Page 20 of Relentless Surrender

The phone started to vibrate again. Sage pushed it deep into the sofa cushions. Talking again to cover the sound of the soft buzzing as she swiped right to answer it. Not daring to look down, somehow confident it was Conner.

“Ricardo, you can’t keep us here. The longer you stay the more trouble you will be in. Forget about the bear. It’s over. Just please, I’m begging you, just leave,” she said loudly, praying Conner could hear.

“I want my money!” he shouted.

“So that’s all I was! A god damn meal ticket? Some stupid blackmail scheme?” shouted Melissa back.

Sage turned wide eyes on her friend. She had been silent this whole time. While she cheered her friend’s show of strength, perhaps now was not the best time.

“Let’s just all calm down. I’m sure we can work something out,” interjected Sage.

It was too late. Ricardo caught a glimpse of the stupid, fucking teddy bear with its guts ripped out. Running to the kitchen island, he took in the chaotic scene of broken plastic and electronic parts. Racing back into the living room, he went straight for Melissa. Grabbing her by the hair, he pulled her upright off the sofa. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled free a small pocket knife. Small but no less lethal.

Sage screamed.

“Jesus Christ! Sage! Sage! Talk to me! Sage!” roared Conner into the phone.

Dropping all pretense, Sage raised the phone to her ear, “Conner! Conner, it’s Ricardo. He’s here. He has Melissa!”

“Baby, I’m already in my truck. I’m coming to you, baby. You hold on! That bastard is going to pay,” growled Conner.

Before she could respond, Ricardo, who had momentarily let go of Melissa, grabbed the phone from her hand.

“Hey fuck you, Marine! I told you before. This is none of your fucking business.” He spat into the phone.

“You threaten my woman. It is my business. There isn’t a hole you can crawl into that I won’t find you. Do you understand me? I’m coming for you. You’re a dead man, Ricardo. Your only chance is to start running. Now,” threatened Conner. His voice dangerously soft and low.

“You’ll have to find us first, Jarhead,” sneered Ricardo before hanging up.

* * *

The acrid smell of burnt rubber lingered as Conner’s truck came to a screeching halt just outside Sage’s apartment. The driver’s side door was open and Conner was already running towards her door before the vehicle had even come to a full stop.

It was empty.

Letting out a roar of frustration, Conner resisted the urge to punch something. Digging into his front pocket, he pulled out his phone and dialed.

“Hey, Captain! What’s up?”

“Hippie, is that criminal cousin, the computer hacker, you’re always telling stories about out of prison?”

Having served at least three tours with the Captain, Hippie immediately responded to the urgency in Conner’s voice. He knew when it was go time.

“Sprung last month. What do you need?”

Conner hesitated, but only for a moment. “I wouldn’t ask unless it was….”

“Captain,” Hippie cut him off. “What do you need?”

“I need a trace and anything he can find on a piece of shit named Ricardo Suez.”

Conner sent up a quick prayer thanking god he knew the bastards name at all. If he hadn’t been trying to track down Sage that first time after she gave him that bum number, he never would have bothered to learn it from the property manager.

“Done. I’ll round up the crew.”

“Don’t. What I’m about to do isn’t close to being legal,” warned Conner.

There was a laugh on the other end before Hippie repeated, “Sir. You mess with one Marine; you mess with them all. I’ll round up the crew, Captain. Call you back in ten.”

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