A fools Prosperity

Chance has to pay for a mistake that he made by those that are close to him.

The situations I put myself in would leave you speechless; my name is Chance and today could be the last day of my life in a small vacant apartment. I am a former contract killer so I have seen and done my share of fucked up things but this time is different, my protégé and friend works for me now along with a female I picked up along the way of my travels. They are both killers for me but it’s my protégé that stands before me waiting to see if the knife he’s holding is going to do the job. He has been like a little brother to me for a long time and even now as I bleed from slices he’s been able to get me with, I think quickly about my life while gasping for air trying to avoid death because I stopped this kind of stuff a long time ago. I still consider him one of the best friends I’ve ever had but what happened was my f**k up and I know it; yet and still I will kill him to get back to my boy even though I promised to God I wouldn’t ever do it again. The professional side of me is proud because I taught him how to do this life and he has surpassed me learning new techniques through some of my plugs and some of his own he gained. The kid is good; surprised me with a couple good shots, but I got him with some hits he didn’t see coming neither. It’s a part of the risk I knew I was involved in when I first became a professional hitter, in this life you are to trust no one completely; my uncle was the boss of the syndicate I worked for he tried to have me killed and I took him out.

 

“You know this is not personal Chance.” He says to me.

“Yeah I know that; this was my mistake and now I have to reap what I sowed.” I answer.

 

 

His name is Xavier and not his birth name but that of what my uncle had gave him to answer to.  He could’ve cancelled me by now but he just stands there watching me pant calculating his next move. I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t want to really do it or if he’s getting paid to bring me somewhere alive. He rushes in quick and I go on the defense dodging and blocking just waiting on an open shot but it’s not enough and he lands a couple shots to both side’s at my ribs with fists and cuts me deep with some slashes from the blade then ended his combo kicking me hard at the chest making me fly back hard against a wall. And I just drop; I’m too weak to do anything but be on my hands and knees looking down at the ground watching the liquid life drip from my body but it doesn’t stop how fast my mind keeps moving. I think about my son but I know he is safe; I put things in place just so if anything like this ever happened he would be far away from the bullshit his father created. I put him a good amount of money away in a trust fund that he’ll be getting when he’s 18 but until then the money I provided to the person that has him now should get both of them through for the next three weeks if spent wisely.

 

“You like that don’t you,” He asks very cocky.

“When I get to my feet, I’m going to kick your a*s.” I respond.

 

He laughs it off.

 

“I think that I’ll sever some of those blood vessels in your arm since the pressure in these arteries is high as they are relatively in direct connection with major arteries to the heart. Or maybe I should go for that Carotid artery in your leg; they say it takes four minutes to bleed out but I’ve seen some make to fifteen. I remember when you taught me about those spots but now I’m about to teach you about those spots.”  He says winking with a smug cocky smile on his face.

“Xavier I’m sorry; you know I’m always on point with these matters.”

“Yeah but your one f**k up just happened to include me and when s**t hit the fan you know it was a me or you situation after that.”     

“I can fix this; I know who I can go to.” I tell him.

“There is no fixing this; the contract has been put out and dead or alive I’m going to collect on that.”

 

I know alive he’ll get paid more because my contacts could sell me to one of my enemies for double the price especially since they think I’m already dead. But Xavier is no fool; one thing I made sure he had before I made him what he is now is common sense. I’m hurting bad and it feels worse when I let out a mild laugh.

 

“You do know that you won’t get that payment for taking me alive right?” I ask slowly rising back to my feet.

“Come on now the history that we have is beyond words, I wouldn’t disrespect you like that.”

“But not beyond your pockets; you know you’ll be next right?” I ask him.

“I figured that, but the money I’ll collect on you will be enough vanish.”

“You should know better by now; there is no such thing as vanishing for us, until another one of us makes us vanish.”

“Let them come and they’ll get put down like the rest, now enough stalling it’s time to collect.” He says.

 

I know I won’t last another round with him but I get into a Krav Maga fighting stance. Suddenly the door quickly opens and I see the silencer of her gun before I see her running in shooting at him. Her name is Camille and she is my other hitter, a beautiful red haired vixen that can kill in multiple ways too. I taught her some stuff, Xavier trained with her, and I paid some good money to get her skills top notch. She would be the one to help me; we have a bond, plus when I figured out I fucked up I called to let her know. The girl is good but he’s able anticipate her shots and waits until the gun is empty before he goes after her. He tries hard but she is used to his movements and tricks; she is able to disarm him of the knife and even gets in some hits that make him pause as she shed the blood that runs from his nose. Now could be the time I should jump in but I’m still trying to catch my breath.

