Elliot
ELLIOT
A groan escaped him, and he woke in darkness. Slowly, the room came into focus, and he could see light leaking from beneath a door in front of him. Little by little, his eyes adjusted to the gloom. He could just about make out a stone floor beneath him, the door in front of him, another to his left, and a clutter of broken, decaying furniture around the room. The smell of damp filled his nostrils, and he was sure a dead animal was rotting away somewhere in the dark.
He tried to stand, a jerk at his wrists stopping him short. Glancing over his shoulder, he realized he was handcuffed to a post. looked up, making out the crumbling ceiling overhead, seeing no way for him to pull the cuffs up and off.
Groaning, he remembered the explosion, being knocked on his ass. Then that bastard had shown up and kicked him while he was down.
“Clay,” he murmured softly.
Jesus, they should have known they weren’t safe. They should have known someone as nasty as Anthony would have been smart enough to figure them out. And now Clay was dead because hadn’t been thinking straight.
The door opened with a squeal of rusty hinges. Light poured in, forcing to squint against the glare. A figure stepped into the room, blotting out the light momentarily.
“About time you woke up,” Anthony’s familiar voice said.
said nothing, wondering how long he must have been out for Anthony to think it worth commenting on. He couldn’t make out the man’s face, but he caught sight of expensive shoes and could smell the man’s woodsy cologne as he got closer. There was no mistaking that voice, though, even if it did sound coarser and meaner than when last heard it.
“Bastard,” grunted.
“Language, you aren’t exactly in a position to be rude.”
snorted. “My apologies to the flesh-peddling asshole who killed Clay and kidnapped me.”
“Oh, grow up, . That assassin was here for me, and he’s dead rather than here with you because I know full well he wouldn’t tell me anything about who hired him, even if he did know. I’m not going to feel any guilt over killing someone who was here to kill me. In fact, someone who’s tried to kill me more than once already.”
watched Anthony’s movements, tracking them. “I doubt you’ve felt something as human as guilt in quite some time.”
“Hmm, that would be a rather hindering emotion for this line of work, wouldn’t it? As much as it kills me to live up to your horrible estimation of my character, you are correct. I haven’t felt guilty in years. Hard to when you’ve got the kind of money I have.”
sneered. “Money, that’s all people are to you. Just bags of money, walking around and begging to be sold off for sex or slavery.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I take no real pleasure in it. In fact, I don’t know what my buyers do with their purchases most of the time.”
“Yeah, thanks, that makes me feel a lot better,” said.
“Sarcasm? Well, I suppose I can add that to your file.”
froze, file?
Anthony chuckled. “What, did you think I had you here because I wanted to question you? Please. If I thought you were off telling someone something you shouldn’t have, I would have grabbed you a while ago.”
“You’re selling me,” ground out.
“Well, you are an impressive specimen. With all your training, looks, and hell, state secrets knocking around in that thick skull of yours? Do you have any idea how much you would be worth to the right buyer?”
There was a twisted irony to being snatched off the street and offered up to the highest bidder. had been trying to find a way to stop Anthony without further bloodshed, and now Clay was dead, and was going to be another victim.
“I won’t disappear as easily as the others,” told him.
“No? You’d be amazed how easy it is to make people disappear in this city. You might not be some runaway or vagrant, but you can disappear just as easily. What are you, some independent contractor who does a dangerous job? I assure you, I’ll be sufficiently worried when the cops come looking for you after you go missing. And then money will change hands, and the cops will stop looking. You and your little friend came after the wrong person, and it’s going to cost you,” Anthony promised.
“I should have let him kill you,” said.
Anthony chuckled, his face illuminated by the flick of a lighter. The flame touched the end of a thick cigar, igniting the tip.
“Probably. Might have saved you a lot of trouble and his life. See, when I brought you on, I had to be sure you were legitimate. So I’ve had you watched for a while now. I almost pulled my boys off, and then they reported something interesting, a little sneak breaking into your house. And then, you conspiring with him? Not very professional of you to conspire with the enemy,” Anthony chided him, inhaling deeply on the cigar.
tugged on the cuffs, testing the chain. “I wish he had got to me sooner. Then we might have dealt with you a lot earlier.”
“And then sleeping with the enemy? I don’t know what they taught you in the Marines, but that goes against almost every rule,” Anthony continued.
’s jaw tightened. “Don’t talk about him. You don’t get to talk about him or me. You’re disgusting.”
“Disgustingly rich, maybe. Well, I suppose my hands aren’t clean, but that’s neither here nor there, is it?”
A soft sound penetrated Anthony's hard exhalation as he blew out a huge cloud of smoke. kept his eyes on him, glaring as he watched a shadow at the end of the hallway behind Anthony shift violently. couldn’t see what it was, and Anthony didn’t seem to notice.
“I had hoped to catch you when you were alone with me. It would have been far nicer to keep you and show you off in my home, but here we are,” Anthony said with a curled lip.
“Where is here, anyway?” asked.
Anthony stood up, pushing his coat aside to tuck his hand into his pocket. “Oh, an old hotel. For some reason, the owners thought a hunting lodge theme would be good. Apparently, city dwellers don’t want that if they’re not in the great outdoors, and rural visitors aren’t fooled. Who would have thought?”
eyed the shadows of Anthony’s coat, looking for a holster. “One of your train stations.”
Anthony snorted. “Not one of my better ones, that’s for sure. It works when I need something shoved out of sight quickly or a particularly large shipment.”
“Shipment,” repeated with a sneer. “They’re people.”
“And people are a commodity, have been since the dawn of mankind. Your moralizing isn’t going to change that, and it won’t make me any less successful. There’s a market to take advantage of, , and I’m just one more businessman,” Anthony said with another heavy puff.
