Cupid’s Bullet
By Hazel B. West
(Plot Twist: Love at first sight—but they’re a killer)
“Large mocha, extra espresso.”
Those were
the first words she said to me. I looked up from the register and she was
standing there. It had been a long day, the morning rush was just winding down,
but it was still five hours before I could go home, so it seemed like just another
slog through the Slough of Despond. Don’t get me wrong, coffee is great, but
catering to mostly hipsters all day can be a drag.
That’s why
she was a breath of fresh air.
“And extra
hot,” she said. “None of that tepid coffee. I won’t sue.”
I grinned
despite myself. “Well, it’s no skin off my nose either way,” I told her and
cashed her out. “Can I get a name?”
She smiled
but said nothing, only moved on as if she hadn’t heard me. I watched her go
over to a table, setting down her laptop bag and setting up, forgetting what I
was doing until a soccer mom made a rude comment under her breath and my
coworker stomped on my foot.
“Dude,
you’re drooling!” he hissed, and I snapped back to myself, embarrassed.
To this
day, I have no idea what attracted me so suddenly to her. Maybe it was because
I could somehow tell that she was going to be the one to save my life.
Or ruin it,
depending on how you liked to look at it.
I took the
soccer mom’s order, and she didn’t tip, obviously, just gave me a dirty look
and walked her yoga-panted butt over to plant in front of the pick up counter.
“Here,”
Jordan the barista said, handing me the large mocha. “You should call her over.
I took the liberty of writing your number on the cup.”
“Dude,” I
moaned, blushing, but I took the cup, and went over to the pickup counter,
glancing in her direction. “Hey, mysterious girl, your coffee’s ready.”
A small
smile quirked her mouth as she stood up, and came over to the counter,
practically shoving past soccer mom who gave her a dirty look too, and took the
coffee from me, at the same time slipping a ten into my hand.
“Thanks,”
she said.
“You
haven’t even tasted it yet,” I protested.
“I know
it’s good,” she said, her eyes glinting behind her glasses. “If it’s not, I’ll
kill you. I have your number after all. It’s not that hard to track a phone’s
GPS, so I’ll be able to find you.”
I chuckled
and stared after her again as she sat back down at the tiny corner table and
began typing furiously on the laptop.
I was
confused. I had never believed in pure, honest instant chemistry, but now I was
converted. How else could I explain it? After all, it wasn’t that she was
extremely hot, in fact she was kind of ordinary. Brunet, nondescript clothes,
grey eyes, and glasses that were neither nerdy nor hipster. Even her computer
was in a plain black skin; of course anyone could obviously tell it was an
Apple.
“What’s her
name?” Jordan asked, and I jumped, not having heard him come up behind me to
drop off the angry soccer mom’s half-caff, soy latté.
“I don’t
know,” I said.
“You didn’t
ask her?” he groaned, slapping me in the shoulder. “How have I taught you
nothing? Okay, if you don’t ask her before she leaves, then I get that tip of
yours. I made the coffee after all.”
I snorted.
“Fine.” I could talk to girls.
I grabbed a
cloth and a bottle of disinfectant and went out with the pretense of cleaning
off tables.
My mystery
girl was staring intently at the computer, fingers still flying over the keys.
I steeled myself, looked back at Jordan who was giving me a thumbs up, and
stepped over to the table next to her, wiping it off.
“So, uh, you
in collage or something?” I asked. “Midterms?”
She barely
glanced at me. “No. You just have good wi-fi here.”
“Oh,” I was
falling fast. Instead I panicked. “I’m Wesley.”
“I know—it’s
on your nametag.”
Okay, so
this wasn’t going anywhere. “Typically it’s considered good manners to tell
someone your name when they tell you theirs so they are not left at a
disadvantage.”
“Is it?”
she asked, quirking an eyebrow. “I’m not really good at manners.”
“I can see
that,” I muttered, stepping closer. “You writing a novel here…oh.”
She closed
her laptop but not before I saw a black screen with a lot of green text—the
kind you see in spy movies. The kind I’m also pretty sure hackers use.
She gave me
a thin smile. “Is it customary to harass the customers?”
“Sorry,” I
said, and retreated, my mind whirring. I realized I had no idea what to think
now. Maybe she was a spy; that would explain her being so tightlipped. Either
that or she was just making me feel even more like a fool than I already did
for bothering her. I never should have bothered her, it was stupid.
