Chapter 28 - The Bad Guys Wear Pink...
Patience was stiff when she awoke, she’d been asleep for such a long time. She’d struggled through the door of Josh’s house, made it up the stairs only to do a swan drive on to his bed falling asleep before her head hit the covers. She stretched and found herself alone in the bed. Jakes words followed her into the shower and the water didn’t seem to drown them out. She couldn’t afford to let him distract her today. There was something she needed to do.
“We need to go,” she said as soon as she found Josh and Loyal in the kitchen eating.
They looked up in surprise, “Go where?”
“Josh, we are going to be followed. If I know Jake he’s going to have a tail on us. How good are you at shaking a tail?”
“I’m the original dog, I can shake a tail better than most!” he laughed as he picked up his phone and placed a call.
“Nothing over the top, and nothing that will send me back to prison Josh,” Patience frowned.
“What’s this all about Patience?” Loyal asked.
“There’s someone we need to talk to.”
Loyal’s eyebrows went skyward but he didn’t say anything. Patience was already heading for the garage and Josh and Loyal hurried to catch up. She got into the backseat of Josh’s car letting the Loyal sit shotgun with Josh driving. They weren’t far down the road when she saw the car behind them. Josh smiled at her in the rear vision mirror. They pulled into a busy shopping mall and quickly merged into the crowds, Patience could see a man jump out of the car but the other man was still looking for a park. They fought their way through the sales making several sharp turns and picking up a change of outfits, sunglasses and hats. When they left the far exit of the mall Josh pressed a remote and a blue suburban blinked its lights at him. Someone must have passed the keys to him while they were battling the shoppers.
They climbed in and left without any sign of the dark car with tinted windows or the man who had followed them.
“Where too?” Josh asked.
“The park around the corner from our house,” Patience crossed her fingers and hoped that she was wrong about this.
“What’s going on Patience?”
“I think I know where Serenity is. Remember when we were little Loyal? Do you remember where she would go hide whenever she was upset? Do you remember how she tunnelled a secret passage through the neighbours weeds so she could disappear?”
“You think she’s been hiding there? All this time?”
“Remember the first time? It took us a week to find her. She’s good at hiding. She’s always been good at hiding.”
They parked at entrance and got out of the car, the street was deserted. It was a large park with flower gardens, kids playground, fountains, and lots of large trees. It was very beautiful. Patience set off like a woman on a mission, the boys trailing behind her. It took about half an hour to find the right tree. It looked just like any other tree in the park but Patience knew differently.
“Serenity, come down Serenity.”
“Shouldn’t you be saying something like - ‘Serenity let down your golden hair so we might climb into your tower an rescue you from the wicked witch’?” Josh smiled at Patience before his eyes turned back to the tree, “Knowing Serenity that would work better than reasoning with her.”
“Serenity,” Patience called up again, “We know you are in there.”
“We came alone, no bad guys, no cackling witches, no dragons, just us - your knights in faded denim!” Josh laughed again.
Patience rolled her eyes then continued, “You could stay up there Serenity but we’re not leaving. We know Serenity,” Patience looked at Josh and Loyal’s expressions and sighed, “Let me rephrase that - I know Serenity. I worked it out and I’m not leaving until you come down.”
“Know?” Loyal questioned, “What do you know?”
“Did you bring my mate?” a voice asked from the leaves, Serenity swung herself from branch to branch to land on the ground gracefully, “I’m 18 now so I’ve been waiting in the woods for him to turn up.”
Josh looked up into the tree, “Umm Serenity, wolves can’t climb trees.”
“I know that silly! But I don’t have a pack anymore, I’m a rogue,” She pouted, “I have to wait for the right guy because some of them are really nasty to rogues. Anyone who reads Wattpad knows that!”
“Serenity...” Patience said sternly.
“Yes Bella, are you pregnant yet? Is that why you are here without Edward? I bet the sex with a vampire was mind blowing! Did he drink your blood as he...”
“Serenity!” Patience interrupted.
“I know, everyone says that pregnant women are a little testy. You have your hissy fit sweety, I won’t judge you for it.”
“Serenity, I know!” Patience glared.
