"

"Yea, they are in the car." I went and grabbed the files, and we headed in.

Samantha was slumped on the couch, still talking in a drunken slur.

"Oh my God. Will, you SHUT THE f**k UP." Bean was yelling at her mom.

"I'm just saying Bean crab legs are wayyy better than shrimp."

"Mom, I don't care. I can't eat shellfish so, how the hell would I know?"

"Ok, Ok, Bean, go take a break," I told her.

She let out a sigh of relief, looked at me and said gladly, and walked away. Jay and I both burst out in laughter. Jay started walking toward the bathroom to grab the first aid kit.

"I am going to start patching her up, ok, love." He stated as he was walking.

"Yes, Jay, and thank you, we need to get her sober. I'm going to go make some coffee."

As I was making coffee, I could hear Jay trying to talk to Samantha. I hate that he had to deal with her, being she is drunk as a skunk. She is still yelling at him, calling him a dead man, and fighting him.

"Please, Miss Sam, calm down. I am just trying to help you."

"I don't want any help from a DEAD MAN! Don't touch me. Stop it, dead man."

"I am not a dead man. Now keep your ass still so I can stitch you up, dammit."

She went to say something before I walked in but closed her mouth when she saw me. "OOOOO coffee," she said excitedly. I handed her the cup and looked at Jay.

"Is everything ok?" I asked him as I sat next to Samantha.

"Yea, she finally calmed down enough for me to stitch her up. She did a great job in cauterizing it."

Samantha leaned in and started whispering to me. "Hey, Aza, did you know we are talking to a dead man?" I just laughed at her.

"Samantha, he is not dead, and he is a good nurse, so please let him do his job."

"A Nurse? Oh yeah, you were a good nurse, now you're dead. That's sooo sad."

I pointed at her cup to get her to shut up. "Look, just drink your damn coffee."

She took a long sip. "Ouch, this s**t is hot."

"Oh, that's hot, but not too long ago, you dug a bullet out of your leg." I gave her a weird look.

"Ok, all done," Jay said.

"Thanks, Jay. You have been a great help," I told him.

"Thank you, dead man, now I go night, night." Samantha started to lean on the chair, and her half cup of coffee started slipping out of her hand. I grabbed it before it spilled on the floor. I looked over at her, and she was fast asleep.

"Sleeping like a baby, thank God. Wait, what did you give her?" I was surprised at how fast she fell asleep.

"Morphine seemed to do the trick because one more dead man comment I think I would have sown her lips shut." I could not help but laugh. "Before you get to work with these files, we need to talk."

He made a gesture of his hands waving in the air. I just looked at him and nodded. We left the living room headed towards the kitchen when Bean came back in.

"Where is my drunk ass mom?"

"In the living room asleep," I told her.

"Good, where do I sleep?"

"Up the stairs, the third door on the left," Jay told her.

"Thank you. I am going to take a shower and go to sleep. Ummm, we are safe here, right?" I looked her in the eyes and looked back at Jay.

"Completely."

"Ok, well, good night." She left the room, giving me a knowing look.

"Ok, Jay, let's talk," I told him, pulling him towards one of the bedrooms downstairs.