The Last Hero (Villains & Monsters #2)

Chapter 37

- Mid May, 2046 (Present Day) -

The clock was ticking. Four minutes left.

Jamie whistled to himself as he rested on the couch of the apartment. Outside, the rain continued to pour down. It had been storming a lot lately, once again reminding him of Ian.

Who knows? He thought to himself as he exhaled a deep sigh. It might be me next.

A tiny sniffling sound snapped him out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes and sat up slowly, looking at the shaking child-- no older than eight-- who sat on the ground with his knees hugged to his chest, big brown eyes full of fear.

"Hey," Jamie started softly. "I already said that I'm not going to hurt you. You don't need to be scared." He then smiled as crossed his arms. "What was your name again?"

"Grayson," he managed to say before looking down. "I don't like storms."

"You'll be fine, Grayson. All you have to do is sit there, and everything will be okay."

The boy swallowed hard. "Does Dad know that you're here?" It was the sixth time he asked that.

"Mhm."

Fast, frantic footsteps from outside of the apartment approached. Finally. The door to the apartment opens, and Jamie looks his target in the eyes once he steps inside. Grayson gasps and moves to get up, but stops suddenly at Jamie's hand on his shoulder.

The tall man who looked exactly like his son stiffened, slowly holding up his hands to show that he wasn't armed. "Don't," he started slowly. "He's just a kid."

"A kid who feels... very strongly about you, from what I heard," Jamie said nonchalantly before giving the boy a sweet smile. "Grayson here had a ton to say. His stories kept me occupied while I waited for you."

The man goes silent. He doesn't take his eyes off of Jamie as he speaks to his son. "Gray, why don't you go to your room and pack your bag? Your Mom will be here shortly."

Jamie removed his hand, and Grayson's eyes flickered between him and his father before he rushed off to the bedroom down the hall. Now alone, Jamie got straight to the point. "You've been following me and leaving those numbers." Not a question. "Evan, isn't it?"

He went still. Jamie didn't stop his smile. "Hm. Thought so. Took me a while to pin you down. Went through two other henchmen before I found you."

"You have the wrong person," Evan tried to lie.

Jamie sighed, then pointed to the piece of paper on the living room table. The '2' was written in blood, like the other numbers he received in other places. "Found that in your room," he said. "You had a plan to put it in the bathroom of the train station, correct?"

Silence.

"Done lying now?"

Evan gulped as he stood up from the couch and crept closer to him. "I'm only going to ask you once," Jamie warned. "Which one sent you? Tony? Last time I checked, he's the one who's the most pissed off."

He nodded once.

"I figured. Must be frustrating for him that you haven't given him a correct location yet. Determined to earn his respect?"

"It doesn't matter now," he said, then smiled proudly as he revealed his trick. "Even if you were to kill me, it'd be too late. You've been found. A team arrived at your place in the west just minutes ago. Once that's done and gone, you'll be next. Much easier now that you're out in the open. You don't have a lot of time. I'd start running if I were you."

Jamie smirked. "Call them."

"What?"

"Your team. Call them."

At that, Evan's smile fell. Jamie gestured to the phone in his pocket. "Well? I'm waiting."

Suddenly scared, Evan pulled out his phone and dialed someone on the team. They picked up, and Evan's eyes widened in horror as he listened to the screams and coughing on the other end. The poisoned gas worked much quicker than Jamie thought it would. The person who answered the phone begged Evan to help, but all he could do was listen helplessly.

He turned back to Jamie. "What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything," he responded with a shrug. "You're the one who gave your team that location without checking anything. So, technically, you're the one who killed them." At the sight of the fear on Evan's face, he chuckled darkly. "I wonder how Tony will kill you for being this reckless. If you were more careful, they'd still be alive."

Evan swayed, like he was suddenly dizzy at the realization. "N-No... I swear, I never-"

"Shh," Jamie shushed as he patted his shoulder. He stepped closer, then lowered his voice to a whisper. "It sounds like Grayson is almost done packing, so you're out of time. You have two options. Ready for them?"

Something like hope flickered in Evan's eyes, and he nodded. Jamie almost felt bad for him.

"The first is that I'll kill you after your son leaves," he explained quietly. "I'll make it quick. The second option is that I leave right now. You'll have a few more moments with your son, and by the time he leaves, word will get to Tony about your little screw-up tonight, and he'll get to you within half an hour. I won't lie to you. It's already bad that your mistake killed an entire team. If you were to tell him that you let me leave and you don't know where I went, you'd be in for a ton of torture."

Evan's jaw clenched, and Jamie waited patiently for his answer. Finally, he gave a resigned sigh. "Let me say goodbye."

They waited in silence for a few moments, then Grayson came out of the room with a stuffed backpack, eyes glimmering with excitement to go to his Mom's house. Jamie turned the other way as Evan gave the boy a hug. More minutes pass, and there's a small knock at the door. Once the door opened to reveal a woman on the other side, Grayson happily ran to her. Within moments, the two were gone, leaving Jamie and Evan alone in the apartment.

"You didn't have to kill the team," Evan whispered.

"It was either them or me," Jamie replied, reaching in his pocket to grab the gun he had. "And in a city ruled by people such as your leaders, refusing to choose yourself will get you killed without hesitation."

"Daija was right about you," he suddenly snapped. Jamie knew it was out of fear and anger.

Jamie hummed. "Was she, now?"

"Yes. She was right about you. All of the leaders were right about you." Tears lined Evan's eyes. "They're all dead... I thought I was doing the right thing."

Jamie knew that feeling all too well. "I know," he said quietly as he pulled the gun out. "The worst mistakes I've made were all because I thought I was doing the right thing."

Evan shut his eyes. There was the loud, sharp sound of the gun firing; there was the thud of his lifeless body falling to the ground, and then there was silence.