Royal Reckoning by Stephanie St. Klaire

24

“You heardhim over the speaker just like I did,” Killion said as they rolled up in front of Watermark. “He’s stubborn and bullheaded. That’s why he’s still where he is, and the guys won’t put him on a team yet. He doesn’t listen.”

“Well, I’m glad he isn’t listening this time,” Ryker said. “Cally needs him.”

“Hopefully, he doesn’t get her killed,” Eli warned. “I don’t care whose family he is. He fucks this up, and I fuck him up.”

“He’s smart,” Ronan said. “He grew up watching all this build from the ground up. He just wants a piece.”

“Not at the cost of my family,” Eli said, exiting the vehicle. “Oh shit. Man down.”

He raced to the doors and struggled to get clearance to get in. “Killion. What the hell is going on?”

Killion ran up behind and used his prints to get them in. “I had to shut off your clearance to keep him from getting into anything else.”

Eli shook his head as he raced through the doors and slid on his knees next to Wit. “Where are you hit? I don’t see a hit.”

“He hit my jacket, but I’m strugglin’ to breathe, man. Hard hit. Maybe a rib?” Wit struggled to speak. “I took her bullet, man. I took it so she wouldn’t have to. He needs her now if he’s going to get out of here.”

“Move aside,” Mendoza said, rushing in with the rest of the team. “Sounds like a collapsed lung. I got him. You guys go after that asshole.”

“Iz. He’s gone after her,” Wit said.

“Alright, that’s enough talking,” Mendoza said. “I’ll get him stable and wait for medics. Let’s just ship him out since we have a hostile in the building. Plus, it keeps the medical suite free here if we need it.”

Eli knew what he meant. They were dealing with a very delicate situation. Cally. Her life was in danger, and that meant the baby was in danger. If any immediate intervention was needed due to the stress of the event or injury, Mendoza wanted to be able to take care of her immediately and give them the best chance they had.

“Aye,” Wit said, raising a hand to Eli. Eli gripped his arm and took a knee next to him. “If I don’t make it, I want you to tell the kid some big hero story shit ’bout me. Maybe name him after me?”

Eli chuckled. “You can’t breathe, but you felt the need to say that? What’s your whole name, brother?”

“Witman Chester Roosevelt Meyer. Has a purty ring to it, don’t it?”

“No. Not at all. I’m not naming my son any of those things. So, you better fucking make it, mate,” Eli said in a teasing manner but meant every word. “You have to because my son needs a godfather.”

Wit smiled, then began to gasp for air, and that smile turned to a look of terror.

“Shit,” Mendoza said, working faster. “Where’s the damn ambulance?”

“Here it comes!” Ronan yelled. “They’re right out front, buddy. Hang in there.”

When the medics ran in, pulling their gurney, Mendoza rattled off a list of information as they loaded him onto it. “Do you hear me?” Mendoza yelled at the EMTs. “Dammit. You just drive. I’m riding in the back. I have credentials at the University Hospital, so neither of you loses your job. Now let me work and get us there fast. I’ll take care of this my damn self. Nobody knows how to do shit anymore.”

The team watched as Mendoza loaded Wit into the back of an ambulance, and they sped off.

“We aren’t taking the elevators. He’ll see us coming,” Eli said. “Stairs are the long haul but give Cally a better chance out of here.”

“Agree. That’s a lot of stairs, man, and we don’t have all night,” Killion said. “Let’s take the north side elevators to the last floor. He won’t see us coming in those because they stop ten floors below him. Then we can take the south stairwell the last ten floors up.”

“Done,” Eli said, leading the way.

* * *

“Not a peep,”Storm said to Cally, pointing at the rooftop ledge. “Fuck this up, and you go over that ledge. Walk with me, keep moving. I don’t care if it’s in a circle. Stay in the shadows.”

Storm, or Sully – Cally wasn’t clear exactly who he was – held up his phone while it rang. When the screen went live and another face appeared, he went into action.

“Rog, it’s me. Did you get the chopper ready like I asked, mate?”

The older man on the other end squinted and moved closer to the screen. “Is that you, Eli? I can barely see you.”

Roger maintained the helicopters owned and operated by BK Security. He was also one of the pilots on staff.

“It’s me, mate. Look, change of plans. I need you to get to Watermark. This case has gone a little wild, and I need to get Cally out of here,” Storm said. “Our suspect is in the area. The teams are hunting him, but he just stays a step ahead of us, and I can’t risk moving her by vehicle, man. Know what I mean?”

“Sure, sure,” Roger said. “Chopper’s ready. I can be there in about ten. I got clearance to land, right?”

“Yeah, mate. It’s clear up here. The building is on lockdown, though, so if you see a lot of lights out front, it’s just precautionary.”

