The trip to the office was a nightmare, the blur of going so fast and the frustration of not getting there fast enough. I tried to push it as hard as I could, but there was traffic I needed to get around, and traffic lights I needed to adhere to if I didn’t want to get stopped for speeding by a police officer before I made it to Jayna. That would be a hell of a disaster. Sorry, officer, I was speeding because my ex-girlfriend is holding my current girlfriend hostage. An escort would be nice if you don’t mind.
Right. Who would buy that? The most original excuse since ‘That’s not mine I was holding it for a friend’.
When I finally pulled into the parking lot there was only one car, and it belonged to Akira.
Actually, it had belonged to me once upon a time, part of what she’d decided to loot when she left me for good, but that was something I wasn’t going to dwell on. Instead, I crept toward the car and peeked inside. All the lights were off in the parking lot which made everything seem eerie. I wondered if she’d cut some wires to make it happen, or if this place was always a ghost town at night. I walked all the way around the car, inspecting every window to be sure. There was no one in the backseat, dead or alive.
Thank God for that. At this point, that was a good sign.
I had to get inside and get Jayna out. And I had to make sure that Akira couldn’t leave. I needed her to stay right here so that I could have her arrested once and for all for all the things she was doing. Dog fighting. Kidnapping. I was sure she had other crimes to her name, too.
I pulled out the knife I never went without and stabbed it into all four tires. They made a satisfying hissing noise as I walked away. A getaway car was worth nothing on flats. I crept toward the building.
I wasn’t just going to get inside - I remembered all the steps we had to go through when Jayna had brought me the night we’d made the sex tape. It felt like that had happened a million years ago, perhaps in another lifetime. I moved around the building instead, hoping I would be able to figure something out. I had no plan, but I had to think on my feet. People’s lives often depended on my ability to create strategies, but usually they died as a result. This time someone had to stay alive.
I hoped that I could find an open window to get into the building. Once we’d been inside, moving around had been simple. I pushed the thoughts of being too late and finding a dead body out of my mind. If I started losing my shit now, I was never going to be able to save her.
How many times was Akira going to get me in trouble? She’d ruined my reputation, most of my friendships, my whole life. She’d tried to kill me. She’d taken first the one and then the other thing that were most important to me - I realized I was just as protective of Jayna as I was of Joker - and there was no way of stopping her unless I could expose her involvement in dog fighting. She needed to be stopped, if not just for my sake, then for everyone who was being hurt by her, human or animal.
There were no cameras outside the building I could see. Maybe this place wasn’t big enough to be a target. Hopefully. Maybe people didn’t rob places like video editing companies. Either way I could relax about sneaking around and not wonder if it would bite me in the ass further down the line.
I stayed to the shadows just in case. The last thing I needed now was to be arrested for breaking and entering before I reached her. And old Murphy was a dick with his laws. Better not to take chances.
My phone vibrated. I pulled it out to find a text from Bane. He’d finally gotten my call. I texted him back the address and that I might need backup. I didn’t know what I was going to find, but it was good to have someone next to me. A light at the back of the building drew me. One of the windows was illuminated. I crawled toward it and peeked in. It was a dirty little window that looked like it wasn’t important, and no one bothered to clean it or keep it open.
I couldn’t see a hell of a lot - there were boxes stacked against the window and some desks and cameras in the way. I spotted Akira through a doorway in the middle of the room with her back to me. I was looking at a storage closet.
I looked around and found another window that was lit up a couple of feet down the way, half hidden behind a bush from where I was crouching down. I made my way to it, skirting the bush that had spiky leaves. This window looked into a big room with equipment everywhere and there was nothing that obscured my vision. In fact, I could see much better now. Akira still had her back to me. She held a camera up, the screen reflecting Jayna and another person - it looked like that friend of hers - against a white background.
Jayna and her friend were holding onto each other and Jayna looked like she’d just lost someone. Her cheeks were wet, her eyes shimmering. Her friend’s face was pale. I frowned. There was no one else here. Unless Akira had told them I was dead... I noticed the gun she was holding up, pointing it alongside the camera.
I could only faintly hear their voices through the glass. Akira was reciting a monologue, by the sounds of it. She just loved doing that. No one in the world loved Akira more than Akira loved herself. She liked the sound of her own voice. She liked hearing herself talk. It didn’t look like either of the girls were paying attention to what was being said. It didn’t stop her in any way.
I had experience with Akira - there had been times I’d zoned out, too. Somehow this didn’t seem exactly the same.
Jayna said something that got Akira shouting. I didn’t know what it was but she waved around the gun like it was a toy. I hoped to God she wouldn’t misfire. She didn’t always know what she was doing - Akira was only in control when her mind allowed it. Otherwise she lost it, and I didn’t want her accidentally losing a bullet in Jayna.
“You think you’re so special because he chose you?” I heard her shout. “Look at me. Look at what he had! Do you really think he sees the same thing in you?”
Oh, no. I saw so much more in Jayna. Of course, Jayna couldn’t know that. And Akira would know it, or she wouldn’t be pointing a gun at Jayna. Jealousy made you nasty. Akira was always a bitch, so jealousy did a number on her.
Jayna said something again and Akira lowered the camera and the gun. She turned in a little circle and I jumped out of the way of the window so that she wouldn’t see me looking in. The glimpse I’d gotten of her face showed pure fury. The dangerous kind. Jayna was saying things to piss her off. Did she know how dangerous that was? Although if she could keep Akira talking it might save her life. Maybe that was what she was doing.
I’d always known she had a good head on her shoulders.
