DESIRED BY BIKER
Derrick Jonas slowed down as the figure grew closer in the distance. It was a nasty night out, hell if he wasn’t trying to get away so badly he wouldn’t even be out on a night like this. The rain was coming down in folds, as if the skies had opened up and a bucket was being poured down to earth. Why was this person out on the side of the road on a night like this? Derrick wasn’t positive until he was almost stopped and about 20 feet from the figure that it was actually a person and not simply a figment of his imagination.
“What are you doing out here?” He said, looking at the soaked figure in front of him. Her hair was long and brown; it was wet, hanging over her eyes. Derrick looked closer at her, he barely could make out her dark brown eyes, but he saw fear in them.
“Hey, are you okay?” He asked her, walking towards her now that he had parked his bike.
She looked up finally, realizing there was another person with her now. Derrick saw a small spark of fear in her eyes, and she began to back up.
“I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay. Come on; let’s get out of this weather.” He waited to move toward her though.
It took a few minutes before she seemed to decide he was okay. But she didn’t move towards him, instead her shoulders slumped in and she began to fall forward. Derrick moved quickly to make sure she didn’t fall, grabbing her a second before she sunk into the wet floor of the waiting ground. He picked her up and carried her to his bike.
“Look I’m going to need you to hang onto me so you don’t fall off.” He looked into her eyes, waiting for some kind of response that she understood. She shook her head, but he wasn’t sure, so instead of putting her behind him, he placed her in front of him.
Derrick started up the bike, hoping that there was some shelter coming up soon. This girl looked soaked to death, and scared along with it. There was a little part of his mind screaming out, don’t take her anywhere, leave her there, let whatever will happen, happen.
It was the good guy in him that won out in the end though, the one that had been hidden for many years now. But there was no way he would be able to continue down the road, leaving this helpless young woman there, without help, or shelter.
As he drove his mind kicked into overdrive, and he began to wonder. The questions came at him with a force so great; he almost had to yell out for them to stop. Who is she? Why is she out there near the forest, on the side of the road? What is she so scared about? Too many questions and no time to ask them, at least not right now, maybe later.
He saw the hotel come out of the tapestry of rain as he got a few miles up the road. Derrick began to pull over and felt the girl tense up a bit. “I have to stop; it is too dangerous to drive right now.” The rain had begun to come down even harder in the past few seconds. Derrick knew his bike well enough, and his skills to know that there was no way that what he was doing was safe.
The girl shook her head in response. Derrick pulled in and got off the bike, then lifted her, setting her on the ground. She stood on her own, though a bit precariously. He wrapped his arm around her slight frame and felt her body tremble.
“Come on; let’s get out of the rain and cold.” He pulled her towards the restaurant that was beside the hotel. Even though he really wanted a bed and some much needed sleep, he knew this girl would think he was trying to do something bad to her.
The waitress placed them near the back of the restaurant, which was perfect for Derrick. He loved being out of the way, away from where he could easily be spotted. When the waitress came back for their order, Derrick got them both some coffee. The girl looked like she needed something to help warm up her body, and Derrick knew that and the caffeine were something he would be able to handle as well.
“So you want to tell me what you were doing out there?” Derrick said looking into the dark brown eyes of his unknown guest.
As she sat there, he studied her more closely. Her face was nice, but she wasn’t striking, however, there was a strange pull in his body. Her mouth was small and pleasant; it was also a bit crooked. There were many contradictions to her. A mixture of beauty, and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. At least that was the only thing Derrick could compare how she looked.
Maybe she had been hit in the past, and those were old scars that had healed, leaving a permanent mark on her skin, and her soul. But Derrick still waited for her to answer, until that point it was all just guesses.
Her voice was so low when she started talking Derrick almost missed it. Thought it was the music playing from the juke box, or anything else, except her voice.
“He left me there. He said he was done with me once and for all, that I would never see him again.” Tears began to stream down her face. She stopped talking and just looked as the tears rolled; there was no sound with the tears though.
Derrick knew that state, it was one where you had cried so much about an event that you had no emotion left, but the tears just wouldn’t stop. He wished he could hug her, comfort her even, but knew it would be too forward.
Instead Derrick looked down at the table and allowed his mind to float back to the time in his life that had been normal. It seemed like a lifetime ago, even though it had only been a few years. Those years he had been happy, living a normal life, one that had him smiling each and every morning he woke up. He would gladly go back to those days, but they were too far away now.
It hit him like it did every time he would think back, the pain and anguish was always quick to replace the feeling of happiness he would first feel when he thought back. Now it was a mixture of shame, anger, grief, depression, and a bit more anger in the mix.
Had he done it differently, would he be where he was right now? It was part of the overall process of his grieving during this memory. He thought he had considered every option there was in this situation, but maybe the right one hadn’t come to his mind yet. So he would scour every recess of his mind to think of the other things that he might have done all those years ago.
What would he do with that new plan though? It wasn’t like he could turn back time and go to that one fatal night. No so why did he do it each and every time? Derrick often chastised himself about this type of thinking, but he would never change the pattern. Each time he would do this to himself, each and every step was the same, however, that didn’t mean he ever stopped it.
If he sat long enough he could see her long brown hair flowing behind her as they rode in the car. She was so beautiful, so much of his heart belonged to her, that after all this time just the memory of her would make it ache. Tears threatened to escape from his eyes, but he would stop them. It had been too long; he shouldn’t even waste his time on this. But he had to do it.
She had turned to smile at him and say something; he had looked over at her too. Taken his eyes off the road, only for a split second, but that had been long enough. Derrick tried to turn the memory off, stop it; he didn’t want to see anymore.
He cleared his mind, and looked up at the girl sitting across from him. He wondered what her story was, why had this guy simply left her on the side of the road.
Derrick took a deep breath in, trying to stop the memory that was trying to push the way to the front of his mind. He couldn’t do it right now, there was no way. He wasn’t ready to live the rest of that night, not right here, not now. It took him several minutes to compose himself enough that he could look up at her once again.
He looked up and saw her brown eyes, shinning, and staring right at him. She was studying him, he felt raw and open, like she could see into his inner core. He felt a blast of quick shame, and looked down to shake his head once again.
There weren’t many people who would ever see that part of him, in fact he couldn’t think of one. But he had not been paying attention. Had wanted to give her the time she needed to think of her pain, relive her past. Derrick had taken too long in his own past though, and she had finished hers. After all it was much fresher for her, it had happened recently, today even.
I know how this feels, Derrick thought to himself. Maybe I can help her. But he knew he shouldn’t do it. Instead he should simply pay for her coffee, give her a few dollars and leave her there. She would eventually find her way back to wherever she was from. It really wasn’t his problem, and he should just stay out of it.
