For the Taking

“Then you’re a fool.”

“Then shoot me. I’m a hindrance. I’m a pain in the ass. You’ve seen what I can’t do. I’m a survivor, but I’ll slow you down. Take your gun out right now and end me.”

He pulled the gun and pressed it to the center of her forehead.

She wasn’t afraid.

“Do it,” she said. “Kill me.”

He didn’t say a single word.

“Do you know the only bad thing I’ve ever done?” she asked.

He didn’t ask.

“I didn’t report a dead body I found in an alleyway. I was fourteen years old. It was freezing cold, and as I went near a fire down an alley to get some heat from one of the bins, I had to step over a dead body. It was an old man. I knew he was dead. His eyes were frozen open. I stepped right over him, and heated myself up. The next day, I went back to the foster home and never said a word. That is the only bad thing I have ever done. So shoot me.”

****

Riley knew he should have shot her, later that night as he listened to the world go by. Meghan wasn’t snoring. She lay beside him, very much awake.

He listened to her even breathing, waiting for her to speak.

She’d been a little taken aback when he didn’t shoot her.

There was no reason to kill her.

Meghan was right. In all of his years of killing, he’d only ever killed people who deserved it. He’d never taken the life of an innocent.

“I’m sorry about your wife,” she said.

“It was a long time ago.”

“Ten years,” she said.

“Yes.”

“Did you decide against getting your revenge?” The bed moved as she turned.

He glanced down to see her resting her head on her palm and staring at him.

“What?”

“Ten years is a long time to wait to get revenge? Why did you wait so long? Did he come after you? Is that why you’re here now?”

He smiled. “You’re a curious thing.”

“You could have killed me. I’m guessing a part of you likes having me around, even if you don’t want to admit it.”

Riley didn’t say a word. He liked looking at her. She was pretty, and he was still a man who liked pretty things. Even ones with a mouth who didn’t know when to shut up. He could still deal with it.

In a weird way, he liked hearing her talk.

See, he was crazy. What man liked to hear a woman constantly talk? It just went to show he’d hurt his head.

“After I burned down the warehouse, I had to get to shelter. I had lost a lot of blood, and what I didn’t know, the bullet I’d taken in the leg had shattered my bone. I’d also been badly beaten, and I had a few other broken bones. I needed to heal. Then time to repair, and rehabilitate.”

She touched his leg. He didn’t flinch or move.

“Which leg?”

He lifted the one up.

“You walk as if you’ve never had any damage.”

“Practice.”

“Did it hurt?”

“Every second of every day.”

“Your plan for revenge, it helped you?” she asked.

“Are you sure you’re not the one telling my life story?”

“I guess I can fill in the gaps of what you’re not saying. Still, ten years is a long time.”

“Not for what I want. David’s strong. The time I was away, he grew stronger. I knew by the time I could get my revenge on him, I would need to rid myself of all the training he’d ever taught me. I had to remember it, but I couldn’t use it myself. He’d catch me, and I wouldn’t be able to kill him.”

“You’ve spent all this time training? Preparing yourself to kill him?”

“Yes. I’m stronger, faster, and harder than ever. I can watch him without even being detected. I’ve been hunting him for a year. I have killed over fifty of his men, and stopped several of his imports from making it to the city. Believe me, he is going without a great deal.”

“Does he even know it’s you?”

“I believe so.” He didn’t waste his time checking to see if David had gotten the message.

“You must have loved her very much.”

“I did.”

“Still do to be willing to die for her now.”

“I would do anything for my Bethany. She was my life. She knew what I did for a living, and she didn’t judge me. I had to do what I did to put food on our table, and a roof over our heads. I made a good living. She respected me for that.”

He looked down to once again see tears shining in Meghan’s eyes. “You cry a lot.”

“My emotions right now are completely out of whack. I rarely cry, believe me.”

“It’s the stress of the past couple of days coming through. You should rest.” Riley tensed up as she snuggled against his side. “What are you doing?”