Night Fury: Second Act Part 4

By the state of exhaustion he's in, I let it slide with a simple nod.

Bob walks by me, grips the back of my neck and leans forward to kiss my forehead. "'Night."

"Goodnight, Bob." I make my way to my room and for the first night since he left, I don't think about Marco. I fall asleep soundly and sweetly knowing that one of my prayers has been answered.

An animalistic howl awakens me.

"Oh, G.o.d! f.u.c.k! Oh. Oh." Heavy breathing is followed by retching. "Please let me out of here! Please! I changed my mind. I don't need to be here. Let me out." Banging and groaning echoes around the house. Then an angry, "I don't want your f.u.c.king help. You motherf.u.c.king c.u.n.ts! Let me out!" Begging soon follows, "Please let me out. Please let me out. I can control it. I don't need your help. I'm sorry. Let me out."

My heartbeat pulses through my temples.

Calming myself slightly, I slide out of bed and open my bedroom door. Frankie stands there, about to knock on my door, looking worried.

Another howl. This time longer and guttural.

Frankie closes her eyes and cringes. "You were right. He's a junkie."

My eyes widen. I blink, and then hiss, "I knew it!"

The gagging and retching continue.

Frankie leans on the doorjamb and rolls her eyes. "Don't gloat or anything."

I point a finger at her chest. "You have no idea how much I prayed that I was wrong. But I knew. I f.u.c.king knew it." My lip curls. "f.u.c.king a.s.shole."

Frankie looks at me, disappointment in her eyes. "He's trying to get help, Cat. That's why he's here. That's why he dragged his brother, a brother he loves, out in the middle of the night in the pouring rain. Because he knew he couldn't do it alone." She pauses, allowing that to sink in. "He's trying."

There is no try. There is only do.

Even as I think that, guilt turns my stomach into a tumbling, turning mess. I sigh, "I know. I do. I know he's trying, but I think about Tomas..."

She finished my sentence for me, "And you get all stabby."

I snort a laugh. "Kind of." I sober quickly. "The thought of anyone hurting him makes me want to gut someone."

Frankie reaches out to rub my shoulder. "Rest a.s.sured, sweet Cat. As long as we're around, no one will ever lay a hand to him. Never. Not ever."

The knot in my stomach loosens. I take in what she just said. She's right.

No one will ever hurt Tomas.

They wouldn't dare.

If they do, I'll kill them.

Chapter Seven.

"Where is Marco?"

I turn to the entrance of the kitchen to see Clark standing there, glowering at me. I shrug, feigning casual indifference. "I don't know. You should ask Bob."

He slowly steps into the kitchen, not taking his eyes off me. "I'm asking you."

"Sorry. Can't help you there."

Silence follows before he says, "You're lying."

My back turns rigid. I stiffen. Turning, I glare at him. "You better be d.a.m.n sure before you throw around accusations like that."

Clark's face softens a little. "Sorry. I just think you know more than you're telling me."

I'm not lying.

Not technically.

I tell him in complete honesty, "I don't know where Marco is, Clark."

He nods. "Okay." He steps back. "Whatever you say."

He leaves me in the kitchen, hands shaking, heart racing. Good question, Clark. One I'd like to know myself.

Where the h.e.l.l is Marco?

"Sister Arianne?" I ask as I knock on the chapel doorframe.

"Oui, ma cherie. Entrer."

Hands folded demurely in front of me, I enter, the picture of humbleness. I watch Ari, dressed in her habit, kneeling by an older lady, praying with her.

I make the sign of the cross as I approach the large statue of a crucified Jesus, and then whisper, "I'm sorry to disturb you. I wonder if I may have a moment, please."

She smiles at my manners. "Of course." She stands and follows me outside, closing the door behind her.

I step closer to her and hand her a white envelope. Her face hardens slightly as she tucks the envelope into her habit. I don't need to say anything more. I walk away in complete silence. A small smile spreads across my face.

Tonight, we play.

Mirage has a way of making you feel powerful. The presence in this building is astounding. It oozes confidence and c.o.c.kiness. When I stand in the middle of the first floor watching the people around me take charge and do what's necessary to get a target hunted, it makes my skin itch in the most delicious way.

The air buzzes and hums.

I'm in the zone.

Tonight's target is not someone I know. This is because tonight, we have to head four towns over. Because of this, we are getting ready extra early. It's not even dark out.

