Price of a Bounty (Reliance on Citizens Makes Us Great!) (10 page)

-Keira-

Needs

I
woke when Guy set me gently on the bed, but I didn’t open my eyes.
The locket, my mother’s music, they’re really gone. My last ties
to my parents, gone.
I felt myself sinking. Breathing became
difficult.

I
was aware that Guy had not left the room – that he watched over
me. After sinking and sinking and sinking some more, I realized I
could no longer feel anything. I was just hollow, empty, gone. I
needed to fill the void, to feel something other than the emptiness
and the suffocating pressure on my chest.

I
listened to Guy breathe: inhale – exhale – inhale –
exhale. He sat next to me on the bed and held my hand. He kept me
tethered to the world. I began to breathe in sync with him. It
released some of the pressure. Scott said I could trust him. April
suggested that I should seriously consider him. Even Guy had talked
about trust.

I
kept my eyes closed, pulled my hand away from his and reached out to
caress his thigh. I willed him to lie down next to me, to gather me
into his arms, to make me feel something.

When
he didn’t respond, I opened my eyes and looked deeply into his. I
wanted to sink into that sea of blue rather than into the blackness
that surrounded me. I wanted to leave this world behind, if only for
a little while. I stretched my hand toward his face and cupped his
cheek, rough with stubble. Couldn’t he understand what I needed?
Didn’t he want to help me?

He
stood and backed away. I let my hand drop and just looked at him.
I’m wrong. He doesn’t want me.
He turned and walked away.

-Guy-

A
Decision

No,
not like this. Not tonight and not as an act of desperation.
I
was shaking, but I refused to do something we would both regret.

I
walked into the bathroom, closed the door behind me and leaned
against it for support. When the shaking subsided, I walked over to
the sink and turned on the faucet. The background noise helped me
think. I leaned forward and gazed into the mirror until I’d made a
decision.

I’ll
give Keira a place to stay for as long as she needs. Not here. One
of the safe houses will be fine. I’ll be there for her. We’ll take
it slow. She’s loyal and trustworthy, Scott said. Maybe soon, I can
trust her with more.

When
I returned to the bedroom, she was already gone.

-Keira-

On
the Run

Guy
left. He shut me out. I sat up and pulled my knees under my chin.
What does he want from me? What does he expect?
I knew he
wanted my help with the Resistance, so he must value my skills. He’d
asked me all those questions, made me think about changing my ways.
Didn’t that mean he cared for me?

Who
was I kidding? I didn’t even believe in love. I was crazy to have
thought he might want more.

It
didn’t matter. I could take care of myself. I was back in control.
I had to be, and I knew I couldn’t stay here. I needed to figure out
my next move and get back on my own two feet. Where would I live
now? I would have to pick up the pieces of my life and begin again.
There, that was the answer. I would go back to the beginning and
begin again.

My
high heels swung at my side as I began a barefooted trek toward
Tony’s, a bar I knew well from my earliest days of living on the
streets. Darkness sifted down from unlit streetlamps. When I
spotted the familiar windows lit with candles, I hesitated. Did I
really want to go down this path? I took a deep breath. Yes, right
now I needed familiarity and a place to hide. Here, I knew what to
expect, and I knew what would be expected of me.

I
opened the door and made my way inside, into a roomful of people who
had nowhere else to go. I scanned the crowd until I spotted him.
Cole sat at a corner table intent on some playing cards. A red
pillar candle lit the players’ faces. Cole wasn’t the first person
I’d stayed with back then. I’d met him a few months later.

I
slipped behind him and gently placed my hands on his shoulders. The
men across the table grinned in my direction, their poker chips
momentarily forgotten. Greed reflected clearly in their eyes. As
they looked me up and down, I became intensely aware of my short
caterer’s skirt. The women at the table regarded me with neither
friendliness nor hostility.

Cole
turned his head. “Ah Keira! It’s been too long.” He
addressed the men. “Show some respect! Don’t you know who
this is?”

They
looked confused.

“This
is Keira Maddock. Tell me you’ve at least heard the stories?”

