Assassins: Slow Agony Part 2

I moved past the window to the next one.

That window had been busted open, and there were shards of gla.s.s outside. They crunched under my feet as I got close.

I stopped moving at the noise, trying to melt into the house.

The whistling stopped.

Chapter Two.

s.h.i.t. He'd heard me.

What the h.e.l.l was I doing here, anyway? Why hadn't I called the police? I didn't know what I was doing. Griffin was the one who was good at this stuff, not me. I'd always just tagged along for the ride. I bit my lip hard, waiting.

There was the sound of footsteps within the house. A man's voice, heavy with a New York accent. "You hear that, sweetheart?"

A m.u.f.fled sound, almost like a cry. Was that Naomi?

"Maybe our Griffin's already found us. Wouldn't that be nice?"

It was him. And Naomi must be here too.

Anger surged through me, white hot. I reached into my jacket and took the gun out of the waist of my pants. It was cool and heavy in my hands. My heart seemed to steady, and my breathing evened out. Holding the gun had calmed me.

I took a step forward, looking in the window. The voice hadn't sounded too close, but I couldn't be sure.

The room inside the window was empty except for a moth-eaten blanket in one corner and an empty six pack of Bud Light.

Clutching my weapon, I kept moving.

"Griffin?" said the man. "That you? Did you miss me? Your old jailhouse pal?"

He was in the front of the house. I could hear that now. I quickened my movement, heading up to the corner.

"I missed you. I missed everything about you."

He was just around the corner. I lifted the gun, took a deep breath.

And whipped around the front of the house, gun first.

He was as tall as Griffin, maybe taller. He was wearing a clingy white tank top that showed off all his muscles. His arms were covered in winding tattoos. He was sneering, but he was surprised to see me. "You?"

"Where's Naomi?" I said.

"Where's Griffin?" he countered, taking a step towards me.

"Hold it," I said. "I will shoot you."

He laughed. "You really aren't that scary, blondie."

I squeezed the trigger.

Motherf.u.c.king safety was still on. I disengaged it, feeling fl.u.s.tered.

He was really laughing now, still walking towards me. "Come on, now. Why don't you just put down that gun, and-"

I pulled the trigger again.

The gun kicked in my hand and the sound exploded through the air.

The man gurgled, his expression stricken. His hands were clutching his neck.

I could see that he was bleeding, blood gushing from his throat. I grimaced, feeling sick. I'd just shot a man.

He gazed at the blood on his hand in disbelief.

I took a step away from him.

He reached for me with his b.l.o.o.d.y hand, staring at me, pleading with his eyes for me to do something.

I put my hand over my mouth. Oh. Oh G.o.d.

He fell to his knees, one hand still clutching his throat.

Then he fell face down on the porch of the abandoned house, thudding against the old wood.

I was shaking. I lowered my gun. I walked around his body and into the abandoned house. "Naomi?"

I heard her cry out, but her voice was m.u.f.fled.

I followed the noise until I found her. She was tied up just like she had been in the picture. I knelt next to her. "Oh G.o.d, Naomi, I am so sorry."

I pulled the duct tape away from her mouth.

She shrieked.

"Sorry," I said again, wincing.

"Leigh? What the f.u.c.k is going on?"

I got to work untying her. "It's complicated, Naomi. I don't really know, but we need to get out of here, okay?"

"Are the police with you?" she said.

"No," I said. "We can call them, though." Or... Should I do that? I'd just killed a man with a gun that I didn't have a permit to own. "Well, maybe we shouldn't call them."

Her hands were free, and she helped me work on the knots at her feet. "Why not?"

"It's complicated."

"What the h.e.l.l does that mean?"

I helped her to her feet. "You're okay, right? You're okay?"

"No," she said. "That man kidnapped me and tied me up and hit me over the head." She touched the wound on her forehead. "I'm the farthest thing from okay there is."

"Right," I said. "Well, let's get you back to my apartment so that you can get cleaned up, okay?"

