Taken By The Hitman IV by Amber Adams

Chapter 6: Jason

 

I lean back in the chair and listen to Bianca tell some story from her childhood, smiling all the while. My side aches less now that it’s been a week or so since my injury, and even though I’m waiting for all hell to break loose, being with Bianca like this has been amazing.

I know this is hard on her. When I caught her crying today, I wanted to give her whatever I could to keep her from looking like that. While I’m not normally on the run like this, I’ve learned to adapt without friends, without any family in my life.

But she doesn’t have the same luxury. There are people who care about her, people who miss her and I fucking hate that all this has torn her from her normal life.

“So, Emil stood in front of the statue,” she finishes, a smile playing on her face. “So that our Papi wouldn’t see the large crack running down its face. I really don’t think now that we fooled him at all, but at the time we thought we really pulled one over on him. He never ever mentioned it.”

“So, you are a troublemaker, then,” I surmise, winking at her. “I knew it.”

Bianca opens her mouth then reluctantly shuts it.

“Okay, maybe I did cause a little trouble, but nothing like my brother. He was far more talented at that than I ever was.”

Grabbing the water bottle off the table, I take a long swig. Her mentioning her brother brings me back to our earlier conversations involving Emil Moretti. She wants to call him to ask him for help, and while normally I would tell her I have this covered, I’m not sure I do any longer.

After all, it’s not about me or the shit I have gotten myself into, it’s about her. At the end of the day, Bianca needs to be kept safe, and however that happens, I should be good with it.

It still difficult to be waving the surrender flag though. I’m not one to ask for help, and already I’ve asked Murdock and Mike.

And, as Mike very pointedly reminded me last week, there are people willing and able to help. Emil is certainly one of those people.

Hell, it might be time to rally the troops.

The monitor starts alarming, and I am up out of my chair in a flash. There’s motion detected at the northwest corner of the property and my jaw clenches as I see a figure slinking along the line.

“What is it?” Bianca asks, coming up behind me. “Is someone out there?”

“Yeah,” I admit to her, turning around slowly. “I need for you to go to the bathroom and shut yourself in.”

“Jason, no,” she protests. “You can’t handle this by yourself. Let me help.”

“I’m fine,” I bite out, grasping her by the shoulders.

“I’ve got the element of surprise on my side unlike last time. I just need to know that you are going to be safe.”

Bianca bites her lip, but there is a steely gaze in her eyes.

“No. I’m in this too and I’m not going to just sit here. I’m going to fight too.”

I exhale with frustration, “No, it’s too fucking dangerous.”

“Jason, I can help. Get your ego under control and let me.”

“All right, we don’t have time to debate this,” I relent with a sigh, reaching for the rifle that I keep propped up near the desk.

“I know you’re a fucking good shot. Use this, all right?”

She nods and I hand it to her.

“But you are going to stay inside,” I press on, not at all liking the fact that she’s going to be in the range of fire. If she stays in the house, her chances of being hit are reduced drastically.

“You see that open window over there? I want you to start firing when you hear me tap on the wall underneath the window.”

Bianca nods, her jaw set, and I press my lips to her temple before I head to the garage.

It’s the middle of the afternoon, so there’s no cover of darkness for me as I step out back, crouching low and staying in the shadows of the house instead.

The guy in question is being a dumbass and not sticking to the tree line, literally out in the middle of the clearing.

Amateur. Where the fuck is Saccone getting these guys from?

Tapping on the wall underneath the window, I wait until the first crack of the rifle before I take off, firing my own gun in the opposite direction. It’s a tactic I’ve used before, confusing the target so that they don’t know where the danger is coming from before it’s too late.

God, Bianca is really good at this.

She’s placing her shots to the left as I fire to the right, and when the dumbass heads to the left, I see my opening, firing a bullet into his back before he can double back into the woods.

He screams and falls to the ground, his gun bouncing away from his grasp on impact. I keep my own gun drawn as I approach him, kicking him over until I can see his face.

“Who sent you?” I ask, training my gun on his face.

Sweat is dotting his forehead and the pain is creeping into his eyes.

“Fuck you.”

“No thanks,” I mutter. “Tell me who sent you.”

He tries to spit at me, but he’s fading fast, the spit just dribbling down his chin and into the dirt. I could leave him out here to suffer, but in the end, I put a bullet in his head and lower my weapon, sighing.

This is not how I wanted this to go. Another fucking body to bury.

Deciding to wait until later before dealing with it, I slowly make my way back to the house and open the front door cautiously. “It’s me.”

Bianca lowers her gun, relief flickering over her face.

“He’s dead, then?”

I nod, shutting the door behind me. “You did good.”

Despite the worry that’s settling in, there’s a flicker of pride in her eyes and hell, I’m proud of her too. A lesser woman would have buckled under the pressure.

“We are a good team.”

I check the cameras before I go to Bianca.

We can’t stay here. While the triggering is working well with the cameras, there’s going to come a time where I have to make decisions I don’t want to make about keeping her safe.

“What do we do now?” she asks, placing the rifle on the kitchen table.

“That one was too close.”

She’s right. We’ve gotten a good two weeks out of staying in the cabin safely but I wonder if our luck is about to run out. Murdock reported to me just this morning that the guys in the city have prevented five hit men in the last two days from making it out here.

It looks like only one was smart enough to bypass them, but clearly the misdirection isn’t working any longer.

Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the burner phone, handing it to her.

“Call your brother.”

It’s not what I want to do, but he has means to protect her that I don’t. That, and I can leave her there in the safety of her family while I try to find a way to end this thing.

The only way to do so would be to kill the head of the snake himself: Saccone. Going after him myself is the only way and I can’t do that with Bianca with me.

“It’s time; we need his help.”

Bianca takes the phone, her eyes on me.

“What are you going to do once I call him? Are you going to come with me?”

“I’ll ensure you are safe,” I tell her, deciding to be honest.

“Then I’m ending this.”

“You’re going to end this? That’s ludicrous,” she scoffs.

“You are in no condition for that, Jason. I will not call him if you are going to run off to certain death the moment you get me off your hands.”

“This is what I should have done back at my first safe house,” I state firmly, knowing that her brother could have provided the security to keep her safe from the start.

“It would have kept you safe.”

She shakes her head. “I’m not calling him.”

“I’m trying to keep you alive, Bianca,” I growl.

“But at the expense of your own life!” she cries out, her voice breaking.

“Do you not realize what that would do to me, Jason?”

It is the same feeling I have about leaving her with her brother, but what the hell does she want from me?

“You just told me that you are trying to keep me alive,” she continues, tears sparkling in her eyes that make me feel like the worst asshole on the planet.

“And what about you? Is leading yourself to your own slaughter the only thing you can come up with? What about saving yourself too? You’re a professional. Be smart!”

“Taking you to your brother is being smart, Bianca. And it doesn’t mean I’m going to go off and recklessly lead myself to the slaughter,” I grind out.

This conversation has taken a sharp right to hell, and I don’t know how to go back.

“Look, can’t you just trust me; I know what I’m doing!”

“Give me the phone,” she says, holding out her hand. “I’ll call my brother. He will talk some sense into you.”

Emil Moretti could give a shit about me and my safety. I know that. This is the best option for Bianca’s safety. He’ll side with me.

“He’s going to agree with me,” I tell her, handing her the phone.