Page 38 of Absolution

I glancedat the alarm clock on the nightstand. 3:45 a.m.. It was time. I climbed out of bed and tiptoed down the hall to peek into Leo’s room. His snores were deep and loud. It was finally all too much.

Creeping along the hallway, I quietly made my way to the front door.

Holding my breath, I keyed in the alarm code to disengage it. I waited to make sure I hadn’t disturbed Leo. When the house remained still, I slowly opened the door, sliding through the narrow opening, before shutting it just as quietly behind me. I locked it from the outside and shoved the keys in my pocket before turning and running down the sidewalk.

Maybe Gideon was watching, and maybe he wasn’t. At this point, I just wanted it all to be over. One way or another. Shame and guilt were my two best friends right now. In fact, they were my oldest, but not necessarily, dearest friends. They’d been frequent visitors over the last eleven years, and lucky me, it looked like they were back for a visit. Only, an extended one this time. Like those unexpected house guests that overstay their welcome.

City noises filled the air around me, and a few familiar faces peeked out from behind brown paper bags. Dirt-caked fingernails clutched the covered bottle tighter like they were afraid someone might snatch it from them. I adjusted the hood of my sweatshirt over my head to hide my face and kept my gaze forward. I didn’t want any further reminders of where I was.

A sleeping homeless man blocked my path, so I merely stepped over him, the caustic scent of piss mixed with vomit mixed with booze hit my nose. I opened my mouth to breathe through it, although that wasn’t much better. The smell had already absorbed into my nostrils and would no doubt linger there until tomorrow or later most likely.

The street grew darker the further I walked into the bowels of hell, most of the lights above either burnt out or busted by delinquents. No one bothered to replace or fix them. Why would they? This area of town was filled with nothing but vagrants guzzling down hooch and addicts trolling for their next fix. Like me.

The run-down houses with their boarded-up windows grew closer together until finally, I reached my intended destination. A falling down chainlink fence surrounded the property, and the metal made an eerie screech when I lifted the horse-shoe shaped lever to swing open the gate. A lone dog barked somewhere in the distance. My feet weighed a ton as I climbed the four crumbling cinder block stairs to the front door. With a sweaty palmed fist, I knocked in rapid succession before sliding my hands into the front pocket of my sweatshirt to finger the wad of cash while I waited. I jerked when the door cracked open and a disembodied voice spoke.

“What do you want?”

“I’m here to see Jacob.” I was surprised by how calm my voice sounded.

“I think you have the wrong house.”

“Tell him it’s Gina. He knows who I am.”

The door slammed shut, but it wouldn’t be long before he’d be back. Sure enough, in less than five minutes it opened again, only this time wide enough for me to step inside. I gave a cursory glance at the behemoth manning the entrance and noted the tattoos crawling up his arms. They disappeared under his sleeves but reappeared on the other side of his collar and continued up his neck. He jerked his bald head toward the back of the house unnecessarily. I knew the way.

The floors creaked under my slight weight as I made my way down the hallway passing by open bedrooms I avoided peeking into. I shuddered with remembrance of what happened inside them. With a hard swallow I stepped into the back room. Dim light glowed from the two floor lamps on opposite sides of the room casting soft shadows across the surface of the desk where the man I was looking for sat. In my periphery, I caught sight of a second man to the right of me silently standing guard in the darkened corner.

Jacob looked almost exactly like he had the last time I saw him, even though years had passed. His face had matured slightly and there was a hardness to it that hadn’t been present before, but other than that, he hadn’t changed much. He was still good-looking with his dark hair swept back off his face, the slightest wave giving it a tousled look, and the boyish grin he’d probably never lose.

“Gina Castillo, as I live and breathe. I’m honestly surprised to see you. It’s been, what, five years?”

Jacob sat back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the arm of it. His greeting was welcoming, but I sensed an air of sadness and disappointment around him. It only intensified my feelings of shame.

“Six, actually.”

He merely nodded. “I take it you’re not here to finally accept my proposal and make an honest man out of me?”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Still making jokes, I see.”

“Life’s pretty shitty if you can’t find something to laugh about.”

I’d always wondered how he’d ever gotten into this business. He dressed like a Wall Street trader, was well-spoken, and highly intelligent. Then again, he clearly used his talents to become a rich man, even if it was through illegal means. In the end, it didn’t matter. Jacob was selling what I was buying. The smile slid off my face. It was time to get what I came for and leave.

I’d almost forgotten the man in the corner until he lurched forward with a menacing growl when I quickly yanked my hands from my front pocket. I jumped at his movement.

“Easy, Pierce.”

Jacob had half risen from his chair and didn’t lower himself back down until the man - Pierce - relaxed. With a wary glance over my shoulder, I slowly moved forward and set the bills down in front of Jacob, who eyed the stack with a sigh. One that reeked of disappointment.

“How much?”

“A hundred.”

I’m not sure if he was waiting for me to change my mind, but he didn’t immediately take the cash. His gaze traveled leisurely over me, not in a sexual way, but rather an assessing one, before returning to my face. I tilted my chin up a little and stood taller even though inside my anxiety was at an all-time high. I could feel the fluttering of a panic attack hovering beneath the surface, but it had been there since Gideon called, slowly building and gaining strength. The force of it, when it erupted, would be epic. I couldn’t hold it back on my own.

Not this time.

Slowly, Jacob reached out and picked up the money thumbing each bill while he counted it. He sent a quick glance in Pierce’s direction and gave an almost imperceptible nod. The bodyguard disappeared leaving the two of us alone. Before a heartbeat passed, he unfolded his tall frame from his chair and stepped out from behind the desk. His perfectly tailored suit and wing-tipped shoes were out of place in this decrepit, old house practically falling down around us.

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