Two
of the men looked down, but one shook his head. The woman on his
right nudged him and pointed at a man seated at the bar. I looked
too. How could I forget? He’d burned my left shoulder. He picked
up his drink and took a sip.

“Hey,
what happened to his fingers?” the man sitting across from me
asked.

Cole
sighed and returned his attention to me. “I heard you were
doing well for yourself.” He looked at my outfit, and his
eyebrows shot up. “I thought you were self employed though.”

“I
am. This was necessary for my last job. Cole, something’s
happened.”

“Something
that brought you to me?” He smiled.

“Did
you see the fireworks display earlier this evening?”

“No,
but I heard about it. You did that?”

“You
know me better than that.” I playfully slapped his arm.
“That’s not my style.” I leaned down close to his ear
and whispered, “Someone did that to me. I need a place to stay
for a while, a place to lay low.”

He
set down his cards. “Did anyone follow you?”

“No,
I’m pretty sure they think I was in the apartment.”

“Chrissy’s
moving out.” He glanced across the room and tilted his head in
the direction of a petite brunette.

I
turned to see Chrissy. With her was a tall slender woman I didn’t
recognize.

“She’s
moving up in the world. Payment includes room and board. How will
you be paying this time?”

I
needed to keep every gat I’d just earned. “In the usual way,”
I said.

Cole
nodded in agreement and picked up his cards.

I
walked over to Chrissy’s table and looked for an empty chair.

“Oh,
here,” her friend said. “I was just leaving.” She
stood, then leaned down to give Chrissy a hug. “Congratulations!”

I
sat in the vacated chair and ordered a beer.

“I
saw you talking with Cole,” Chrissy said.

“I
need a place to stay. I hope you don’t mind.”

She
shrugged. “I figured that’s what you were talking about. I’ll
take the couch tonight.”

“What’s
the good news?” I asked.

“I’ve
replaced the Beckett’s nanny.”

“Oh?
What happened to her?” My drink arrived, and I took a sip.

“Rumor
is she’s expecting, and Lance Beckett is the father.”

I
thought back to the other day when April and I had watched the
Beckett girls at play in the park. Was that the errand the nanny
needed to run?

“You
be careful in that house. I wouldn’t put it past him to try that
again! Tell April to be careful too, won’t you?”

“That’s
right! I saw her when I interviewed. I’ll tell her.”

“You’ve
got an important job ahead of you now. You need to teach those girls
to respect and appreciate the Working Class because one day they’ll
be at the top. We don’t want them to end up like…” My
thoughts drifted back to what Guy had said about people just being
people, no matter what their station. “Well, like most of the
Elite.”

“That’s
a good point. Why are you back, Keira? Anything you want to talk
about?”

“No,
I’m not ready to talk about it just yet, but thanks for asking.”

Chrissy
nodded. “Anytime.”

“You
could help me out though. Would you pass along a message to April?”

“Of
course!”

“You
can tell her where I’m staying and that I’m okay, but remind her to
be careful what she says to Scott.”

“All
right. Anything else?”

“No.
Thanks, Chrissy.”

“Sure.
Are you about ready? I’m beat.”

I
tipped back my head and quickly downed the rest of the beer. Maybe
the alcohol would help me get through the night.

Arm-in-arm,
Chrissy and I walked the few blocks to Cole’s house, a one-bedroom
bungalow. In the living room, I reached out and wiped a finger
across the coffee table. Chrissy had cleaned. I sat down on the
faded checkered couch in the living room and looked out the window at
the night sky. Chrissy went into the bedroom to pack.

Now
that I had a place to stay where I knew exactly what was expected of
me, I could plan for the future. Tomorrow, I’d shop for some new
clothes and purchase a few other necessities. Then I’d lay low for a
few weeks. Once Elaine Ramsey believed she’d successfully killed me,
I would be free to move on.

When
Chrissy returned to the living room, I said goodnight, entered the
small bedroom, removed my caterer’s uniform in the dark and climbed
into bed. I didn’t want to dwell on what I’d lost so I surrendered
myself to sleep.

