CHAPTER 13 - THE HOPE
A combination of warmth, comfort, and contentment is now the only thing surrounding Thomas. Slowly, his eyes open and that feeling rapidly changes to a sense of urgency as memories, assorted thoughts, and a mix of emotions surge in like ocean water slamming against a rocky shore. He turns… Juliandra is there, right beside him as if nothing ever happened. Automatically, without conscious thought his arms extend, reaching out to pull her close and hold tight.
“I love you, Juliandra,” he whispers. “I love you more than anything.”
A quiet sleepy voice replies. “I love you too, Thomas.”
For him, holding Juliandra, if only for a few seconds, gave new meaning to the phrase ‘live in the moment’, and if that moment could last forever that’s where he’d choose to be. But he couldn’t. He had to go. He had to earn it.
Thomas grabs his phone, looks at the clock then eases out of bed. It was time to put all the information gathered thus far to work. The plan is to let Juliandra sleep while stopping each of the killers one at a time. It wasn’t a perfect plan by any means, simple, straightforward maybe, but not perfect. It only needed to work. He had to make it work. Once in the living room, every detail was written out on paper. Phone numbers, addresses, items, and locations, nothing was left out. The paper went in his pocket along with some para-cord found in a kitchen drawer and a small pry bar from his toolbox. Chief will be first, and possibly a difficult first since he’d taken the precaution of locking the door behind him after breaking in to the house on Rosewater Ave. Fortunately for Thomas, Chief’s method of gaining entry may have left the locking mechanism vulnerable.
It’s 8:46am and every minute that could be spared has passed while preparing for the most important task of his life. It was now or never and Thomas had little use for hesitation, delay, or procrastination. Those words, their meanings, or any derivative of them were no longer part of his thoughts. Action was the only process, and now was the only time. Out the back door he heads, on foot, eastward through the trees. On paper, and in his mind, it seemed the most logical direction, but part way through it became clear the path was taking longer than expected to traverse. Thomas had to speed his pace which increased the risk of being seen or heard, a risk that had become necessary and vital to maintain the element of surprise. A risk which pays off after arriving, unnoticed, near the final destination. It was a section of the road across from and on the far side of the house where Chief said he was waiting.
The area was quiet and the need for stealth evident during his careful approach. A quick sprint to the south east corner and a quiet walk brings him to the front door which showed obvious signs of damaged. Thomas places his pry bar in what looks like the spot previously used to break in then slowly starts to apply force. The wood begins to compress and the metal parts scrape together, causing enough noise to make him stop and ease off. There needed to be a distraction, something to overshadow the sound. Thomas pulls out his cell phone and enters Chief’s number, sets the pry bar back in place, and makes himself ready. A quick tap on the call button sets everything in motion. After the first ring the phone drops in a pocket, the pry bar is torqued, and the door rammed. Thomas runs full speed into the house, straight at first, then left into the bedroom harboring Chief.
Bewildered and taken off guard, the killer fumbles while reaching for his pistol, but it was too late. Thomas got to it first and was already on top of him, hammering the butt into the side of his head. The blows didn’t stop until Chief’s body became motionless. Thomas starts to tie him up with para-cord, but stops after remembering how Boon stunned him. He had to do it; he wasn’t prepared to end a life, but he had to disable Chief to keep him from coming back into the fight. Within seconds both of Chief’s elbows and one knee were hyper-extended, leaving him helpless and incapacitated. Sadly, Thomas’s proficiency was increasing in this regard, and the more it did the more he hated it.