 

“I should’ve known you were going to do something like this, this is between me and him but if you feel like he’s worth risking your profession then you can bring me your resignation papers and I’ll deal with your informal quitting.” He says to her.

“He knows he fucked up dude, but you got to let him talk to Des. If this was vice versa, I’d already have him dead and you’d only hear about it.  But you know he can cease all of this s**t!” She responds angrily.

“You think he’s going to get the opportunity to get to him, cute, young and naïve doesn’t cut it in this business I thought you knew.”

 

He charges at her and they begin to fight again, they are both quick in their movements and strikes but where she had the swiftness he possessed more strength, even the blocks hurt her but she kept to her task and continued to fight him. He starts to get the best of her and every time he hits her it begins to wear on her until he grabs her by the throat and lifts her off the ground slamming her to the wall holding her there chocking. She grabs at his hand and started kicking him in the mid-section but it isn’t fazing him as he squeezes harder. I can’t stand around watching it happen so I charge and kick him making him lose the grip and sending slamming into a wall, I crouch down to her checking to see if she is okay as she grabs at her throat trying to catch her breath. I stroke her hair then look over at him getting ready for a comeback.

 

“Get the f**k out of here, this is my fight.” I tell her.

 

She shakes her head in disagreement wanting to be there for me but I couldn’t see her die over something I had brought upon myself. Xavier cracked his neck with a smile.

 

“Good to see you back ready for another round.” He says.

“You didn’t think it was going to be easy did you?”

“Nah, I knew I was going to have to earn this one.”

 

He comes back after me and we feud some more exchanging hits, I serve him some of my good ones but he is in better condition than I am and starts to get the best of me again before Camille intervenes. She begins to fight him once more and I help her but he holds both of us off protecting himself and both striking at both of our open spots whenever he can. I know we can’t keep this up and if we were going to live I had to think of a way out of here or kill him. A chair sat in the corner and we were only two stories up in this place, she began to battle with him and I went for the chair throwing it through the window. When he starts getting the best of her again I went back in fighting him to relieve her of the a*s kicking he is serving her. I hang with him this time no matter how bad I’m hurting, get good shots in then hit him hard in the sternum and he pauses hurt from the force I put into the blow. Normally this is a moment where I would keep going because I know with some pressure point shots I would finish him off quickly, but I take that time to pick Camille up and heading for the window I had just broke. He goes for his jacket that lies on the floor pulling out his silenced nine millimeter then takes a couple of shots but I get us out. We fall for a second and I position myself where I would take the impact with her on top of me on a trash bin, but when we land her body lies on top not moving and I bounced off and fell to the ground right by it. My body wants to just stay there on the cold concrete when my head hit the ground and I know he will just lean out the window and shoot us both. I stand back up and pull her off throwing her over my shoulder running weakly any direction that I see open. Just like I thought he begins to shoot at us but misses as I make my way quickly down the alley until I get to the end of it and a white van pulls up coming to a quick halt. I can see it in my head that we are done; those doors will open and a hit squad will fill both of us full of bullets. I can’t do nothing but stand there and wait for what I had coming;  but as the door opens four guys stare at me and the passenger window rolls down and I see an old friend named Buck looking at me with a smile.

 

“Are you going to just stand there and wait for your boy Xavier to come finish the job or you going to hop in?” He asked.

 

Buck ran his own crime syndicate in Texas but now he is here where I resided and he is about as cold blooded as they come. Killing people for both a profit and for fun, with him I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Xavier was on his way to take us out at any minute but I also knew Buck wouldn’t pass up a payday either, against my better judgment I get into the van laying Camille down and rubbing her head trying to see if she is conscience. The van quickly leaves the scene and Buck hands me a bottle of water and I drink it before thinking about it.

 

“Looks like you have some issues at hand.” He says.

“Yeah, but what are you doing here, let me guess you want to collect on the price on my head?” I ask.

“If I was going to do that I would’ve shot you coming out of that alley.”

“Then what the f**k are you doing here?” I ask.