But he looked back up at her, and saw the flash of pain in her eyes. Was it for him or for her? He wasn’t sure. But he saw the compassion that also came across her eyes. It had been so long since he had seen that look. It made him tingle inside. The good guy in him won the battle at that very moment. He wouldn’t be able to walk away and ever live with himself. It would be too much on what already weighed deeply on his soul.
“What is your name?” He asked her. Finally bringing his mind around enough that he could focus on the reality of what was in front of him.
“Mackenzie, Mac for short.” She said.
Derrick studied Mac a bit closer. He still saw a little bit of fear in her eyes, but not near as much, now that they were inside. “That’s an odd nickname for a girl.”
“I grew up with three brothers and they treated me like a boy too. So needless to say they gave me a boy’s name. It stuck through the years, and I’m so used to it I never changed it.
“Why were you out on the road?” Derrick asked, trying to not push her too quickly. Hoping he could learn enough about her that he would know he was making the right choice.
She looked down for a second, he knew that look, it was the one where you were trying to consider what parts of a story to share, and what to hold back. He watched her take a deep breath, and look up. It had been his turn to study, he knew how to read people well, he had always known, but had gotten much better at it in these past years.
“I wanted too much from him. He wasn’t willing to give it, he’s a bad man. He really is, but I thought I could change him. I should have listened, should have stopped pushing. But I didn’t learn. It was too much, too far, and he had enough of me.” Mac said her eyes glazed over; Derrick was sure she was reliving the event.
“But why did he leave you on the road?” Derrick asked.
“I told him I wanted to get married. If he didn’t marry me I was done with him. I couldn’t do it anymore.” Mac sighed.
Derrick looked down, anger flooded his body. “That’s not a reason to leave you in the rain.”
“He’s not a good man. I already said that. I knew it for many months now. But I thought I could change him.” Mac stated. “But I guess it’s true you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.” Derrick stated honestly. He was never one who had lied much in the past. So he found it difficult to know what to say to this young girl right now.
Mac began sobbing suddenly. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. Where will I go? I have nothing left.” She looked down at her hands, which she clinched, open and shut repeatedly.
Derrick took a deep breath in; he wasn’t sure what to do. He could offer her pass with him on his bike? But he didn’t need to invite another person into his life. He did so much better alone. His life wasn’t something that was normal. He never stayed in one place for too long.
He looked up at Mac and she was still crying her tears flowing down her cheeks. It broke his heart to see those tears, even though he didn’t know her. But she really looked so helpless, so small, so scared at that second.
“I guess you could go along with me for a bit. Decide somewhere you want to go and stay there. That’s really all I can offer.” Derrick stated, trying to make it sound like a bad decision for her to make. After all, if she was the one who refused, he wasn’t to blame from there. He had offered, and she had declined. That would soothe his soul a bit for the moment.
“Really, but you don’t know me.” Mac said, her eyes showing a glimmer of hope.
“Yes.” Derrick said slowly. Wishing he could just take the offer back. But the truth of the matter was deep inside he was too soft. Always had been especially when it came to the fairer sex, he was easy to manipulate.
“I have a little bit of money, so I can pay you some. If I can go to the bank, I have some more.” Mac said. Her eyes seeming to get brighter as she thought about the offer that had come from him, and that she was going to now agree too.
“That’s fine.” He said.
“Where are we going?” She asked.
“Honestly I hadn’t thought about yet. I normally just go until I feel like stopping.” Derrick answered.
“Hmm, well that’s okay.” She said her eyes began to get a wistful look. One that said she had always dreamed of having this type of adventure.
“Are you hungry?” Derrick finally asked. His stomach had growled to let him know that he hadn’t fed it today.
“A little bit, but I don’t know if I can eat.” She said.
Derrick called the waitress over who took their order. He got them both a hamburger. Her a single, and for him a triple cheeseburger. He was ravenous when he really thought about it. As soon as the food came he dove in and ate it quickly. There was no small talk; he was thinking to himself, asking himself, why he had invited her to go with him.
It was something that he didn’t care to fully analyze though at the moment. Instead he just thought about her, the one from the past. She had broken his heart so badly, had almost made him loose everything. No, correction, he had lost everything that night.
He let his mind float back to the past once again. It was that night, he was in the car, and they were coming home from a wonderful night out. He was so in love with her, thought she had loved him too. He had been a fool, for how long had she been dishonest with him. How long had he thought she was another person?
Anger flashed in his mind. He looked at her in his mind once again; there was the smile, the words she had begun to say. He had looked up at her, waiting for her sweet voice to come forward.
Derrick heard the scream like it was happening right at that moment. “Look out.” She had yelled.
He looked up, it was too late. The car was already on top of them, his victims, the two he had killed that night. He could see their faces just as well as he could see hers. They were burned into his memory for ever more. The mother and her little boy, he had only been two. It killed him to remember it now. It had been an accident. But had he not have looked over at her, they would still be alive right now, maybe.
If that hadn’t been enough though the aftermath was worse, it had crushed his world. Derrick had jumped out trying to help them. He couldn’t do anything, they were dead, and he knew it. She had looked at him, the way, it had been horrible.
“Why?” She had asked him. Like he had done it on purpose, when she knew damn well he wasn’t that way at all.
“It was an accident. You were talking to me.” He had stated to her.
“Oh you’re blaming this on me? You killed them, not me. You’ve been drinking, you are a drunk, and you know that, you’ll go to jail”
He had been shocked by her words. His mouth had to have fallen open. For one thing, Derrick rarely drank. Sure he had one at dinner, one single beer, but they had been down two hours ago. That wasn’t even in his system anymore. What was she talking about? Maybe she was simply in shock. No, she told the police when they showed up that Derrick needed to be tested, he had been drinking.
Thankfully, the tests had shown that he didn’t even have any alcohol left in his system. But she had crushed him, shown him that she would never be the type of female that would give him what he needed, support.
When they finally left the scene of the crime, they hadn’t talked. They had driven back to their apartment, Derrick had gone and packed his bags, and he was gone. He could remember her words as he packed up his things. They had been hateful words, not the words of a female that could have ever loved him. Surely, she might come around. But he had left and never got a call from her again. It had been a month later when he left; the small town was no place for him to live anymore. She had gone around and said all kinds of bad things about him. People would look at him with hate in his eyes. He had lost his job, and all his friends. Derrick had found out the hard way that he had never had a true friend in that town that month. He had never looked back, and never let another person close to him.
Derrick had to wonder if he would have messed up and married her, what would have happened? Would she have faked her love for him even longer? It had been during that month of waiting he had found out much more about her than he needed to know. She had been seeing other guys, at least one, and had been playing Derrick all along.
He planned on never letting another person that close to him again. So why had he let Mac come with him, or at least ask her. His mind screamed, no she’s coming with you remember. Oh shit, he had agreed to it.
“Are you okay?” She asked him when he looked up.
“Yes, sorry just memories from long ago, something I need to leave alone.” Derrick answered.