Chief’s cell phone, rifle, and hand gun were collected then placed in an attic opening before checking the time. It was 9:08 and the plan was already failing. It took too long to get to and disable just one of the contracted killers. Two more remained and only one needed to pull the trigger. Out and into the back yard he runs, using the few trees around for cover on the way to Title Road. More precious seconds were being eaten up by stopping at each one momentarily before sprinting to the next, but eventually the east side of the home is reached. According to the Roy partners the front door had been left unlocked, one of them had not yet arrived, and the other, the triggerman, was in the middle of the kitchen aiming his barrel through a window. Thomas turns the doorknob slowly and pushes, just enough to look inside. He could see the shooter in a prone position on top of a table, preoccupied looking through a scope. It was a straight run with no obstacles and no reason to stop. A deep breath and Thomas drives forward with his shoulder, running full speed before leaping into the air and landing on the killer’s back, instantly squeezing his neck with an arm choke. Everything, including the two men, slide and fall to the floor. The shooter struggles and tries relieving the pressure causing his senses to diminish, but nothing he does can loosen the hold. Thomas won’t let go until all movement stops and it’s clear the shooter has lost consciousness. Within seconds he does, then, out of routine, Thomas lets out a sigh, grunts, and starts hyper-extending the man’s joints.
9:18, and Roy number two remains one mile east, waiting in a car needed to reach Boon. Thomas picks up the shooter’s phone, enters a number and taps the call button.
After the first ring, an answer. “Go,” the voice says.
Sternly, Thomas replies. “It’s done,” and immediately disconnects.
Almost immediately the phone’s display changes, showing an incoming call. It was the number he just dialed, but it goes unanswered.
9:19, Thomas searches the house, seeking anything to help disable the second member of Roy, but nothing seems right. Eventually, he grabs the rifle from the kitchen, walks to the front entrance and stands against the wall, waiting.
9:22, the brief quiet gets masked by sound from a car engine getting closer, triggering his grip to tighten and stance to ready. A dense wave of cool air suddenly slams his face when the door flies open and a man rushes in. Every muscle collaborates, tenses, and contracts to swing the rifle butt towards the figure calling out a name. A loud thud and the man’s fate is sealed.
It was disturbing, Thomas thought, how easily a person could be broken. He never dwelled on it much before, but it almost sickened him to realize the fragility of a human being. All those times in school he’d been intimidated by some bully, or backed down from confrontation. Those fears were unwarranted; those kids were just as fragile as he was.
9:26, Thomas speeds down Rosewater Avenue towards River Street located just past his house on the left, but as the vehicle accelerates he notices someone standing outside. Instantly, their eyes lock and his foot switches pedals, engaging the brakes and causing the car to slide to a stop. Thomas calls out and pulls the door handle in an effort to exit, only to watch as Juliandra drops to the pavement. It was too late. Boon had shifted position and taken the shot early. The metal, glass, and plastic materials separating them feels like a brick wall ten feet thick as Thomas drives his body against the car door trying to move in her direction. It won’t get out of the way fast enough, but when the gap is finally sufficient, he rushes over and drops to his knees, tears flowing uncontrollably. There was nothing he could do except cry when every emotion possible burst in all at once. So close, but he wasn’t able to save her, this wonderful human being whose horrible fate was set years ago. She was gone.
Thomas doesn’t move until the police arrive and force him to release his embrace of Juliandra. Shortly after, he finds himself being questioned yet again by Detective Davis in a small room. This time, however, there are no responses, no interactions of any kind. He chooses to remain silent and nothing they say can break that silence, and nothing they do can shift his focus. All outw
ards senses fade as his mind races, working at top speed, reviewing every mistake, choice, option, and possibility while stepping through hundreds of scenarios. Anything out of the ordinary will cause one of the shooters to pull the trigger early, and he’ll need to work faster, get more efficient, and potentially do something he’s never done before, take a life.
Frustration soon overcomes Detective Davis during his questioning, leaving him little choice but to hold Thomas as a suspect. Eventually, the night comes and Thomas closes his eyes with the hope he’ll succeed next time they open. Four more times he finds himself sitting in that exact cell waiting for another chance to save Juliandra, but each attempt fails with the same result, Thomas holding her lifeless body and Boon getting away.
Confidence dwindles to an all-time low and self-doubt sweeps in like a hurricane; something must change. Morals are becoming an unacceptable obstacle. The concept is blurring like a faded memory, and the idea of killing each of them isn’t looking so bad anymore. But, even if Thomas wanted, he couldn’t use one of the other assassin’s rifles to shoot Boon. They didn’t have the range, only Boon’s did. Thomas would have to get close before shooting and by that time, Juliandra would be dead. There has to be a way, he thinks. It can’t go on forever like this, it just can’t.
