My Kidnapper's Mistake

Chapter 27: Plan gone awry

Anya's P.O.V.

The Police station. Of all the places to go Nicolette chose the police station. The one place all criminals avoided like the plague. We parked on the opposite side of the street. We stayed in the car. We could hardly barge into the police station and demand that Nicolette return with us. So we  waited.

The sky was already tinted a brilliant orange, with streaks of pink from the setting sun when I watched Nicolette walk into the glass building, clutching the loose pages in her hand. She was barely inside and my mind had hardly processed the red dot glowing on the back of her head, when a feint shot went off. Nicolette slumped forward, streaking the polished floor with crimson blood. My heart stopped and I rounded in Julian, who sat beside me, unfazed by the sudden act of violence, my mouth already open to accuse him.
"We had no time to order a hit." He stated bluntly.
I turned back and watched officers scramble together medical services.
"Is there any reason that we're still here?" I asked after a while of watching yellow crime scene tape being put up.
"No."
"Can we leave then?" I had had enough of the gruesome scene. I felt heavy and ready to sleep for a week. Nicolette's death had shocked even my newfound loathing for Julian away.

***

We drove around, until Brian called to tell us that the Boss had left and then drove around some more.
"You shouldn't take it so hard." Julian attempted to sooth me.
"She was just an asset to you, wasn't she?" I asked, never looking at him.
"This life doesn't permit us to get too attached. Premature death is nothing strange. Those are the lines drilled into me from the moment I got picked up by the Orginization, but I think they would take a few more deaths to take full effect." He had subtly avoided my question, with an elaborated explanation as to why she should have been viewed as merely an asset.
"She had told me a while back that everybody must die someday."
"And you agree?" I couldn't very well deny it, could I? Death was a part of life, as ironic as it sounded, but it was true.
"Everybody has to die, but they can still live forever." I mused.
"Care to elaborate?" Julian's tone was soft, caressing.
"You can live through the deeds you have done. You can live on in the memory of others. Shakespeare has been alive for more than a century now. I'd like to keep Nicolette alive for a little while longer."
Silence filled the car, after I had finished. Julian finally turned down the road that would take us to the house.

***

"What did the Boss want?" I asked upon entering the house.
"He came to pick up the papers. Said that the safety deposit box was no longer secure." Brian answered stoically.
Julian followed me inside and looked around suspiciously at the sombre faces of the rest.
"Did you catch Nicolette?" Jason wanted to know, before we could question them any further.
"No, she went to the police and..." I choked up.
"She was shot. I suspect Richard." Julian finished, with a clipped tone.
"Julian we should talk." Brian announced.
I didn't stick around to hear his reply or the conversation that followed. Instead I went upstairs to the bathroom to take care of some unfinished business.

***

I swallowed the last of my tears when I saw the door crack open. I closed my eyes and stilled my breathing. Julian lifted the covers, sending a chill down my back and got into the bed behind me. I had stood over my single poster bed, waiting for Nicolette's ghost to leave me so that I could sleep. Eventually I had given up hope and had trudged over to Julian's bedroom.
"You're very strong, you know that?" Julian asked, I had to work on my ability to fake sleep. I had no idea where his sudden sadness had come from. He had merely been calm and detached since we had seen Nicolette shot.
I nodded, not trusting my voice not to betray that I had been crying. He curled his arm around my waist and pulled me closer.
"You're a survivor, just like all of us." Julian paused and I didn't really know what to make of his words, but he wasn't done.
"I'd rip the wold apart with my bare hands if that was what it would take to keep you safe. You know that right?" Hope flared up inside me and warmed my heart.
"Julian where is all this coming from?" I turned around in his embrace, worried that this was goodbye.
"Today just taught me that life can end unexpectedly and I just didn't want these things to go unsaid."
"Well in the spirit of having nothing gone unsaid. I'll admit that at this moment I can't decide whether to kiss you or shove you off a cliff." I confessed my whirling emotions. I was upset with this fantastic human being that could watch a girl being shot by her father without batting and eye.
"Can I pick?" I felt his low laugh rumble in his chest.
I didn't join in his laughter, I just looked at the contours of his face, at the feint crows feet in the corners of his eyes as he laughed. How had I failed to notice it before. He stopped laughing and they disappeared, a thoughtful frown settling in the creases between his brows.
"You always look like you wonder so far away when you're thinking. Sometimes I'm scared that you might fall off the edge of the earth."
"Then I'd be dead come morning, because there are lots of things to think about tonight."
"Let's hope not." Julian said this with a bit more dread than the slightly lighthearted air that had settled only moments ago would warrant.
I didn't have time to ponder over it. Julian sunk down deeper under the covers, signalling the end of our whispered conversation. I turned back around to face the doorway and shrank back into Julian's warmth. My heart felt lighter now than it had before, so I closed my eyes without the slightest fear if nightmares.
"You're a queen Anya, with just a little bit of savage." Julian whispered against my ear just before I slipped off in unconsciousness.