“I know those, I have many of my own.” She smiled.
The smile changed her face, made her beautiful, stunningly beautiful even. Derrick had taken a deep intake of breath at that moment.
“What?” She asked him.
“Nothing, just you looked so different when you smiled.”
Mac blushed her face taking on several shades of red. “Thank you.”
“You ready to go?” Derrick stood up.
“Sure. Do you mind if I go to the bathroom first?” She asked.
“Oh, go ahead. I’ll pay the bill and wait for you.”
She ran off to the restroom. A part of his mind yelled, run, get out now. Leave her, go by yourself, she’s trouble. But his body didn’t run, instead it went to pay the bill and he stood there looking at the flyers in the front of the restaurant. One’s that advertised all the fun things a family needed to do if they visited this area.
He picked up a flyer.
“That’s a beautiful resort; you and your misses should check it out.” The waitress said.
He looked up at her, then back at the flyer. It read Pocono’s Wood Resort. “Maybe we will thanks.”
“It’s only a few miles up the road now.” She added.
“Thanks.” Derrick went back to staring at the flyer. It looked like a beautiful location. But more romantic than what he really wanted.
“Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there.” Mac walked up on him.
Derrick stood there, the waitress smiling at him, and Mac looking over the flyer. “Let’s go.” He walked out the door with her trailing behind him
Hopping on his bike, he pulled onto the road, the rain was much lighter. It hadn’t stopped, but he could at least drive in this type of weather. He opened up the storage on his bike, and pulled out the extra rain protection he had. “It will be quite big on you, but you won’t be soaked any worse on the ride.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and put the gear on. She swam in it. Derrick chuckled looking at her. “You look like a little kid wearing their parent’s clothes.”
“It’s not my fault the man who rescued me is ten times taller than me.” She laughed.
Derrick laughed even harder at her comment. She was really quite small, maybe 5’ 4” tall, compared to his 6’ 4”. A foot shouldn’t seem like so much, but it was because she looked so small in his gear.
They got on the bike and drove off, without thinking his bike led the way to the resort. Why? He didn’t want it, but when she had said she always wanted to go, he had been convinced. Maybe his heart was trying to tell him something. He knew he was lonely, knew he needed human contact. But he didn’t want to take the chance again. The last one had hurt him too much.
So many people had rubbed it in his face that she had told them he was really nothing to him. That she knew she could do better, and would never be satisfied with him. Why had she said those things?
Derrick wondered sometimes if they had simply been hurting him for the two he had killed on accident. Why were people suddenly so mean to him? He knew he hadn’t grown up in the small town, but had truly felt they had accepted him as their own. It hadn’t just been her in the long run that had turned their backs on him. It had been them all, but he had to blame her and himself for that situation.
Mac saw them pull into the resort and Derrick could hear a squeal of delight from her. She sounded like a child who had gotten a treat when they thought there was no hope. It was delightful to his ears, the sound of pure happiness.
Derrick smiled; he loved the sound of happiness. It had been entirely too long for him. He felt better about the choice instantly. Going to the office he paid and got the keys for one of the cabins.
He drove over to where the desk clerk had told him to go. As they pulled up she made the sound again. It made him warm inside to hear it. It was so honest, so truthful.
Grabbing his things off the bike, he helped her off and they went inside. He opened the door and she flew past him. “Oh my goodness, it’s beautiful.” She turned and smiled at him.
Derrick felt a warmth go through his body. It wasn’t a feeling he had in sometime. He smiled at her. The happiness he felt emanate from her body was nice.
He turned around and grabbed the bag. “You can have the bedroom, I’ll take the couch.”
“Really, you’re too big to get a good night of sleep on that small couch. I’ll sleep there.” She answered.
“Okay.” He really just wanted to take a shower, maybe start a fire, warm up a bit and get some sleep. He looked over at the firewood and decided he would start it then take a shower.
She watched him intently as he went to fixing the fire. He could feel her eyes on him. But he didn’t turn around; he could tell she wanted to find out more about him. It was like a sixth sense.
“So what is your story?” She asked him when he kept working on the fire and wouldn’t turn around.
Derrick sighed, he shoulders heaved, it wasn’t a story he wanted to share with her. But the words started to come out of him even so. He heard the story play out to her, saw the images of that night and the month after. Derrick didn’t even realize that Mac was in the room as he began to tell the story. As he kept talking it felt better though it didn’t hurt as much, giving voice to it really seemed to help. But he was scared to look at her as he told the part of the mother and child he had hit.
Derrick heard her make a small shocked sound. He felt the shame of the accident come over him again. He didn’t want to continue but did anyway, it wouldn’t stop. He just kept talking the story weaving the past to her. He didn’t look up at her when he finished, just waited for her to tell him how bad of a person he was, after all that was what everyone in town had said to him.
“It wasn’t your fault. Really, you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it.” She said.
Derrick looked up at her; Mac could clearly see the pain that haunted him from that night. He was sure that if he ever got over those deaths it would be a miracle.
“I know, but maybe had I not looked at her. Not been so enchanted by her lies, they would still be alive. Or if I hadn’t have had that one beer.” Derrick stated.
“No, things happen in life for a reason. I firmly believe that. Tim left me for a stupid reason, and it hurt. But you know what? It made me realize that I didn’t really love him. I was just settling with him, I thought he was the best I could do, that I would never find another person. She was sleeping around on you, what kind of relationship could you have?” Mac said.
“I know this, but that doesn’t make the rest of it any better, any easier. The whole town, my friends, or who I thought were my friends.” Derrick stated.
“You need to let it go, you’ll never be happy as long as your hanging on to the past. You really need to forgive yourself.” Mac said.
Derrick looked at her. “I don’t know if I can. The kid was only two; he had such a long life ahead of him.”
“What if he would have turned out to be a serial killer? You may have saved hundreds of people in the future.” Mac pointed out.
Derrick sat down, he had never really thought of it that way. It was too hard to consider such a young kid turning out so bad. But he guessed it might have happened.
“Really you should consider just letting go of the pain. You can still feel bad about what happened, but that doesn’t mean that you have to feel the guilt every day.”
Derrick listened to her. Maybe she was right. But how could this young girl who had just recently been thrown out of a car by a man she had wanted to marry be so positive? He found it hard to imagine that she would have thought so positive about life.
“How do I move past it?” He asked, not waiting for her to answer, he got up and headed off to take a shower. He had spied a look at her face and could tell that she had been thinking of other things, not his situation, but perhaps her own.
As Derrick walked away he didn’t notice Mac and the look on her face, it was one of sadness, like her world was crashing down on her. She had to chuckle really, like her world was crashing down, she thought? No, the fact was that her world had crashed around her feet, and quite quickly.