Night approaches once more as Thomas reviews the conversations with each killer during his interrogations of them. Everything is clear and nothing seems to stand out until something Brighten said pops into his mind. It was when they did research on Reggie and Professor Ledger. Brighten was upset because all he had to do was type his father’s name into a search box and the answer he sought came right up. All his life he didn’t know anything about Reggie’s painful past, though it was already there just waiting for him to discover. Thomas knew what to do this time. His answer was already there. He just couldn’t see it, but now he could, a possible solution that was in front of him the whole time.
Sure of himself and his new idea, Thomas closes his eyes and allows the darkness to take over yet again. Just as quickly as his mind drifts away a familiar warm feeling encompasses his body, triggering him to open his eyes, spring out of bed, and run into the living room. He grabs his work laptop and powers it on, brings up a search engine then begins to look for something called SMS spoofing. He’d run across this a few times while working in the field and it was the solution desperately needed. All the information he could find leads him to believe that it would be possible to send an anonymous message to each killer’s cell phone in the guise of another person’s number or name. Thomas grabs his wallet and creates an account on the site most talked about in forums he’s quickly looked over then proceeds to formulate a message.
As a test, he uses the site to send himself an anonymous text using Jason Brean’s cell number for the sender id. It took almost two minutes from the time he clicked send on the website for the message to show on his phone, but it looked legitimate, enough that it may pass for an actual message from Jason. It was go time and now or never for the new plan. A carefully thought out message was sent through the website to all four prepaid cell numbers used by the assassins, each identical, word for word.
SMS “Eliminate the other two contracts now and your payment will triple.”
Thomas realized that he had been working too hard at directly stopping the killers when he could have had them working to stop each other. It was a revelation that he had not thought of before and now he needed to wait and see if the men believed it. After two minutes he runs to a front window, peaks out and mumbles.
“My money’s on Boon you sons of bitches.”
A shot is finally heard but it was from Chief’s location not Boon’s. I was wrong, Thomas thinks, Chief was the go-getter first. Another cracking sound echoes outside, this one was different, more distant than the first. Thomas knew it was Boon. Boon wasn’t dumb; he let the other two battle first and then shot the winner. It seems both Chief and the first Roy are out of the picture, and now there was just Boon and the second Roy partner to deal with. Thomas is sure Boon will wait for the second Roy to show first and will shoot him, so he heads out the back door and runs to the house Chief occupied. After kicking in the door Thomas runs into the room where Chief lay dead, and without hesitation, reaches into the man’s pocket for his car keys. Thomas knew exactly where they were and wasted no time heading directly into the garage towards the car Chief had parked inside.
Thomas hops in and turns the key. When the engine starts he slams the shifter into drive, stomps the gas pedal and speeds forward, smashing the vehicle through the unopen garage door. Thomas finds himself driving right behind the green Ford Taurus, driven by the second Roy who must have come from seeing his partner dead. The Ford suddenly decelerates, causing Thomas to collide with it’s rear bumper, and the two vehicles come to a stop just past his own home where Juliandra stands, watching with a fearful expression. She screams when the driver of the green car climbs out and walks toward Thomas with a pistol in his hand. On the fifth step, just as he raises the gun to take aim, fragments of his skull and brain coat the surface of Chief’s car.
“Boon!” Thomas yells out.
Thomas then quickly turns the steering wheel left, puts the vehicle in reverse, and backs up while lowering his head below the dash, until reaching Juliandra.
“Run in the house!” He yells. “Get in the house and lay on the floor! No time to explain.”
Waving his hand, he repeats himself several times, but Juliandra refuses to move and insists on going with him.
“No Thomas!” Juliandra says. “I’m going with you. If you die I’ll die anyway. I have to go with you!”
“You’ll be killed Juliandra! If you go you’ll die! I don’t understand why you won’t listen to me. There’s no time for this, you’ve gotta go back in the house, now!”
“I won’t stay while you go and get killed Thomas. I’m going with you. What happens happens. I have to go with you!”
Extremely confused, Thomas stares at her then looks straight ahead and finally back at Juliandra.
