Chapter 20
Someone Really Wanted To Have A Chat
Something cold pressed against my temple, stinging on contact, and I sucked in a breath.
"Careful," one person whispered.
A girl spoke next. "Says the guy who said he would be careful. What the hell happened, Drake?"
"What happened to Vince being in China?"
"Well, he obviously isn't now. It was a spur of the moment decision I really didn't have time to tell you about. I didn't even know we were coming here until they started packing. Hey, Cruz? Hand me that tape, would you?"
The sound of someone rummaging through a bag. "This?"
"If you're trying to funny, it's not working."
"Do you want to take that stick out of your ass? Geez. Hattie would have laughed. She's nicer than you, too."
"Just hand me the damn tape."
My temple was still stinging, but started to subside as the obvious cut was taped up. One person near me moved away, while the other leaned forward, brushing my hair back and leaving their other hand cradling my face.
"Hattie?" Drake said softly. "Hey, come on. You got to wake up."
I groaned as he brushed my hair back again and my eyes fluttering open to find him just a few inches away. When I did, he smiled slightly.
"How do you feeling?"
I groaned again, mostly because the light was killing my eyes and my head was pounding. "My head hurts."
"I figured. You got hit on the back of the head and then hit it again when you landed on the floor. We cleaned and taped it up since it wasn't too bad."
I reached up and gently touched the taped up cut. "Huh."
I looked past him and around the room - an office inside the mall. I was seated in front of the desk with a stack of papers and folders in one corner, a computer, and a bag. The bag was currently open with the same girl looking through it as I saw before.
"What's going on?" I whispered as I looked at her. She didn't look up when I spoke, acting like she didn't even hear me.
Drake grimaced. "The Order members who knocked you out brought you here...and Vince wants to talk to you."
"What...you...?"
He took both my hands in his, placing them in my lap. "I've got a part to play, Hattie, but Vince knows that I would do anything to protect you, even take out a few of his guys."
"A part to play," I repeated, shaking my head as I looked up at Cruz, who walked up beside us.
"They were never supposed to touch you," Cruz said, and pointed to my head. "The guy who did that...well, he's no longer going to be able to do it again. Vince dealt with him personally. You were never supposed to get hurt."
"Tell me the truth," I said, taking my hands from his and sitting up straighter. I ignored the pounding in my head. "Did you guys know he was coming here?"
"I'm pretty sure you heard me telling them even I didn't even know," the girl finally spoke. She'd moved the bag to the floor and was now sitting on the desk in its place.
"Who is she?" I asked, still eyeing her. "Besides being Order."
"Flannery Rose," she nodded in greeting, giving me a smirk. "Nice to meet you, too, Hattie Devereaux."
"Hattie, this is Flannery," Drake said, shaking his head. "She's Vince's niece."
Cruz gave her a look that seemed disgusted, but laughter in his eyes said differently. "Which makes her my cousin...and I regret saying so."
"Same to you," she said to him, narrowing her eyes. "And, thankfully, it's only by marriage. My father is his wife Seraphina's brother."
"Can you really say your father's much better than mine?" he went on.
"And yet who...?"
Drake redirected my attention away from the bickering cousins. "Hey, Hattie? It's okay. Trust me on this. Vince isn't here to hurt you."
"Then he's here to take me, right?"
He shook his head, brushing my hair behind my ear as Flannery and Cruz fought. "No, he said he wanted to officially meet you."
I grimaced in disgust. "Do you know how creepy that is?"
"Oh, I do, all right."
"Then what are you doing here?"
Drake's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as hurt flashed in his eyes. "Do you want me to leave you alone with Vince?"
I shook my head quickly, rephrasing. "What does Vince think you're doing here?"
"I'm the only reason he's not taking you right now. I told him it's not the right time, that I still didn't ask you if you remembered anything from the book."
"And he actually listens to you?"
He nodded. "I'm the one calling the shots on everything that involves you right now, so yeah, he'll listen."
"What if he doesn't?"
"Well...you know how to fight. Do you have any weapons on you?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like I have any weapons on me?"
Drake looked down at my dress and bare feet. My heels were long gone and I honestly wasn't sad to see them go. He shook his head. "Well, probably not."
At that, I smiled...and reached down to my hem, pulling it up just enough to see my sheathed knife strapped to my thigh. "That's what I always go for."
This time, he shook his head in wonder. "You never cease to amaze me, Miss Hattie Devereaux."
I looked away from him, heat coloring my face.
"He's not going to ask you anything about the book, just a few questions about you," Drake went on, noticing my embarrassment, but saying nothing of it. "He already knows a lot about you, but he's going to see if you omit anything. That and how you are with me. To him, I still haven't mentioned anything about it to you. I'm just trying to gain your trust, which he'll see I have. I'm a key element in this plan he thinks he's going to succeed in."
