Hate or Love?

Chapter Three

Jayce leaned against his car, looking at the water in the distance. He knew he'd thrown Andreas off course by telling him he was going to an airport. In reality, there had been a change in plans, and they were driving to the coast, where there was a boat waiting for them to take them to Colombia, where Lucas' dad had a safehouse that Lucas could stay in. Of course, a flight would be quicker, and safer, but also predictable. The boat would take them to the coast of Columbia, and then they would go along the coast to get to Peru. They had to go through Columbia and Ecuador in order to get to Peru. It was apparently the only safe house that no one knew about, and Lucas' father wanted to keep it that way.

"Lucas! Let's go!" Jayce called, and Lucas turned from the rack he was looking at. He had a hat and a bag of candies in his hand, and he held them up.

"Let me pay!" he yelled back, and Jayce groaned. After Lucas had begged him to stop at a gift shop, Jayce had finally given in, and stopped at the first one he saw. They'd already wasted fifteen minutes here, and Jayce worried that Andreas would be awake soon. He glanced at his watch, chewing his lip anxiously. He opened his phone, going to his messages.

For some unknown reason, he had Andreas' number saved in his phone, and they texted back and forth whenever Andreas was after one of Jayce's clients. He scrolled up through the messages for a moment, before clicking the text box and typing in a new message.

You up yet asshat? Or did you bleed out?

He stared at the screen, waiting for a response. He tapped his foot anxiously, looking up at the gift shop where Lucas was waiting in line. He felt his phone buzz in his hand, and looked down.

Fuck you.

He smiled a little, and texted back quickly.

How rude, considering I was the one that saved your ass.

He stared down at the text wide-eyed. He didn't mean to say that, but he had a feeling Andreas already knew it was him that stitched the back of his head and left him in his car. Then again, he had left him that note.

That was you?

Shit. The new text basically confirmed the opposite of what Jayce believed. He took a deep breath, typing a new message.

It felt wrong to just leave you bleeding out on the street in the pouring rain.

Jayce let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He didn't get an answer, and he slid his phone back in his pocket. He looked around for Lucas, and when he couldn't find him, panic settled in.

"Lucas!" he yelled, going to the store and pacing up and down the isles, trying to find him. He ran back out to the car, grabbing his gun and stopping.

"Hey." Lucas was sitting in the passenger seat, chewing on one of the gummy candies he got. Jayce let out a breath, putting his gun down and getting in the car.

"When did you get out here?" he questioned, and Lucas shrugged.

"Don't know. You were texting someone, so I just let you be." Lucas replied, and Jayce felt his face go red. Andreas. He put the car in reverse, and turned to back out but stopped. A car blocked him in, a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala. Andreas' car, if Jayce remembered correctly.

"Shit." Jayce cursed, and looked at Lucas.

"Stay down." he ordered, and Lucas did what he was told, quiet. Jayce grabbed his gun, and got out of the car. He was barely out of the car and Andreas started shooting. Jayce ducked behind the front of the car, crouched down with his gun in hand. He went around the car, regretting telling Lucas to stay in the car. He opened the passenger door slowly, and motioned for Lucas to come with him. They went back to the front of the car, and it was silent. Jayce spared one second to look over the hood of the car, and found that Andreas had abandoned his car.

"Fuck..." he muttered, grabbing Lucas' arm.

"We're going to run for the gift shop okay?" he made sure his gun was cocked as he glanced at the door. Lucas gave him a nervous nod, and Jayce took a breath, looking around the parking lot again. Andreas was nowhere in sight, and he figured now was the best time. He kept his grip on Lucas' arm tight, and ran to the gift shop. They burst through the door, scaring a few customers near it, and running to the back.

"Stay low, stay close." Jayce instructed, and Lucas nodded.

Andreas had climbed in the backseat of his car, and was lying flat on the floor. Hoping to make Jayce think he'd gone somewhere else, and scare him into a place where Andreas could corner him. When he heard fearful shouts from the gift shop, he got out of his car, cocking his gun and going towards the gift shop.

"Jayce!" he called into the shop, and everyone ran out at the sight of Andreas with a gun, shouting and screaming. The store was empty as Andreas looked around, and he tried to make his footsteps as quiet as they could be.

"Jayce!" he dragged the bodyguard's name out, pulling out his phone.

"I'm not going to play dirty and call you." he declared, going and setting his phone down on the checkout counter, making a mental note to grab it later. Silence, not even the sound of breathing, and Andreas started looking around the store again.

"Jayce!" he shouted again, pacing up and down the isles. He heard movement on his left, and pointed his gun in that direction, walking towards what he heard. He was grabbed from behind in a chokehold, and he knew it was Jayce. He gasped, flipping Jayce over him and onto a table displaying clothing. Jayce's gun slipped from his hands as he landed on the table.

"Jayce! Nice to see you again!" he exclaimed, and Jayce kicked him in the knee, rolling off the table and going to grab his gun from the floor. Andreas stepped on his hand right as he was about to grab the gun, and Jayce yelped in pain, squirming to try and get away.

"Where's the target?" Andreas demanded, pressing down a little harder on Jayce's hand. Jayce bit his other lip hard, squeezing his eyes shut and Andreas almost felt bad. Almost.

"Answer the question and I won't break your hand." Andreas threatened, and Jayce stayed quiet, glaring up at him.

"One thing I admire about you, Leuth, you can take a fucking beating." Andreas commented. Jayce still gave him no answer. He bent down, making sure his foot remained on Jayce's hand, and grabbed his hair, pulling his head up to look at him.

"Where is he." Andreas growled, and Jayce let out a shaky breath, glaring at him.

"Fuck you." Jayce retorted, and Andreas twisted his foot a little, grinding his boot into Jayce's hand. Jayce winced, and Andreas smirked, standing up and letting go of Jayce's hair.

"Mr. Ryder!" Andreas yelled, stepping off Jayce's hand. Jayce went to stand up, favouring his hand, and Andreas kicked him in the ribs, and Jayce went back down, gasping for air. Andreas took his eyes off Jayce for a second, scanning the store, and there was a knife in his left leg. He yelped, falling to the ground as Jayce yanked the knife out of his leg.

"Lucas move!" he yelled, and the other man ran out the door, Jayce right behind him. Andreas panted, staring at his leg as he tried to stop the bleeding. His head was pounding, and he felt so insanely dizzy. But, he opted to ignore it, running out with his gun raised, and leaning on the doorframe. Lucas and Jayce were almost in their car, Jayce still favouring his hand. Andreas shot once, aiming for Jayce, despite knowing Lucas was his target. He hit him, in the shoulder, but Jayce kept running, now holding his shoulder with the hand Andreas had stepped on. He got in the car with Lucas, shooting one more shot in Andreas' direction that hit the building. Then, they backed out, going around Andreas' car and driving away.

"Fuck!" Andreas shouted, limping to his car and sitting down in the driver's seat. His leg was bleeding profusely, and he feared he'd end up passing out. He grabbed the first aid kit from the backseat, and tried to stop the bleeding with an old shirt on the floor of the passenger seat. He tied it around his leg, and limped back inside, grabbing his phone.

"Fucking asshole." he muttered, getting in his car and glancing at his leg. It had stopped bleeding, finally, so he cleaned and bandaged it. Then, he set off, hoping to catch up to Jayce and Lucas.