Runaway (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 4)

“What?” she prompted when she noticed his thoughtful look.

“What is going on with you and Jasper?”

“Jasper is just as confused as I am. What we have decided is that we can’t decide on anything until this is all over and the Star Elite have gotten rid of Denzel and Marilyn,” Molly said.

“Then what will happen?”

Molly sighed because it was obvious that Oscar wanted reassurance that everything was going to be all right. “Then we are free to sort out our own

lives.”

Oscar turned to look at her. “With Jasper?”

“Would you like that?” Molly mentally groaned when Oscar’s teeth flashed in the gloom.

“I like him,” Oscar smiled.

“I don’t know if our future will involve him yet. It is too soon to tell but if you don’t have any objection to me being with him then we shall just have to see how we go. For now, let’s think of the kind of places we would like to live in when we do leave here. Do you think a flat or a house?”

“A house,” Oscar replied firmly.

“A garden or a yard?”

“Garden – with a dog, and a rope swing.” Oscar grinned at her and jumped onto her bed. Crossing his legs, he turned to look eagerly at her while he wilfully engaged in deciding what their future home should be like.

Outside, Jasper signalled Niall. While Niall wasn’t visible, Jasper knew he was around and had understood him because Niall emitted a short staccato burst of popping sounds. Together, Jasper moved with his colleagues down the street after the man and woman walking side by side: Denzel and Marilyn. They were the only people out on the street just after midnight, apart from the Star Elite that is.

Upon hearing Sir Hugo’s whistle, both Jasper and Niall left their positions and increased their speed. They overtook their targets who were scurrying through the shadows without even bothering to glance back. It warned Jasper that they knew they weren’t alone and didn’t want to risk making eye contact.

“Where has she gone?” Oliver growled when he, Jasper and Niall converged at the far end of the next street only to find Denzel on his own. Marilyn had vanished.

“She was with him a minute ago,” Jasper snapped in frustration. “How can she just disappear? Has she doubled back?”

“Phillip is behind us somewhere. He will find her,” Oliver whispered.

“I don’t like this,” Niall breathed. “There is something wrong here.”

As if to prove him right, Denzel suddenly emerged out of the encroaching smog and stopped in the middle of the street. He lifted his gaze and stared straight at them for several long moments without talking or moving.

Jasper removed his gun from his pocket but was careful to keep it by his side. His colleagues did the same. The tension thickened when the street silently came alive. Men of all shapes and sizes appeared out of hiding places up and down the street. Jasper knew Sir Hugo, Angus, Phillip and several other men from the Star Elite were bringing up the rear and would stumble upon them eventually. Until they arrived, Jasper, Niall and Oliver had to contend with the two dozen heavily armed thugs now before them alone.

“Clubs,” Niall breathed.

“Bats,” Oliver added.

“There will be guns as well, so stay alert,” Jasper whispered.

“Do we take aim and pick them off?” Oscar asked as he eyed the men standing closest and calculated just how long it would take to bring several down before they were routed out of their hiding place. He glanced worriedly behind them and nudged Jasper when he saw more thugs several feet away.

“It is going to be a miracle if we get out of this alive,” Oliver breathed.

Jasper’s thoughts immediately strayed to Molly and all the things he should have said to her before he had left the safe house. He had arrogantly assumed he would be able to return to the safe house and take his time talking to her. Time, it appeared, had run out. Bitter regret slammed into him. It left him struggling to comprehend what had changed within him over the last several days. Whatever it was hadn’t taken very long to take root, but had profoundly changed the way he saw life, not only the past but his future too.

“Damn,” he growled, a little amazed by his sudden determination to have a future outside of the Star Elite – with Molly. “Where did that come from?”

Oscar glanced all about them, wondering if he had missed something. “What?”

Jasper jerked when a loud blast of gunfire shattered the silence. Jasper and his friends stared at Denzel in stunned disbelief when he looked down at the large stain of blood that appeared in the centre of his chest. It was clear he was too shocked to comprehend what had happened to him. The thugs lining the road made no attempt to help him when Denzel fell to his knees, wavered for a moment before he toppled forward and slammed face-first into the ground.