A longer pause.
A third shallow breath.......
Chapter 24
With a great amount of satisfaction I leave the steel box and close the door behind me. I expect this will all be over soon. Daddy Mancini will be here in a few short hours and he’ll be meeting his son in hell. Unfortunately I need to wait until Agent calls with any further information about the other hit on Ben’s life. Ben cannot leave my side now, because I can’t protect him if he isn’t close by. But, I’m not sure he is going to want to stay once I tell him what I know. I go into the lounge but stop at the kitchen where Ben has found a bottle of Jack. He has the bottle on the bench and 1 shot glass next to it, the bottle has been opened already and it appears that only a few shots have been had. Ben’s service pistol is sitting on the bench and Ben is leaning forward with his arms stretched in front of him gripping the bench top. He is just staring at the bottle and hasn’t heard me come in, so I clear my throat and start this very awkward conversation, “Ben how about you leave the alcohol and come sit down with me. You need a clear mind with everything I have to tell you”
“Did you love me?” Bang, what a question straight off. He doesn’t lift his head to look at me, Ben is solely focussed on that bottle of Jack in front of him.
I stand still and take a deep breath.
His anger wins out over his calm exterior and forcefully smacks the bottle of Jack against the wall, the bottle flies up and smashes into thousands of tiny pieces, Jack Daniels saturates the wall it hits and runs down slowly making its way to a puddle on the floor. “Did you love me Anna or was it just to get to Ethan. I don’t understand why you would need a scheme if the only thing you wanted was to kill Ethan.”
“Ben I never wanted it to turn out like this”
“You haven’t answered my fucking question,” he turns his head slowly. He is pissed off. But his voice is eerily controlled and calm.
“I fell in love with you the moment I saw you at the bar Ben. I struggled with every moment we have been together.” I take a step closer to him and hope he doesn’t back away from me. “You have melted the ice around my heart,” another step closer. “You have made me want to be with you,” another step, “you took my breath away,” one more step, “I have never loved anyone in my life the way I love you,” last step “I love you Ben” my arms reach up to go around his waist, “more then you could possibly know”. Ben’s arms embrace me and I lean right into him. We’re standing with a tight grip not wanting to let each other go. Ben’s lips on my forehead and his arms around my back holding me firmly to his body. I don’t dare say anything because I don’t want to break this raw emotional loving connection. Who knows how long we are standing here like this, maybe a minute or an hour but neither of us want to break apart and destroy the closeness.
I take a deep breath and whilst I’m holding onto Ben I finally speak, “Ben you need to sit down so I can explain everything you need to know”.
“No Anna, I don’t want you to tell me what I need to know. I want you to tell me everything”
My heart drops because he is asking me to do what I have never done in my life. I need to open up and my façade needs to stay away whilst I tell Ben my story.
“The night I met you in the bar I had never seen or heard of you before. I wanted you so much and I know you wanted me. The fire and energy between us almost silenced my heart.” I stopped not knowing how to phrase the rest that needed to be said. “That day was also my 28
th
Birthday and that day I killed the man that sent his goons to kill my father and take me. He was Hit 147, which was also you room number. I knew right away that something was different between you and me. After the most amazing sex you and I had we were lying in bed and you started telling that you are Chief of Police in St Cloud and I freaked out. Because that just brought back memories with Dad, which is why I left as quickly as I did. And I knew right then that I loved you, even though I couldn’t be with you.”
“Ok?” Ben says nothing more but waits for me to keep going. I shift uncomfortably in my seat, not because of what I have to say but because of what Ethan did to me. “Why are you moving like that Anna?”
“I’ll get to that later Ben. Let me finish.”
He nods his head and lets out a deep breath.
“That after noon I was packing to leave when my ‘Agent’ called me to meet with an employer. I met with him and after an interesting encounter I was given the job.” I smile at the body guard who thought he would disrespect me.
“Do I want to know what you mean by ‘interesting encounter’?” he uses air quotes and he looks stiff and uptight.