“Josh, you should really take her home I think I can see her ankles swelling and I hate to this how many stretch marks she’s getting from frowning like that!”
“Drop the act Serenity. I know.” Patience breathed out her anger.
“What do you know?” Loyal asked again.
“Well that’s a very good question,” Serenity rolled her eyes, “I don’t really want to stand here and listen to you spill out every minor detail you’ve ever heard, so have fun, thanks for dropping in, show yourselves out. My tall, dark and furry man will be along to save me anytime now so...”
“Serenity, you can drop the act,” Patience said calmly now.
“What?” Josh looked between Patience and Serenity in confusion, “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Loyal do you remember the nicknames we had as children?” Patience smiled back at Serenity’s narrow eyes.
“Please don’t remind me Patience! You promised you’d never bring them up again. And don’t tell Josh, my life would be hell!”
“Why?” Josh’s eyes lit up, “Come on you can tell me.”
“No, really we can’t!”
“Look I don’t have time for this reminiscing...” Serenity half turned away.
“Loyal, what was Serenity’s nick name?”
“Hell, what was it again... Serenity wanted to be a bird so we named here after that pigeon of peace.”
“The Dove is the symbol of peace, you idiot!” Serenity snapped as she glared at Patience, “I knew that you would work it out.”
“Yeah, that’s why you pushed me away wasn’t it Serenity. You knew that if I spent any time around you I would notice the irregularities in your story.”
“What story?” Loyal looked confused.
“Oh Loyal you are such a self absorbed jerk,” Serenity rolled her eyes, “If it doesn’t involve you, your sex drive or your stupid deal with Marcus Camerota then you are totally oblivious! I knew you would never suspect a thing.”
“What thing?” Loyal floundered at Serenity’s cutting comments, “And when have you ever used big words like oblivious?”
“Serenity is the Dove,” Patience said simply.
“No Serenity’s a werewolf, not a dove,” Josh nodded like this made sense.
“Not a dove, the dove,” Patience explained, “The werewolf thing was a diversion. You wanted to keep us busy, keep our attention off what you were doing. What were you doing?”
“It’s was so much easier to get things done when everyone thought I was an dumb blonde,” Serenity sniffed a laugh, “If anything went wrong I could rely on you covering for me because I was just Serenity. Yes, Serenity the bubble head, Serenity the dipsy blonde who just gets confused and can’t be held responsible for anything,” Serenity laughed coldly.
“Governor Johnson! You were caught trying to break into his house weren’t you? Sergeant Murray called me and I thought you were looking for Mr Taylor...”
“Bastard changed his security system since the last time I was in there. And Mr Taylor, he might be just a school teacher but his family head up Taylor Made and they have their fingers in all sorts of stuff. If he wasn’t such a stickler for the rules, no sex with students - what a stupid rule, then I would have found a good use for his family’s connections and company network.”
“But... Taylor Made isn’t a company,” Loyal looked confused, “It’s like a concept...”
“Like you would know Loyal,” Serenity rolled her eyes, “It isn’t anything to do with your dick so it’s not going to be something you know about!”
“Serenity,” Loyal looked confused still, “Who are you?”
“Serenity is The Dove, the woman that the FBI is looking for,” Patience summarised, “Why did you frame mum though?”
“Ohh please Patience! That woman deserved it! When was she ever there for us! Do you know what she’s been doing for the last eighteen years?” Serenity glared, “She’s been an eco-terrorist. She’s been off sabotaging logging operations, blowing up experimental laboratories and hugging bunnies. She’s never once been there for me! She’s never once cared about us! No, a smelly equatorial forest and lice infected polar bears are more important than us! Well I’d had enough. Loyal might have hero worshiped her but I stole her identity and made her part of my life. I made her part of my success. I made her work for me.”
“But... I don’t understand,” Loyal stuttered.
“It’s really not that complicated Loyal,” Serenity laughed a cold scoff, “I am The Dove, I am respected and revered by some very important and influential people.”
“But... But... you had school, cheerleading, how...”