And yet, I
still couldn’t keep me eyes off her for the whole time she was there. She was
still there when I left for my shift, but as soon as I was climbing into my
car, I saw her exit the café, her laptop bag slung over her shoulder as she
crossed to a little 1970s dark blue Beetle. She was on the phone now, and she
stopped before she got into the car, talking for a few more seconds, and
nodding before she simply turned the phone off, threw it into a trash can and
then got into the car and drove away.
Okay, she
was totally a spy. A really cute spy.
For a very,
very brief moment, I thought about following her, but decided I wanted to live,
so instead, I just tried not to be weirded out and made my way home. After all,
there was probably some very normal explanation for all this. Maybe she was
working on code for her company. Maybe she had a boyfriend and she had been so
angry talking to him on the phone that she had thrown it away afterward. You
never know.
Of course,
you never know how many spies you come across every day either. After all, the
only reason you don’t is because their whole thing is kind of keeping hidden.
I however,
did not need this right now. I had to concentrate on making rent and keeping
the student debts at bay. Why else was I spending most of my free time making
coffee for hipsters and soccer moms?
If I hadn’t
been so distracted, I may have noticed the car following me on the way home.
But of course I didn’t. I was too busy thinking about this mystery girl who had
completely ruined everything now.
Home was a
tiny apartment that wasn’t much, but it was the cheapest I could find and that
was good. And I had room for my movies and books and comics, and a kitchen and
plumbing that worked most of the time so it wasn’t that bad. I parked on the
street, mooshing my car into a passable parallel park and hopped out to head to
my apartment.
I should
probably have been studying, I had a test in two days, and an essay I had to
write, but as I sat down, I found that I just couldn’t concentrate on anything.
All I could think of was that girl! She was going to drive me crazy!
Eventually
I just gave up. My stomach was grumbling, and I knew that I couldn’t have done
any more work even if I tried. Not with my head muddled by my mysterious spy
girl and hunger at the same time.
There was a
Chinese place right down the street, which was where I usually went for dinner
when I was too lazy to go shopping—and considering the fact that all I had in
my kitchen right now was orange juice, individual cheese slices, coffee, and
some various condiments, I really should make my way to the store sooner rather
than later.
I grabbed
my wallet and my favorite hoodie, knowing it would be a little chilly out now
that the sun was down, and headed out.
The city
was always bustling this time of night, people going out for dinner or coming
home from work. With the collage nearby, there were always a plethora of young
people, even on weeknights, and I saw a few people I recognized just as I was
heading to the Chinese place.
Just as I
reached the door, though, I had the weirdest sensation that someone was
watching me. I spun around and caught sight of some big dude across the street
giving me the eye. I wrinkled my nose, wondering what his problem was. He
looked like some thug and I had the weirdest sense of something ominous. I
shuddered to myself, remembering how just last week I had seen…well, a lot of
things happen in the city, and sadly some of them are pretty horrible. I didn’t
want to remember it.
I swiftly
turned and pushed my way into the Chinese place. There were only a couple
people there ahead of me, but the owner, a small Chinese man waved and called
to me.
“Hey,
Wesley! You want usual tonight?”
“Yeah,
thanks Mr. Wu,” I said with a smile.
“It will be
up soon!”
I hung back
and checked my phone, seeing a text from Jordan asking if I had ever asked the
mystery girl’s name and wondering if I was still coming over for video games
tomorrow. I rolled my eyes and ignored him. I don’t know if I wanted to know
her name. Anyway, whatever she told me, it probably wouldn’t be true anyway.
Not if she was a spy.
“Here,
Wesley!” Mr. Wu called, handing me the bag with my takeout.
“Thanks,” I
said, handing him the money and turning to leave. The smell of the food acted
like a restorative, and also reminded me how hungry I was.
I stepped
out on the street, planning on booting up Netflix as soon as I got home and
trying to veg to get my mind off everything else.
But as soon
as I got onto the street, that guy I had seen earlier was right there, standing
a block away from the Chinese shop and still staring at me!
I tried not
to look at him, turning swiftly to head back toward my apartment, planning to
cross farther down. I took one cautious look back over my shoulder, and saw
that guy walking after me, slowly, but with intent.
“Crap,” I
muttered under my breath. What was this all about? Why were these guys
following me?
I glanced
toward my apartment complex, looking to see if I could somehow dash across the
street and lose the guy among the traffic, but then I saw another guy over there, standing outside my apartment building!
“Crap!” I
said louder. What was I going to do now? Why was I being followed? I had no
idea what was going on and it was going to drive me nuts!
Actually,
who was I kidding? It was going to kill me. They
were going to kill me!
