| Title: Hemorrhage Author: Priscilla Chapter 9: Partners For Life "Hey champ! How's it going? Your mom ok?" Nick asked, truly grateful Maryanne, his ex-wife, had let them talk so late. "Hey dad. Yeah, we're good." Suddenly, officer Montoya bust through their office door and handed Nick a computer print out. "This just came in, two officers gunned down outside Luke's." Nick nodded, standing and shrugging his coat halfway on. "Listen champ, I gotta go. Daddy's go to work." "You're always working dad!" The little boy yelled into the receiver. Nick sighed. "I know, but I'll make it up to you. I promise." Nick said hanging up. ************* It was raining cats and dogs, as Jack would say. The fat raindrops seeping through his black jeans and navy blue hoodie. Riddick had told her to stay at the hotel and try to relax. Jason had better be here already. He'd called a half an hour ago and changed the meeting place. It was now a church. Riddick couldn't believe he actually agreed, but knew why he had. Jason had been good to him and the truth was, he felt he should say goodbye if this really was the last time they'd see each other. He opened the side door where Jason had instructed him to go slowly, giving anyone inside time to show themselves. Nothing moved inside making Riddick's eyebrows crease in confusion. Biting down the prickling sensation cascading down his back, he walked further into the grand room. Even in the spacious room, the smell of violent death slapped Riddick in the face. He made his way down the middle isle that led to the altar. For the first time in his life Riddick felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. Jason's body lay in front of the first row of pews on the left side of the room. His body was covered in his own blood, so much that you couldn't tell where exactly he'd been hurt. Riddick kneeled next to him and brought his ears down to his mouth. He was breathing, he was still alive. "Jase! Jason!" His heart did a flip-flop as Jason's eyes opened slowly and the barely alive man smiled, his teeth covered in a red sheen. "I told them that you were on a plane to Shangi port." He whispered, slowly forcing the words out of his quickly numbing lips. "How much time?" Riddick asked cradling Jason's head. "They'll find out tomorrow." With the last bit of strength left, Jason pulled out a plastic book, the passport he'd promised Riddick, and placed it in his hand and then with a long sigh, he was gone. Riddick shut his eyes against the pain, surprised by its intensity. This hurt, and Wei would pay with his own blood. "Thank you my friend." He whispered hoarsely; placing Jason's head on the ground and closing his eyes. *************** "Can you please tell me how you expect to get to the airport with two professional killers after you?" Jack asked, never taking her eyes off of the magnifying glass and the passport she was holding under it. "They won't be there. They're here to finish my job." "Two killers for a little boy? Why?" "Wei wants him to die in his father's arms." Riddick said making his way over to the bed next to Jack and sitting down with a loud sigh. She eyed him for a couple of seconds. Jason's death had literally knocked the wind from his sails. He looked tired and worn out. "I've been waiting for that one good deed that would wipe the slate clean. Take all the shit I've done away." He said slowly gauging Jack's reaction. Tears stung her eyes but she quickly blinked them back. Jack placed one of her hands on both of his and smiled, letting him know she knew he'd meant every word he'd just said. "Welcome to the human race sweetie. But standing beside a killer and letting it happen is just as bad as pulling the trigger yourself." Riddick was quiet for a couple of minutes, turning Jack's words over in his head. He didn't owe anyone anything. They could easily slip off the planet and be on a course to anywhere in the galaxy before Wei's men had a chance to do anything. But then there was the kid, an innocent kid that had done nothing wrong, just happened to have the wrong man for a father. Riddick sighed, finally turning back to look into Jack's eyes. They seemed to plead to him to do the right thing, and he sure as hell wasn't gonna let her down. "I'll need guns." He said pulling Jack up to her feet. The smile she gave him was beaming with warmth and love and he couldn't help feel that maybe they'd been meant to get stuck on that planet together. "I know just the place." ****************** For almost 10 minutes Jack led them through a maze of tunnels underneath the city. The sewer didn't smell half as bad as one would expect, but then the Interplanetary Maintenance Association