Zeke

 

It was late afternoon by the time they eventually got on the road. The upset of their temporary split was long forgotten. Something felt different between them now, like they’d overcome something and were getting stronger together.

 

They grabbed a burger at a roadside diner on the way back to town. Sophie devoured hers quicker than Zeke and downed two glasses of cola.

 

Zeke raised an eyebrow. “What happened to the girl who used to nibble like a bird?”

 

“She got pregnant,” she responded, popping another French fry in her mouth with a cheeky smile.

 

He nodded. “Fair point.”

 

“I wonder if I’ll be sending you out for random things like tuna pizza with chocolate shavings?”

 

“Darling, I’d get you a bucket of coal to chew on if that’s what you wanted,” he said.

 

Zeke’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it.

 

“It’s Stephan.”

 

Zeke made plans with Stephan, nodding and giving him an address for a club he knew. The manager would give them the VIP room for privacy. They needed to meet somewhere public, for safety. No one’s homes were safe anymore with Troy stalking them.

 

“OK, see you there in an hour. I’ll text the others and let them know,” Zeke said before hanging up. “We’re going to Espionage Club to meet Stephan, Tina and Jeffrey, Admiral Stone, and Pete.”

 

“Pete? The guy from the explosion?” Sophie asked, wide-eyed.

 

“Yeah, he’s made a full recovery. He’s OK now. But he can help. Apparently, he’s got some kind of information he needs to share with us.”

 

“I wonder what he knows,” she said. “Jeez. This just keeps getting weirder and more people keep getting pulled into the ring.”

 

“The more the better, though,” he replied before tipping the last of his soda into his mouth. “With more eyes and ears – and ideas – we’ll catch Troy quicker.”

 

“Let’s hope so.”

 

They paid up and made their way to the club which was only a twenty-minute drive from the diner.

 

When they pulled up, pounding dance music vibrated through the parking lot.

 

“Is this really the best place to meet?” Sophie asked, slipping her hand into his as they crossed towards the front door.

 

“Yeah, It’s fine. It’s the last place Troy will look for us.”

 

When they reached the entrance, walking straight past a queue of people dressed up in short skirts, high heels and wafting out a cloud of perfume, Zeke whispered into one of the security men’s ears. He nodded and waved them through the door without question.

 

They walked through the entrance hall and through a side door. A man in a black shirt and jeans, with his feet up on the desk, suddenly sat up straight, as if he’d been caught out resting. “Jesus, Zeke, what are you doing here? Good to see you, bud.” He stood up and walked over to shake hands.

 

“Hey, Toby. Can we use the VIP suite for a quick meeting? There’s a few of us. I’ve told the doormen.”

 

“Yeah, sure, no one uses it this early in the evening. Go for it. Anything for you, dude.”

 

“Thanks. Catch up with you properly soon, yeah?” Zeke said casually, closing the door and nodding towards the VIP room for Sophie to walk ahead.

 

She walked ahead, then turned around to ask, “How did you two get so friendly? He acts like you saved his life once or something.”

 

Zeke’s brow rose, and he shrugged.

 

“Oh,” Sophie said. “You did?”

 

He pursed his lips, saying nothing.

 

She pushed on the door of the VIP room and entered. There were dark blue leather sofas lining each wall, and glass drinks tables loaded with ice buckets of champagne. Music from the main dance hall was fed through a speaker, which Zeke switched off. They could still hear the vibrations of the dance music through the walls, but at least it was quiet enough for a conversation.

 

“How often have you used this place?” Sophie asked. “You seem to know a lot about the technology.”

 

“I’ve been here a couple of times. Mainly on business. Meetings for various clients. It’s always been a reliable place to hide away for a bit.”

 

She nodded and sat down, eyeing the champagne. “Too bad we can’t get started on these.”

 

“The others will be here soon. After this, we can go home to the apartment. Get unpacked. I can run you a bath if you like?”

 

She smiled. “That would be nice. We’re quite the little cozy couple, aren’t we?”

 

He grinned, but before he could reply the door opened, and Stephan entered with Pete and Admiral Stone.

 

“Hey. How have you been?” Zeke asked, standing up. “Have you been safe?”

 

They all nodded.

 

“Fine, yes. It’s all been quiet. Not a peep from our man,” Stephan said.

 

“Well... I’ll tell you what I know when the others get here,” Pete said, shifting on his feet.

 

Just then, Tina and Jeffrey walked through the door. Tina looked nervous. “This is bizarre,” she said. “I’ve never been in a place like this. Well, not since the 80s anyway, and it was quite different then. Those girls in the line outside must be freezing.”

 

Sophie laughed. “They don’t feel the cold after a few martinis. Trust me.”

 

“So, what on earth are we doing in this place?” Tina asked, turning to the men.