She thought back to the moments before she had first been in the pouring rain on the side of the road. Mac had been feeling discontent for some time now with Mike. Mike Jonas, a real asshole, a guy who she swore she couldn’t live without, at least that had been before. Now she was faced with the knowledge that he hadn’t really held her heart, no, she hadn’t really loved him. She had simply been afraid of being alone. She thought about Derrick, she had always fallen quick and hard for men in the past. Derrick was a nice looking man, tall, muscular, his dark brown hair was cut in a neat tight style. He wasn’t the type of man that you would think road a motorcycle. He honestly looked more like a business man, well the leather chaps he had been wearing when they first met were not what a business person would wear. But once they had gotten into the room, or actually cabin, he had taken those off, and it transformed him quite a bit.
Mac heard the shower turn on in the other room, and wanted to get up and sneak a peek at Derrick. She was almost positive that the body under his close was well put together. With tight muscles, maybe a bit of fat, but nothing much, you know that little pouch that some men get that eat a bit more than they should. Mac let her mind slip to other parts of Derrick’s body quickly. She blushed a bright red quickly. With a sharp intake of breath, she focused on the fire once again.
Mike, how would she live without him? She really had very little money, and couldn’t indefinitely go on the road with a man, especially one she didn’t even know.
Mac heard the shower go off and turned to the fire, she didn’t even have clothes to change into if she took a shower. But she desperately could use the warm water to wash over her chilled body. The fire helped a bit, but as her situation hit her harder, she realized Mike would destroy all of her things. So even if she could talk Derrick into going to their old place, she wouldn’t be able to save anything.
Derrick walked out, his hair a mess, no shirt covering his upper body; some tight jeans on his lower half. He was a very nice looking man. “Hey I know you don’t have anything to wear, but here is a shirt that you can wear. Why don’t you go warm up in the shower, after that the fire will be able to full get rid of the chill from the rain.”
Mac smiled, got up and grabbed the shirt. Her fingers lightly touched his as she grabbed the shirt. She felt a sharp electric jolt. Mac turned red, as the memory of what she had thought about a few minutes ago came back to her mind.
Turning on the water, she stepped under the warm stream; it washed over her, cleansing her mind and body. Derrick had left his shampoo and body washes in the bathroom for her to use. She inhaled the scents as she washed her body. Mac wished that she could stop falling for men so quickly. But she felt her body react to the thought of the man who was in the other room, probably lying in front of the fire with no shirt on.
Derrick sat by the fire, the warmth felt much better now that he was clean. He thought back to what Mac had said about moving on, he knew he would have too. But, the pain she had caused with her betrayal. She had been his first and only serious relationship. He had given her everything. Why? He felt so stupid right now. The shame of knowing the whole town had seen her with the other men. The fact he had been blind to it. Worse yet the fact that the accident was something he would have to always live with.
He heard a noise and looked up, there was Mac. Her brown hair flowing around her shoulders, the shirt coming just above her knees, she looked beautiful. Derrick knew it had been a long time since he had human contact, more than three years now, and his body came alive without much thought.
He tried to quickly think of anything else but how she looked in his shirt, but his mind wouldn’t let him move past it. His body continued to react; he adjusted himself to make it less obvious that he really enjoyed what he saw. This was not the type of night he wanted to have. Sure sex was just that, but he knew that this girl was fragile, she was off limits.
Shortly after she got out, he made a quick excuse and went to the bedroom. No better way to avoid a mistake than simply heading to bed. Mac watched him walk away, Derrick saw a bit of disappointment in her eyes, or maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part. What guy wouldn’t like a girl to want to make love to them so bad they would throw themselves at him? But Derrick really wasn’t like this; instead he would like to know a female first. Strike that Derrick thought I never want to be in love again. As he tried to force himself to sleep his mind was trying to talk him into going to her and taking what he wanted, even if he had to lie to get it. Derrick instead forced his body to stay, and eventually he slept.
The next morning his nose was assaulted by the best smell he had had the pleasure to have in quite some time. He sniffed in the air, and then figured he was simply dreaming. After all they didn’t have any ingredients; at least he couldn’t imagine the cabin coming fully stocked. But he swore as his body came more awake that he could hear the bacon sizzling, and smell the fat of the meat that was one of his favorites. There was also the smell of eggs, pancakes, toast, and coffee.
He walked out to the kitchen to find it wasn’t a dream. “It smells great!” He said, scaring Mac.
“Oh my goodness.” She screamed and jumped in the air. “I didn’t hear you.”
“I’m sorry.” He chuckled. “Where did the food come from?”
“There is a little store around the bend of the road. I walked and got a few things with the bit of money I had left. It’s the least I can do; after all you didn’t need to help me out.” She smiled.
It was genuine he could tell. Derrick smiled back at her. For some reason he had felt a bit better when he woke up this morning. He wasn’t sure if it was part of the process of getting better, or it was just a good day.
“I’m sorry I went to bed so quickly last night. I was really tired I had been driving for hours by the time I found you.” Derrick said as he sat down and looked at the delicious plate of food Mac sat down in front of him.
“It’s okay; really I had a lot of things to think about. You know I had told you to move on, but I’ve been holding on to so many things through the years. So I finally had to let it all go.” Mac sighed.
“Do you want to talk about them?” Derrick offered. Though again he wasn’t sure if he could help her or not. His wounds after all were only beginning to heal, and he had resisted for so long the healing, would it be quick? He didn’t know, but he really hoped.
“No, not right now, maybe later.” She smiled. She took a seat across the table from him.
Derrick inhaled the food, it was delicious. “Wow this is really good!” He complimented her.
“Thank you.” She turned a bright red color.
“You’re really beautiful when you smile, or turn red.” Derrick said, the words coming out of him before he knew what he was saying. But it was too late. That loneliness was a killer, his body wanted the human contact, but his mind still fought it.
Mac just looked at him, not sure what to say. Her heart fluttered, and she wanted to believe the words. But so many times in the past she would read into these types of things and fall for the wrong guy. Mike had been the perfect example. But he had freely taken what she offered, however, he wasn’t willing to give all of himself.
As she studied him, he looked down at his coffee. The tension was in the room; he had caused it, and had no idea how to stop it. Derrick really hadn’t meant to say it, well he had thought it, and it was true. But he hated to show those inner feelings.
Mac got up and grabbed his plate, took it to the sink, and brought back the coffee pot, and poured him more coffee.
“Thanks.” Derrick said.
After she had finished up the dishes, she went into the other room. Stepping out onto the porch she took a deep breath of the sweet air. The green was all over, and she really wanted to explore. Mac figured after she finished her coffee she would take a short hike. The time with herself in the woods might help to clear her mind, or she hoped it would.
Walking off towards a trail, Mac went in search of peace of mind. No thought of going inside and telling Derrick she was walking.
Derrick sat in the kitchen for some time. He was trying to think of why his mind was making him say the things he had. Searching his mind, he had to admit he was sad and lonely; he missed being involved with another person.
