Running From Your Shadows

Chapter 17

In a lone suburbia home in Phoenix, there was a wife and daughter hiding away per her husband's orders as he readied himself for intruders. He glanced behind him as they kept knocking on his door.

"Get Caitlyn out of here, Megan. Please protect her." His words were as he closed the door. Megan ushered her daughter to crawl, Megan watched from a crack as her husband was being beaten down and interrogated by men in suits, with a lanky woman growling at him.

"Mason Wu, alias Siris, trained killer, once affiliated with bounty hunters Locus and Felix." He looked up to her, wiping the blood away from his temple.

"I don't know! I don't know what happened to Locus and Felix, I dropped contact with them five years ago." The woman shook her head as she looked at a distinct family portrait.

"Isaac Gates, a.k.a Felix, was found dead at the base of a mountain on the planet Chorus. Locus went missing since he was also affiliated to Charon Industries at the time." Mason managed to get onto all fours as he glared at the woman.

"What did I do to you? What did they do to you?" Mason heard the woman snarl as she grabbed him by the chin and matched his eyes to hers, feeling her sharp nails digging in.

"You killed my father and my brother, you fucking bounty hunter!" Mason's eyes widened as he recognized the accent.

"Lozano?" A cruel smirk developed on her lips.

"Gemma Lozano, Ruben's second born, faithful daughter, dangerous assassin." Mason felt his color go white.

"I didn't want to do it. They wanted to do the ransom, I just wanted the bounty, get paid, and go home with no one having to die. Locus pulled the trigger on your brother, with him and Felix both shooting your dad." Gemma continued to growl until one of her thugs came in.

"Miss, we found his next of kin, and our mole has some new information about Locus." Gemma nodded at him.

"Very good." She let go of the grasp on Mason and stood, but reached for her magnum. "Unfortunately this doesn't mean you are excused, because you were still involved. I don't care what your role was, you were there."

Megan knew what was going to happen, and left the door, and locked it when she heard that deafening gunshot, followed by muffled orders to go after the next of kin. She could feel the shaking energy from her daughter as they crawled to safety. She brought out her husband's work phone, and scrolled through his contacts until she found Locus' old comm codes. She hastily sent a message:

Sam/Locus

Lozano got Mason/Siris

Watch out

-Megan Wu

She hoped she was in time as they crawled outside to escape.

---

Sam wasn't sure how many times he ran his brush through his long hair. He couldn't remember why he grew it out, but accepted it was a part of him. He was about to reach for his concealing makeup, but instead he reached for it and threw it away, freeing himself of another burden. Sam then shoved aside his hair gel and ties as he let his hair free, framing his face.

"Tonight will be an important night for us." Sam anxiously thought as he tied on his green tie, and adjusted the collar on his shirt before putting on his suit jacket, followed by a bit of cologne he kept. Looking himself in the mirror, Sam could feel his heart beat up to his throat to where his whole body was in sync. A formal date with Marina, and he was looking forward to this chance of treating her, even if it was a home date. Glancing at the picture on his mirror, Sam smiled fondly at the memory from the picture. They were together on a run to Earth where Marina was picking up some new educational material, and she took him to one of her favorite places. Sam remembered the smell of salt and sea from the boardwalk in the small town of Santa Cruz, and how much Marina was all over the funnel cakes they served.

"You looked so silly and adorable with your mouth being covered with powdered sugar and chocolate" Sam chuckled, holding the picture and memory close to his heart. He glanced over his shoulder to a lone drawer in his bedroom as he gently tugged and straightened the cuffs of his shirt and jacket, wondering if he should even go there. He's been with Marina for as long as he has been in Challenger, and he knew he wanted Marina more than anything.

"Samuel, no. You're not ready for it, and neither is she." Sam shook his head, deciding now wasn't the time. He simply slipped on his dress shoes, reached for the dessert he wanted to surprise her with, and left with his heart dragging him out the door, failing to hear the faint and familiar buzz of work.

---

Alissia stood at the foot of her mother's grave, laying down the bouquet of beautiful red roses. She knelt down, her brother and her father a distance away.

"Mom, please watch over Samuel. I haven't seen him in nearly 20 years, please bring him home to us." She hugged the tombstone, crying, feeling the love her mother had for her, as well as the love she has for her other children and her husband.

"Hurry up, Lissy! Dad's ready for his whiskey!" Alissia sighed as she stood up, but soon felt a prick in her arm. She looked and saw her dad and brother collapse. Soon she felt light-headed, but tried to fight it.

"Go to sleep, young Alissia. You will see your brother soon. We will go meet him on Challenger." That was the last thing Alissia heard before she blacked out, crashing down to the ground.

Gemma stood over all three bodies, then looked to the tombstone. She shook her head, thinking it was a big shame the mother was dead already, but having at least a dad and brother was enough to make an impact.

"Miss, we only need the dad and brother, what about the sister?" Gemma pondered this before realizing something.

"Take her too, from what I saw here it sounds like the girl prefers Locus while the other two keep their distance. I saw his birth records, and from what it looks like Locus has a different birth father."