“Alright, stay right there, and don’t move an inch! Okay?”
“Okay,” she replies. “Yes, okay!”
Eyes forward and lost in thought, Thomas pauses before rapidly turning, grabbing two duffle bags from the back, and jamming one between the driver’s seat and accelerator, causing the engine to rev up high. The second bag is propped up with Chief’s baseball cap on top then the shifter pulled into drive, sending the car off towards the road.
Thomas grabs Juliandra’s arm: “Let’s go! We have to make it to that old barn down on River Street.”
Three shots echo from the west along with the sound of glass shattering and falling to the ground. He fell for it, Thomas thinks. Boon’s probably moving towards the car right now to check on his handy work. A few more steps and Thomas stops to pull Juliandra close.
“I want you to run.” He says. “I want you to head east and keep going until you come out in the next neighborhood. You’ve got to go now while this man trying to kill you is distracted.”
“No Thomas, I can’t.”
“You’ve got to, you have to go now, or you’ll be shot! Do you understand that? I don’t want you to die. I love you too much, so please… go.”
“And what’s that say about me, Thomas? That I was willing to run away while you got yourself killed. Never! I love you more than life itself, and if it’s our time, it’s our time together. No matter how…” Juliandra pauses, covers her eyes and looks away.
“No matter how? How what?” Thomas asks.
Juliandra wipes a tear from her eye and faces Thomas again. “I just love you so much.”
“But this is your only chance Juliandra. Please… please go. I will never think any less of you, and I want you to live. You have to live. Please… for me.”
“Thomas, look at me. I never told you this before because I didn’t want to admit it. That first day we met, at the concert, when I saw your face and saw y
ou smile at me. I knew. I knew I was going to love you. I knew at that moment you were my other half. Oh sure, I pretended it wasn’t going to be easy for you to win me over, but you didn’t have to win me at all Thomas. You won me over with that first smile, and I’ll be damned if I leave you now.”
Thomas wraps his arms around her, tightly for a moment then slowly loosens his hold, kisses her neck, cheek, and gently, her lips.
“We have to move now.” He says. ”We have to get to the old barn building. When we do you’ve got to listen to me. Alright?”
“Okay,” she says.
The two sprint off making the journey tree by tree, Thomas leading with Juliandra in tow. He knew the last killer’s long range rifle held only six bullets, and so far five have been used. Boon needed his M40 to finish the job, but Thomas’s goal is to get there first and stop him. It takes several minutes to reach River Steet, and before emerging from the tree line Thomas slows the pace and tells Juliandra to stay behind the barn while he checks for Boon’s whereabouts from a nearby silo. After a few minutes, he begins to think Boon may have beaten them there and could already be inside loading his second rifle. That is until a small reflection of light queues him to look toward a hay building across the road where he catches a glimpse of movement through a window. Thomas immediately turns toward Juliandra to gesture for her to stay put, but when he makes eye contact she starts to run in his direction.
“Stay there!” He yells. “Stop! Go back!”
She makes it almost halfway when suddenly a loud crack fills the air. It was the last bullet from Boon’s rifle, and Thomas watches in disbelief as her body spins before falling to the ground. His voice is next to echo out, like a second shot, as he sprints to the twisted figure lying in the grass.
“No!” He yells. “Juliandra, are you okay? Juliandra?”
“I think so,” she says, “my arm, it hurts, but I think I’m okay.”
Thomas exhales in relief, leans forward and kisses her on the forehead. “I love you Juliandra, with all my heart.”
Juliandra grabs his shirt and cries out when he begins to stand, but for the first time Thomas pushes her away.
“I love you! I love you, Thomas.”
Slowly his head turns in Boon’s direction.
“That’s six Boon! This is it! You’ll never hurt Juliandra or anyone else ever again! You hear me Boon?”