cleaned them out every five years. Coming around a bend, Riddick’s eyebrows creased as a wooden door prevented further movement. Jack knocked three times consecutively, paused and knocked twice more. A buzzing sound pierced the silence and Jack pushed through. "Hey, Zander!" Jack yelled looking at the weird artifacts on the wall. Through the years gun smuggling had become a major trading game between certain organizations. Terrorist groups were still very much prevalent causing the cops to crack down on it. In the end, those involved had been forced to go underground. For Zander, it was literally underground. Riddick stood in front of Jack as whom he presumed to be Zander walked out of some back room wiping what looked like motor oil from his hands. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Riddick’s hulking frame. He visibly relaxed when Jack stepped out from behind him, smiling sheepishly. "Jackie! Hey long time no see." Zander exclaimed stepping towards Jack with his arms spread, Riddick tensed beside Jack as she hugged the other man. "Zander, um this big guy over here is Riddick, he’s um a friend of mine. Riddick this is Zander, be nice." She warned. Zander stuck out his hand in a handshake. Riddick eyed it like it was made of shit, but Jack nudged him slightly and he shook it half-heartedly. They needed his help after all. "So what can I help you two with?" "We need guns." Riddick answered in his best menacing tone. Zander nodded and led them to the back of what obviously was his home as well as where he worked. Clothes were strewn all over the place and they passed a room with an unmade bed on their way to where he kept the guns. Riddick was impressed, Zander probably had every gun known to man in that room. Even classics as the AK-47 and the M-16. "Help yourselves." Zander offered motioning to the displays. Riddick made a beeline for the automatics while Jack chose to look at the more discreet and less bulky guns, one that could fit in a thigh holster and another with a silencer. When they were done, they had bought about five. Two for Jack, three for Riddick. "Zander listen, I-I’m leaving in a few days. I don’t think I’ll be back, but I just....I just wanted to say thanks. For everything." Zander smiled wiping the tears falling down her cheeks away with his thumb before wrapping his arms around her waist in a tight hug. *************** Once back on the surface, Riddick looked at his watch. They had and hour and a half to find out where the hit was supposed to take place, at best. The gears in Riddick’s mind were working overtime. Who would know when and where this was supposed to go down? An idea struck him as they walked briskly down one of the alleyways of old china town. Wei had small time hustlers all over these streets and he knew just where to look to find one. Turning down another side street, Riddick spotted the skinny pothead up the block. The guy was looking around nervously, he needed a hit and fast. As soon as he spotted Riddick coming up the block he tried to make a run for it, but Jack was already a few feet away from him, gun drawn. His shoulders slumped in apprehension of the serious shit he was in. "How you doin’ Johnny boy? Things slow on the business front today?" Riddick hissed as the dragged the trembling man down another alleyway pressing him up against wall. "What the fuck do you want Rid-Riddick?" "There’s a hit going down today on that cop’s kid, you know anything about that?" Riddick whispered into Johnny's ear. Johnny shuddered and shook his head profusely. "I d-don’t know what you’re t-talking about, man. Just let me go." Riddick drew his gun and placed the barrel inside Johnny trembling mouth. "I know you know Johnny. A little snake like you, has supersonic ears especially built for things that could grant you a big payday if you retell em’. Now I need you to think really hard, while you still have your head on our shoulders and try to remember anything about what’s going down today with Nick Fourcade’s kid." "Ok, Ok!, Wei sent for two big guys, mercenaries from Shinon. They’re supposed to do it around 8 at the old Wang theatre on Canal Plaza. Oh, God Riddick, please don’t kill me! That’s all I know man." Riddick removed his gun and adjusted Johnny's shirt before patting his face. "Good boy, Johnny." Title: Hemorrhage Author: Priscilla Chapter 10: Jumping Ship "Riddick, slow down for God's sake! You're going to get us killed!" Jack hissed from the passenger's seat as she replaced the chamber on her gun and attached to silencer nozzle on the barrel. Cars and people alike rushed aside in a frenzy to get away from their speeding vehicle. Jack looked at the clock on the