He didn’t know how long she had been gone, hadn’t even realized she had gone off on her own. Derrick didn’t know if she was aware of the dangers of the woods, or anything. His mind went to the fear of something happening to her.
But should he go and look for her? Which way had she gone? He knew none of this. So he didn’t want to out in the opposite way she might have gone. Instead he tried to think of anything else, but Mac kept coming to his mind. Derrick watched as the time slowly ticked by, soon it was two hours she had been sitting outside, waiting for her to show back up on the porch.
What if she got lost? He thought panic filled his mind immediately. What if she fell over a cliff? What if she was out there hurt? He couldn’t do anything to help her. Not a single thing and he felt helpless. Derrick paced around the front of the cabin, going in and out of the front door, watching for Mac, and getting more and more nervous as the time slipped by and he watched the sun getting lower in the sky.
As his agitation got stronger and the sun got lower, he finally considered once again going out to look for Mac. But where would he start?
Just as he was considering which trial to follow, he heard some movement behind him. He turned to see Mac walking through the woods, there were leaves stuck in her hair. He ran over to her.
“What happened, are you okay? Where have you been? Are you hurt?” Derrick asked in rapid fire. He pulled some of the leaves out of her hair.
“I’m sorry; I got out by this beautiful waterfall and just got lost in time. It was so nice, amazing.” Mac said, still seeming to be able to see the view in her mind, her eyes were clouded.
Derrick took a deep breath, letting out a huge sigh.
“You want to come see it?” Mac asked.
“I don’t think we have time today, the sun will be going down soon, and I don’t want to get lost in the woods.”
Mac shrugged her shoulders. She had been shocked when she had walked into the opening by the cabin to see Derrick there. He had been facing away from her, but she could tell he was tense. Mac hadn’t realized he had been worried about her though. All the thoughts she had gotten straight in the afternoon quickly slipped out of her mind.
She had made some progress and reined in her feelings for Derrick, or those feelings she thought she might have. To be honest, Mac wasn’t sure if she trusted her heart or head anymore when it came to men.
Instead of staying outside and facing Derrick and her feelings though she went inside, she didn't want to think about it. She had gotten a few other things when shopping and wanted to cook a nice meal for them.
As he walked her go into the cabin Derrick about kicked himself. What a fool you are, he thought in his mind. Why did you just act like a husband whose wife was missing? Derrick thought about disappearing from the camp, going off into the woods, riding his bike away from her and all these feelings that he didn’t want. But instead he sat down on the front porch and watched as the sun slowly slipped into the sky, and the stars came out.
“Hey are you hungry?” Mac interrupted his thoughts.
Derrick looked over at her. His heart started to beat a little quicker as he thought of earlier when he couldn’t find her. He shook his head, knowing this was not what he wanted, but wasn’t sure how to fight it. “Yes.” He said standing up to go inside.
As he walked into the house he smelled what he guessed was meatloaf. Entering the kitchen he saw a feast on the table. His mouth watered, his stomach growled loudly in appreciation of the smells and waiting for the food to hit it.
He sat down and looked at the meal. “You did a great job, it smells wonderful.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. It felt good for a man to say nice things to her.
Though Derrick wanted to shovel the food into his mouth quickly, he took his time and savored each and every bit. Mac listened to him eat; the noises he made were clearly because he was enjoying the meal. She smiled as she heard the little sighs and moans.
“This is one of the best meatloaf’s I’ve ever had.” Derrick said as he took another huge piece of it.
“It’s my grandmother’s recipe. I always loved it when I was growing up.” Mac smiled.
“My compliments to the chef, your guy was dumb to let you go.” Derrick said as he put another bite into his mouth.
Mac turned red, not sure how to respond to the comment. Mike had never complimented her on anything she had cooked. Not once in the months they had been together had he even made a sound of pleasure when he put some food she had slaved over into his mouth. But Derrick was loud, and complimented her several times; she continued to hear sighs and moans of pleasure as he ate more and more.
Finally, Derrick pushed himself away from the table. “I have to stop eating; I’m going to bust open if I don’t!”
Mac laughed. Derrick started to laugh too.
“Thank you very much, you didn’t have to cook that all, but I’m sure happy that you did.” Derrick said patting his stomach.
“It’s the least I could do. Really you have helped me out so much.” Mac admitted.
“But you said you had very little money. Please don’t spend it all on me.”
Mac smiled at him. He was so different from anyone in her past, and especially from Mike. They were polar opposites. Derrick was clearly a very caring man, and one who liked to show how much he appreciated other people’s efforts.
“Would you like me to start a fire again?” Derrick asked.
“Oh that sounds nice, it was really nice falling asleep and hearing the fire crackling.” Mac stated.
Derrick went outside to grab some more of the firewood that he had cut that afternoon as he waited for her to show up. As he did that Mac was in the kitchen cleaning up after the meal. She smiled as she worked, and her mind floated into a fantasy of what it would be like to be Derrick’s wife.
Mac stopped for a second, and knew that all of her talking to herself today about getting attached to him had been worthless. Here she was imagining that she was his wife, and she didn’t even know his last name.
After she finished the dishes and composing herself she went to the living room to see the fire roaring. She went to sit over on the rug in front of the fire, trying to sit far enough away from him that she wouldn’t be tempted to touch him.
They sat quietly, both of them stealing looks at the other one. Derrick completely petrified to ever get involved again. Mac afraid she was simply letting herself slip into love much too quickly once again.
“I’m sorry if I scared you today, I really hadn’t realized how long I had been gone.” Mac finally said.
“I didn’t know if you had gotten lost or hurt.” Derrick looked at her; Mac could see the truthfulness of the worry in his eyes.
“Next time I’ll let you know I’m going, or you can go with me. I think you’ll really like this waterfall.” Mac stated.
“Sure we can go tomorrow.” Derrick answered.
“I marked the path though; I grew up in the woods. Not these woods, but we always knew how to make sure we would make it home.” Mac told him and explained a bit more about how her brothers had shown her at an early age how to mark her path.
“That was very smart of them.” Derrick said.
Derrick listened intently to her stories of growing up near the woods in Maryland, and some of the funniest stories he had ever heard. Soon his eyes were watering he was laughing so hard, his stomach hurt and Mac was also crying tears of laughter.
“Though I would love to stay up later I think I’ll go to bed. After all we do have a hike to go on tomorrow.” Derrick stood up and headed into the bedroom.
Mac watched him walk away. This had been the first time in years she had told stories of her childhood. Mike had never been interested to hear them; in fact none of the men she had dated in the past had ever even asked her about growing up. Mac shook her head in wonderment as to how she could ever have let so many men value her so little.
