Page 32 of One Kill

Nobody scares me, and I’ve allowed the thought of family to push me back thirteen years into the scared little girl I once was instead of letting it make me stronger.

After riding home to grab a change of clothes, I’m now at the casino, where I’ve been watching Mr. Wright play Blackjack for the last hour. My mind may be whirling with questions about my personal life, but business is business. I need to separate the two or I’m fucked.

My phone vibrates in my pants pocket—black like my soul—and I dig it out from my corner of the casino. I do love to play, but my main focus tonight is following Mr. Wright’s every move.

Unknown:They’ve found you

What the actual fuck?

Me:Who are you?

I wait for ten, fifteen, minutes, and no reply. My jaw aches from grinding my teeth as I try to figure out who “they” are, my mind going at a million miles a minute when I notice Zavier making a beeline for me.

I was hoping to avoid him tonight. His fascination with me is annoying.

“Ah, Shadow. Nice to see you again. You not playing tonight?” Zavier sits beside me at the small corner bar, following my eyeline to Mr. Wright. “Got your eye on something else, I see…” He rests his arm on the back of my chair, his fingers brushing against the leather of my jacket as he leans in to tickle his breath across the skin of my neck.

I don’t flinch, don’t move, allowing him to feel like he has some power here. Even though we both know he has none.

Hopefully my silence also tells him to back off. I’m not in the mood to play flirtatious with him tonight.

It’s then that Mr. Wright chooses to up and leave, having won a few big pots, yet again. I finish off my water, turning away from Zavier and placing the now-empty glass on the bar behind me before standing.

“Time for me to go.” I don’t waste time with pleasantries, taking the time to zip up my jacket as I watch Mr. Wright cashing in his chips from the corner of my eye.

“Stay, keep me company tonight, Shadow. I’m bored.” His hazel eyes bore into me, pleading, but he’s full of shit. He doesn’t want me to follow the tall thin man I clashed with last week, the man he defended and very obviously has some kind of deal with.

“Only boring people get bored, Z.” Without giving him a chance to reply, I head on outside to my bike and find a spot nearby so I can see the exit, ready to try my hand at tailing this guy. Shoo’s the best we have for these jobs, so the fact Mr. Wright managed to lose him every time says this man is dangerous.

Everyone’s considered dangerous until I know all their secrets.

Glitch has eyes on the internal cameras and his message telling me our mark is finally leaving the building comes through just as the door opens. Who I’m assuming is his bodyguard walks through first, a huge gorilla of a man, and hairy enough to be one too. The bodyguard is with him every time we’ve seen him, laying more suspicion on this creepy thin man, because who needs a bodyguard?

They get into a waiting black sedan idling by the curb, and it quickly moves off once they’re inside. I wait a few moments before following behind so the rumble of my engine doesn’t let them know I’m here, my headlight off too. We’re on the outskirts of the city and I could outride any police if they caught sight of me.

So far, so good. We’ve been on the road for about twenty-five minutes and I’m still tailing behind the vehicle. The direction we’re headed doesn’t give away a final location, but I make note of the road signs I see anyway, a warmth spreading through my chest when I see one for Newark.

The sedan turns left up ahead onto what I know is Ferry Street and I’m curious to know where they’re going. It’s now one o’clock in the morning, so there aren’t many other vehicles around, especially where we’re entering a quieter area. This isn’t exactly the best thing for me, my bike isn’t exactly quiet, meaning I have to fall a little further back to avoid being seen or heard.

“Fuck!”

A sharp burning pain shoots into my upper arm, causing me to swerve right then left. No doubt in my mind I’ve just been fucking shot. I don’t chance a look down, but considering I can still move it and it doesn’t feel like blood is pouring out of me, I’d say it’s more of a graze. Still fucking hurts.

I notch my bike down a gear and speed up, trying to catch sight of whoever was brave enough to shoot at me. There’s a car I hadn’t noticed a little ways behind me, also with the headlights off so I can’t make anything out other than it’s dark.Fuck.

Taking the same turn as Mr. Wright’s sedan, I speed up some more. The other car follows.

I see movement through my mirrors, then a ping sounds off my bike, and another, until the fuckers take my back tire out and send me flying from my baby as it skids out. My body scrapes along the ground, pain pulsing through my hip, my knee, my already injured shoulder. And thank fuck for my helmet because my head smacks the road, bouncing up again and making my head throb.

The car engine gets louder, speeding up to catch me, and I’m in no state to try and take on whoever this is right now. I am, however, going to fucking run. Pain be damned. I won’t give them the satisfaction of killing me. I’m not dying today.

With great effort, I manage to stand, removing my helmet and looking longingly at my smashed-up bike in the middle of the road before making my legs move as quickly as they can down a side street. The car screeches to a halt, I can hear the tires and shouts from at least four men trying to figure out where I am in the distance. One good thing about wearing all black, and just another reason I am the Shadow.

I keep moving, slower now. To where? I don’t know. I’m going on autopilot because my phone got smashed in my pocket when I came off my bike. I can’t call for my crew, I can’t call Marco, I’m fucking screwed out here and beginning to wane, every muscle in my body aching with each movement forward. I think I’ve lost whoever the fuck it was that shot at me, and if I was in better shape I might’ve tried to stick around and spy a little, but I know how to survive. And sticking around was not an option.

I don’t know how long I’ve been walking, but my eyes light up when I recognize the house now in front of me. The white picket fence, the winding path to the front porch steps, the truck in the driveway…

Two steps away from the door, my energy levels drop considerably and I know this is a mistake. I promised myself I’d keep them away from all of this, but I have no other option.

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