 

I begin to feel dizzy all of a sudden and I look at the bottle of water he gave me, he drugged me and I felt like I couldn’t keep my eyes open but I try to make a move for the door falling to the floor of the van looking at the four guys at staring me.

 

“You need to relax now; I’ll take care of you.” He said.

“So this is the way you’ll take care of me you b*****d?”

 

I slowly begin to lose consciousness but I keep trying to move as it gets harder for my body then out goes my mind.

 

“Just relax man I’m here to help you out.” Buck says.

 

I don’t trust his motives and imagine waking up duct taped to a chair with him putting a bullet in my head after saying some sarcastic s**t.

 

“You motherfu…..”Is all I can get out before everything goes black.

 

Yeah this whole thing was my fault, one night I was drinking and for pain from the old wounds I took too many narcotic pain pills. I received a resume from a client and it had two pictures in it. One was supposed to die and the other was only to get a beating. I got them mixed up in my state of inebriation and sent Xavier on a job that needed immediate attention. Well as you can figure he completed the job but by my directions he killed the wrong one and beat the s**t out of the one the guy that was supposed die. That sparked a war between two syndicates when it was only meant to look like a robbery gone wrong. The two men were brothers and the one that died was unaffiliated and just out having a beer for a good time that night. The other brother was connected and went back thinking it was a syndicate they had been having problems with. It started some s**t that cost other affiliates money and when the contacts found out about my mistake they had to fix it, and now here I am not knowing how the rest of this is going to play out. I live in a world of lost individuals that for the right price will make you disappear and I feel it is my time now; the saying is that you reap what you sow and if this was it I had to accept it, my only regret is taking my family through so much pain. My daughters died to a pedophile, my wife committed suicide and now I had my only son hidden away. I feel kind of nauseous as my eyes open slowly and it’s kind of blurry first but when I focus I don’t know if I am dreaming or having déjà vu. Her name is Katherine and she saved my life when I got shot in my stomach, she was a surgeon on the payroll of my uncle fixing anybody in the syndicate that got in unfortunate accidents. Usually she would fix them up, get paid and leave but he paid her to hide me away at her house and I spent a month healing up and getting to know her. I have always been able to vibe with her and came close to falling for her but I had other things on my plate and I didn’t want to get close to her only to disappoint her. We remained close friends until this day but she thought I died and now she stands over me once again with a smile on her face staring at me.

 

“Chance Montgomery…I have to say I never thought I would ever see you again, especially since you were supposed to not be around anymore.”

“Hello Katherine, it’s nice to see you again.”

 

She is gorgeous, long blond hair with a tint of red, eyes as blue as the sky behind glasses and an angelic face that would make you fall in love on first sight. She would be the one if I could fall in love with and live a normal life I would’ve done by now, but everything and everyone I am around I bring trouble to so I remained at a certain mental distance from her because it was easy getting lost in her vibe. I tried to sit up but my whole body was in pain.

 

“You don’t need to move; you have three fractured ribs, a bunch of bruises, some stitches and I even think you might have a concussion.” She said rubbing my head.

 

The door opened and Buck walked in with a cigar lit in his mouth and a grin on his face. He handed her some money and told her to go check on Camille. He sat in a nearby chair just looking at me and shaking his head. We used to be partners back in the day killing and hurting anybody we got paid for and he is one of the best friends I have considering he did once take a contract on me. But as my best friend he really didn’t want to do it and gave me an offer to help him with a promise of me not killing anyone or he would just put a bullet in my head; guess which one I chose?

 

“I’ve done some s**t for money, but even if someone gave me a million dollars I wouldn’t walk a day in your shoes.” He says with a serious face.

“I know you wouldn’t; you couldn’t handle the type of s**t I step in.”

“There’s a big difference my brother; it’s the steps you take that f**k you up.” He says with a smile on his face.

“How’s Camille?”

“Beat the f**k up like you, that’s how she’s doing.”

“So is your attempt at collecting on the price on my head alive?” I ask him.

“Why do you have to go and hurt my feeling like that, how many times have I saved your life?”

“The real question is how many situations have you put me into where s**t like that can happen?”

 

He smiles.

 

“Okay I have gotten you into some s**t haven’t I my n***a?”

 

He starts to laugh and I smile letting out a mild try before I’m reminded about the rib thing.

