Euan
Petra, Elsie’s friend, was built like a brick shithouse. I did wonder if she was a Weapon, but, apparently, it was lifting bales of hay all day that gave her muscles any man would be envious of. She was in her late fifties and ran the farm with her dainty, four-foot six girlfriend, Delia.
The bond between Elsie and Petra was steadfast and spanned many years. Elsie had crawled to the farm after an assignment, on her last legs. Petra had taken her in and nursed her back to health over the course of a few weeks until Elsie was well enough to leave again.
Darkness had shrouded the world while we all drank lots of whisky, ate the most amazing chicken casserole cooked by Delia, and Elsie and Petra caught up with each other’s lives.
It had been truly incredible to hear Elsie’s genuine laughter and see the radiance of her smile as she relaxed completely.
Tehni yawned and stretched her long legs. “I need to hit the sack, ladies… and Euan.”
I smiled and nodded when her yawn became contagious and took me under its spell. “It’s been a long day.”
Elsie stood to join us and glanced towards the window. The next split second I was underneath her on the floor, her body shielding mine as the window shattered around us.
What seemed like a thousand gunshots ricocheted off every surface, bullets embedding into, and disintegrating, the walls and furniture. Debris soared over my head, fragments of wood, brick and foam from the sofa raining over Elsie and around me.
“At least eight!” Tehni shouted from somewhere.
“Petra!” Elsie shouted over the din. “Get upstairs when it’s safe to!”
“We’re okay, Elsie. Go do your shit, me and Delia are okay.”
Elsie scrambled from me when the chaos suddenly paused and crawled across the floor towards the black duffel bag.
Shouting each of us, she threw guns to our spots hidden behind or under whatever pieces of furniture weren’t destroyed, and then inched her way to the window.
Aiming her gun at the ceiling light, she plunged us into darkness and slipped her phone from her pocket. Edging my way to her side, she brought up what appeared to be a radar of some sort, displaying various red dots around a central point on the map.
“There’s nine,” she informed us all. “Three on the east side, four directly north, and two south-west.”
“I’ll take the east,” Tehni declared. “Felicity, you take the south-west, and you and Euan take the north.”
“Affirmative,” Elsie acknowledged after she looked at me to get my confirmation.
Everyone slid to whichever door gave them the best access to their targets. Elsie pushed a small earpiece in her ear and passed me some night goggles. “Weapon One active.”
“Loud and clear, Two. Three, you in place?”
We both crouched back when more shots came through the window.
“We need to do this now. They’re getting closer and I won’t put Petra and Delia in jeopardy.”
“I’m ready.”
I snuck under the window to the opposite side, giving us both a more open range.
“Thirty-five degrees northeast, he’s yours. I’ll take the other two.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll cover you first,” Elsie stated as she clicked the safety off her gun.
A quick movement and she shot up and opened fire. Taking the opportunity, I took her lead and fired at my target.
“One down,” Elsie said into her mouthpiece as I took another shot.
A mass of bullets flew everywhere, and gunshots splintered the silence of the night. A mass of animal cries filled the moments of quiet between fires, and echoes of Tehni and Felicity’s own fights came from every angle.
My specified man went down after my third shot, and Elsie took both hers down with a single shot to each.
“Weapon One clear,” she muttered to the others before sliding down the wall and taking a breather. “Who the fuck disclosed our location?”
“Who knows we’re here,” I panted as I tried to settle my heart rate.
Elsie clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Just us.”
“Fuck!”
She was lost in thought for a moment, trying to figure all the shit out, before Tehni burst back through the door. “What the fuck just happened?” She glared at Elsie. “I thought this place was secure?”
“It was… Is! This doesn’t make any sense.”
“Fuck!” Tehni raced over to Felicity when she fell through the door clutching her side. Blood seeped over her fingers, painting the floor with a river of red.
“Grab that bag for me Euan,” Elsie ordered as she ripped off her t-shirt and started to tear it into strips.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.
Welts and scars crisscrossed the span of her back, pain and suffering exposed in a pattern of mutilation. The strap of her bra looked even whiter against the redness of so many angry wounds.
