Be Alright

Thirty-Eight

Thirty-Eight: Shots Fired

Tyler

    I feel as if I am a sinking ship; like I'm drowning and taking everyone down with me.

    I can't shake the thoughts that Octavia wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for me and my own actions. I let my selfishness and greed get the best of me, and for that, Octavia has to pay the price.

   "You good?" Harley asks me as he looks into the rear view mirror of the car to check on me.

   "Yeah," I say in a monotone voice.

    A lie, but Harley doesn't know me well enough to actually care. He's focused on Octavia.

    We all are.

    Jace is ghostly white. His hair is a mess from how often he has ran his hair through it. He pretty much ripped his tie off the second we got in the car and threw it as if it was the cause of all his distress.

    "How much further?" He asks, keeping his eyes focused on the road despite being in the passenger seat.

     "Almost there," I answer back.

      I had only been to the lake house once. John had invited me on a trip when we first started doing business together.

     Believe me, it was probably the most awkward thing of my life, staying at a massive lake house with men who are twenty to thirty years my senior while they discussed things that weren't business related at all.

    It was my initiation to the group. John said once you were in, your money would easily be tripled. Gaining the trust and friendship of John's colleagues was important to me at the time.

    Now, I just feel like an idiot.

    "I think I see it," Harley says as the familiar building takes shape behind the trees.

    Soon enough, the trees become scarce, and the long driveway to the house takes shape. The orange glow from the windows illuminates the outside just enough to see the exterior.

   I always wanted to drive Octavia out here and let her see the house. She has always had this thing about houses. She always made jokes about my house turning her on. It always made me laugh, and it always made me have this dream for us to live together.

    Hell, I even thought about buying us this house. John has mentioned selling and relocating up north. Knowing what I know now, I would never buy the house.

    Especially since the love of my life may be dead inside.

    Harley and Jace get our first, and they're careful to shut the car door as quietly as possible. I try to mimic their every move, knowing they've been trained in instances like this.

   Jace crouches below the window line as he moves to the front porch. Harley opts to go towards a back door. Knowing I'm unarmed, I choose to follow Jace.

   "Listen, the goal here is to get Octavia. Backup is on its way. Don't let any of your rage or ideas of revenge get in the way. Your job here is to get Octavia out. If Harley and I go down, stick to the goal. Get Octavia out," Jace whispers.

   I can barely see his face, but the moon gives off enough light for me to see the outline of his features.

   I nod and Jace turns around. He turns the doorknob, but as expected, it is locked.

    "We're going to have to be loud with this," he says as he reaches into the flowerbed for a large rock.

    I stand back and watch as he chucks the rock into the large bay window we were previously crouched beneath. The glass shatters, loud enough that everyone in the house probably heard the noise.