ZACH

 

What the hell have I gotten myself into? I think to myself as I shift the car into reverse. Tires squeal against the asphalt as we begin racing backwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Lola ducking her head beneath the dash as Richard begins firing from the porch steps.

The first bullet hits the windshield, sending a spiderweb of cracks along the surface of the glass. The second bullet hits right beside the first and cracks the windshield even more. I, too, drop my head down in an effort to duck out of the way as a barrage of bullets continues to hit the windshield. Once we’re at the end of the driveway, I speed out into the road and am protected by thick trees and a concrete barrier.

I throw the car into drive, the tires squealing against the asphalt once more. And as we speed away from the house and take a sharp right turn onto a neighboring road, Lola finally picks her head up and stares at me blankly.

I grip my hands tight around the steering wheel, trying to make sense of what's just happened. Whatever the case, I know that the situation is only going to get worse from here. It's only going to escalate. I don't know much about Richard. I had only heard of him briefly during my first adventure, if you want to call it that, with Lola.

Because I don't know him, I can’t deduce what he's going to do. And I can't figure out if he was the one who killed Seth. In the back of my mind, I try to make sense of why he would kill him and the only thing I can come up with is that he wanted to set us up to take the fall.

If that's the case, then what he's after is power. And that makes him dangerous as hell because the most dangerous people in this world are people who will climb to power at any cost. They do not care who they have to destroy in the process.

When I catch Lola out of the corner of my eye, she’s shaking in her seat. She looks as if she could cry, but I know it's not because her father is dead. That can't be the reason. Not when the entire purpose of me working with her was to ensure that he was dead once and for all.

No, I imagine the reason she is upset is because her carefully crafted plan is now in shambles.

I glance up to the rearview mirror to make sure we're not being followed as we begin to make our way down the mountains of the Hollywood hills. There are only two lanes and they are both narrow. It's not like the city at large. Up here it's more peaceful. But the events at the temporary Grimm household have brought a darkness to these hills.

Once I'm sure that we are far enough away from Richard, I decide it's as good a time as any to come to a stop. I pull over onto the side of the road, the tires kicking against sand and gravel as we come to a stop. I kill the engine and the lights, and throw one arm behind Lola’s headrest as I glance at her.

It's quiet as hell here. The kind of silence that I'm not exactly used to. Even in my favorite place in the world, at the top of Runyon Canyon, there is still noise and pollution. Somehow, it's even quieter here.

"The first thing I'm going to ask you is are you okay?"

She cocks her head and licks her lips. There's a pale, haunted look written all over her face. She looks ill. She finally looks to me with fear and confusion in her eyes. “The truth is that I don't know." She sighs and glances out the passenger window. “I spent so long crafting this plan, and now it's all going down in flames."

"And what about Richard?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know," she says softly. "He thinks we did it. And I don't know what he's going to do with that information, no matter how misguided it might be. He could go and tell everyone that my father was still alive up until tonight, and he could tell them that that was what the event was about. But most likely, I think he will try to take over the company. There's nothing left standing in his way, nothing except us anyways." She glances back to me. "And something tells me he's not going to stop until we are both dead, because we’re the only thing that stands in his way.”

I try to process what this all means. And as I shift my weight so that I'm leaning against the car door and the glass window, I catch my reflection. This was the last thing I wanted. Being dragged back into this world isn't something I ever would've gone looking for. But when Lola came to me, she offered me a way out. A way to finally put this all behind me and I took the bait, and now I'm standing on the precipice of dying once again.

I chew into my bottom lip as I try and formulate a plan but all I'm doing is drawing blanks.

I pop open the car door and climb to my feet, then close the door behind me before I step to the edge of the trees that line the road. From behind me, I hear Lola’s door open and then I hear her feet landing against the ground. She closes the door and steps beside me.

We both stare out into the distance. In between trees, I'm able to catch glimpses of the city down the mountain.

The night air is cool but my body is like an oven.

"We have to stick to the plan." She glances over at me with something brewing in her eyes. I can't quite make sense of what, but the wheels of her mind are turning like there's a hamster in a spinning wheel. "We have to make sure that everyone is on that rooftop tomorrow night when the bomb goes off. It's the only way this will ever be over."

She's right but I don't know how we get the plans back on track. If Richard so much as utters a word to any of the associates, then we will lose the element of surprise. It will put people on high alert when they otherwise would have no reason to be. It could convince people to not show up for the event.

Our only hope is that Richard is selfish enough and stupid enough to still attend the event. And though we will no longer be hosting the resurrection of Seth Grimm, something tells me that Richard will turn the event into something else. Even if he believes that we killed Lola's father, he has no reason to suspect that the entire event was to be a set up.

My best guess is he is going to try and clean up this mess before the meeting. He's going to try and make sure that Lola and I are out of the picture and he's not going to care about any collateral damage. He has a one-way ticket to fortune and power, but I'm going to make it my mission to stop it before he can ascend to the proverbial throne.

The world has believed Seth Grimm has been dead for a while now. The vacuum that was left in his wake can only be sealed with the plan going off without a hitch.

But first things first, Lola and I must survive this night.

A pair of headlights flash from behind us as a car speeds down the curvy mountains of the Hollywood hills. And I deduce that the car is heading straight for us. My best guess is that Richard is in that car and if he sees us, he will run us right off the road. I grab Lola's hand and pull her into the collage of trees. We step forward until we’re out of sight of the road and spin around on our feet before dropping down onto our knees to watch.

As expected, the car comes to a stop just behind Lola's car. The driver’s side door opens and a pair of boots hit the ground. It's the same boots Richard was wearing so I know it's him even before he shows his face by circling around the front of the car. His hand grips tightly around the gun that hangs at his side.