I swallowed hard, shaking my head as I looked at him. "I'm still not sure why he's twisted himself into thinking I would remember anything about the book."
"That's just Vince."
"You make it sound like you've learned a lot about him in the past few years."
"Because, unfortunately, I have."
It was then that the door to the office swung open. All four of us looked at the man standing in the doorway, flanked by two others.
Subconsciously, I grabbed for Drake's hand, holding on tight as Vince's blue eyes met mine. His smile slowly and sinisterly spread across his face, but Drake stood the next moment, shielding me from his gaze.
"Like I told you a little while ago, you could have just called me for a meeting," Drake told him, a steely tone laced in his voice I'd never heard before. "And I hope your people know not to touch her again."
"I made an example of Evans, Mr. Garner, like I said I would," Vince replied coolly.
I leaned back and peered around Drake as Vince started forward, walking past Cruz and Flannery to the desk. His eyes never left mine as he went behind the desk, taking a seat in the leather chair. He didn't say anything, just leaned back, crossing his arms on the desk, and watched me.
"It's nice to see you again, Hattie Devereaux, and being able to introduce myself formally. I'm Vince Peters, head of the Order."
My hand tightened on Drake's, nails digging into his skin. "I know who you are, but I can't say it's nice to meet you, Vince, considering everything you've done to us."
Drake chuckled lowly from beside me. "She won't hold any thoughts back from you, Vince. I've already made this clear. She'll tell you just how much she hates you."
"Oh, I know," Vince grinned wider. "And that's one of my favorite things about her."
I couldn't look away from him, no matter how much I wanted to. I didn't know if it was my anger toward him for everything that he'd done to us in the past or my fear of what he could do in the future. And the very near future, at that.
"So, Hattie, I hear you know fifteen different languages," he started.
"Sixteen."
"Really?"
"I'm fluent in sarcasm, too."
Cruz choked out a laugh behind us.
Vince wasn't fazed. "It seems so. And you're great at code, too, correct?"
"I know quite a few techniques and can decipher pretty much anything you put in front of me. I'm also great at decoding bullshit, which I'm detecting a lot of right now."
Drake was the one to choke then, and I looked up at see a prideful look on his face.
"You've got a mouth on you, huh?"
"You could say that."
Vince's eyes narrowed as watched me. Drake squeezed my hand slightly, a silent reassurance. Me, though...well, I knew what I had to do. Drake had said he was playing a part...and I had one to play, too.
"What do you want, Vince?" I asked. "You said you knew a lot about me already, but I'm not seeing exactly where this is all going."
"Do you know what your friend there has been doing for the past few years?"
"Working with you, apparently. He's going to be telling me more about that later or I'm going to make him tell me."
Vince raised an eyebrow as he looked at our conjoined hands. "And yet you still seem to trust him."
"Now that I've learned about his involvement with you, that trust is starting to waver, but I'd rather hear it straight from him than you. You will never gain any of my trust."
"Such a shame, really, because I could give you a lot more than the Brotherhood could ever give you - money, power, fame..."
"But none of those matter in the end. Money will be lost, power taken away, fame can get tiresome...but I'll still have my family, their love and trust. That's what I want and need. You would never be able to give me that."
"I still hope to change that, though."
"And it still won't happen."
He narrowed his eyes again. "For now," he warned. "I also know you've been working for Antecedent for the past few years. Have you come across anything there that might be of interest to everyone in the triumvirate, rather than just the Brotherhood and the Knights?"
"Things that the Order would be interested in? Of course. But that doesn't mean I'm going to tell you about that. Mostly it's just things of value that you guys would want to get your hands on...but never will."
I was reading him like an open book then...and the pun was totally intended. He was on the verge of asking me just what I knew about the book that had been lost years ago in the Antecedent explosion.
But he didn't.
Vince stood then, buttoning his suit jacket as he walked around the desk again to stand directly in front of Drake. Drake's hand tightened around mine as Vince sized him up, giving him a deadly look.
"You know what your job is now, Drake Garner. See to it."
Drake shook his head. "Not yet, Vince."
"And you think you can defy me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, because like I've told you before, when it comes to her, there is nothing I won't do, including taking out your men...and you, if I have to."
"Oh, I know," he nodded. "But you're going to change your mind soon. Very soon."
Vince was silent until he got to the door he'd come through, stopping by his two men who had stood guard. He turned his head, eyes flicking to me, and said two words.
"Take her."
And as he left, those two guys rushed forward toward me. Drake yelled at Cruz and Flannery, who jumped into action not even a second later. It didn't take long before a swift punch to the face knocked both men out, landing in piles on the floor.