Bob hands us all our target sheets and we all read in silence. The air hums harder, as if there is static in the air.

We don't like what we're reading.

I know it's highly inappropriate, but I'm excited about tonight's job. The reason being is that tonight, we're all heading out as a team. I try to view this as a family outing. Trust me. I know how f.u.c.ked up that sounds. But it's so rare an occasion that I feel I have to view it as a gla.s.s half-full situation.

All dressed in black from head to toe, we head out. Along the way, I scoop up my hair and tie it in a high ponytail. At my ear, I hear, "You okay with this?"

I turn to Clark, brow bunched. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugs and tries to mask his shame. I see right through him. "I didn't know if we were okay or if we just said we were okay, you know? I know it's hard to work with people you don't trust."

I stop in the middle of the hall, blocking his way. "Do you trust me?"

He nods a while before he answers, "Yes."

I jerk a quick nod. "Good. Because I never stopped trusting you, Clark. We're good." I start to walk away, leaving him in the hall. "But if you ever put your hands on me again," I growl, "I will f.u.c.king kill you."

We all meet in the barn by the cars. Clark and Bob remove the covers, and just as we're about to enter the two Mercedes Kompressors, Bob stops us with, "We need to have a quick word before we go."

Everyone stills. Everything stills.

Even the air.

Bob clears his throat. "I had contact with Marco today." The hairs on the back of my neck stand. What the h.e.l.l? "I have some bad news. Marco can no longer work here. I can't go into the reasons for this, but know that he didn't want to leave. Something forced his hand."

Yeah. Cops can't also be criminals.

Who'd have thunk it?

Bob continues, "It'll take me a while to recruit someone else, so for the time being, Frankie is being transferred to a Mirage desk and won't be taking on any jobs. Tonight will be her last night for a long while, I think."

Stunned, I turn to my best friend. She smiles sadly and takes hold of my hand. She's not happy about this. My heart sinks. I feel for her.

What we do, fighting for justice? It's freeing. To think of someone taking that away from me... I would probably go rogue.

Clark appears by my side, placing a hand on my shoulder in consolation. "I'm sorry, Cat."

I shrug his hand off. "Don't be. We weren't a thing anyway."

I ignore Frankie's curious stare and get in the car with her. The other three get into the other Mercedes and we're set to go.

After driving a short while, Frankie asks cautiously, "You wanna tell me what that was about?"

I reply a clipped, "Not particularly."

Holding her earpiece to her ear, she mutters, "Moon Shadow offline. Night Fury offline. Give us a minute, guys."

She turns off her radio device and sighing, I do, too. "You don't need to make a big deal about it, Francis."

Her brows shoot up. "Francis? Oh, ouch, Cat. Just...ouch."

I try my hardest to not smile, but it's hard with Frankie. It's d.a.m.n near impossible.

She spots my grin and chuckles, "There she is! Seriously, I've been worried about you. I haven't seen you laugh in about a week. What's going on? Give me the short version. I can't be bothered listening to you whine."

I groan whilst snickering. "G.o.d, you're such a b.i.t.c.h."

She laughs. "I'm joking! I'm always joking. You know that."

I do know that. That's why I love her.

Taking a deep breath, I stall a minute before I start telling her what I've been putting off. "So you know Clark's birthday night?"

She grunts, "Oh, h.e.l.l yes. Talk about awkward. In my defence, if I had known he was bringing a date, I never would have told you he was in love with you."

"I know. But regardless, it still hurt, for whatever reason. I don't even love him, but I did love him. When we were kids, I loved him."

She utters quietly, "I'm sorry."

I shake my head. "Don't be. It wasn't your fault." I pause. "I did something. I screwed up. I really screwed up."

She remains silent, giving me time to get it out.

"That night, Clark and I shared words. It was weird. I asked him to kiss me. He did. It was...okay."

Frankie groans. She gets it.

"So I decide to clear my mind. I head over to Mirage, have some wine and listen to some music, when out of nowhere comes Marco."

Frankie's body goes rigid.

She knows. She always knows.

I clear my throat. "One thing led to another. A small kiss here, a grope there. Next thing I know, I'm in his bed."

She whispers, "Oh, my G.o.d."

I grumble in agreement. "Yeah, exactly. So if that's not bad enough, Clark is in bed with Mich.e.l.le. And he hears everything."