“Euan!” she yelled. “I need the medi-kit from that bag. NOW!”
Nodding quickly, I broke from the horror and hunted in the bag for the kit.
She snatched it from me and rummaged through it, pulling various instruments out.
“Bite down,” she ordered Felicity as she placed a block between her teeth.
Grabbing a few prefilled syringes, she stabbed Felicity a couple of times and poured some chemical into the hole, causing Felicity to cry out. Taking some tweezers, she then carefully dug into the wound to extract the bullet embedded in Felicity’s flesh.
“Okay, babe?” She asked Felicity, who winced but nodded to express she was ready for Elsie to start stitching her up.
“Brandy,” Petra offered Felicity who downed the full tumbler in one single gulp.
Elsie’s stitching was precise, expertly sewn, showing how many times she had sutured and perfected the skill.
Dropping my eyes back to Elsie’s skin, it was only then that I noticed more and more old scars around the tops of her arms and shoulders, evidence of how many times she’d been shot or knifed. I had a couple of replica scars, but it looked like someone had used her for God damn target practice.
I looked around the room and grimaced at the destruction of Petra’s home. Elsie, as if sharing my exact thoughts, grabbed hold of Petra’s hand. “I’m so sorry.”
Petra’s eyes widened before a blaze of fury sparked in them. “Don’t you dare, Elsie Grey. You’re all alive. Does it matter if a bit of old furniture isn’t?”
“But…”
“Shush. I love you; you know that. I’d give my life for yours, Elsie, so I’m damn sure I can lose a place to sit my fat ass and a table to put my coffee on. I can’t, however, lose something that holds my heart.”
Elsie smiled and sighed, the love she held for Petra dancing in the way she gazed at her friend. “And now we have to get you safe. I’ll contact Three Blades and sort out a safe house for you until all this shit is gone.”
Petra shook her head. “I can’t leave the farm, Elsie. Who will…”
“You don’t need to worry; we’ll employ whoever you need to take care of the place. They’ll be safe because they have no connection to me. You and Delia on the other hand do, and you will be targeted because of it.”
“You think it’s your father doing this?” Petra asked the very question we were all considering.
“I know it is. I have a feeling my mother knew something, something deep into Peter’s dealings. He mentioned something about the truth being the one thing that can harm us, and I...”
“You?” I prompted when she paused.
Biting her lip, she frowned. “I think he killed my mother because of something she may have found.”
“What? How could a man kill his own daughter?” Delia gasped; the goodness in her blinding her to real life. “That’s horrendous.”
“To men like Peter O’Keefe, secrets are worth more than family. Secrets, lies and money to be precise, Delia,” I tried to explain. I looked to Elsie. “And now Peter is wondering if your mother ever told you this big secret, and that’s why he got me to find you. So he could take you out too.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s exactly what I think. And if he’s willing to remove his own family for that secret, then it has to be something big.”
“And Frank?”
She twisted her lips in thought. “We’ll find out tomorrow.”
“We need to shift,” Felicity said as she pushed herself upwards, groaning in pain and wrapping an arm around her middle to support herself.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Elsie grimaced sympathetically. “I know it’s not wise and you should rest, but we can’t take the chance.”
It seemed like we were always moving from one place to another and my body was struggling with the exhaustion.
“Any idea where?” Tehni asked as she rounded up her things. “I swear we’re gonna be out of options soon.”
“It’ll have to be the hotel again.”
Everyone pulled a face. Felicity even shivered.
“We have no option. We can’t go back to Three Blades until I’ve fathomed which side Frank is on.”
“I know a place,” I offered.
All heads turned my way, and Elsie narrowed her eyes at me. “Is it safe?”
“One hundred percent secure. I’ve been holed up there once or twice when needed before.”
Elsie looked to her Sisters for clarification. Each shrugged.
“Might not have any other choice, Els,” Tehni remarked. “And, to be honest, every choice up to now has been a damn failure.”
Nodding, Elsie looked back to me. “Lead the way, Mr Sinclair.”
I swallowed, hiding my hesitation. It had been five years since I’d been back. I knew it would be a safe haven. That didn’t mean I would be welcome though.