For the Taking

“You’ve got to be here when I get back.”

“Riley?”

“I mean it, Meghan. You will fucking be here.”

“You told me when we met, you have no wish to live past this moment. I’m not going to be here to watch you kill yourself or worse, you not return.”

“Meghan, listen to me. I am coming back here, and when I do, you and I, we’re going to have a talk.” He cupped her face, staring at her intently. She didn’t want to look away from him, but it was impossible not to. “Promise me you’ll be here.”

She didn’t want to make promises she had no intention of keeping. Rather than deny she wouldn’t be here she forced a nod.

“Yes, I’ll be here.”

He kissed her lips. “I will come back here. You’ll see me again. I have no intention of dying tonight.” He kissed her again, and she watched him prepare. Staying in the corner of their motel room, he packed his guns, dressed to kill. The bullet wound he got was slowly healing, but she had to change the dressing a couple of times while listening to Stephen on the phone. She had no idea how to be a nurse or do anything like that.

Before he went, he stepped up toward her. “Don’t leave this room,” he said.

“I won’t.”

He left seconds later. She went to the room and flicked the locks into place, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

“What am I going to do?”

She placed a hand across her stomach. Was she pregnant?

She moved toward her jacket. While Riley had been paying for groceries earlier, she’d picked up a pregnancy test, one which could detect early weeks.

Pulling the test out of her pocket, she quickly opened it up, and read through the instructions. She didn’t want to wait any longer to find out if she was pregnant.

Walking into the bathroom, she peed on the stick and placed it on the counter near the sink. Throughout peeing, she had been so nervous her hands shook, as did her legs, and her whole body.

She was so nervous about everything.

Linking her fingers together, she tried to think of anything but what it would mean if the test screamed positive.

After washing her hands, she sat back on the toilet, resting her elbows on her thighs, and holding her head, waiting for the news.

“You can do this, Meghan. It’s no big deal.”

She checked the time on the wall, and sure enough, she was going to find out if she was going to be a mommy. Holding up the results chart, she checked the stick and nearly passed out.

“I’m going to be a mommy.”

Just as she was about to touch her stomach, the door to the apartment slammed open, and before she knew what was happening, David Peace was right in front of her, just as he slammed his fist in her face, and everything went dark.

****

From the years of Riley working for David Peace, he knew the man had a thing for warehouses. There were so many empty, abandoned places. With the market going to shit and businesses going under, there were so many to snatch up. Some he used for storing his illegal products like guns, drugs, and other stuff. He used some for his legal business for storage, and then there were the kind like the one he was standing in. He couldn’t get a good view of the person tied to the chair, and he trained his gun on the spot. Two guards surrounded the man. Blood pooled beneath him.

After what seemed like hours the door to the warehouse opened and three men, including David, entered.

“I have to say I’m surprised we haven’t had a visitor,” David said. He snapped his finger, and Riley tensed as he recognized the captive man.

It was Stephen.

Fuck.

He drew his gun and fired at the two guards, dropping them within seconds.

“Riley, I suggest you come out now,” David said, with a knife pressed against Stephen’s neck. “Can anyone survive with a slash across the throat? I can’t remember. I seem to recall it hits a lot of major arteries, and people can bleed out, right? That’s what I remember. My biology is a little … dumb. I never took the class.” He burst out laughing.

“Let him go,” Riley said.

His gun was trained on the man he intended to destroy.

“You see, Riley, your problem is you think you have nothing to lose. First, you’ve got Stephen here. He was a hard man to track down, but I got to him. Don’t worry, his family is unharmed at this point. Once I kill him, I’m going to get his wife working and sell off his kids. There is always a market trading in kids. I can work with it.”

“You sick fuck!”

“Oh, come on, Riley. You remember me. If I can make money from it, I will. You’ve got to stop being so … prudish.”