Chapter XIV
- What do you mean ?
He laughed it off like it was some lame joke but Aelin couldn't . She kept on asking but he never answered her . And that's how her first and hopefully last suicide attempt ended .
After a week he called for her in the evening of a peaceful Sunday and brought some not quite peaceful news.
- I have some good news and bad news , which one do you want to hear first ?
She was taken aback by his attitude, he was happy if she could actually call it in some way .
- Since they seem to keep on coming after us you might as well start with them so I would love some negativity as a starter for this happy-go-lucky meal you brought home !
- Ouch Mercer, you sure know how to break the ice at the table ,right ?
He laughed like she really meant to be funny which was not quite the case .
- Caib, start talking !
Aelin was dead serious so he, for once, got served with his own medicine which was not to his liking so harshly replied .
- I was not aware we were on a versus in names in here, my apologies .
- Cut the crap .
- Watch it !
She was walking on thin ice with him this time but a lot has changed in this few months they've been together , she was no longer afraid of speaking like that to him, not as much as before at least . They stood quietly staring at each other like in some silent fight, neither was cutting the other some slack but in the end, and to her surprise, he scoffed and gave up.
- Ok darling, you won, not the shiniest gold medal you could get since I was about to tell you the news anyways but feel free to be proud about it .
At that point she couldn't hide it as much as she wanted but she was proud indeed, beat him at his own game. Aelin crossed her arms and leaned back on her chair trying to maintain her composure as a serious person, her lips failed her lamentable by rising cheekily . He noticed and laughed it off .
- So, the bad news is that I found out why we are being targeted . Apparently the man I killed was an important politician who was actually not meant to be in this country in the first place . His name was Joseph DeMara, he was imprisoned for slavery and human trafficking in some Alcatraz-shit-like prison for 10 years .
- And what's that supposed to do with us ?
She couldn't follow the lead so he started speaking again noticing the dumbfounded look on her face .
- He was not imprisoned only because he was guilty but because he was meant to be taken down and replaced . For 10 years someone was taking advantage of this guy's downfall and early this year Joseph managed to escape . I was contacted by my client to hunt him down and kill him . I did it , job's done , so why am I being targeted ? Why are we being targeted ?
- I really do not follow .
- Lazy brain!
- Drama queen ! Spill it up !
- Ok, ok, stop nagging me . So I did some more digging after I found this out and it seems that there are some powerful men out there ready to pay for his head, be it dead or alive, so was my client . I'm saying was because he is now dead , dead like all the guys that ever knew about Joseph being in the US, including my brother , all of them dead , except for 2 people .
She gulped down taking in all he just said, the pieces were put together like a puzzle .
- Us, the surviving ones are you and me .
She was astonished and terrified .
- And that is , my dear partner in crime, the reason why we are being hunted . We are witnesses to something that shouldn't cross the borders of this country .
He laughed yet again with that sinister expression of his plastered on his face.
- Which brings me to my good news . We're going on vacation Mercer !
- WHAT?
She stood up the same time he did but she couldn't move forward after him.
- Cheer up, we're going to Cuba , smoke some cigars and hunt down the guy that bombed my house . It's going to be fun , trust me !
He got out of the room and left her in complete awe, he was crazy , the kind that needs to be locked away. But she knew that it was better being alive with him in Cuba than dead and alone in the US , or at least that's how she hoped the things were like .