 

“Seriously; are you profiting from me sitting here right now?” I ask knowing he would probably lie anyway.

“No, you are at one of my safe houses. When I heard about this, I knew you were going to need my help.”

“Your help always come with consequences Buck.”

“That’s some cold s**t man; you as close to me as a brother.” He says.

“Yeah and I just got through dealing with another that was our younger brother, f**k you.”

“Paranoia is good but a fucked up state of mind to live in constantly, but knowing you has showed me it’s the safest way to live. I’m here to help you my brother not hurt you, I’ve could’ve made my money on you by now.”

“How long have I been out?” I ask.

“About two days now,” He answers.

 

D****t once again my brain has to process some real s**t happening around me. I hate these kind of moments, it puts me on the spot where I am not comfortable about life; but I’m always prepared for it though. I rub my head closing my eyes and thinking quickly.

 

“That briefcase I gave you; I need it.” I tell him.

 

He looks me in the eyes as he pulls out his phone; says a couple of words and hangs up.

 

“It’ll be here in six hours, I suggest you get some rest.”

“I’ll rest when one of you actually kill me.” I reply.

“Do you want a shoulder to cry on?”

“No, first I need a burnout so I can call my son then I need to get to Des.” I answer.

 

He starts laughing hard and pointing at me.

 

“You know that’s going to cost you right?” He asks me.

“You’ll be compensated.”

 

He stands up to walk out.

 

“Katherine is on your payroll now?” I ask him.

“Your uncle didn’t need her anymore did he; pop pop.” He said and left the room referring to me killing him.

 

I can’t keep lying around while time was running out so I painfully make it to my feet leaving the room and finding the one that Camille was in. When I walk in she is just lying on her back with her eyes closed one of them swollen and black. I walk up to her and caress her hair first making her open the one eye looking up at me.

 

“Hey there,” I say to her.

“Hi.” She responds simply.

“Why didn’t you go away like I told you?”

“Why would I?” She asks.

 

She has been loyal; I’ve had her at a distance with a Remington 700 rifle many of times when I needed a guardian angel or an unseen termination and she had never let me down. I’ve seen her fight close quarters in the same room armed and unarmed, her skills are superb but I know she can do so much more than what she does now. Somehow I knew she would pop up while I was fighting Xavier, we had that kind of connection. But once again I’d gotten someone close to me hurt. I know my son in hiding is wondering where his father is and seeing this girl lying hurting for me makes me wish that my protégé would’ve ended me. Buck walked in and just leaned at the door.

 

“Don’t worry about her; she’s getting moved tonight to one of my other safe spots while she heals up.”

“My son is alright isn’t he?”

“Nothing would ever happen to my nephew.” He answers.

“Give me some time with her.”

“That’s your problem; you let these girls get to your head and when they get fucked up you take it to heart. You really want to do her a favor; next time you’re both in a gunfight save the last two bullets for each other.”

“How about I just take your gun and put a bullet in you, leave me the f**k alone right now.” I say as I look at Camille and think about what my next step is going to be.

“Okay…Okay, I see you don’t want my advice.”

“I want to thank you for your help Buck, but what I really need you to do is get ahold of Des for me. If he can’t help me to cease this bullshit I’ll let you kill me or take me to the highest bidder. Just make sure no one else around me gets hurt.”

“Okay sounds good to me; I’m going to my office to handle somethings but once you’re done in here we need to have a talk.” He says and walks out.

 

I rub her head some more and close my eyes.

“Damn I’m so sorry shorty,” I whisper in her ear.

“Don’t be; I would do it again if I had too. This is what we do and you are my friend, I would protect you from harm because I know you would do the same for me at any given time.” She responds weakly.

“You’re damn right I would.”

“Then don’t apologize; just don’t get yourself killed, Donovan needs you.”

 

 

I had thought about him first that’s why I got him the furthest away. I sit with her for another hour then watch as she falls asleep, then give her a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. Now it was time to talk to my friend. Buck and I went way back to childhood, but when we got into the business of killing I saw the dark demented side of him. In reality I know that the only reason I am alive around him is because he might want that money on my head, and instead of my briefcase getting here he has other plans in motion. When I reach his office he sits behinds his desk still smoking that cigar, he’s on the phone but motions me to sit across from him. I wait for him to get done while just staring at him seriously and he relaxes back and sarcastically peers at me.