I let out a
very unmanly shriek as a hand clutched around my wrist and yanked me through
the door to a small bakery I was passing. With shock, I looked over, planning
to go down with a fight if nothing else, but I was struck still as I saw my
mystery spy girl.
“Come.
Now,” she said firmly, and dragged me straight through to the back of the
store, behind the counter and through the kitchen before I could protest.
She pushed
out the back door and continued to drag me through the back ally. That was when
I finally got my senses back and I dug my heels in.
“Wait,
wait, hold on just a second,” I said firmly, and she stopped, giving me a
longsuffering look. “What the…what is going on?”
She huffed
an impatient breath. “Long story short, you saw something you shouldn’t have,
and now you have a target on your back. I’m here to save your life. You’re
welcome.”
“Whoa, hold
on—target on my back?” I demanded.
“Like, those guys are actually going to kill me?”
She looked
at me like I was an idiot. “Yes.”
“But, why?
What did I see? And why are you the one who is saving me?”
“You ask
too many questions,” she growled, glancing up and down the street before she
grabbed my arm again.
“I don’t
even know your name!” I cried in desperation as I stumbled along. I had the
thought that I must look utterly ridiculous with my Captain America hoodie and
bag of Chinese food dangling from my arm still as I was being dragged along by
some mystery spy girl who was supposedly ‘saving’ me.
“Really,
we’re going there again?” she asked with a huff. “Fine, I’m Kate. Happy? Now
can I save your life?”
I didn’t
say anything. Kate. Okay, well, at least if nothing else we were somewhat acquainted
now.
That was
when she cursed, and hauled me to a stop around a corner.
“What—” I
tried, but she shoved a hand over my mouth and shoved me back against the wall.
“Stay
still,” she said and before I knew what she was doing, she was pulling a freaking
gun, with a silencer, out of the back of her jeans.
“Holy…is
that a gun?” I shrieked, as she spun around the corner and there were two
whipping shots and the grunt and thud of a heavy body.
Kate spun
back around to me and grabbed hold of my hand. “Hope you can run, because we’re
going to need to move fast now.”
I didn’t
have time to reply, as she was already breaking into a full on sprint and
hauling me behind her down the alley.
There was a
car parked at the end of it, and she opened the door and shoved me toward it.
“In,” she
commanded and dashed around the other side to the driver’s seat. Keys were in
her hand and she turned the car on swiftly.
I glanced
out the window and saw a dark figure running down the alley toward us.
“Kate!” I
cried, pointing.
“Duck,” she
said and I folded in half, hands over my head as she raised the gun and shot
through the window into the guy coming at us.
Glass
rained down on me and I nearly slammed my head against the dashboard as she
gunned the car down the street.
I couldn’t
believe this was happening. What even was
happening? Because, honestly, at that moment, I didn’t really know.
“Hold on,”
Kate said and suddenly the whole car screeched around in a 180 and I looked
over to see Kate leaning out the window with her gun. Several more shots and a
car that had been racing towards up came to an abrupt halt, two tires blown and
the engine block smoking.
Kate then
revered the car down the street at an alarming pace and then turned down
another side road and was off to the blaring of several horns.
It was only
when the car screeched to a halt that I realized I was still cowering down in
the seat, practically in the footwell of the car. I heard Kate’s door close and
then I nearly jumped out of my skin as mine flew open.
“Come on,
quick,” Kate said, grabbing my arm and hauling me out of the car.
She dragged
me into an old parking garage from an abandoned apartment building. She headed straight
for a stairwell, but as soon as we got inside I stopped, yanking away from her
grip.
“What is
going on?” I demanded, trying to catch my breath and having a difficult time of
it. “You just…You just killed those guys!”
“Yeah, and
they would have done that, and worse to you,” she said.
“Worse?” I
demanded. “Who does that? What did I do?!”
She rolled
her eyes and grabbed my shoulder, shoving me onto the foot of the stairs and
forcing my head between my knees. “Breathe,” she said in a measured voice.
I tried to
focus on not passing out, staring at my shoes and breathing deeply.
She waited
patiently but finally gripped my shoulder again. “You good now?”
No, I
wanted to say, but I nodded instead and allowed her to pull me up. I followed
her up the stairs. Several flights up, we made it to the place that connected
to the apartment building and Kate led the way down a deserted hallway and into
a room at the end of the hall.
I looked
around as she ushered me inside. It was bare, nothing but a sleeping bag on the
floor, several cases and a card table set up with a power supply and a
computer.