Falling asleep she listened to the fire and enjoyed the fact that Derrick had seemed so much different from the men of her past, again she wished she could be his wife. But knew it was much too quick to think this way. Again she didn’t even know his last name. It reminded her of the Carrie Underwood song, “Last Name”, that had been so popular at one time, and she swore if a man would go for it that song would be her life.
The next morning he was up first, and she walked into the kitchen to see him making them both breakfast. Something Mike would never have considered. He was below doing that type of thing.
Mac walked in from the back of him, and stood watching Derrick. It shocked her quite a bit. This big guy moving around the kitchen like he owned it, he was comfortable, and she could tell he knew what he was doing. She saw chocolate chip pancakes being flipped with a precision she had only seen from seasoned chefs. Mac had to wonder if that was what this man did for a living. She smiled picturing him with the white outfit of chefs, or maybe just an apron with nothing underneath.
As if he could feel her eyes on him Derrick turned around to see Mac; she was just staring at him, honestly it made him happy, but embarrassed as well.
“Hey I figured I was up first so I would whip up a little bit of breakfast.” Derrick smiled.
Mac look at the plate full of pancakes that was already cooked, it was enough to feed a football team of high school boys. “It smells delicious, but I don’t think I’ll be able to eat that much!”
Derrick laughed, “I didn’t pay enough attention to the measurements I was using.”
Mac sat down and gladly took the plate that was loaded with enough pancakes to feed her for a week! She dug in and was welcomed with the warm chocolate melting in her mouth, mixing with the pancake mix and syrup. “This is delicious, it’s not like any other chocolate chip pancake I’ve ever had.” She said honestly, licking her lips and putting another bit into her mouth.
Derrick smiled as he watched her eat. “It’s an old family recipe, but my grandma used to make it for about 10 of us at a time. Thus the reason we have so many of them! “
He sat down with a plate that had a ton of food on it as well. He had poured them both coffees; it was some of his favorite coffee. “I hope you like the coffee, I order this online and this is my last bit until I find a new location to stay for a bit.”
She took a sip of the hot warm liquid and was surprised at the complexity of flavors she tasted. “Oh my, it goes with the pancakes perfectly. I love the slight hint of chocolate to it.”
“I know it is Peet’s coffee, the best in the states!” Derrick answered.
Mac kept eating until she knew that no more food could fit into her body. She looked at her plate shocked to see she had actually finished almost all of it. “I can’t eat like that every day I’ll weigh 300 pounds!” She laughed.
Derrick looked at her, and smiled. “But you wouldn’t look bad with some extra weight on you either, you are pretty skinny.”
Mac turned red, and looked down at the floor. Really he had complimented her so many times in the little amount of time they knew each other; she wasn’t sure what to say. Thank you was all she could finally come up with.
“So after I do the dishes, we’ll go for that hike, okay?” Derrick asked.
“I can do the dishes if you want.” Mac offered.
“You can help me if you want. We’ll get it done quicker if both of us do them.”
“Sure.” Mac agreed.
They went to cleaning the kitchen up in a peaceful silence. Not a silence that either of them felt was awkward, but it was normal. To both of them it felt as if they had known each other for years. This seemed so natural to be with the other person, the kitchen was done before they realized and they went to get ready for their hike.
“Do you remember how long it was? I’ll get some water to take along with us.” Derrick asked.
“Maybe a couple of miles, really not too far, I just happened to sit around and enjoy the scenery for most of the day!” Mac stated.
Derrick did a few things, packed a backpack and told Mac he was ready. She hadn’t seemed him pack the bag, so she didn’t know why he needed it. She would have carried water it was no big deal!
They headed out to the trial and Mac led the way, using the markers she had left the day before. It was about 2 and a half miles and Derrick saw one of the most beautiful sites in the world he had ever seen. The waterfall was amazing, but seeing Mac next to the site was even more wonderful. He saw a huge smile on her face, and could see the peace in her eyes as she viewed this site.
Derrick had always loved the outdoors too, and had wanted for the longest time to live in a cabin away from the world. If he could he would find a location where he could just block himself off from the world. But he looked at Mac and wondered if she would go with him. Really she lit up the area. Even when she had been quiet when he first picked her up on the side of the road Derrick felt better with her by him. She hadn’t held on tightly but enough that he felt the touch of another person. He liked her touch, and had to wonder what a more intimate touch from her would feel like.
Was it the beauty of the area? The loneliness that covered his life, or maybe it was just Mac, there was something about her. He looked at her and knew that she was special. It had been forever since he had any of the thoughts he had when he was around her. He felt like there might actually be some kind of future for him in this world, if Mac was with him. He didn’t even know her well, but he could tell she was unique.
“This is really beautiful isn’t it?” Mac turned to Derrick and asked.
“Yes you are, and so is the waterfall.” Derrick stated.
Mac looked at him, wondering if he was just messing with her, was she just hearing what she wished to hear, or had he actually said that? Mac looked back at the water, and had an idea. “Hey you want to go to the bottom, maybe there is a nice little spot where we can sit and enjoy the day.”
“Let’s go.” Derrick said pointing to the trial and letting her lead the way. “Let me know if you want some water by the way.”
“Sure let me get a little sip really quick.” Mac said, as she waited for him to hand her the drink.
Taking a sip, she felt the wetness of the water, it tasted great. She hadn’t realized she had been quite so thirsty, or maybe it was nerves.
Derrick watched her as she led the way once they started down the trail again. She was fantastic. A bit of a tomboy, now that he saw her outside, but when they were in the cabin, and when he first met her, he would never guess her to be like this. Hell he would never had guessed she grew up in the woods. He smiled; she was the type of girl he had always fantasized about. One who wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty, but cleaned up like a model.
The trail to the bottom twisted and turned quite a bit, and there were a few spots where the trail was dangerously narrow. But Mac kept leading the way, sometimes she would stop to check out the different ways they could go, and see which looked safer.
Finally, they got to the bottom and the pool the waterfall landed in was amazingly blue. It was clear and they could see the bottom of the pool. Before he knew what was going on she had snuck up beside him and pushed him into the water.
“What the?” Was all he got out before he was in the water. He laughed hard, and told her. “You have a choice, you can come in the easy way or we can do it the hard way!”
Mac looked at his face, and laughed. “You would have to catch me first, and I’m out here, not in the water where I might move slower!” She stuck her tongue out as to say come and get me.
Before she realized it he was on top of her. “What? How did you move so quickly?”
He held her above him, she didn’t struggle, and she knew it wasn’t worth it. He was a monster compared to her. The fact that he had caught her before she could even move had shocked her. But in his arms she felt no fear, only security, she knew that Derrick would not hurt her. She laid back into his arms a bit more.
Derrick looked down into her face and eyes. He saw the peace that he felt over her body and his as well. It seemed natural to him to have her in his arms. She was light , so light in his arms. He looked at her lips, he wanted nothing more to kiss them.