 

“Would you like something to drink?” He asks.

 

I would love to have a shot at the moment but I fear he’d slide something in it so I decline. He pours me one anyway and sits sliding the shot glass to me. He knows I trust him, but then again he knows I don’t trust him at the same time.

 

“Friend to friend and brother to brother.” He says putting his shot in the air looking at me.

 

I go ahead and concede picking up my glass; we meet in the middle touching rims then take it down still eyes connected.

 

“So what can you do for me; that briefcase should be here within the next hour. Tell me now should I be cautious of this delivery man?”

“No he’s bringing your s**t.” He answers.

 

I have to watch him; he’s as smooth as the devil with his tongue and is quick as lightning with his reflexes, but more dangerously; Buck is unpredictable.

 

“Can you get in touch with Des or not?” I ask.

“Calm down, you need to take a couple of days to heal up and get your mind right while I do it. Do you know how hard it is to get to a man like that? Hell even at my status I have to go through people that know people. Then you have think if will he even take time out his day to f**k with you. ”

“I only need a day and he will; just get me to him, and I need a damn phone so I can make a call.” I say and stand up.

 

 Getting to the door slowly I stop and look back at him.

 

“Katherine’s on your payroll now huh,” I ask again.

“I have a couple more, but I chose her for you. Kind of takes you back don’t it?”

“You never cease to amaze me you b*****d.”

“You could at least say thank you.” He says smiling at me.

 

I give him the finger and he just laughs.

 

“There’s the Chance I know; now go just relax man, you’re safe here. I’m going to help you out how ever I can, your son is safe and when you get this briefcase I’m going to get the girl to my private jet. Just go heal up but stay on point; Xavier is still out there. I really don’t know if he knows about this spot, but you know like I know he can get some information.”

 

He reaches in his drawer and pulls out a gun cocking it and a phone then walks over to me and puts them in my hands.

 

“I’m going to help you out because you are my brother but I…” I interrupt him because I know his next line.

“Want to be compensated for your time.” I say working up a smile.

“Oh yeah you already know. But just go chill; go talk to Katherine I think she missed your dumb a*s or something. I have to leave later so if you want me to do this for you but don’t try to leave, I have booby traps and tripwires all out there and only I know how to get through them; they will f**k you up.”

 

He tells me to get out of his office with just a look on his face and his hand pointed at the door. I make my way down the hallway and as I pass the room where Camille lies, I shut the door quietly and lay my head on it praying that God would help even someone like me as memories of my family together seems to be racing through my mind.

 

“She’s going to be alright.” I hear her voice say.

 

I look over and can’t help but to smile when see her. This is the second time she has saved my life and the way we connect when we are together she would do it a hundred more times for me.

 

“We really have to stop meeting like this,” I say.

 

She laughs and walks toward the kitchen so I follow, when she reaches into the fridge I just sit at the island in the middle of the big area laying the gun and phone on top observing her as she moves. I have always wanted her and I know I could have her, but I was always scared of what could happen to her if our worlds came together. This scenario proves why I never pursued her more; it could be her lying in that bed hurt. She’s a healer not a fighter so I know it wouldn’t have been the same but at some point someone would’ve used her to get at me. I couldn’t put her through that and I wouldn’t because I could have loved her.

 

“Chance Montgomery, I can’t believe my eyes right now.”

 

And I felt the same, I never thought I would ever see her again let alone be under her care once more. She like others thought I was dead and I wanted to keep it that way, but fate somehow has a way of stepping in.

 

“It’s good to see you again,” I say and pain shoots through my body making it show on my face.

“You have a lot of stitches so don’t move around that much.” She says putting a cup of water in front of me.

“I guess thanks are in order once again.”

“No, this is what I get paid for. But thinking you were dead for so long and to find you were still alive when I got here still has me kind of messed up.” She says rubbing my face.

“Well surprise,” I say smiling at her.

 

She can only shake her head at me but she still sports a gorgeous smile.

 

“How’s life been treating you sweet heart?” I ask her.

 

She begins to talk and time stops for me,

 

“Do you know I cried when I heard you died?” She asks me before I snap back into reality.

 

A lot of people did; I saw it for myself but they figured I would die early because I was one of Jake’s boys. I’ve always loved talking to her but as the saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun; Buck enters the kitchen and the whole mood changes.