"Your apartment? Leigh, I want to go to the hospital. I want to file a police report against that a.s.shole, and I want him locked up. And I want-"

"He's dead," I said. I led her out of the house, onto the porch. His body was lying there. His blood was soaking into the wooden boards. There was a lot of blood.

"Oh my G.o.d, Leigh," said Naomi. "What happened?"

"I shot him," I said.

Naomi backed away from me. "You what?"

I looked back at the man. "I had to." I turned to her. "I don't like killing people, but he was hurting you, and he was threatening Griffin, and-"

"You killed people before?"

"Only one," I said.

"Only..." She shook her head very slowly, horror all over her face.

I gulped. "Naomi, please. We have to get out of here. And we can't go to the police, because I'm not supposed to have this gun."

Of course, there was the little problem of the fact that I'd reported all of this to them earlier that night. How was I going to get around that? Tell them it was all a misunderstanding? This was a mess. I had no idea what to do.

Naomi took a shaky breath. Then her eyes rolled up in her head, and she fell to the ground. She'd fainted.

Naomi was wrapped in a blanket, sitting on my couch. She'd let me clean and bandage the cut on her forehead. She seemed fairly calm. She was taking most of this okay. "So, you're saying that Griffin used to be an a.s.sa.s.sin."

"Yeah," I said. "He worked for a secret wing of an arms corporation. But last year, we shut them down, so I don't know who this guy was. He said something about jail, so maybe he didn't have anything to do with Op Wraith. Maybe he was someone who was in jail with Griffin."

"Griffin was in jail?"

"Yeah, when he was a kid. He robbed a store with a toy gun and got tried as an adult."

"In jail. An a.s.sa.s.sin."

I nodded. Maybe she really wasn't taking it all that well after all.

"How can you not think you're lucky to be free of that man?" She shook her head.

I bit my lip. "You want more tea?"

"I want you to explain to me how this relates to me. Why did he kidnap me?"

"I don't know," I said. "I didn't get a chance to ask him."

"Before you blew his head off."

I looked away. "He was dangerous. He threatened to kill you if Griffin didn't get in touch with him. I had to do what I did."

"You could have called the police," she said. "Why didn't you call the police?"

"Well, I did, but then they left, and I thought that they hadn't been much help, so I might as well check it out on my own, and then..."

"And then you killed someone." She set down her tea on my coffee table. "And you don't even seem the least bit upset about it."

"I am," I said. "I think I'm... in shock." I hugged myself. I wished Griffin was here. He would know what to do. I had no idea.

"And now you want me to lie about what happened," she said. "You want me to tell some story to the police."

"Just tell them that you heard a shot, and you managed to get away, and you ran to my house. That's all. It's not that much of a lie. You only don't know who shot him." To me, this seemed perfectly reasonable. I looked at her hopefully. "Sisters unite?"

"f.u.c.k you," she said.

I looked at the ceiling. "If you don't, I could get in trouble for killing that guy."

"You did kill that guy." Her voice broke.

I turned back to her. "I am so, so sorry, Naomi. I thought this was over. Last year, Griffin and I took care of everyone who was after us, everyone who was trying to kill us. If I thought for one second that I wasn't safe, I never would have become friends with you. If I thought that I was putting you in danger, I swear to G.o.d-"

"Leigh, I seriously have no idea what you're f.u.c.king talking about."

I got up and sat down next to her on the couch. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This happened to you because of me, and I'm just glad you're okay."

She let out a noisy breath. "Well, I wouldn't be, I guess, if you hadn't saved me. If you hadn't..." She turned to me, grabbing my hands. "Did he teach you how to do that? Did he teach you how to kill?"

I knew she meant Griffin. I didn't say anything.

"He did, didn't he?" She squeezed my fingers. "He wasn't a good boyfriend, Leigh."

I swallowed. "Are you going to tell the police what I did?"

She gazed into my eyes. "I..."

"Please, Naomi."