“No Ben you don’t.” I let out a small humourless chuckle knowing that this next part will push Ben over the edge. “The target I was paid to kill is you”
The stiff and uptight demeanour changes into pure and utter shock and horror. He is struggling to breathe and is gasping whilst he goes white. I jump up and leap over to him in 2 strides and sit him all the way back in the single sofa just in case he passes out. My body is screaming out in pain but I push that to the back of my mind because I suppose it’s not every day the world’s most dangerous assassin tells you that she’s been paid to kill you.
“Me?” his voice is small.
I nod.
“You have been hired to kill me?”
I nod.
“Do you
want
to kill me?” what a peculiar question.
I shake my head.
“Are you going to kill me?”
I let out a deep breath and my entire body slouches forward. My shoulders totally let go of all the tension they have been holding and I put my head in my hands that are supported by my knees.
“At first Ben there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to take you out. I was going to make it look like an accident so your siblings could rest easy. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make considering I fell in love with you in that bar but I was going to do it. Then that night at the super market, I wasn’t expecting to see you there and as soon as I turned around and saw you standing there all I wanted to do was have your hands all over me. Every day I had to fight with myself about killing you. But Ethan came along and threatened you and.........”
“Wait what? What has Ethan got to do with you killing me? Fuck how weird does that sound? ‘You killing me?’” He’s shaking his head like he has just discovered his in an alternate universe.
“Ethan Martelli is an alias. His name is Tony Mancini JR”
“As in Anthony Mancini Mob Boss?” Ben questions but I can see he is slowly coming to his own realisation.
“As in Anthony Mancini Mob Boss’s son” I let it sink in before I continue talking.
“Anthony Mancini is who hired me to kill you. Ethan only became aware I was hired in the last 24 hours, he had other plans to take you out. He actually had set you up to make you look like a dirty cop”
“Why am I of interest to them?”
“Predominantly because you stand in their way of the drugs they are manufacturing here in St Cloud and you didn’t take a bribe that was offered to you years ago, but Ben unfortunately that’s not the end of it.....” Ben is shaking his head and not quite coping.
“What else is there to know Anna?”
“Your parents’ death was not accidental, it was a hit because you didn’t take the bribe”. I see wrath, infuriation, and wild savage emotions from Ben as he stands up and starts hitting the wall and throwing anything he can, not caring about the destruction he is causing. I’m not frightened by his behaviour because I remember when Dad was killed I felt the same way, I just slipped my façade on and took out the 3 men responsible. Ben is yelling and crying and breathing heavily all in one go.
He pulls his weapon and runs to the steel box trying to get into it. But I closed the self-locking door when I left a dead Ethan in there. “Open the fucking door Anna.”
“He’s dead Ben. I watched him take his last breath”
“I DON’T FUCKING CARE OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR,” he’s shouting.
“It doesn’t matter what you do to him because he’s already dead.”
Ben starts crying. Uncontrollably. Loudly. Franticly. Hysterically. He is kicking at the door and slamming it with tight fists, he trying to break it open. He slows his actions and leans his entire body on the door. He stops trying to attack the door and he slides down to the floor, his entire body is quivering and he looks up at me “I killed my parents” so much hurt in those 4 words. So much grief, despair he looks
broken.
“You can’t blame yourself because they would have found another way to kill them. They would have wanted to change your arrangement or anything. This is on them, not you.” I envelop Ben and don’t let him go, he resists me at first and tries to push me away but he stops struggling and just lets me do this, he eventually encloses me in a tight hug.
“Ethan is dead?” Ben is asking for confirmation and he doesn’t let me go but he mumbles it against my skin. His tears have stopped and his breathing less erratic.
“Yes. He died minutes after you left us in the steel box” Just then my phone rings. Its only one person and he must have my information. “Ben you need to let me go because I have to answer this.” I get my phone out of my pocket.
“15, information accessed. 1 more hit on your target. Assassin unknown however they have been hired from Hunter INC by Tony Mancini and you have another problem 15. The bounty on you still stands”
“Is Cleaner and Doctor on standby as requested?” Shit, I try not to think of the bounty even though I had a strong suspicion from the shooting at Mammas.