Mac could see the telltale look in his eyes, or so she hoped. Because her next move would all depend on if she had read them right or not. She leaned up and kissed him lightly on his lips. It was just a small little kiss, but she hoped it let him know everything he needed to know.
Derrick felt her lips lightly touch his and felt the kiss, it was over before he wanted it to end. He lowered his mouth to hers, and took her over. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, not invading it but exploring it lightly. He didn’t try to overpower her at all, but he wanted her to feel his passion.
Mac could feel it, there was a connection between them, not just her imagination. The kiss he gave her left no doubt. It was a sweet probing of her mouth on his part, and she did the same, pushing her tongue to meet his. Their tongues danced for a few minutes, and they both pulled back.
Derrick looked down at her, afraid but excited. He really was burned by his ex, and she popped up quickly in his mind to torture him. “Really you think she would ever want you? I didn’t and you threw yourself at me for a while. You thought I wanted you, maybe you are just thinking she wants you right now.” Her voice sounded off in his mind.
Mac could see the conflict of emotions going over his face. She touched the side of her face with her fingertips. It worked she grabbed his attention. Instead of saying anything though, she put her mouth on his again, and kissed him intensely. She didn’t want sex, no she just wanted to let him know that he was something special to her. As she pulled her mouth from his, she could see the fire in his eyes.
“I don’t know what I can offer you, I’m broken, and I don’t know how long it will take to fix myself.” Derrick said looking down at her, he had walked into the water, but was still holding her close. He didn’t want to lose the contact of her skin on his, it felt so nice, so odd after so long without a person.
“Everyone is broken in all honesty, in one way or another. Maybe not by someone else, but there could be a part of their past that haunts them through the years, and makes them feel they are unlovable even. But you have to realize that there may be someone who will help you feel better as you fix those broken parts of you.” Mac said.
“You are so beautiful, and such a good person. What if I’m not a nice guy when you get to know me? I don’t want to be hurt again, I can’t take it.”
“Love is always a gamble, you will never find it if you don’t give yourself to another person. You either throw the dice, or you hold them close and never find someone. Me? Well I’m willing to take a chance to find another person who will love me like I love them. If it’s you, this would be great. I think there is a good chance, and you know what? I’m very willing to take that chance. The ball is in your court though, I can’t force you into this. I learned my lesson if you love someone you can’t make them love you no matter what, if they don’t at the start.” Mac said, the whole time thinking of the past mistakes she had made, but willing to try it with Derrick.
Derrick looked at her. “You know I’ve not stayed in a place more than a month for the past 3 years. I don’t want to drag you around and never give you a home. A place where if we want we can grow a family, have memories that will last a lifetime, even have our grandchildren visit there one day.”
“So why can’t we find this? We just have to find a place where we feel is home. I can work, you can get a job. We start together, we help and support each other . That is after all what love is all about.” Mac said.
“Why not, why shouldn’t we try it. Like you said, it may work, but if we really want it we can make it last. We can have it all, everything and we can build it together.” Derrick stated. “Maybe we can even get married, I think I would like that a lot.”
Mac stopped and smiled. “Are you asking me to marry you right now?”
Derrick shrugged his shoulders as if to say why not?
Mac smiled and laughed. “Well one thing is I don’t even know your last name. I mean it can’t be anything to messed up that will make me sound funny. You know if there is a guy out there who has a last name like Roni, well could you imagine that , my name would be Mac Roni.” All I need is the middle initial A and it would be perfect.” Mel laughed hard, so did Derrick.
“You really are something else. I swear you have made me feel so alive, and I barely know you. My last name is Jonas.”
“Oh are you related to the band members?” Mac joked.
“No sorry to say.”
“Okay so Mac Jonas, not bad at all. I could get used to that.” She pulled herself up on his shoulders and kissed him.
“So it’s acceptable to you?” Derrick laughed.
Mac gave him another kiss to show him how acceptable it was to her.
Derrick hugged her closely. “So let’s go find a place to get married. I’ll get you a ring in one of the towns around here, find the justice of the peace office and then it will be done!”
“Seriously, you want to do it now?” Mac asked, shocked, she had thought it was part joking on his side.
“No I’m serious I don’t want to let this go. You really do make me feel great. There is something about you that I want to keep around. We can wait until tomorrow, but I want to tell you I want to wait to make love to you until we are married. I want us to be husband and wife first, then we can do more.”
Mac looked at him, it was like he could see deep inside of her mind, and it was what she had always wanted. A guy who was more about being morally correct instead of one who didn’t want to make a commitment to get her body.
She smiled up to him. “I will be more than happy to be Mrs. Mac Jonas, it will make me very proud.”
Derrick kissed and hugged her. He looked around at the scenery. He had never really been in Pennsylvania, but he could see them finding a cabin in this area, having woods surrounding their property. Kids who could learn to play in the woods from their mother. He smiled, she really would and had already changed his life around. He couldn’t wait until they were husband and wife!
THE END
UNSEALED DESIRE
Chapter 1
“I know exactly your price and the client has given us 50% down with the rest to be delivered upon completion of the assignment. Shelley, I’ll have everything prepared for you. Your passport has already been updated and new identification issued in the name of Kelly Walker. You just need to remember that you’re there for a teaching symposium. All your credentials will be in order and you’ll have an ironclad story that I’ve already updated to your laptop.” “Jackson has always been the one that has kept me going all this time. This is not the type of business that I can get into with someone that doesn’t have my back. He knows that eventually my clock will be punched, but until then he has decided to ride the gravy train with me.
“Jackson, we both know that anything can happen on any given day. Life is full of surprises and you never know what’s going to be waiting for you around the corner. I will say that I’m glad to have you on my side. If you weren’t, I would be very worried that you were working against me in some way. There have been several organizations that have been trying to track me down without success. I’ve been very careful, my disguises are impeccable and I live by a moral code that I follow every day.”
Shelley had been working in the field of problem solver for quite some time. It’s been years and even today, she can barely remember how she got started. It came when she was at her lowest point, drug addicted and looking for her next fix. She came across a young man that wanted his wife taken care of. She found that problem solving was something that she was good at and she decided to make a drastic jump in her career choice. She never had anything to tie her down and didn’t have the social skills to really keep a friendship alive for more than a couple of weeks.
“Shelley, we’ve been playing cat and mouse for some time and eventually we’re going to have to see each other face to face. I know that you’ve been hesitant to do that and I understand that you wanna keep this strictly professional. I’m just saying that I would like to have a face to go with the name.” Jackson was a little worried that things were getting too high profile for his liking. He had heard some stories and he knew just from listening that this was one of her targets that had met their final last breath. “As always, be careful and don’t trust anybody.” As he turned off the microphone to his laptop, he immediately wired the $10,000,000 into her account. It was 11,000,000, but he got that extra 1,000,000 for himself. It would be the same way when the second part of payment came in after the job was completed.