dashboard. It read 7:45 p.m. in glowing blue numbers. Suddenly the car came to a complete stop, causing their tires to squeal in protest and launching both Jack and Riddick forward in their seats. "Shit!" They said in unison as they surveyed the thick line of cars in front of them. The traffic jam looked like it kept going for miles. Riddick ran a hand on his scalp as he thought. He turned to the back seat and removed his jacket and other two guns, then opened his door and started crossing the street. Jack gaped at him, quickly shoving her guns into their holsters under her long coat and running after a quickly retreating Riddick. "What the hell are you doing? You're just going to leave the car there?!" She yelled when she'd caught up to him. "We're better off. The car would of cast attention to us. This way we can sneak in through the back unnoticed. Jack raised an eyebrow at his prowess. Riddick even planned for the unplanned. Always had a trick up his sleeve. One reason why she loved him so much. "Yeah, I knew that." Riddick smiled as he continued his purposeful stride. The Wang Theatre was only a few blocks south from where they'd left the car. Riddick led them around the back of the building. Jack used the silencer to blast the lock off and soon they were running up the stairs on the second floor of the building, that’s where all the screening rooms were located. They both cursed under their breath when they noticed that the floor did not occupy a mere two or three theaters but five. "Alright we’ll split up. You take those two on the right, I’ll take two on the left. If we find nothing then we check this one together." Jack nodded her head once and turned in the direction of the rooms when Riddick grabbed her shoulders roughly and spun her around to face him. His soft lips crashed down upon hers in a mind-blowing kiss. "Be careful." Was all he said before crossing to the other side of hotel. One by one they checked the rooms and found nothing. Jack shook her head at Riddick after checking her second room. They stepped quietly into the last theater and slowly walked down opposite rows. "Everybody down!" Jack snapped her head to the right at Riddick’s sudden burst. Riddick dove into a row of seats sending an array of bullets flying upward. Jack creased her brow as she tried to figure out what he was shooting at. Two hulking frames, very much like Riddick stood on their side of the large movie projector, large assault riffles taking aim at something on her side of the room and then she spotted the man and little boy crouching near the third row of seats. She pushed through the throng of the massive panicking crowd, trying to make her way to them. Riddick continued to return the fire he was suddenly receiving from the two hit men. "Get your kid down!" Jack yelled over the other people’s screams, taking cover behind a seat of rows opposite theirs. Nick Fourcade was using his body to cover his son from the gunfire. Jack quickly dropped her empty bullet chambers replacing them with fresh ones. "Get your kid outta here! I’ll cover you!" She said shooting up from her hiding place and shooting up at the balcony. Riddick taken care of one, a bullet through the neck. The other guy was still going. Riddick caught her eye and motioned with his head for her to follow his movements. Jack held her breath as he counted down with his hand. One- two- three-. They came out of their hiding places guns drawn on the remaining gunman. He went down with at least twelve bullets in his chest. "Let’s get the fuck outta here." Riddick said holstering his gun and making a beeline for the stairs. The place was swarming with cops within minutes of their departure. Nick was outside pacing like a caged animal, Montoya watched him. "That’s my boy." Nick said pointing a finger at the car where his son was sitting. Montoya nodded. "They went after my kid." "Well lock down the damn city. Nobody goes in or out without us knowing." Montoya said but wasn’t sure Nick heard him as the man continued to pace back and forth. "Jackleen and her pal saved my kid." He muttered to himself as he walked over to the car where his son was and opened the door. "Hey buddy, you still scared?" He asked already knowing the answer. His heart constricted when the little boy’s eyes teared up again and he nodded his head. Nick turns back to Montoya after shutting the car door again. "I want you to take him home and put guys on watching the house." He said lifting the car trunk and pulling out a shotgun and a handgun. "What are you doin Nick? What do I tell the Marshals?" Montoya asked as Nick walked away. "Tell them whatever you want. I’m putting an end to this now." |