“Any absence was so easily explained, you took it for granted that I was a slut. So whenever I had an overnight flight you thought I was off with some guy. I could be gone for days and all I had to do was arrive home with sexed up hair and rumbled clothing and you wouldn’t even ask where I was. It was pathetically easy really. Things only got complicated when mum invited half the law enforcement agencies of this country into our living room, ignorant bitch. The cage fighting circuit was an easy place to do deals, pass messages and hear gossip, so I’d seen Jake fight before. I knew he was trying to work his way into Spike’s inner circle, I suspected to get close to Marcus. So when he turned up with four ‘brothers’ as an adoptee I knew that the shit had hit the fan. From that point I had the twins on my ass 24-7, which was cramping my style. Top Dog seemed perfect, I was running my business under their noses and keeping them occupied at the same time.”
“But Serenity you’re... you know...”
“Dumb? Is that what you’re trying to say Loyal?” Serenity laughed, “Do you even know what classes I take Loyal? I keep my GPA below 4 because I can’t afford to ruin my reputation. And school is just a good cover for my career. I was hoping to go to college but now the FBI are interested I doubt I will have the opportunity. Not that I will need a college degree for what I have planned.”
“Did you make them think Patience was a gun runner? Is that why she went to prison?”
“Those guys were such keystone cops! They wanted to believe you were guilty so planting evidence was like throwing candy to three year olds. I had Mr Wong bring in some guns from the arms dealers in the mountains between Russia and China and I knew he was looking for some uranium so it wasn’t hard to create a trail that would link Patience to this shipment. Mr Wong owed me a favour, and I think he enjoyed it - he has a thing for Chinese Opera so all I had to do was convince him not to start screeching in a foreign language and he was happy. It was just as easy to make sure that Patience and Spike looked like they had an ongoing business relationship, Patience walked straight into that one and Spike and his boy Stan can continue their little bromance without the rest of the gang finding out... opps, you guys won’t tell will you?” Serenity shrugged with a smile on her face, “Then I just doped up the twins to make them think that Loyal’s stupid stimulants actually worked, and left a cookie crumb trail the size of Africa to a known dealer of steroids and the like. Those feds were dumb enough that it wasn’t taxing, hahaha, get it – not taxing!” Serenity laughed a cold forced laugh before smirking, “Professional joke, you wouldn’t get it.”
“But that’s evil? You’re evil?” Josh questioned.
“Evil is a bit harsh, I merely ambitious, determined and driven,” Serenity flashed a smug grin at Josh, “And you know exactly how determined I am and how to I like to be driven Joshy. You’ve never complained before and we’ve been ambitious in many ways, many different ways, in the shower, on the kitchen bench, in the car, in the pool...”
“You’ve slept with Serenity?” Patience glared at Josh.
“It... wasn’t like that,” Josh shut his eyes and hung his head.
“You had sex with Serenity? But she didn’t even like you...?” Loyal looked at Serenity.
“Of course I didn’t like him,” Serenity shrugged with only one shoulder, “Well, I liked parts of him just not the talking parts. And how else was I supposed to get to Marcus. He was always so busy scheming with you Loyal and Patience was always his Petal! He never did anything for me.”
“You’ve slept with my sister?” Patience spat the question again at Josh.
“No one was supposed to know,” Josh jammed his hands in his pocket as he sent a scowl to Serenity, “It wasn’t a big thing.”
“No it wasn’t a big... thing,” Serenity laughed. “But it’s not the size of it it’s what you can do with it that really matters and Joshy was quite skilled despite his inadequacies...”
“Serenity, shut it!”
“What about the Bro Code?” Loyal growled, “What happened to rule 3 or whatever it was - ‘No meaningless sex with my sisters!’?”
“Rule 4. Rule 3 was - The person to eat the last slice of pizza has to throw out the boxes. Look Loyal, I’m sorry I Boinked your sister,” Josh wiped his face with his hand, “It just sort of happened.”
“It just sort of happened? What did she accidentally fall on your dick?” Patience folded her arms over her chest.
“Don’t be like that Patience. It didn’t mean anything. It was when I thought I had no chance to be with you,” Josh looked scared, “I slept with a lot of girls Patience but I’ve only loved you. I’m yours now. I’m all yours now.”
“But... Serenity?”