“This business can be taxing on the best of us, but I recently learned that maybe life has been passing me by. I try to make the best of a bad situation by going to fancy restaurants and enjoying culture, but there seems to be something missing. Some profound puzzle piece that has not permanently made me content and happy is still out there waiting for me to find it. I know that I’ve never been good at relationships, but maybe it’s time to finally find someone to share my life with.” Shelley was packing her clothing, making sure that the attire matched up with the story of somebody that was an educational professional. She wore her hair dark down over her shoulders and with a slight wave. She had a pair of nondescript glasses and her eye color was now permanently changed to that of green. That came courtesy of well placed contacts. It was also a twofold reason, as she did have one eye that was stronger than the other. With these contacts, she could have that 20/20 vision and still do her job without worrying about age creeping up and tapping her on the shoulder.
She worked alone, never bothering with a partner in the field, because she learned from past indiscretions that things like that can get ugly in a hurry. Everybody has their own agenda and that included herself.
She had this dream in the back her mind that she wanted to retire on a secluded island or maybe on a sailboat. Shelley knew that it was only a pipe dream and that her life was pretty much dictated by a bullet with her name on it
She had bought her clothing at the boutique that catered to those of a more sophisticated taste. It wasn’t expensive, but was something that she felt was choking off her air supply. The black blazer, the white blouse and the knee length black skirt really didn’t suit her. She looked in the mirror, making herself believe the story that she was about to tell those at customs. She could immerse herself into a fitting role like getting into a warm bath on a sunny afternoon. Sometimes, she felt like she was losing a part of herself, but that only came with the need to separate her feelings from what she did.
Before long, she was on board a plane that was soon taxiing into the Washington State. It was said to be a hot spot for political activists and back dealings in alleys that most likely were in offices. She never did like this city, but she was going to force herself to walk through streets that had haunted her for years. Each step outside of the concourse made her a little lightheaded and memories that had long been buried came flooding back in a hurry.
She remembered the fire, burning her skin and that permanent reminder of that scar up her left arm that indicated that she had been in the fight of her life.
She picked up the Manila envelope, perused the contents one more time and then tossed the whole thing into the trash. She had ripped it up into tiny pieces, making sure that there was really no way for anybody to know what exactly she was doing. They would need many hours to put it all together again and by then, her business here would be over and she would be long gone, before they even realized that she was the suspect that they were looking for.
“I need you to drive me around for the next three days. I’m willing to pay you $10,000, but only if you keep your mouth shut and not say anything to anybody. If you can do that, then there’ll be a bonus of another 10,000 dollars at the end of this transaction. That would give you $20,000 for three days work. I think that you would be a damn fool to turn that down.” “I had already walked by several other taxi drivers and I didn’t get a good feeling from them. This one named Nicholas looked to be ready and available for just about anything. I could see the hardened eyes, the way that he shifted nervously in his seat like he knew that somebody was going to come looking for him any day. It didn’t hurt that he was quite good looking, but I never mix business with pleasure.” Shelley watched his eyes and saw them light up like the 4th of July with dollar signs dancing in his eyes.
He had thinning brown hair, which he was constantly combing over to make it look like that premature balding was not something that was hereditary in his family.
He looked at this Asian tempest, her dark hair and short petite figure and had immediate visions of what it would be like to have her wrapped around his waist. She was offering a good deal and something that his gambling habit had predicated him working two jobs. That $15,000 debt would be wiped out and there would be no need for those that were shady to come to his house and give him a reminder.
“I do believe that you have a deal.” Shelley told him where her hotel was located and there was not even a word spoken the entire trip. Her mind was this steel trap and she was going over the pertinent details of who this Brent person was. From everything that she read, he was a dedicated officer with the navy. He joined when he was 18 and now turning 25, he had already had several medals. One was for bravery and most of his missions were redacted, so that nobody knew exactly what they entailed. She was a little leery about the man himself. He seemed cloistered, willing to do whatever it took for his country and not having anything to keep him from risking his life.
This was a man that had nothing to lose and was willing to throw it all on the line for the chance to impress those that were higher up.
The mission was pretty easy and she was to eliminate the target and make sure that he was not able to deliver the package. The package was to be taken and sent by courier to a P.O Box in Missouri. After she had taken care of that, her job would be done and she could move on to the next one without complications or anything to stand in her way.
“I’ll be back down here tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM and I expect you to be here. Punctuality is very important to me and I have a schedule to meet and I expect you to adhere to my wishes.” She knew his name, but did not want to say it, in case he decided that gave him an opening to idle chitchat. “I’m only getting him to do this for me, because I need somebody that I can at least control like a puppet on a string. Whatever his money woes are, will be more than enough to make him my loyal lapdog. He’ll come when he calls, panting and begging for attention and if he misbehaves, then he will get more than a rolled up newspaper on the top of his nose.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. The kind of money that you are spending is going to get you exactly what you want.” He was wearing this old threadbare suede brown jacket that had seen better days. His wife had left him and he was now feeling what it was like to fall into the bottle. He had recently quit drinking, but that didn’t stop him from his other vise of gambling on sports or anything else that he could get his hands on. Most times, he could pull himself out, but this time he had gotten in over his head and he was going to need an immediate influx of cash. “I’ll be here at the curb tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM.” He was already counting the money in his head and thinking about what kind of extravagance he would afford himself with the extra $5000 left over after the debt was paid.
“Make sure you are or there will be consequences to your actions.” Shelley made sure to give him that evil eye. It made him shiver to the very notion that she wasn’t just talking about taking away payment. “I’m a woman that always gets what she wants one way or the other.” She slammed the door and walked with her high heels and that briefcase over her shoulder. It was a leather black one and when she stepped through the door of the hotel, her demeanor changed to a more sedate young woman.
Standing at the counter and waiting her turn was not one of her finest moments. She wanted to pull the girl by her hair and slam her down onto the floor, so hard that her skull would. She was complaining about the air conditioning not working and it was in the middle of October. The temperature outside didn’t come up anywhere near air conditioning weather. If she was acting as Shelly, she would have been more impatient, but Kelly was more meek and mild. She was the type to let people walk all over her.
Shelley finally got her room that was specifically reserved for her. It was the room that she needed to be in. Jackson was courteous enough to arrange all of this, including the party favors that couldn’t go with her through customs.
The room was pleasant enough, but it was only a room. There was nothing special about it. She would only use it to sleep and she did very little of that. Being a light sleeper make her senses well honed and ready to strike like a cobra when necessary.
She took out her case, which was underneath the bed, as requested. She was quite proficient with any weapon and the one that she had chosen for this particular occasion was a high caliber rifle. She brought it to the window and used the viewfinder to target the room directly across from her. It was in another hotel, but this was the perfect vantage point to see her target and get a feel for who he was. He had not arrived yet and then she had a delicious idea of how to get close without having to leave questions in her wake.