I sink farther down towards the ground and Lola does the same beside me. Richard inspects the car, beginning with the shattered glass of the windshield. He makes his way around to the passenger side and peers in the window briefly before spinning around to face the woods.

My eyes lock with his, but I'm not sure if he can see me. Still, it's better to be safe than sorry. I don't make a move, I don't move so much as an inch. I hold my breath in for as long as I can so as to make sure he can't hear me, either.

His eyes veer sideways, the top of his head illuminated by the light of the moon. Deep in the heart of the city, the moon is just an abstract object in the night sky. It doesn't glow upon one’s skin as it does out here in the mountains.

His face is unshaven and rugged. And his eyes are circled with dark wrinkles with bags that hang just underneath his eyes. His hair is short but tussled upon his head and he's wearing a business suit.

If there's one thing I've learned in all of my years in the security game, it’s that you should never trust a man in a business suit. It's of my experience that they are the worst. Often times, the most evil people in this world dress to impress. It's like they're hiding behind fancy clothing to try and mask their true selves.

Richard finally settles on the fact that we are long gone, even though we're only a few feet away from him. He drops his gun to clatter against his leg. With his free hand, he digs into his slacks and retrieves his phone. He presses one solitary button and then pulls the phone to his ear.

He takes a step backwards to lean against Lola's car and crosses his feet over one another in such a casual way that it alerts my senses. It's like he does this every day. It's like this is what he does for a living.

His eyes twist as he waits impatiently for whoever he's calling to answer the phone. And then finally, "You're not going to believe this," he begins talking to whoever it is on the other end of the phone. And though I can't hear what's being said from the other man, I can deduce that I will be able to figure out just enough by listening to Richard’s end of the conversation. "The first thing I'm going to say is that I don't want this to get out. It's actually imperative that this stays between us for the time being.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lola’s eyes shift to me. But I don't pay her any attention, because my focus is strictly on the conversation happening right in front of us.

“Seth Grimm and his daughter, Lola, are still alive." He scratches nervously at the side of his head with the barrel of the gun as his lips hitch into a grin. "Or at least, he was alive until just a short time ago.” He chews into his lip as he listens to the man on the other end of the phone. He nods contemplatively and chuckles under his breath. "As it turns out, the two of them had faked their deaths. I'm not exactly sure why at this time, but I know it doesn't matter.”

He’s clearly lying about the last part, so he’s definitely trying to angle himself into the best possible position. He’s known for a while that both Seth and Lola were still alive. Just goes to show you can’t trust anyone in this business.

He begins to pace back and forth along the length of the car as he continues his conversation. "I'm fully aware of what this means, as I'm sure you are too. But there is a kink in the story. As it turns out, Lola and a boyfriend of hers killed Seth earlier tonight." He stops in place and taps the gun against his leg. "Well, I don't know why she would do that to be honest. But I caught both of them standing over his dead body.” He twirls his fingers impatiently in the air as the man on the other end of the phone begins questioning him farther. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, clearly annoyed. "I need you to assemble a team, and I need both Lola and her boyfriend Zach taken care of before sunrise. And I need you to do this without telling your man why they're doing what they are doing. And I need your word that this stays between us." He nods his head and rolls his eyes yet again. "Just know that you will be handsomely rewarded if you succeed. But if you don't, also know that I will have your head on a platter."

Lola's hand drops onto my thigh. My attention is stolen momentarily as I glance down to see her hand on my jeans. I glance at her real quickly and shake my head before turning my attention back to Richard.

"See, I knew we would be on the same page." He hangs up the phone and stuffs it back into his pocket before stepping back to his car and climbing into the front seat. When he's in the safety of his own car, I notice him dialing another number before pushing the phone against an ear.

The bright lights of his phone screen illuminates half his face while the other half remains in shadows. He cocks his head sideways, waiting for someone to pick up the phone. And when his lips wrinkle into a smile, I know he's about to have another conversation. I only wish I could hear what he is saying.

He finally twists the key in the ignition, bringing his car to a roaring start. His headlights flash on, lighting up the road and Lola's car, and lighting up the woods too. I throw one arm around Lola’s back and push her all the way to the ground so that we are lying face to face in the dirt.

Her chest heaves as we wait in total silence. Waiting for him to leave so we can finally make our move, but I'm not sure if he has any intention of leaving. We wait in the grass for what seems like forever and he still isn't moving. I motion with my hand for Lola to crawl deeper into the trees.

She understands my command and climbs to her knees before crawling away from the road. I give chase right behind her, with a beautiful view of her taut ass. A smile hitches across my lips but I shake it away because this is not the time to be idolizing her beauty. This is not the time to be fantasizing about her or her beautiful ass.

As we continue to crawl through the woods, I hear a car revving from the road behind us. And then I hear tires squealing against the asphalt as a car comes to a dead stop. I glance over my shoulder quickly to see a black SUV pulling in front of Lola's car.

It takes no time for a team of men to climb out of the vehicle and onto the ground. And in their hands, they carry assault rifles. These are men armed to the teeth and they know what they are doing.

I see Richard climb back out of his vehicle to greet the men. And though all of them are wearing masks over their face, and dressed in all black, Richard seems to be able to pinpoint his contact immediately. He reaches forth and shakes the first of the five men's hand. And then he looks out into the woods, looks right at me but again I don't think he can see me.

Richard chuckles gravely to himself and then points out into the woods. And then I hear him say, "I've been waiting for you to arrive. The targets are right there in the woods…”