 

Pete cleared his throat. He seemed desperate to get something off his chest. He was anxious. “The big news is that the biker who was following when Forrest got knocked off his bike managed to put a tracker on the guy’s car,” he said. “If it is your bomb guy then we should be able to locate him – providing he hasn’t switched cars.”

 

“Brilliant,” Stephan said, rubbing his hands together. “Do we have an app for tracking it?”

 

Pete handed his cell phone to Stephan. “I don’t know much about it.”

 

“OK,” Stephan said, taking the phone and sitting down to work out how to link up to the tracker. He bent his head while he tapped away at the screen in deep concentration.

 

“Anyway, thanks, Tina,” Sophie said in a lowered voice. “For last night. We really needed that.”

 

“I know, sweetie,” she replied, giving her arm a soft rub. “I haven’t lived this long without picking up a few relationship tricks. Never leave things unsaid. And you two,” she whispered now, as the two women turned their backs on the men, “are too good together to throw that away. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to push you back together. I worried I was meddling too much, but hey, it paid off.”

 

Sophie smiled. “It certainly did. We’re over it all.”

 

“We just need this bomb guy behind bars so we can get on with our lives,” Tina added. “As if we haven’t had enough trauma already. There isn’t a day goes by that I don’t think about my boy and how his life was cut short. This just trudges it all up.” She faltered like she was swallowing her emotions. Sophie touched her shoulder reassuringly.

 

“I can only imagine,” she said softly. “This will all be over soon. These guys know what they’re doing.” She looked at Zeke and Stephan – her two rocks. “I trust them with my life. With... our lives,” she added, placing one hand on her belly.

 

Tina lunged forward and hugged Sophie. It was a hug both women needed at such a fragile time. They eventually broke off and laughed. Tina wiped a tear from her eye as they turned back around to the guys. Pete was in deep conversation with Stone about bikes and Zeke was pacing the room, glancing at Stephan every few seconds.

 

“Anything yet?” he asked.

 

Stephan shook his head. He was concentrating too hard to respond in words.

 

Zeke continued to pace up and down. A moment later, Stephan shifted in his seat. “OK...”

 

“Yes?” Zeke asked, dashing over at the same time as Stephan stood up.

 

“I think I’ve got something,” Stephan said excitedly. “It’s just configuring the location of the tracking device our biker friend planted. It’s taking a while, but it’s definitely doing something.”

 

Everyone stopped their hushed conversations and gathered around Stephan and Zeke, like a family waiting for news of a relative’s serious operation. Their eyes were wide with expectation.

 

Stephan grabbed Zeke’s arm and said, “It’s flashing, it’s working.” Then he frowned, and Zeke peered across at the phone’s screen to see what was the matter. They looked at each other intensely.

 

“What? What is it?” Pete asked.

 

Stephan looked up from the screen at the worried faces staring at him. “It’s here. The tracker is somewhere in this building.”

 

Suddenly, there were screams from the dance floor next door. Zeke, Admiral Stone, and Stephan ran for the door. Sophie and Tina exchanged panicked glances and followed cautiously.

 

As they entered the lobby, they were met by a stampede of panic-stricken club-goers.

 

“He’s got a gun!” someone yelled.

 

Girls clutched each other as they ran in their stilettos towards the exit, with one girl stumbling and letting out a shriek of pain. Her ankle had twisted, and she winced in agony as two of her friends grabbed her under the arms and dragged her along with them. More people came streaming out of the door, and Zeke held his arms up to guard the group until the flow subsided.

 

When everyone was out, the doormen yelled to Zeke, “Get the fuck out, man!”

 

Zeke called over, “We’re here for this guy. It’s alright!” He turned back to the group. “Sophie, Tina, you should go.”

 

“No, I won’t leave you,” Sophie said, shaking her head.

 

“We’re in this together,” Tina agreed. “And maybe we’ll be able to help. Maybe we can speak to him.”

 

Zeke nodded gravely. “Fine. But stay back. We don’t need any more....” he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

 

“Don’t say I didn’t try,” the doorman said as he left his post and headed out into the parking lot with the crowd.

 

The lobby fell silent. They walked forward towards the doorway to the dance hall. “Someone should stay out here to stop police storming in at the wrong moment,” Zeke said.

 

“I’ll do it,” Pete said.

 

Zeke nodded. He pushed open the swing door and revealed a sad sight of Troy standing alone in the middle of the dance floor, holding a gun and looking like a frightened rabbit.

 

“Troy,” Zeke said, over the pounding dance music, which was still in full swing after the DJ had fled. “We’re just here to talk to you. Don’t worry. You can still come out of this. It’s not too late.”

 

“It’s Gary!” he yelled, opening his jacket to reveal a set of explosives strapped to his middle.

 

They all stopped in their tracks.

 

Stephan held his hands up. “I’m going to switch off the music. That’s all.” He walked carefully to the DJ booth, having to cross the edge of the dance floor to get there.

 

Sophie and Tina held onto each other as they watched.