“Aren’t you going to tell her how good it was?”Serenity purred as she draped her arm over him, “Aren’t you going to tell her you would ring me begging me. Then we’d do it until...”
“Serenity, shut up,” Josh growled at her then turned to Patience, “That’s all in the past. I’d never cheat on you Patience.”
“You’d better not,” Loyal started to say something more but Serenity turned to him.
“Get off your high horse Loyal! You pretend to be the protector of this family but you’re no better than me. You’re so desperate to be the father figure, to gain everyone’s respect but tell me Loyal, what sort of man would sell his own flesh and blood? What sort of brother would auction off his sister to his best friend?”
“You pimped Serenity out to Josh?” Patience pulled a face.
“Wrong sister, sister!” Serenity laughed, “Didn’t he tell you about the contract? Didn’t he tell you that he sold you to be his best friend’s bride? Didn’t he tell you how much money he got for...”
“Shut the fcuk up Serenity!” Loyal spat.
“Josh? You brought me?”
“No! I have no idea what she’s talking about!”
“Josh didn’t have anything to do with it,” Loyal looked away as he jammed his fists in his pockets, “Serenity’s scrambled brain is making it sound worse than it was. I signed a contract with Josh’s Father. It wasn’t a big deal. I looked after you, protected you until Josh was... you know... ready... for the wedding and all.”
“And...” Serenity laughed.
“And in exchange Mr C was going to help me with my career, pay my way through college, make sure I met all the right people so I had the best chance of going pro. Don’t look at me like that Patience, do have any idea how many great football players never make it, it takes more than skill to make it big - it takes connections. Mum was never going to support me. Mr C was the only one who has ever shown any interest in my future.”
“You sold me like a cow, like breeding stock, so that you had a better chance of going pro?”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Loyal glanced up at Patience then cringed.
“You!” Patience tried to think of a suitable insult but couldn’t.
“Don’t whine Patience! You get everything. You guys are so selfish. He spoils you rotten and he gives me nothing,” Serenity pouted, “I’ve only ever asked him for one thing and he laughed at me. Why does he show his love for you three and yet he can’t even see me? He’s been denying his love for me while fawning over you losers.”
Patience had thought up a good insult to throw at Loyal when Serenity’s words registered. Somewhere deep in Patience’s brain the cogs slotted into place, “Love you?”
“He’s always loved you guys, dotted on you, he’s never given me a moment of his time. I’m the one he should have been lavishing his attention on. I’m the one who he should spend all time and energy on!”
“Serenity...” Patience’s voice was low and wary, “Why do you have a gun?”
Serenity had pulled a large hand gun from the back of her jeans and was holding it roughly at them as she ranted.
“Thank you Patience,” Serenity’s eyes were wild, “I was going to just entice Josh, promise him hot sex, get him alone and use him to secure the love of my life. But since you are all here, well, the-more-the-merrier!”
“You’re in love with me?” Josh looked like he’d just stood in elephant doo-doo. “And now you want to do it with all of us? Isn’t that incest? Eww, and Loyal might have had a gay moment but I’m not having an orgy with him. Actually, I’m not having an orgy with anyone except Patience. I don’t love you Serenity, I’m in love with Patience and I’m never going to be enticed by you again. I’m a married man and I plan to stay that way for the rest of my life.”
“You’re such a dick Josh,” Serenity snarled as she waved the gun in his direction, “I’m not in love with you! I slept with you to make him jealous but it didn’t work.”
“You’re in love with Mr C?” Patience gasped, “You’re in love with Marcus Camerota?”
“My dad? You want to... rub uglies with my dad? Eww!” Josh’s face contorted in disgust.
“Why else would I have done all this? I created The Dove because I thought it would catch his attention. I tried everything else but he just ignored me. I thought if he respected me as an equal he would see how good we would be together. I know deep down he loves me. I know he wants me but he won’t admit it. So I’m going to force him to admit it.”
“The notes? The flowers? The... gifts? That was you?” Josh shuffled backwards.
“Did he like them?” Serenity looked hopeful.
