Page 114 of Ordinary Girl

Taking a deep breath I move quickly and quietly into the living room; crouch down by the window and peer outside, my eyes barely making it above the window-ledge for fear of them seeing me. Sensing me. But it’s okay. Their car – that same green car I’d spotted so many times before – pulls away, and I grip the window-ledge and let out a long, heavy sigh of relief. But I don’t have time to hang around, Cady will be out of the shower any second now. And as soon as she realizes I’m gone, she’ll sound the alarm.

I practically run out of the door, down the street, and I keep on running until I finally manage to flag down a passing taxi. And for a few minutes I can breathe, although my heart is still beating wildly, but the adrenaline is keeping me going. I can’t turn back now. I’m doing this. I’m doing it…

I still don’t trust them, despite my men checking the house. They’re using my daughter as some kind of bait, and I’m in two minds as to whether I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt. But I want my daughter out of there, I want her safe, and if she’s at the compound she isn’t safe. So, yes, I’ll go to them, and I’ll go alone, or at least make them think I’m alone. I’ll lulltheminto a false sense of security. I’ll get my daughter and then I’ll do what I came here to do. I’ll kill them all…

Forty-Nine

Ana

The compound seems quiet. Eerily so. The gates have been left open, which isn’t all that weird because they’re trying to lure my father inside, aren’t they? Has he fallen for it? I don’t know. There’s no sign of any other cars or vehicles, not ones that don’t belong to the club, anyway.

My phone starts vibrating and I fish it from my pocket, already knowing who it is. Cady. Of course it’s Cady. And of course I don’t answer. She leaves a voicemail, which I don’t listen to, I’ll face the music later.

I walk into the compound, half expecting one of the prospects to appear from somewhere: go running to Joel, but it remains quiet. Still. Almost as if something bad is about to happen. An uneasy calm before a full-on storm.

Heading around the side of the clubhouse, I lean back against the wall and take a second; a deep breath. I reach for the gun and will my hand to stop shaking. I close my eyes and take another longer, deeper breath, and then my eyes snap open as I hear a voice.Hisvoice. My father’s… it’s coming from inside… And then I look around, and I spot the green car parked outside the gates. Was that there before? Did I walk right past that on my way in? Did they see me? Have they told my father…?

The gunshot rings out loud, too loud, and I clasp my hands over my ears, I’m too late… But the ensuing chaos I was expecting doesn’t come. It’s all quiet. And that bad feeling in mystomach is growing. I feel nauseous, but I swallow hard, grip the gun tighter, it’s time… And I’m about to run inside when the green car careers into the compound, skidding to a halt as two men – the same men who were inside the house not twenty minutes ago? – leap out, but I’m faster. I make it inside just in time to see my father aim his gun at Joel, who’s crouched down next to something; a body…Oh, Jesus, no… But I don’t have time to think about anything else, my father’s finger is poised, Joel reaches for his gun, this is all happening at breakneck speed…

The sound is horrendous, a gut-wrenching noise so loud it feels like my eardrums have burst, and the smell… But as my father drops to the ground, and I stare down at him, I don’t know what to feel. I’ve just blown half his face off. It took a second to kill him. I’ve killed him…?

“Ana?”

I can barely hear Joel’s voice through the fog. I can just about hear the chaos of more gunshots; more bodies dropping to the floor, and I close my eyes as I feel a hand slip into mine, dragging me away.

“Ana?”

His voice is louder now. It’s getting clearer. And the noise: the chaos of just a few seconds ago, it’s all quiet now. But the smell of gun fire still hangs in the air.

“I – I’m sorry…” I whisper, my eyes staring down at the gun in my hand. I don’t even remember firing it, I don’t know how I did it, I just know that I’ve killed my father. I killed someone…

“Hey. Look at me. Ana, look at me.” I feel him take the gun from me, feel his hand cup my cheek. His skin against mine. And he slowly lifts my head until our eyes meet.

“I’m sorry,” I repeat, because I don’t know what else to say.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. But, Jesus, Ana, do you know how much danger you put yourself in? Do you have any idea what could’ve happened to you?”

For a few seconds I just look at him, because I still don’t know what to say. “He was – he was going to kill you.”

“Why did you come here? Why didn’t you stay at the house? And where the fuck was Cady?”

Even he knows that’s a conversation for another time. So I say nothing. And then I remember the body on the floor, the one Joel was crouching beside.

“Skip’s dead,” I murmur, and it isn’t a question. I saw him, lying there, lifeless. I saw the blood. I saw the mess my father had made of his head. So he deserved the same fate, I’m glad that single bullet took his face off. He fucking deserved it… And then Joel pulls me toward him, his arms enveloping me in a hug I desperately need, and I cling onto him. But I don’t cry, I can’t, all I’m feeling is numb. And I think that’s how I need to stay, for now. Numb…

Six Months Later

Joel

“You’re going to marry me, you know that, right?”

She smiles as she hands me a beer and leans over the counter. “You think?”

“I know.” I down a mouthful of beer and glance around the clubhouse. We cleaned everything out after Skip died. After Ana gunned her father down. And I still can’t believe what she did that night, she put herself in so much fucking danger, I could’ve handled it. I think… I guess we’ll never know. Maybe she saved my life, and she has, in more ways than one.

“Well, I think I’m still too young to get married. Just because you’re feeling the years catch up with you…” She grins at me and I laugh and shake my head. That night did something to her. It was like she grew up in a heartbeat, became a much harder woman. A coldness formed behind her eyes, she’s a stronger, tougher person now. She’s not scared anymore, she fears nothing, even though there’s still shit out there that can touch us. Harm us. Come for us. Ending Emil Renard doesn’t mean we’re suddenly free from the threat of the Balke family. She cut the head off the snake, but it could still grow back, in another form. For now, though, we have it on good authority that the Balke family have gone back underground. None of them are willing to put their heads above the parapet. Renard was their hope of a resurgence, but he’s gone. A lot of his army has gone. Between us and the Blackhawks we’ve taken out dozens of his men, more have left of their own accord. The cowards. And now an uneasy truce has formed between the Viking Bandits and the club we once saw as enemies. We’re working together, buildingup a business that’s seen us become more powerful than we ever thought we could be. We’ll see how long that truce lasts, but so far it’s working. Mutual trust, yeah, it’s definitely a thing.

“You’ll get old, too, one day. You think you’ll stay this beautiful forever?” I smile at her, and she rolls her eyes. Shewillstay beautiful forever, in my eyes. I love her like I’ve never loved anything or anyone before, and it’s a crazy, fucked-up feeling sometimes but I’m embracing it. All of it.

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