“Sounds serious. I’ll get her out of there. She flyin’ solo?” Roger asked. Storm knew he was near the helicopter because it was growing harder and harder to hear him.

“No. Not safe, I’ll be accompanying her. We’ll meet up with a team on the other side, but I’m not letting her fly alone!” Storm yelled.

“You alright? You don’t seem yourself, and I can barely see you.”

“Just bloody get here, Rog. I’m trying to get her to the other side of the roof in case someone gets up here before you do, mate. It’s dark out, in case you haven’t noticed. Just hurry.”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it. I’m on the way, Eli,” Roger said before hanging up.

Storm slid the phone back into his pocket. “Good job. You made it to the next level.”

“When the helicopter gets here, just get on. I won’t give you any trouble. I promise. Not much I can do anyway,” Cally said. “I just don’t want any more trouble.”

“I’d love to set you free, but as I said, you’re my bargaining chip. You have something I want, and if you’re not going to give it to me, I’ll take you instead. When someone wants to trade the flash drive for you, so be it. If it doesn’t show up, well…let’s cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Wh-What is on this drive thing you’re talking about? Maybe I can help you find it. Maybe I’ve seen it,” she asked.

“The key to the world, love. The key to the entire world. Why be king of Medaro when I can sit on the world's throne?” He smiled. “Maybe there’s a place for you there. Maybe…if you want to be my queen.”

He leaned into her and tried to force his mouth on hers, but she spat on him. He slowly wiped it away with the back of his hand and wore an amused look on his face. Before she could react, he drew that hand back fast against her face with so much force it knocked her to the ground.

He knelt beside her, gun barrel under her chin forcing her to look up at him. “Now look what you did. That pretty face of yours has two marks from me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you liked this game, Cally. How many chances are you willing to take?”

Tucking a stray hair behind her ear, he dragged his hand down her face to her neck until finally cupping her breast. “Oh, if only there were more time. The things I’d love to do with you. I bet I could make you cry my name louder than my brother ever could. Do you remember the airplane, Cally? Do you remember how badly you wanted me until I kissed you, and you realized I wasn’t Prince Charming after all?”

She did remember. The nightmare she’d had where she was fighting Eli on the plane. It wasn’t a bad dream, but a memory. He’d tried to force himself on her while she was heavily sedated, and she fought him. She fought him hard, and that same fury from that night filled her now.

Cally grabbed Storm between the legs and held him hard. “Yeah, I remember. Do you remember how I kicked you here?” Her grip tightened, and he no longer seemed to enjoy it. Her voice turned to something gravelly, almost sultry, and she leaned in right next to his ear and said, “It takes a pretty small man to drug a girl and try to take advantage of her when she can’t fight back. You’re nothing but a worthless, pathetic excuse for a man. You could never compare to your brother.” She squeezed him in her hand. “Not enough here to please a pigeon.”

“You bitch,” he said and hit her again, causing her to fly back and land hard on her back. “You don’t get to talk to me like that. You don’t get to insult me. You’re nothing but a whore. You started here with one man who didn’t want you, so you got yourself knocked up by the next so he wouldn’t leave you too. And I’m pathetic?”

He hit her again, and everything began to tilt. The darkness threatened to totally consume her as the rooftop lights grew dimmer and dimmer, and all she heard was ringing in her ears. She felt the weight of him on top of her, and it was enough to keep her lucid. She wasn’t going out like this. He didn’t get to hurt her this way. So she fought.

“No,” she said. “What don’t you understand about that word?” She swiftly kneed him in the groin, and he sprung up in pain before he doubled over, holding himself. “Not today. Not. Today,” she said, crawling away and getting to her feet.

Storm grabbed her just as she began to run but not before she grabbed an empty beer bottle that had been left on the nearby table. When he turned her around to face him, she swung it at him, breaking it against his jaw. He was bleeding rather profusely from where the glass left a deep gash in his chin. But it didn’t slow him down. Not enough.

The second elevator door opened, and Israel and Finn emerged. “Cally!” Finn yelled, trying to find them quickly. The lights on the helicopter that sat just above them were so bright, it made everything hard to see around them.

“Finn!” she screamed. “I’m here, Finn.”

Finn and Israel followed her voice around the garden to the northeast side, where the lights weren’t as obstructive, and they had a better angle. Cally saw Israel first and ran toward him, but Storm grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back.

“Let her go!” Finn yelled with fury. “Let her go, and you don’t have to fucking die today.”

Storm pulled her back against his body and held the gun to her head. “Another step, and I shoot. You shoot me, and I still shoot her. The score’s already in, and you lose, kid. You all lose.”

“Nobody loses,” Israel said. “Not even you. I know who you are. I know now, and I don’t blame you. I know what your family did to you.”