A new shadow drew down the hallway, but Anthony’s eyes were locked on ’s face. ’s heart began to race as the figure drew closer. He couldn’t see the face, but he thought he recognized the catlike grace of the man’s movements.
“And you’re just one more piece of meat soon for market,” Anthony added.
Clay’s shadow cast into the room as he stepped inside. “Not going to happen, Howell.”
Anthony spun to face Clay, and acted. With a grunt, he lashed his foot out and caught Anthony in the back of the leg. The man fell with a cry, arms flailing, and cigar flying into the darkness of the room. yanked at the handcuffs, ripping the chain apart with a grunt.
Clay was advancing quickly on Anthony, and scrambled to his feet. Clay’s hand was wrapped around a gun held out before him, aimed down at the stunned Anthony. grabbed it, pulling the aim away and forcing Clay to look at him.
“Don’t, ,” Clay hissed.
turned Clay to face him, still holding onto his gun hand. “You’re alive?”
Clay forced his eyes away from Anthony. “Pure luck, I can promise you that.
didn’t give a flying shit if it was the hand of God himself. He yanked Clay toward him and kissed him fiercely. didn’t know if he managed to get every ounce of relief and happiness he felt into the kiss, but he sure as hell tried. It left him breathless and giddy as he held onto Clay, desperate to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
“I’m okay, are you?” Clay asked weakly, some of the hardness leaving his face.
“Bumps, bruises, I’ve had worse,” assured him.
Clay smiled. “Then let’s finish this and be done with it.”
shook his head. “No, don’t, Clay. I know me holding you back almost got us killed?—”
“Or worse,” Clay hissed.
“But don’t,” said, gently prying the gun from Clay’s fingers.
“Make the symbolic choice, right?” Clay asked, releasing it.
“Exactly,” said, squeezing his shoulder.
Clay’s eyes widened at something past ’s arm. Reflex and training flowed through ’s mind. Yanking Clay to the side with him, spun, gun raised. Anthony’s weapon flashed, his first two shots missing them. Apparently, there had been a holster somewhere on him, and had almost forgotten all about him. Anthony hadn’t. He was a good businessman and criminal but a terrible shot.
, however, was not.
The roar of the gun filled the room, and two holes appeared in Anthony’s chest. The man gave a low gasp, his free hand coming up to his chest. stared at him, feeling nothing as Anthony’s mouth worked soundlessly. He watched as Anthony dropped to one knee, wobbled, and collapsed backward into shadow.
Clay let out a slow breath. “Holy...nice shot.”
looked down at the gun. “Thanks, I guess.”
“So much for not killing him,” Clay added.
turned back to him, smiling. “Self-defense isn’t the same as assassination or murder. Plus, I didn’t really...choose.”
“Just happened, huh?” Clay asked with a small smile.
looked over his shoulder. “Guards?”
“Just a couple upstairs and one on the stairs. Don’t worry, they’re not dead.”
tucked the gun away after turning the safety on. Without missing a beat, he pulled Clay toward him again and kissed him fiercely. Clay clung tightly to him, pressing his smaller body firmly against ’s. For a moment, was able to forget they were in some dingy, nasty building near the body of a man who’d tried to kill and sell him.
broke away with a gasp. “God, I thought you were dead.”
“I wasn’t sure if I could get here in time. God, if he’d killed you or…” Clay couldn’t finish, shaking his head.
“Not much of a problem now,” said.
Clay pressed his forehead to ’s chest. “When I thought you were dead, I just?—”
nodded, resting his head on Clay’s. He knew what Clay meant. Even though he’d only been awake for a while, the knowledge of Clay’s death had threatened to swallow him whole. The relief of knowing was alive and well was even greater, though, and he was happy to focus on that.
sniffed, looking around at the room that was no longer as dark as it had been. “You smell that?”
Clay pulled back, eyes widening again. “Oh.”
whirled around to see what Clay was looking at and froze. “Oh.”
Fire glowed at the back of the room. couldn’t be completely sure what the cigar had struck, but he guessed it was the culprit. A pile of furniture was already burning, spreading to the wooden shelving on the walls. There was enough light from the flames for to see the ceiling was made of very dry-looking wood.
“We should get out of here,” Clay said, backing up.
“Yeah, I’m not going to argue,” said, following him.
They hurried up the stairs, Clay hopping over the unconscious form of a man slumped over halfway up. almost did the same, but with a grimace, bent down and picked the man up, throwing him over his shoulders.
“Seriously?” Clay asked.
“I’m not going to let the stupid bastard burn to death.”
As if on cue, the man stirred to life on ’s shoulders as he and Clay burst into what looked like a lobby. Or at least, it had once been a lobby. The front desk was still there, but the benches and chairs were in pieces, and cobwebs hung from the fake chandelier overhead.
The man squirmed, and dropped him. The guard groaned, eyes opening and peering up at .
“Oh shit,” the man said, realizing who was.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Clay muttered.
bent down. “Look, the whole basement is about to become a blaze. Get you and your buddies out of here.”
“And try forgetting who the fuck we are, or I might have to remember who you are,” Clay said with a raised lip.
“But…” the man began.
cut him off. “Your boss is dead, and you’re going to be too unless you get your ass out of here. So get moving or burn to death. That’s on you.”
“, c’mon, I don’t want to be here when the fire department shows up,” Clay said, eyeing the stairs behind them.
Smoke was beginning to seep up from the basement. The fire was spreading even quicker than thought it would. He remembered Anthony saying he occasionally used this old fake lodge for his stations. He really hoped the man didn’t keep any natural gas running to the place, or there would be an even bigger mess for someone else to clean up.
“Yeah,” said as he took to his feet. “Let’s go home.”