"You get her out of here now, Drake," Flannery growled, kicking one of the unconscious guys in frustration. "You know he's already sending more in because he knew you'd take care of these two."
"We need to get out to the car," Cruz said in a hurry. "We'll figure out where to go from there."
Drake nodded, taking my hand in his again. "We need to get to Paddon Manor. That's the only place besides Pallandino the Order wouldn't touch."
"Once we're out, we need to call Emmy and John. Tell them what's happened," I said. "I was supposed to call her after we left here. They probably think..."
"We'll tell them, Hattie," Drake said. "Everything. But right now, we need to get you out of here."
He looked at Flannery and she shook her head, answering his unspoken question. "I'm staying here. I'll help cause a scene to get you guys out, but you know I need to stay. Isn't that what we've had in the plan all along?"
She didn't wait for Drake to argue before she was running out of the office, into the hallway.
And pulled the fire alarm, setting it off.
"Go!" she yelled over the screeching sound. "Get out of here!"
There was no waiting before the three of us ran down the hallway past her. Drake nodded to her before her eyes met mine.
"Thank you," I mouthed as we rushed past and she gave me a smile.
It wasn't until we burst through a door that we heard the crowds of people shuffling out of the building, slightly panicked at what was going on. With Cruz on one side and Drake close on the other, still tightly holding my hand, we dove into the crowd, trying to blend in and not call attention. The three of us were still on high alert, scanning to see if anyone took particular interest in us.
"Bauer, five o'clock," Cruz said, nodding behind him. "McCarthy's right behind him."
Drake nodded forward. "Ford, Gordon, and Neese are ahead. They're keeping an eye on us."
"Do you know all these guys?" I asked him.
"Unfortunately," he grimaced. "Vince has probably told them to get you no matter what. They won't touch Cruz because he's Vince's son, but me? Most of them already don't like me, so they won't have a problem taking me out."
"So what are we going to do?" Cruz said lowly, moving closer. "Make a run for it or just continue with the crowd?"
"Let's go with the crowd right now," Drake answered after a few moments of thought. "Once we're outside, we'll get to the car and go."
"And if they're at the car?"
"Well...then we'll have to fight."
Once outside, everyone headed for the main parking lot while Cruz, Drake, and I headed for the parking deck. Police cars and fire trucks were just starting to arrive, sirens blaring and lights flashing.
We started running as soon as we were under the cover of the parking deck, Cruz leading the way. He started toward the doors we would have come out of if we hadn't gotten caught, counting each car until he saw ours.
"There! Come on!"
We were just about there when a gun went off, the bullet hitting the rear window of the car we'd just passed. All three of us ducked behind another as the sound of pounding footsteps came closer. To throw them off, we crouched down and quickly ran for the other line of cars, getting behind a truck.
"Guess it's time to fight, huh?" Cruz asked, reaching for his side to pull out a gun I hadn't noticed.
"That it is," Drake nodded, pulling out his own from behind his back. He gave me a sideways look. "You ready, Hattie?"
"You're not going to tell me to run and hide?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I unsheathed my knife from under my dress.
He grinned. "Of course not...because I know you won't listen."
Cruz nodded appreciatively as he looked at my knife. "You sure as hell have a great woman, especially when she keeps a knife on her when she's wearing a dress."
Drake didn't say anything, but that look of pride gleamed in his eyes as he looked at me.
I didn't have any time to retort. Another gunshot echoed through the parking garage, busting the window of the truck we were beside. Drake gave me and Cruz a nod, took a deep breath, and jumped up, aiming his gun as he spun around. He shot, hitting someone who yelled out in pain before dropping to the ground. Cruz was already gone, too, leaping up and over the front of the car on our other side, going for three more people who were coming our way, only to be followed by four more.
I wasn't thinking as I jumped up and ran in the direction Drake was shooting. All I was going on was instinct. I saw people who were trying to hurt me and the people I loved and was determined to take them out before they could cause any damage.
Five people were in my path - four men and a woman.
The first man ran forward, reaching out to try and grab me by the throat. I caught his hand in mine, spinning and twisting his arm until I heard the bone snap. I kicked backward then, my foot coming in hard contact with his knee, bringing him straight to the ground when it also broke.
The woman was next, aiming a gun right at my head. Just as she pulled the trigger, I lunged, the bullet whizzing past, though grazing the top of my arm. My shoulder connected with her stomach and I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her up before slamming her back into the ground. Her head smacked against the concrete, knocking her out.
I somersaulted backward, landing on one knee as another man came at me. This one wasn't coordinated at all, tripping over the woman's arm and smacking his head against the bumper of a car. I almost laughed...and Cruz did.