Pieces of grass and particles of dirt fly up creating a temporary trail as Thomas starts running towards the hay building at top speed, maneuvering left and right in a zig zag pattern. Every step seemed to take an eternity and the next wouldn’t come fast enough. Each breath was never ending and the air moved around his face as if it was flowing water. He could see Boon walking out, almost in slow motion, reaching for his pistol, and could hear distant sounds of sirens becoming louder and louder as he made his way forward. Thomas accepted his fate. He’d be shot no matter what, but help was on the way, and if Boon could be distracted long enough, Juliandra would live. The crack of a bullet firing rings out, dominating the landscape. Thomas freezes, staring at Boon with surprise, as his body gradually collapses.
There he was lying on the ground motionless. Boon was dead; shot between the eyes with a single bullet. Thomas stood, looking in disbelief.
“What the hell?” He utters.
His body had gone backwards and landed face up, sparking Thomas to turn around, but no one was there. He looks toward the police making their way to him and then again at the barn to see Juliandra walking out holding Boon’s second rifle.
“Juliandra?” He says.
She drops the rifle, covers her face and starts to cry.
“I did it.” She says. “I finally saved you.”
Thomas walks over and embraces her.
“What? What do you mean, you finally saved me?
“I love you Thomas, I love you.” She says while wiping tears from below her eyes. “Thomas, you died. I watched you die. Ten times before today!”
“What? You watched me die ten times? That’s impossible; I was trying to save you.”
“I know. I know what you went through. I know you suffered through my death again and again, and you did everything you could. You did Thomas, you did save me. You sacrificed your life to save mine, right here in front of me. That man shot you with his gun, and you held that gun to yourself, for me. You held it till the police got to you.”
“What? That’s impossible.”
“It’s true. The police arrived and you were clutching the gun on your knees. Boon ran off and they chased after him while I held you. You died in my arms, Thomas. I watched your life slip away and when it did, I felt the world stop. Everything was frozen, including us, and then I blacked out. People at the hospital said I was gone until the ambulance crew revived me. I was in the hospital with my mom and Brighten then fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was back home with you as if nothing happened. You jumped out of bed and rushed into the living room just like before. And you ran out of the house just like before. I went to find you just like I did before, and I watched you die right here Thomas, just as before. I didn’t understand it. I didn’t know what was going on or what to do until one of those mornings I ran into the living and begged you not to go. I knew you’d think I was crazy, but I told you anyway that you were going to die if you left. You kept insisting that you had to leave, to save me. I made you listen. After I explained what was happening, you couldn’t believe it. You told me all about what you’d done and needed to do. Then we came up with a new idea Thomas. You and I came up with a way to save both of us.”
“We did? I don’t remember any of this.”
“How could you? Each morning is a new start and everything resets and plays out all over. I had to explain everything each morning until our final plan.”
“What plan?”
“You made me memorize where the second rifle was in that barn. You insisted I not tell you anything the next morning, and that I let you die as many times as it took. You died ten times Thomas before I was able to shoot that man before he killed you. Ten times!”
Juliandra drops to her knees covering her eyes once again. Thomas kneels down, pulls her close and kisses her repeatedly.
“I love you,” he says, “and I believe you, every word. Thank you for saving me.”
“You saved me too Thomas, and I will never forget that. You gave your life for me.”
As they hold each other an ambulance stops a few feet away and two EMTs rush over.
“Anyone injured here?” One asks.
“Yes,” Thomas says, “My wife is. Her left arm.”
The second EMT kneels beside Juliandra. “Ma’am, can I take a look at your arm?”
“Of course,” she says. “I’m okay, I think I’m okay.”
“You’re gonna be fine ma’am, but I need to move you into the ambulance so we can clean this up and get some bandages on it before taking you to the hospital. Are you able to stand?”
“She doesn’t need to stand,” Thomas says, “I’ll carry her.”
Thomas picks her up and follows the man to the ambulance. Once she’s inside he looks at her with a smirk.
“You know I win, right?”
“You win what?” she replies.
“Well, I’m pretty sure I saved you in nine tries, and it took you, umm… What, eleven to save me?”
“Boy! I know you didn’t go there! Just for that you’re going over to my mom’s house while I do her hair! “
Thomas laughs as he climbs in and takes a seat across from her. “Is Brighten gonna be there you think?”
“I don’t know, maybe. Why?”
“I think we have some things to talk about.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I think we’re gonna be okay, him and I.”
THE END
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