 

“Your package is here Chance; Katherine get some pain medicine for the girl because she is about to exit the scene.” He says and walks out of the house.

“Well I guess we’ll finish later.” She says.

“I would like that, and while you’re grabbing her some do you mind getting me something too?”

“I got you.” She says and walks out of the kitchen.

 

I pick my gun up and check it again because I know him, when I see Buck walk in carrying my briefcase I sit it back down. Inside I had money on prepaid debit cards; enough to start anew somewhere else, something I put together for moments just like this. Passports, Identifications and social security cards for them both, but Xavier wouldn’t need his so Camille will get his cut. After handing it to me he just kept walking.

 

“Make your goodbye brief; my plane is warming up and jet fuel is not cheap.” He says.

 

I walk into her room where Katherine has her sitting up on handing her a bottle of pills. She smiles at me as she silently walks out leaving me and Camille alone. I sit on the bed next to her opening the case; I pull out three envelopes and a phone laying it on her lap. One has cash, the other is the debit cards and the last is credentials for a new life.

 

“Use this phone if you ever need me but consider this a severance package. Be safe baby girl because safety is something I can’t give you right now, so get far away. Thank you for everything you have done, but until this gets settled in the state you are in you’ll just end up being a liability.” I tell her.

 

She understands and just shakes her head in agreement and I knew she would.

 

“What about you?” She asks.

“I’m going to get whatever is coming to me; but you know I’ve gotten out of a lot of s**t I should’ve died for.”

“Yeah, you should have been dead by now.” She says smiling.

“If I didn’t have you watching my back some of those times I would’ve been.” I respond.

 

Buck walks by the room and sticks his head in.

 

“Wrap it up.” He says and keeps walking.

 

I give her one last thing from the briefcase case but this one I put in her hand. A loaded and cocked twenty-five caliber that she could be able to hold on to just in case that ride to Buck’s plane didn’t go as planned. I leave the room as she gets dressed and see her when she comes to out to leave, she gives me a hug and I give her one more kiss on the forehead. Buck opens the door for her and he looks at me,

 

“I’m leaving for the night so I can start working on this thing you need, when I get back we will be making some kind of move so I suggest you start getting your mind right. Oh yeah don’t forget what I told you; if you try to leave I’ll collect on your dead body.” He says.

“I got you man; I’m chilling.”

“My n***a; I’ll make sure she’s safe and you focus on that gift I gave you still walking around here.” He says and closes the door.

 

Katherine walks back the kitchen and hands me some pain pills with a glass of water.

 

“Come on you need to lie down.” She says and I’m at her mercy.

 

But first I needed to call my son, when I call the safe house he is in he is happy to hear from me like I am to hear him.

 

“Daddy I miss you, when are you coming to pick me up?” He asks.

“Soon son, daddy has to handle something first and I’ll be there.”

 

We talk for a second and I hang up the phone breaking it and throwing in the trash, walking to the room I got into the bed and she sat down next to me in a chair.

 

“Out of all of times you should’ve been dead is there anything in your life you haven’t gotten to do yet that you wish you could in case everything falls through and they put a bullet in your head?”

 

 It is a good question and I answer her honestly for the moment.

 

“I would wish to have my wife, my little girls and my son with me.”

 

She smiles staring in my eyes. For another hour or so we just talk about just life in general; nothing specific and I threw in stories of different adventures I’d been through, then it got to that awkward silence.

 

“If you don’t mind I’ve got things I need to think about.” I say with a smile.

“Yeah you have a lot on your plate at the moment. I’ll see you in the morning; coffee black with seven t-spoons of sugar still.”

“Yep.” I answer with a smile.

 

When she left I closed my eyes and pray to Lord. I’m lost and what could be the end of my life really this time. I ask for forgiveness and tell him to lead the way. I dose off talking to him and awake to her voice.     

 

“Good morning.” She says walking in with two cups of coffee.

“Hello sunshine.” I respond.

 

The moment is quickly interrupted when Buck’s voice chimes in.

 

“Get your punk a*s up.” He says.

 

She walks out fast and he just smiles watching her leave the room.

 

“I hope you got some kind of closure with her just in case things don’t work out for you today.” He says.

“I love the way you make your entrances,”

“Good, now get dressed I found him and he’s only giving you five minutes.”

