Hit-Woman (GxG)

Chapter 10

It's been a couple days since we arrived in Jamaica and since then, everything seemed to slow down. No one knew what we were gonna do or where to even start. Rain was still alive, lurking out there in the shadows, just waiting to strike...

I walked out onto the deck and closed the slider behind me.

Peggy sat in a lounge chair, laptop perched on her legs, while April leaned against the railing.

I leaned next to her. "Hey, thanks again for helping us."

"Just remember, after this, I'm out for good." She replied.

I nodded. "Me to."

Both April and Peggy glanced at me simultaneously.

"Seriously?" Peggy asked.

I nodded.

April gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I think you're making the right choice."

I gave her a small smile. "Thanks."

She returned it.

"I guess that means I'm out of a job." Peggy said, getting to her feet.

April and I exchanged a look before starting to laugh.

Peggy leaned on the railing next to us. "What are you gonna do?"

I smiled, looking out over the sea. "I think I'm gonna take some time off. Maybe buy a boat and explore the world."

My eyes drifted over the water, thoughts of the future dancing around my head, when they suddenly landed on Erika.

She waded her way towards the beach, wringing her hair as she stepped out of the water.

My eyes traveled down her bikini clad body, her perfect skin glistening in the sun.

"See something you like?" Peggy asked.

I moved my gaze to her. "Uh, no, just doing some thinking."

April patted my shoulder. "Right."

Then, they walked back inside, leaving me by myself on the deck.

Erika made her way up the steps, drying her face with a beach towel. "Oh, hey..." She said once she noticed me.

"Hey, uh, can we talk?" I asked.

She wrapped the towel around her waist before sitting down on one of the lounge chairs. "I thought you didn't wanna talk?"

I sighed, sitting up on the railing. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said the other night. It's not fair to shut you out."

She looked down. "I'm sorry to, I should've told you about the chip sooner..."

I looked down as well. "It's not your fault. You were thrown into this shitty situation without any clue of who you could trust."

She finally looked up. "I know who to trust now. April, Peggy... and, most of all, you."

   I met her gaze. "I trust you to."

   She flashed me a small smile as she got to her feet, slowly moving in close to whisper in my ear. "And don't think I didn't see you checking me out on the beach."

   I could feel my cheeks start to heat up as she gave me a playful wink before walking into the house.

I shook my head as I hopped off the railing and headed inside...

Later that night, I wondered into the kitchen to grab a drink, when I noticed April at the kitchen table, a six pack of beer in front of her.

"Hey, what're you doing up?" I asked as I sat down across from her.

She took a long sip from her beer before rubbing her forehead. "Couldn't sleep I guess."

I nodded slowly. "Mind if I join you?"

She pulled a fresh beer and handed it to me. "Might as well, you're gonna pry it outta me sooner or later anyway."

I cracked open the beer. "Pry what out?"

She sighed, polishing off her beer. "The dreams... Cuba... Jamie Alvarez..."

I leaned back in the chair, taking a long sip. "Oh... that..."

April looked down into her empty bottle. "She was innocent, Carlie..."

I looked down as well. "We didn't know that then... she was just a name on a folder and an envelope of cash..."

"Fuck that! She was sixteen years old, Carlie!" April yelled, standing angrily.

I stood as well. "Trust me, if I could take it back I would... but, there's nothing I can do about it now..."

"Is everything ok?" Her voice rang out.

We both looked in her direction, seeing Erika rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, just great." April said before brushing past her, heading up to her room.

Erika looked after her.

I let out a sigh as I sat back down, rubbing my eyes.

"You ok?" She asked as she sat down in front of me.

I just shook my head, a few tears welling up in my eyes.

Erika took my hand from across the table. "What is it?"

"... Jamie Alvarez..." I replied in barely a whisper.

"Who's that?"

"She was a witness to a political murder... But, we didn't know that at the time. We just got a folder with her name and location and an envelope filled with ten million in cash... So, we did the job..." I lowered my head.

Erika gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Carlie..."

I shook my head, pulling my hand away. "She was only sixteen... not even in the prime of her life and she was murdered so some asshole could skip jail time..."

"What did you guys do..?"

I stood. "April left the life for good... and I spent the next year tracking down the guy who ordered the hit... I found him in Guatemala, living it up in a mansion, enjoying his freedom."

"He got away with it?" She asked.

I shook my head, a single tear running down my cheek. "At first... until I found him... I snuck into his house that night, killed three guards in the process before finding his room... I smothered him with his own pillow... He barely had time to fully wake up..."

Erika averted my gaze.

I sat down on the floor, rubbing at my eyes. "We attended Jamies funeral... I've never seen anyone so utterly broken until I laid eyes on her mother that day..."

More tears started streaming down my cheeks as Erika stood up and walked over to me, joining me on the floor.

She took my face in her hands, rubbing a few tears from my eyes. "You are a good person, Carlie... don't ever forget that."

I squeezed my eyes shut, resting my forehead on hers. "No I'm not..."

She gently rubbed her thumb over my cheek before slowly pressing her lips to mine. "Don't question me, I have more degrees than you do."

I couldn't help but smile. "Thank you..."

She smiled back before pressing another soft kiss to my lips...