Price of a Bounty

-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.