Cole
climbed into bed a couple of hours later. He caressed my shoulders
and back until I was fully awake. It was time to pay the rent. I
turned toward him and let him explore my body. I even reciprocated,
but there was no emotion. This was, after all, just a business
transaction. Afterward, I turned back to the wall and fell asleep.

-Keira-

Picking
Up the Pieces

The
next morning I climbed over Cole’s sleeping form. Sunlight seeped
around the edges of the old grey blanket that covered the bedroom
window but streamed full force into the living room. I squinted in
the sudden brilliance and noticed that Chrissy had already left.

I
stumbled into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. Cold.
Jolted fully awake, I ran my fingers through my tangled mess of
hair. Green eyes stared back at me from the wavy mirror. This was
my world: cold, tangled and distorted. I shook my head. A previous
boarder, maybe Chrissy, had left some perfumed soap. It helped make
the cold shower bearable.

While
I showered, I thought about recent events. When he’d realized who I
was, Guy had said that Scott worried about me and wanted me to be
safe and happy. I believed that was true. It sounded like my
brother. For a little while, I’d thought maybe Guy wanted that for
me too, and maybe he did. That didn’t mean…a melody came to mind,
and I sang a few lyrics:

But
it wouldn’t be make-believe,

If
you believed in me.

Wake
up, Keira. Guy made it clear. He wants a working relationship,
nothing more.
And I knew there was absolutely nothing wrong with
that, but it still hurt. We had talked about trust, not love. I’d
never before believed in love anyway, so nothing had really changed.
The locket being destroyed the same night that Guy pushed me away,
well that was just a stinking coincidence.

Scott
trusted him, and Guy could trust me. I would never betray him or the
Resistance. That truth remained. I felt that in a couple of weeks,
I’d be able to move past these new emotions and approach him about
another job. I could still pick up bounties on the side. I could do
both, take out the Bad and help the Good.

I
turned off the water, wrapped myself in a thin light blue towel and
returned to the darkness of the bedroom. I rummaged around in Cole’s
closet until I found a clean pair of jeans and a plain black T-shirt.
Both were too big, so I tightened the jeans with a belt and rolled
the cuffs. Then I tucked in the shirt and put on my heels. Back in
the living room, I picked up an old baseball cap I’d seen the night
before. I twisted up my hair and tucked it under the cap.

My
stomach grumbled so I hurried to the kitchen and opened the
refrigerator. I could tell the electricity had been off for at least
a couple of hours. Inside was a six-pack of warm beer, a half stick
of butter, some outdated eggs and half a loaf of bread. I tossed out
the eggs and settled my stomach with a slice of bread and butter.

The
golden sun and bright blue sky lifted my spirits. I had nowhere
pressing to be, and I wouldn’t be able to look for work for a little
while. I needed to lay low to give Elaine Ramsey time to believe she
had accomplished her goal. Certainly, people had died in that
explosion. Let Mrs. Ramsey believe one of the corpses was mine. The
Gov wouldn’t spend too much time identifying the bodies, or what was
left of them, not in that part of town.

At
a second hand clothing store, I found a couple pairs of fitted jeans,
black and dark blue, and a few stylish tops to wear with them. I
also purchased a light spring jacket, a pair of comfortable sandals
and a trendy black pack in which to carry my items while I was living
on the run.

Next,
I stopped by a drugstore and bought some personal items to add to my
pack as well as a pair of scissors. In a public restroom, I cut my
long hair short. I’d ask April to fix the back when I next saw her.
Then I put on my new shoes and shoved my high heels into the pack
with the rest of my belongings.

I
saved my few remaining gats and began the long walk back to Cole’s.

-Guy-

A
Meeting with Scott

Board
meetings, lunch meetings, endless meetings! Pushing gats this way
and that, back and forth among the rich – never in the right
direction. That was all life at the firm ever was and ever would be.

Before
I’d always had the Resistance to give balance and meaning to my life.
Now, only two thoughts kept running through my mind. One was Elaine
Ramsey. Was she still a threat? And what about Keira? Where was
she? Was she safe?