 

Stephan stepped up into the DJ booth and frowned as he pressed buttons and turned dials until, eventually, the music was cut off abruptly. He stepped down from the booth, once again holding up his hands to show he was no threat.

 

Troy was shaking. His eyes darted from Stephan to Zeke and back again. “Move over there,” he ordered, using his gun as a pointer.

 

Stephan did as he was told and stood next to Zeke.

 

There was silence for a few moments as everyone stood still, the only sound being short, stressed breathing from the various members of the group on the wrong end of the gun.

 

Admiral Stone stepped forward gently. “Gary, son, stand down,” he said.

 

“No. You don’t give a shit about me. You’ve never tried to take revenge for what happened.”

 

“That’s not true,” Stone said, his face creasing in emotional pain. “I think about you... I think about Gary every day. All day, every day. I’ll never forget him.”

 

“Me.”

 

“Troy,” he said, in a pleading tone. “You have to see sense. This isn’t the way to honor your brother. He was a protector. He died doing what he loved – protecting others.”

 

Troy shuffled on his feet and wiped sweat from his brow.

 

“I’ve always been so proud of you both,” Stone continued. “You’ve lost your way a bit, but you can do good, son. This is your chance to make it right, before you... before you do something that ruins many more lives. Gary would never have wanted that. You know that.”

 

Troy held his gun higher. “If I drop this gun, these explosives go off, and we’re all dead. I’m taking you all with me. You don’t deserve to live.” His voice quivered on the last word.

 

Zeke held his hands up. “We’re not out to get you. You can still do the right thing and give up now. That’s what your brother would want.”

 

Troy scowled. He held the gun up to his head.

 

“Don’t do this,” Tina said gently. “Please.”

 

Troy began sobbing, the gun pressed firmly to his skull. “I miss him so much. We did everything together. We shared a womb, for God’s sake. He should never have joined the forces. You...” he waved the gun towards Zeke. “… and everyone you worked for, ruined his life. That’s the same as ruining my life. We are the same person. He’s dead. I’m dead. Ever since the explosion, I’ve been dead. I’m lucky to still have this living shell. It means I can take revenge for the both of us before I rest my soul with Gary’s.”

 

“Listen to yourself, son,” Stone said, sounding slightly firmer. “That’s not Gary talking. He’d tell you to sacrifice yourself for others. In this case, that means to stand down. Stand the hell down. That’s an order!”

 

Troy’s eyes filled with tears as his shaky finger poised on the trigger.

 

Zeke stepped forward cautiously. “I have something for you,” he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. He held it out for Troy to see. “Gary gave me this the day before he died. It’s like he knew something was going to happen. He wanted you to have it when we got home and asked me to look after it for you.”

 

Troy eyed the lighter, his face twisted in anguish.

 

“Here,” Zeke said as he tossed it over. As Troy reached out to catch it, Zeke was already in motion. He grabbed the gun, and tackled Troy to the ground, keeping his grip on the gun the whole time.

 

Sophie shrieked. Stephan rushed over to help restrain him while Admiral Stone took a look at the gun. “It’s not connected properly,” he revealed. “We’re safe.”

 

Zeke and Stephan pulled Troy up to his feet, holding his hands behind his back. Sweat poured down Zeke’s brow, stinging his eyes.

 

Troy dissolved into a river of pain. His tears flowed, and his shoulders shook. “I know he’s gone. He’s gone.”

 

Zeke, who still had one hand holding Troy’s arm up against his back, said softly, “You need to get some help and get your life back.”

 

Troy sniffed. “I know. I just wanted to show everyone how much power Gary still had. He was wiped out. He needed revenge. I’m sorry.” He sobbed with loud, guttural cries. “I’m sorry.”

 

Admiral Stone took Troy in his arms. “You’ll be alright son. It’s over now. No one has been hurt today. We’ll get you help.”

 

Just then a swarm of cops ran in with bulletproof vests and visors on.

 

Sophie ran to Zeke and threw her arms around him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her frame, relieved that he’d got her through this unscathed. He let out a long breath and relaxed his shoulders, which had been tense for too long. He opened his eyes and looked up just in time to see Troy being escorted out by police. They locked eyes for a few moments and Zeke saw the humanity in Troy’s eyes – withered and weak with what looked like regret in there too. He went without a fight.

 

Cops guarded the door and began taking short statements from everyone who’d been in the room with Troy. They gave their details and agreed to go to the station for questioning should they need to.

 

Sophie looked exhausted. She leaned most of her body weight on Zeke as they staggered out into the crisp night air. It was finally over. Zeke and Sophie walked to the car, with his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. He took in a deep breath and said, “Shall we start planning that wedding?”

 

Sophie laughed. “I’m too tired to even think about a wedding.”

 

He kissed her forehead. “Let’s get you home.”

 

Home. They could be together for good now – free of the veil of threat that had been draped over them ever since they’d met.