Storm shook his head. “You don’t know. You have no way of knowing what they did to me or what my life was like. The only thing you know is that I’m the one who killed your brother. He just wouldn’t listen, so I killed him. Made the problem go away. And you saw all of it. That’s why you’re here now, right? For revenge?”

“No. I’m here because I wanted to find you,” Israel said. “And here we are.”

“You thought it was Eli.” Storm laughed.

“Until I met him, yes. And I knew it couldn’t be him. No scar above his right eye. I remember that scar. I gave it to you.”

“Well, what a small world,” Storm said, hollering beyond Israel. “And here we all are. Hello, brother. Did you hear that? You had a traitor in your mix.”

“You’re the only traitor. I understand why Israel is here. What I don’t understand is why you’re here. If you don’t want Medaro, what do you want?”

“Your girl has something that belongs to me. I’ve been chasing it for years, and old man Jonas gave it to her.”

“Whatever it is, you’re not leaving here with it – or her,” Eli said. “You know how this goes, right?”

“You seem to think you have all the cards to play, yet I’m the one with the girl and your bastard kid.”

“I have the flash drive,” Eli said. “I know that was what you want. Cally never had it. Jonas gave it to me. Let her go, and I’ll take you to it.”

The helicopter hovered above them and started its descent.

“I’ll get on that chopper with you and take you to it. It isn’t far. Then you can take my jet anywhere you want to go. It’s fueled and on standby.”

“Convenient,” Storm said. “I’ve seen that trick in a few movies. You’ve become weak, brother.”

“I’m not your brother. Not any longer. The brother I knew…he wasn’t a monster.”

“The brother you knew? You don’t know shit,” Storm said.

“I know enough to know this is your only way out. What are you going to do? Kill the girl? Then it’s open season on you. Take the girl? She doesn’t know what the hell it is you want. You leave here with her, though, and I’ll never give it to you. We both know how that’ll end, and I’m not taking that chance. You don’t get to hurt me by hurting her and get the drive. So, what’ll it be? Chopper’s waiting.”

Roger slid open the side door of the helicopter. “We got high winds coming. If we’re gonna go, we go now before I’m grounded.”

“You heard him, Storm. It’s now or not at all,” Eli said.

“Fine, I’ll go with you, but she’s still my insurance policy. She’s coming. Drop your weapons – all of them,” Storm demanded.

“Don’t do it, Eli,” she said. “Don’t.”

“He doesn’t get out of here with you and only you. I go where you go. Always,” Eli said, setting all his weapons on the ground and kicking them away. He lifted each pant leg to show he was unarmed, then lifted his shirt. No guns or knives.

Eli moved closer, hands up, posing no threat. When he got to Cally, he held her face and looked at it in the light. Seeing what Storm did to her enraged him, but he kept his calm for her.

Eli pulled her in for a quick hug, and whispered, “Get on that chopper and buckle up. He’s getting you out.”

When he pulled away, her eyes were wide, and tears were running down her face. “Eli.”

He shook his head to silence her. “I love you, Cally girl. Okay?”

Eli walked her up the steps to the chopper, Storm right behind them, and he covered her head as he helped her in. “I’m just going to help her buckle up while we have the light,” Eli yelled over the cutting wind sound made by the blades of the helicopter.

“Hurry up.” Storm stood with one weapon aimed at Eli to ensure none of the men below took a shot and another weapon trained on them.

Once buckled, Eli hollered, “I love you forever and a day.”

He quickly turned on Storm, pivoting on the man’s foot as he grabbed the gun aimed at him and forced it to the right while he dodged to the left. “Go!” Eli yelled.

The helicopter took off and was out of reach by the time Storm freed himself from Eli’s grip. “What have you done?”

Eli’s boot connected with Storm's abdomen, and he shoved him off the platform. Storm lost a weapon in the fall but still had one and tried to turn it on Eli before he jumped down from the platform himself, right on top of Storm. Israel kicked the gun out of Storm’s hand, leaving it a hand-to-hand combat situation.

The men fought, and no one interfered. Flesh against flesh, knuckles cracking, bones crunching, it was a drag-out fight. If this were any other case or any other enemy, it wouldn’t have gone on this long, but it was personal. Storm wasn’t getting out of there, not on his own terms anyway, and Eli had a score to settle.

Storm was flat on his back, taking a beating from Eli. He’d reached into his boot and pulled a knife, cutting Eli across the chest, knocking him off-kilter. Before he could take another strike or the team could react, the stairwell door flew open, and everything came to a roaring standstill of uncertainty and confusion.

Life moved at a barely-there pace as everyone watched a familiar man, a familiar face, charge through the door and slide on his side, weapon ready. Just as Storm took a final jab at Eli’s abdomen, a shot rang out. It was the only one needed to end it all. The storm had ended.