“For years Dad’s been getting anonymous letters and bizarre gifts from an admirer,” Josh explained to Patience and Loyal, “They turn up everywhere, in places no one should have access to. And lately he’s been getting dead things with ribbons on them, it’s creepy as! Ohh hell, you used me to get to him didn’t you? The security code to the house...”
“Has the world gone mad?” Loyal shook his head, “He’s an old guy Serenity! He’s like... in his late thirty’s!”
“I know,” Serenity’s voice was wistful, “He’s so mature. He’ll never leave me. He’ll hold me and care for me and look after me like I deserve. He’ll be my everything.”
“Serenity, you’ve met my mum, right? I’m not sure she would be so keen on this. You know, given that they are, you know, married and all.”
“Ohh that’s easy to fix. He’ll divorce her as soon as he realises I’m his true love. Either that or she’ll have a nasty accident,” Serenity shrugged.
“I think I liked Serenity the werewolf better,” Josh spiralled a finger next to his temple and discreetly crossed his eyes.
“Josh, I’m standing right here,” Serenity snarled, “And I’m the one with the gun so you’ll give me the respect that I deserve, after all if everything goes to plan I’ll be your stepmother soon!”
“Ahh, so this is how the wicked ugly stepmother makes an appearance,” Josh laughed despite the fact Serenity was holding the gun so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.
“Serenity, put down the gun,” Patience said calmly, “You don’t need the gun. I’m sure we can work this out rationally.”
“No, he respects violence. It’s the language he understands.” Serenity’s eyes sparkled as she pointed the gun at Patience, “Phone him, he doesn’t answer my calls anymore.”
“EXPELLIARMOUS!” Josh yelled and pointed at Serenity.
“What?” they all turned to him pulling faces of confusion.
“Harry Potter,” Josh shrugged, “It worked for him when facing a part-snake creature who wanted to kill him and make the world an evil place. I figured it was worth a try.”
“Josh man, you do realise that you just admitted to reading Harry Potter, right?” Loyal grimaced, “Gawd, I’m starting to see how perfect you and Patience are together.”
“Harry Potter’s cool,” Josh grumbled.
“GUN!” Serenity spat, “Does no one remember that I’m the one holding the GUN!”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s probably one of those fake one’s that when you pull the trigger a mirror pops out so you can touch up your makeup. Seriously Serenity, if you were in the Hunger Games you would be the first to be killed, and the crowd would love it!”
“The Hunger Games too Josh?” Loyal looked disgusted, “Who are you and what have you done with the football jock I know... ”
“Enough!” Serenity lifted the gun and let off a shot skyward.
They all looked at her stunned with their ears ringing.
“Well I hope you haven’t shot down a satellite because somewhere someone’s going to be really pissed off,” Josh said quietly.
“Enough! I’ve had enough of your bickering! Patience make the call or the next shot will shut up Josh for good. Do it Patience because I really don’t want to kill my bargaining chip.”
Patience reached out and pressed her fingers to Josh’s lips as he opened his mouth and gave him a look that had him exhaling and nodding. Then she dialled and lifted the phone to her ear, “Mr Camerota, Hi, yes I know it’s you Marcus, it’s Patience here. Serenity with me now, yes right now, she’s the one you’ve been looking for. Mr C she’s pointing a loaded gun at us, Loyal and Josh are here too. She wants you to take her away from all this and...” Serenity grabbed the phone from Patience.
“Marcus darling, I know you love me. Take me as your own, make me yours, admit that you love me and make me your wife... well? Why aren’t you saying anything? Why can’t you see that we are destine to be together? Are you ignoring me again? Well I’ve had enough. Either you make me the love of your life or I will take your loved ones away from you permanently... Marcus? Can you hear me? Don’t grunt at me. I know you might be a little cranky honey but what did you expect me to do? You keep denying this. I confessed to you, you laughed at me and you’ve been avoiding me ever since. What’s a girl to do? I became The Dove for you and now I’ll kill for you. So which one do you want me to shoot first? Your little Petal, your moron son or the one you’re grooming to take over your business?” Serenity pointed the gun at each as she asked, “Come on Marcus pick one! Marcus why aren’t to saying anything? Is it because you are lovestruck? Marcus?” At this point Serenity pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the screen, “Tinkerbell? Patience, why would you call Marcus Tinkerbell? Marcus, are you there? I can’t hear you? Can you still hear me? Ohh I’ve lost him.” She ended the call. “Why Tinkerbell?”