 

It’s all he has to say as I painfully emerge from the bed and make my way to his bathroom for a shower. When I’m ready he and Katherine are in the living room talking.

 

“Remember this a*****e owes me some money and if he doesn’t have it give that f****r a heart attack or something; I want it to look like it was natural.” He says to her.

 

He hands her an envelope and she stands up walking up to me. She rubs my face and I can only smile as she looks in my eyes standing next me.

 

“Are you ready to get this over with?” Buck asks.

“Yeah let’s do this,” I answer.

 

He says her name and I feel a sharp prick to my leg and I look at her as she stands there with a needle in her hand.

“You take care of yourself Chance Montgomery.” She says.

 

I feel myself getting weak looking at her then over at him. My legs start giving out on me first before things start getting darker as my head feels like its spinning again. I fall to one knee first and mumble the first thing I can think to him before it all fades to black; again you can’t trust anybody in this kind of life.

 

“You motherfu…”

 

The rest of my body falls to the marble floor and I can hear his voice before I can’t hear anything anymore.

 

“Just let this happen brother.”  He says.

 

When I wake up I’m zip tied at the hands and feet to a chair in what looks like a barn. I look up and see Des in a tuxedo sitting in front of me; Buck is on my left side and Xavier at my right with his gun out.

 

“You have five minutes.” Des says.

 

But I only need one; back in the day when I was a hitter he hired me on a freelance job. I got it done bringing him back the evidence the mark was dead but in the process I learned his brother-in-law was out to kill him. After telling him about it he hired me for one more job. I did it and when he went to pay me for it I told him he owed me a favor one day; I knew he was an upcoming syndicate boss and someone with his power would have come in handy. It had been a lot of years that had passed but I just looked him in his eyes and said one thing,

 

“Harvey…” I say the name.

 

He doesn’t respond just staring at me he then stands up pulling out his phone and walks out of the barn leaving Buck and Xavier with me.

“Okay if he comes back in and tells you to cancel him remember I get sixty percent.” Buck says to Xavier.

 

Xavier clicks the slide on his gun and I wait on my judgement for this existence and I’m ready for it, Des walks back in he looks at Buck first.

 

“Cut him loose.” He says.

 

Xavier puts his gun away and Buck pulls out a knife cutting at the zip ties that bound me.

 

“You just keep getting lucky don’t you?” Xavier says.

 

I punch him in the face and he just takes it with a smile.

 

“Don’t take that personal.” I tell him.

 

I look up at Buck and rub my wrists that were zipped up tightly watching him light two cigarettes and handing me one.

 

“I’ve paid you back for the favor you did for me once and you don’t have to worry about a price on your head from the organization. Your own enemies are your problem, don’t contact me anymore; it won’t end like this again.”

 

I watch him turn and walk away like it was nothing for him to do what he did for me. When I look at Buck he smiles at me.

 

“Well, all’s well that ends well right?” He asks.

“I’m done Buck; this isn’t for me anymore.”

“I’m glad to hear that because ever since your family died you changed. You tried to come back to this kind of life and it was a good attempt, but you’re right this isn’t your kind of thing anymore. Go get your son and forget about this.”

“I’ll never be able to forget about this kind of life Buck.”

“Then just leave it behind but you better have my money in two months or I’ll have somebody on your a*s next.” He says and we walk toward the barn doors.

When we get outside he has a limo and his driver opens up the door for him.

 

“This is where we part; walk north and you’ll run into a small town.” He says with his hand out.

 

We shake and bring it in for a hug. He hands me a bottle of water before getting into the car and driving away, I stand there for a minute and feel something in my inner pocket of my jacket. I reach in finding a pack of cigarettes and a lighter for my journey. As I pull out another one lighting it I think about what Xavier said to me; I just keep getting lucky. But it’s not that, I keep getting blessed and I know a man that changed his life and he told me some stuff I should have listened to a while ago. As I make my way north before the sun goes down I think about a scripture he told me and look up at the sky thanking God for sparing my soul yet once again. I think about Proverbs in the reference to the ones like me; for their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso heareneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. I slowly and painfully start to walk with hopes of maybe somebody that doesn’t want to kill me on the way will pick me up but in all I thank God I’m alive to do it right now.

 

-007    

       

 

Author's Note

This is part one of two stories. The sequel is called Conscieceness Beyond Relief which is ready to read as well.