Before I Ran || Perrentes

Chapter 10: Eye In The Sky

"Do you think it was them that jumped the gas station back in Arizona?" Jaime asked as they approached the BMW. They'd hijacked the van and driven it back a few miles to where the car was parked, Tony cradling his arm against his ribs, his shoulder throbbing angrily. Following Vic's instruction, he leant against the side of the car

"Almost definitely," Mike sighed resignedly. "I guess they've been hitting up the backroads. Found the gas station a few weeks ago, snatched the owner, left things as they found it. That explains the lights being left on and the pumps being full of fuel."

Vic put one hand on the inside of Tony's shoulder, and another hand on the back side of the joint. Tony knew how dislocated joints worked - and he was not looking forward to the pain of putting it back in. "Okay Tony," he said softly. "Deep breath."

Tony did as instructed and sucked in a long breath, and he felt Vic's grip tighten slightly.

"Right. On three. One -"

And then he snapped his hands and Tony felt his shoulder fall back into place. The moment of pain in which it moved was completely excruciating, and Tony yelped loudly, leaning into the car. It was blinding - and then the moment passed and the pain began to sizzle down and Tony let out the breath he'd pulled in.

"God," he gasped, closing his eyes. "Thanks. Hey, what happened to two and three, man?"

"They took a holiday," Vic shrugged, and then he went around to his side of the car, opened the door and got in. Tony looked worriedly at Jaime, rolling his shoulder, the pain dissolving further.

"Is he okay?"

"He will be," Jaime sighed, and then he got in the car too.

Mike and Tony got in at the same time, and when the doors shut there was only silence swarming around them, sliding down their throats, reaching their guts and making them hollow. If Tony closed his eyes he could see Naomi's icy eyes, lifeless, and Nem's limp hand dangling, heavy as lead.

"Nice work, Himes," Mike said after a while. "That was a good idea. Getting them to fight themselves."

"Thanks," Jaime acknowledged, voice quieter than usual. "I had to find the girl's weakness...I could have angled for the boy, but it wasn't enough. I felt bad patronising her. There's nothing worse than being patronised."

"She was a people smuggler," Mike reasoned. "Don't feel too guilty about being patronising. And Vic?"

"Mm?"

It was only a short sound - but somehow he put all of his emotions into it, and it was clear to everyone there was something in his heart eating him from the inside out. Mike turned around in his seat. "Don't kick yourself too much. We wouldn't have done that if we didn't have to. And sparing Fliss and Joanna? That took more courage than anything."

"One right doesn't rectify three wrongs," Vic said softly. Mike reached across and patted his knee, as if knowing he wouldn't change Vic's mind. He turned back around and put both hands on the wheel, trying to calm himself down. It was at that point Tony noticed the cuts running along Mike's knuckles.

"Oh, jeez, Mike," he said, startled. "You should bandage those."

"They're just little cuts," he said soothingly. "They'll heal."

"They could get infected so easily," Tony protested, and he turned around in his seat, reaching for the supply bag. The first aid kit was on the top, and he pulled it out and opened it before reaching back for the birch leaves to counteract the pain in his shoulder. There were some antibacterial wipes and short, thin bandages, which would do just fine. "Give me your hand."