“Umm, it’s a joke between us,” Patience forced a laugh, “You know, with a ding he can make things magically happen.” Patience smiled broadly and flashed her eyes at Josh who was screwing up his face as if he was about to contradict her. The phone in Serenity’s hand began to sing “You’re a candle in the wind on a cold dark lonely night and I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might...”
Serenity looked at it and gushed, “Marcus darling, you rang back I knew you cared!” Then her forehead crinkled. “Who is this? Marcus? Do you have a cold honey? You sound different. Is that why you couldn’t meet me? I forgive you. But... but... can’t I kill one of them? You would respect me more if I had some blood on my hands,” Serenity pouted. “Alright, we’re in the park on Seventh. I love you!”
“He’s coming!” Serenity did a little dance.
Josh swore and looked skywards, “Patience, whatever my dad does to her, please don’t judge me. You know what he’s like. You know how protective he is. I’m sorry.”
“Serenity, go! Run!” Loyal pleaded, “You’re my sister and he’s going to... Don’t do this Serenity. Go, you can hide and eventually he might forgive you. I love you Serenity. You can’t be here. You can’t do this. I can’t watch him do this.”
Patience dropped her head and shuffled her feet.
“It’s alright Loyal. I’m getting my happily ever after!” She giggled.
No matter how much Loyal pleaded at her or warned her Serenity gushed. Josh drew Patience into his arms and wrapped himself around her, keeping her face pressed against his chest and pointing away from Serenity. He whispered into her hair how much he loved her and how sorry he was. And Patience just stayed silent.
Serenity was starting to lose some of her zest and look around impatiently when Josh swore, “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Walking my dog, that’s what you do in parks, right?”
Serenity swung around and looked at him confused, “You have to go! You’re going to ruin everything.”
“What’s your dog’s name?” Josh asked over the top of Patience’s head as he held her.
“You can’t be here! You have to leave now.” Serenity sounded panicked as she looked around for any sign of Marcus.
“Rex,” Jake answered Josh while ignoring Serenity who was pointing the gun at him now.
“Rex, that’s a cool name for a dog,” Josh nodded into Patience hair.
“You have to go! If he sees you he’s going to think I trapped him!”
“That’s a nice gun you have there, Serenity,” Jake shrugged, “I’ve heard gun residue isn’t great on nail polish. It’s never been a problem for me personally but the female agents are always bitching about how it wrecks their manicures. Why don’t you put the gun down?”
“Please! I’m not an amateur! I’m wearing gloves!” Serenity frowned. “You’re not going to leave are you?” She exhaled loudly, “Ohh well, maybe you could be a wedding gift to my love.” Then using the gun she waved him over. “Marcus should be here by now, what’s taking him so long?”
Patience glanced at Jake through Josh’s embrace, he smiled back at her.
“So what you guys been doing?” Jake asked casually.
“Same old, same old,” Loyal shrugged, “Dealing with insane family members. Thank gawd Patience isn’t sprouting satanic verse. It’s nice to have one rational sibling out of seven - even if that isn’t great odds. I’m starting to wonder what they’ve been putting in the water.”
“This coming from the guy who turned gay for five minutes,” Jake laughed but turned to Serenity before Loyal could reply, “Why don’t you let me hold the gun Serenity, it looks kind of heavy.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“So you did all this to impress Marcus Camerota,” Jake continued while nodding his head like he was impressed. “When did you tell him you were The Dove? I bet he would have been surprised?”
“Ohh yes he was. He’d heard of me of course, I’d made sure of that. At first he was really shocked but...” Serenity mouth tightened like she had tasted something sour, “How did you know I was the Dove? I set it up so that you would think it was mum. Patience said you guys thought it was mum.”
“You are smart. You had us running in circles. Put down the gun Serenity.”
“Yeah, Yeah, whatever! Can you shut up I’m waiting for someone.”