“They are ready to move out. ETA 1 hour from your go ahead”
“Wait for further instructions” I end the call. Ben looks over me and waits for me to fill him in.
“FUCKING HELL” I yell and am up and pacing. Hunter INC – Roman Murphy Company. Hit 147. Shit. Someone has stepped up and taken over. It must be his son Lincoln Murphy. Fuck, that damn bounty is still over my head. I’ll have to come to some sort of arrangements with Murphy about my bounty. Another damn problem. But one I somewhat expected – just not right now.
“We have another problem we need to sort out. I can do it on my own, but if you’re here I can protect you better. I know you’re a man of the law and I can’t ask you or expect you to help me, but I really need you close by so I can protect you from what’s coming”
“What’s coming Baby girl?” He uses his term of endearment for me and my heart skips a beat.
“In the next few hours we have Tony Mancini coming here to the cabin to take me out because Ethan gave him the co-ordinates to my cabin. He’ll likely come with his posse; we also have another assassin coming from Hunter INC. I don’t know who, but they are trained. I also don’t know when they are coming or where. All I know is there is a target on you and a bounty on me. If you choose to leave here I cannot protect you and you will likely be dead with 24 hours. I can’t make this choice for you Ben. But you need to know if you stay here you will see me do what I do best, and once that image is in your head it can never be erased.” I stop talking and wait for him to get his head around it. “Ben there really isn’t a lot of time for you to make your decision on what to do, I need your answer now”
For a few minutes Ben is silent. “For the next few hours I’m not a cop. I’ll do exactly what you want me to do” his body stiff and cold.
A killer will emerge in Ben Pearson tonight.
Chapter 25
We both make our way into the kitchen. “I need your gun Ben” He hands it over to me without a second thought. “I’m going into the steel box; I prefer you didn’t follow me because I don’t want you to see what I did to Ethan. And I need to collect a vial of blood from him.”
“I’m working on your terms Anna.” I look at him and see a reflection of myself in him. His façade slips on and he straightens his back. No emotion present on him at all. “I have one question I need to ask though, what happened with Ethan and you?”
“Ethan forced his way into my car, which was fine because I needed him back here so I could work on him. He taped me up and beat me up and when I wouldn’t give him what he wanted, he raped me. But I turned it around and you know the rest.”
“He raped you?”
I nod. Ben’s hands fist and he runs to the sink and dry reaches. I stand back and watch him as he loses the control he fought so hard to regain outside the steel box. He is screaming, he punches the wall and tugs his hair, his face is red with agitation and fury. All I can do is let him expel all these emotions. I don’t try to stop him or calm him because he needs to get it all out. After a few minutes Ben has calmed and his breath has started to return to normal.
“He raped you Anna?” wanting extra confirmation from his question mere moments ago.
“Yes. I have the Doctor on standby. When this situation is over the Doctor will exam me and I’ll have a vial of Ethan’s blood to test for any disease. But right now Ben, we have a job to do. You can think about that later if you want but I need you here with me. Do you understand?” Ben nods. “Stay here and don’t follow me into the steel box.”
I walk over to the steel box and put my code in, the door opens and I step inside. I place Ben’s service pistol on one of the shelves. I get a vial and fresh needle and extract blood from Ethan. Once I’m done with a now lifeless Ethan, I get my weapons. All of them and the ammunition that goes with them. The only thing left on the shelves is Ben’s gun. I take my disassembled sniper rifle out to the kitchen and Ben’s face lights up in shock. I go back into the steel box and get the rest of my weapons I have laid out and take them back to the kitchen. Ben is still in the same spot looking over all the artillery I bring out. “You can choose your weapons but the rifle is mine, you will not have the precision I have so you are not allowed to touch it.”
Ben swallows loudly as I put part of the rifle together. “Ok I’ll take the Sig semi-automatic and the Glock. Your Glocks are custom made aren’t they?” I nod a confirmation to him.
“My rifle has been modified too”. Now we are speaking my language.