"Nice one, Hattie!" he called out from one row away. "Making him knock himself out!"
"Easy!" I grinned back.
I definitely spoke too soon, though, because the remaining two men were in it together.
One man's arm wrapped around my neck, pulling me up against his chest, as the other went for my knife. I wasn't letting it go, so he twisted my arm, making my fingers open, and grabbed it, stabbing it into the metal of the car beside us.
The man holding me shifted then, grabbing my throat as he spun me around. He pushed me against the car, bending my body backward against it while tightening his hold. He leaned forward, his face close to mine.
"I don't care what Vince wants with you," he hissed. "You're dead...but I might keep you around for a little while. You've gotten prettier over the years. And I'd like a turn to play."
I reached up with one hand, digging my nails into the skin of his wrist. "Like hell," I spat out.
With my other hand, I was reaching for my knife, still embedded in the metal of the car. The second man was standing there, watching me with a threatening grin.
"Good luck with that, beautiful," he chuckled.
Finally, my fingers wrapped around the handle, but it wasn't budging. Either it was stuck or I wasn't strong enough to yank it out. I choked out a frustrated cry, which the man holding me took for giving up.
"This is exactly the way I like them."
His hand tightened again and black spots clouded my vision, but I still wasn't giving up.
Drake yelled for me then and the clear desperation in his voice made them laugh.
"Hattie! Cruz, get to her...oomph!"
The sound of a body hitting the pavement made my eyes snap in his direction. One of the guys he'd be after had tackled him to the ground, making his head smack hard on the concrete.
He wasn't moving...didn't even look like he was breathing...
The men laughed again.
"Your boy's not going to get to help you now, huh?"
I waited for Drake to get up, but the man who'd tackled him stood over him with a triumphant smile. Cruz was still in the other row of cars, fighting off those who were coming for him. He was down to two and looked like he was tired out, stumbling and taking a punch to the ribs.
"No," I choked out, "but I'm going to help him."
My hand was still wrapped around my knife. A new surge of adrenaline made me yank it again and with a screeching sound, it pulled from the metal.
I twisted slightly, pulling my knee up and hit hard between the man's legs. When he sucked in a breath, I reached up with my knife, stabbing it deep into the crook of his neck. Blood spilled quickly from the wound, falling onto my chest and neck. He dropped like a heavy weight on top of me and I shoved him off, making him drop to the ground.
The other man was shocked by how fast I'd moved and frozen on the spot. I lunged for him before he even knew what was happening, thrusting my knife into his stomach one second and head butting him the next. He was on the ground by his friends just a few moments later.
I was running then. Running and yelling at the guy who had tackled Drake. He was still standing over him, but looked up when he saw me coming for him. I didn't even need my knife for this one, dropping it. It was going to be all me.
The man struck a hand out, but that's what I wanted him to do. I used it as leverage as I jumped over him, somersaulting through the air, and pulling his arm back with me. Even though he was clearly twice my size, my adrenaline and momentum made it easy enough for me to flip him over my shoulder, making him crash into the front window of a car, shattering the glass on impact. The shards cut deep into the skin of his back, neck, and head. He stared blankly upward.
All was quiet then until I heard someone shift from the ground behind me.
I turned slowly, picking up my knife from the ground and breathing heavy, and saw Drake watching me with wide eyes. Cruz was coming up on us, too, cautiously...like I was going to attack him any moment.
"Hattie, you..." Drake began quietly.
He and Cruz looked around at the destruction I'd caused - the bodies of Order members, the shattered glass, the splatters of blood. I didn't realize car alarms were going off until my ears cleared the whooshing sound I hadn't noticed before. The police and fire truck sirens still pierced the air from out in front of the mall and it was clear they knew something was happening here. It was only a matter of time before they...
But the next voice I heard wasn't Drake or Cruz. It came from behind us, from someone who was hidden behind a car that had somehow survived my wrath, someone who then slowly stood, revealing himself.
"Holy shit," Gage whispered, wide-eyed.
He wasn't the only one to appear.
Because Beau, Ash, and Savannah were beside him, the same expressions on their faces.
And they saw everything.
***I do believe this is one of the best fight scenes I've written in a while, don't you think?
AND IT WAS AWESOME!
First, we had Badass Emmy and now...
Hello, Badass Hattie!
Lots of things happening in this chapter! First Flannery...then Vince...then the fight...then Beau, Gage, Ash, and Savannah! You guys had to know I wasn't going to be letting those guys go yet! They're actually going to play a major role in this series, so they're sticking around!
So, you lovely people, tell me what you think!
100 votes and 30 comments before the next upload?
Let's do it!
Comment and vote!!!1***