“Marcus isn’t coming Serenity. Put down the gun or one of the twenty agents who circle us will pull the trigger and that would result in you having a really bad hair day, because half your head would be missing.”
Serenity’s grip tighten around the gun as several agents moved forward, “How? How did you know?” She pointed the gun at Patience and yelled, “Who’s Tinkerbell Patience?”
“Tinkerbell?” Jake turned to Patience, “You put me in your phone as Tinkerbell?”
“Well you were all glittery that day...” Patience shrugged as best as she could because Josh had her pressed into him and angled away from Serenity who was shaking with rage.
“Sure it wasn’t because I could make all your wishes come true?” Jake laughed back.
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Serenity screamed.
“Serenity, I’m going to ask you once more - put down the gun and put your hands on your head,” Jake said calmly.
“You!” Serenity screamed at Patience, “You are nothing but you’ve got everything I’ve ever wanted, I hate you!”
Everything happened at once and yet time slowed to a crawl. Patience felt something like a freight train crash into her as her ears rung with several loud pops. Then she fell backwards, still wrapped in Josh, and as she hit the dirt the air whooshed out of her. Josh was on top of her and he was heavy, much heavier than she remembered him. She couldn’t breathe. People were yelling. People were running. Her face was mooched into the dirt and Josh wasn’t moving so she could only see feet. Something warm and wet was sliding over her skin.
“Josh?” She pushed him as she tried to breathe.
“Petal, I love you,” he groaned and then he slumped onto her.
“Josh!” Patience screamed with what seemed like her final breath.
Hands reached between them and Josh was slowly rolled off her. Blood was everywhere. Patience clung to him as they tried to move her away. People were yelling at her but she could only see Josh. His face was pale and his eyes were closed.
“No, No, No!” She cried as she tried to shake him.
“Eth,” A voice whispered against her skin, “You have to let the paramedics do their job.”
Her fingers slipped from Josh as Jake took her into his arms. Something broke inside her as a bunch of men surrounded Josh cutting off her view of him. She sobbed into Jake as he held her against his chest.
“Eth,” the voice sounded pained, “I had to do it. I’m sorry.” He edged away from her and lifted his head, “I’m sorry Loyal. I had no choice. If there was any other way...”
“She was my sister,” Loyal’s voice was rough, “She was sick. She needed help not... not this!”
Patience turned and there on the ground was Serenity. Her hair was in the dirt and leaves and her arms and legs were splayed out like she had fallen, which was weird because Serenity had perfect balance, she never fell over. She lay there unmoving and despite the fact that Josh had five paramedics working around him, none went close to her. In the middle of her forehead was a red bindi mark. A perfect red circle but as she watched it grew larger until a single thin stream of red ran down along the top of Serenity’s perfectly plucked eyebrow.
“Serenity?” Patience looked into Loyal’s face to find tears running down his cheeks as he dropped to his knees next to his sister’s body.
Patience swung around, her whole body in motion, she put everything she had behind her clenched fist. She didn’t think she just brought her fist up until it smacked solidly into Jake’s face. He wasn’t expecting it so it hit him squarely on the jaw throwing his head sideward’s.
“What the?” His hands caught her next punch and he pulled her back into his body as she fought him. “Shh Eth, let it all out. I’m sorry.”
“You Bastard!” She screamed. “I rang you because you were supposed to save her! I rang you because you were supposed to stop this from happening! I rang you because you were supposed to be the good guy! You, you, you...”
“I had no choice Eth, she fired first,” he pleaded, “She was going to kill you. Josh took the bullet and I couldn’t let her take another shot at you. I had no choice!”
With that she twisted to look at Josh. One man was bent over his head with his lips pressed against Josh’s, another was making regular lunges in him and the other paramedics hovered holding red soaked cloth and yelling something. You didn’t have to watch six seasons of E.R. to know what this meant.
Patience closed her eyes and turned away from Josh, “I can’t forgive you for this Jake.”
Then she walked away. She didn’t looking back she just walked away from everything.
Jake stood there for a moment, his shoulders dropped but there were agents waiting on him. He slowly handed his firearm to the waiting agent and then he walked towards his other men and did what he was paid to do.