Fill My Lungs | J. Todd ✔

[16] Mission Gone Wrong

The venue for The Devil's Auction had turned into a warzone in a span of mere seconds. Roy had been spotted while smuggling the weapons out to the garbage truck and the security had ganged up on him.

At that moment, Kori and Jason came to his help, distracting the security so that he could leave with the truck.

The rest of the guests had started to disperse which caused enough distraction already. Kori's starbolts met the flurry of bullets as she fought back while Jason too disarmed a guard and took his rifle.

It was extremely necessary for them to catch the actual organizers of the event so while Kori fought with the guards, Roy made sure that the truck would get the items to a safe place while Jason went after the organizers escaping through the main hall.

The clock was ticking and time was running out. Roy came back with his bow and arrows, joining Jason in the grand hall.

He had climbed up to the mezzanine that offered a good shooting range, kicking off the guards positioned there. He locked aim on the people responsible for arranging the auction while Jason had the group rounded up.

Kori had defeated the rest of the guards by then, green swirls of energy binding them in an unbreakable grip.

"Either you surrender or die," Jay spoke up, eyes piercing through the leader of that criminal group holding the auction to expand their ties with other mafias, "you are in my range as well as my partner's. Don't even think of escaping or we'll shoot."

They looked back to see Roy's arrows pointed straight at them while Jay's rifle was aiming at them from the front.

There was no escape.

So they either had to surrender or meet the bullet from Jay's rifle or an arrow from Roy's bow.

"You're making a mistake," the man warned nevertheless, "you have no idea who you're messing with."

"Actually we do. We've done our homework and we're not afraid of your allies," Jay replied, "drop the weapon and hold your hands up."

A zap of green energy from Kori's fingers swept away the guns they had dropped out of their reach.

The Outlaws managed to overpower the opposition and shut down the auction venue, just like they were tasked to do so. Now all that was left was to see that the truck had reached its destination safely.

However, not all things could be in their favor, and by the time they reached the place where the weapons had to be unloaded and delivered to the state for placing them in protective custody, the entire warehouse was in flames.

The truck containing the weapons had exploded and everything was damaged beyond repair.

Jason swore under his breath, just then seeing why he was so on edge about the entire mission. He had been feeling something would go wrong at the last moment and his instincts had been proven right.

While they had succeeded in the task of shutting down the auction and getting the organizers caught, they had failed in delivering the weapons safely.

***

She came to the bar but she was very anxious. It didn't take her long to spot Garrett at a table but she was hesitant to approach him.

Her eyes swept towards the bartender there, hoping it would be Marc but of course, he had taken an off that day to spend it with Sarah. If Marc had been there, it would have been easier for her to deal with Garrett as she would have had him to come to her aid if things went wrong.

Luckily, the other bartender, Joe, knew her too and gave her an acknowledging nod. Valerie felt that it would be safer if she stayed close to the counter because in that case if Garrett tried to do anything to hurt her, she could call upon Joe to help.

"Took you long enough to show up," Garrett remarked as she sat down across from him.

"What do you want to talk about?" She came directly to the topic, not wanting to waste any more time. The sooner she got rid of him, the better it would be for her.

"Always so eager to get away from me, aren't you, Val?" He chuckled, his dark eyes focused on her, "but this time, you're not getting away with your act."

"Stop beating around the bush and just come to the point," her voice was irritated but firm as she spoke, "why did you call me here?"

"Why indeed. Just to toast to our old days," he had called over for some drinks and shortly after two glasses were placed on the table for them, "and also to find out directly from you why you sent me to prison."

"I did not... I just..."

"Did you forget all the times I took Dad's beatings for you," his voice lowered as he edged closer to her, "what did I ask in return? Only for you to cooperate a bit but it turned out you were too ungrateful for that."

"So what if you took uncle's beatings? I never asked you to and you used to hurt me later either way," she drew back, scared of the look in his eyes, "Garrett, if I did not file the complaint against you, either you or your Dad would have ended up killing me."

"Of course not. What would we get from killing you? A death sentence? You're delusional."

"And you're reckless," she remarked, slowly gaining her confidence, seeing that he wasn't lashing out as badly as she thought he would, "why did you come to the supermarket? If you cause any scene, you can get sentenced for a longer time. Why don't you just let me be and live your own life?"

He picked up the glass, chugging it down as if to keep his anger at bay, numbing it with the alcohol. After a while, he spoke, "fine, I will not bother you again. But on one condition."

"What now?"

"You should come to see Dad one last time," he stated in a slightly calmer tone than earlier, "he's in a terrible state and there's no knowing how long he has left to live."

She looked at him in surprise, "and why would you care when you clearly wanted him dead the night you pushed him off the roof?"

"Things change, okay, but the fact that he's my father can't change. He wants to see you one last time. And that will be the last time I see you too. I'll leave town and not come back, I promise."

She felt there was a catch in that condition. Garrett had clearly been very aggressive when he had come to the supermarket and for him to just ask her to meet Harold in return for him to leave her alone didn't feel right.

"Valerie, I know we've been horrible to you. But I want it all to end, okay? And I feel like that's what you would want as well. So just meet him one last time and that's all I ask."

"I... I can't believe you," she was uncertain as she voiced out, "you're definitely not telling the truth."

"Fine, don't believe me then," he stood up, the same traces of anger visible on his face, "I was trying to make up for the past but you didn't want to. Don't blame me for what happens after."

"What... What do you mean? Garrett!"

She held his arm to stop him from leaving, quickly letting go as his dark eyes glared at her.

"If I wanted, I could have very easily broken into your apartment and put things to an end then and there," his fingers closed on her wrist instead, pulling her close as he spoke in a low voice, "but I didn't. So don't push me to the extremes and don't make things harder for yourself."

"Guys, is everything alright?" Joe had come to the table, his eyes flickering to Valerie's wrist that was held in Garrett's hand.

Seeing him, Garrett let go of her and left without another word. But Valerie had been shaken up.

"Miss Kayes, are you okay?" The bartender made her sit down and she nodded. "Do you need anything to drink?"

"Water, please. Thank you," she mumbled, taking in a deep breath to calm herself down.

He had left for now but he had given his warning clear to her. She didn't know why he was insisting that she should meet her uncle. But if she didn't, that could provoke him into doing something reckless yet again.

Valerie did not know what to do and she decided to go home and tell Sarah about it all first before coming to any decision regarding Garrett.

***