I took a guess about whether or not her back would be turned again, and I was right. She turned back to the girls, but they had tried to run. They were halfway toward the door when Akira faced them again. Bad move. This could get her pulling that trigger.
“Get the fuck back where you belong!” Akira shouted, pointing the gun. “Who do you think you are? I’m giving you three seconds to come up with a fucking good reason why I shouldn’t just kill you now.” She lifted the camera again, pointed her gun, and started counting down from five like a mother who was trying control her children.
Shit. She was going to shoot Jayna on tape. I wasn’t sure what she would do with it, but I was willing to guess. I had to do something before Akira reached the end of her countdown, because the truth was I couldn’t say for sure she wouldn’t do it. The thought that Akira had it in her to maybe kill someone in cold blood, to shoot someone point blank, made me shiver. I’d always known she only looked out for herself, but this was a new level of heartless.
I looked around me, looking for any way to get into the building. I was frantic, my mind buzzing. I kicked something hard and looked down to find a broken brick. It was good enough. There was no time to find anything else and I could always improvise once I got that gun away from her.
I picked it up, took a deep breath and threw it through the glass. I didn’t wait for Akira to register the noise or pull the trigger. I dove through the window head first, arms outstretched, and tackled Akira to the ground. The gun went off and then it bounced away and under a desk.
“ Let me go!” Akira shouted like a mad woman. I knew she would have another gun. She was always insane and always well-armed. I knew her well enough. I wrestled her down, pinning her body with mine. I had a weight and strength advantage. No matter how twisted, she was still smaller, lighter, and a less experienced fighter than me.
She scratched me across the cheek with long nails. It was going to leave a hell of a mark. I felt the sting and wondered if I was bleeding. I grabbed her hair and tipped her head back to make it harder for her to move. I didn’t believe in hurting women but I believed in self-defense and I would do what I could - without harming her - to stop her from killing Jayna and her friend. And from killing me. It was a tall order, but people made miracles happen under pressure.
Akira didn’t hold back. She slapped and kicked and scratched like a cat. She tried to bite me, but I had her head twisted to the side so she couldn’t do that to me. She would break skin; I knew she would. Hell, she might even like the taste of blood.
“Let me go!” she shouted again and squirmed. “I’m not the one you should be shoving away, dammit, why don’t you get rid of your whore!” Something inside me snapped. I should have stopped caring about Akira and her ways a long time ago. It had taken this much - which was too much, honestly - before I’d finally snapped.
I pinned her down so that she couldn’t move, twisting her hair so her face was bent at an angle that forced her to look at me. “That was the wrong thing to say.”
I tried to do a body search for the other gun, but it was hard. I had to hold her down and keep her from hurting me which left me no leverage and only one hand to try and figure out where she could have put the damn thing. I had to lift my body to reach properly and she took the chance, twisting out of my grip.
I let of her hair - she would literally just yank it out before she ran - and she managed to get away from me. I dove for the gun that had slid underneath the table. I expected her to go for hers, and I didn’t want to be caught unarmed. Instead of pulling another weapon on me, though, Akira ran toward the window I’d broken to get into the building. She cut herself on the glass and swore, but managed to get through and disappeared into the night.
I looked toward Jayna and her friend. They were huddled on the floor, clutching each other. Jayna’s cheeks were wet, but she wasn’t crying now. Her friend made small whimpering sounds.
“Are you all right? You’re not hurt?”
They both shook their heads. Good. I ran toward the window.
“I’ll be back,” I said and climbed through it. I went after Akira, heading towards the road because she would try to use her car to get away. Dammit, I should have taken the gun. At least the girls had something to defend themselves with.
I heard Akira swear - she must have noticed her tires - and then I heard quick footsteps cross the parking lot. I ran toward the sound. The parking lot was empty when I got there. I frowned, turning around. Where the hell did she go? She wouldn’t just have run down the road, would she?
I looked down and noticed drops of blood. Akira had cut herself. I followed the trail. It led across the parking lot and into the lot of the vet next door where I’d had Joker. I heard glass break and saw Akira climbing into the vet building through a window. Dammit. I wanted to go after her but I had to check on the girls, first.
Just as I crossed back toward the offices, a car pulled into the lot and Bane got out. He looked deadly - his eyes were clear, his head straight. He would kill for me if he had to.
“Thanks for coming, man. She’s in there. Watch it for me so she doesn’t get out.”
Bane nodded and leaned against Akira’s car. He looked down at the tires and whistled through his teeth. There was no time to explain. I ran back to the broken window and climbed into the room where I’d left Jayna. Her friend sat on a desk and Jayna stood in front of her. She looked like she was trying to calm her down.
“We’re okay now, Krista.”
Krista. That was her name.
“Are you okay?” I asked, walking to Jayna.
“Oh, my God. Dax.” She walked toward me and hugged me. “I thought I would never see you again.”
It was sweet of her. Nice to know she still cared.
“I’m sorry about all this,” I said when she let go of me.
Krista put her hand to her mouth and chuckled. “She’s mad,” she said through giggles. I’d heard of people who laughed when they were in shock. It was weird.
“She is.” I put a hand on Jayna’s face. “You’re okay, though?”
She looked down at herself as if she was doing inventory. “I’m alive. That’s a great start.”
“You and me, we need to talk.”
She looked up at me, eyes large and nodded. I pulled her closer to me and kissed her. God, her lips felt so good. I broke the kiss because I had to, not because I wanted to. I touched her hair for a moment and then I headed back to the window. I had to go get Akira.