Kate went
over to one of the cases and flipped it open and my mouth went dry as I saw
multiple guns settled inside.
“Okay, this
is ridiculous,” I said. “Why is this happening? Why do those guys want to kill
me? I’m just a student! I have a crappy apartment and a worse job, I haven’t
done anything to anyone!”
“No, I know
you haven’t,” she said, expertly slamming a clip into the gun she was holding
before she glanced over to me. “Does the name Stephanie Alans mean anything to
you?”
My heart suddenly
clenched in my chest. “I…that wasn’t me…”
“But you
were there,” Kate said. “You were a witness.”
I closed my
eyes, turning to the side as I pressed my palm to my face. Yeah, I had been
there. It had been late, I’d been walking to my car when I heard screaming. I
had run to see what was going on, just in time to see a guy smash a girl’s head
into the wall of a back ally. Then when he’d seen me, he ran. I’d tried to help
the girl, stayed with her until an ambulance had gotten there, but it had already
been too late. I’d given my statement to the police and the last I had heard
they knew who did it. I had just assumed they had found the guy and put him in
custody. I was preparing to be a witness if needed.
“Okay,
but…I don’t get it, who would want to kill me for that?”
Kate
sighed. “The guy who killed that girl was the son of a rich drug lord—except no
one is supposed to know he’s a drug lord. Long story short, he’s not going to
let his son go down when the police only have the partial description you gave
to go on. So instead of risking you going into court to testify and point out
his boy, they’d rather take you out and be done with the problem all together.”
I felt
sick. How could I have gotten wrapped up in all of this? How was this possible?
My chest was tight, but I forced myself not to have anther panic attack.
“Okay,
oaky, so I get that they would want to kill me for that. But I don’t get you.
Who are you? Undercover cop?”
Kate
snorted. “Not quite.”
“And you
killed those guys!”
“Yeah, that’s
what I do,” she said simply, shrugging.
My eyes
blew wide as understanding finally entered my muddled brain. “Wait, hold on,
you’re a hitman—er—woman?” I demanded.
“Sure, you
can call it that,” she said, tucking the gun into the back of her jeans. I suddenly felt cold. I began backing
toward the door. “Wait. They didn’t hire you
to kill me, did they?”
Kate rolled
her eyes and came over, grabbing my hand and sitting me down against the wall
as she sat next to me. “No Wesley, I’m not here to kill you. Look, yes, I am a
hitman, but I’m the good guy here. See, first and foremost, I’m a hacker.” I
glanced at her computer system and nodded jerkily. “My job is to go after the
hitters that go after people like you, who don’t deserve to be killed. Normal civilians
who may have done something to seriously tick off important baddies, or others
who witness things they shouldn’t.” She snorted. “It happens more than you
would expect.”
I ran a
hand over my face. “Okay, but, what I am going to do now? I mean, how do we fix
this?”
“We don’t,”
Kate said firmly. “We wait to take out the rest of the men that were sent after
you and then we get you out of the country.”
I balked.
“What? I can’t leave the county! I have a life here! School, a job…”
“You won’t
have a life here if you stay very much longer, trust me,” Kate said, then stood
again, going over to the window. She cursed under her breath.
“They’re
here. You need to lie low in this room until I take them out.”
“What? No
way!” I said, getting to my feet.
She cocked
an eyebrow. “I’m not just going to dangle you in front of them. Tempting fate
is never a solid plan.”
“Well, I
don’t want to stay here like a sitting duck!” I cried.
The window
shattered and Kate flattened herself to the floor as a figure dressed in black
hurtled through the window.
“Gun!” I
screamed, jumping to the side as bullets hit the wall directly where I had been
standing.
Kate swept
the man’s legs out from under him and leapt to her feet, kicking him in the
face. The man grunted, but grabbed her ankle as she went for another kick and
twisted, throwing her to the ground.
“Kate!” I
shouted and scrambled to my feet, rushing to help when the man pointed his gun
at me again.
Kate
grabbed his arm and yanked it to the side just as he shot off several rounds,
then slammed his wrist over her knee. The man grunted and lost the grip on his
gun, then slammed his fist into the side of Kate’s head. She went down, and the
man sneered, standing over her and reaching for his dropped gun.
I acted out
of instinct. Kate’s gun had slipped from her belt during the fight and was
lying among the shattered glass on the floor. Without thinking about what I was
doing I leapt forward, snatched it up and shot at the man.
He looked
shocked as holes appeared in his chest and he slumped to the ground.
Kate was up
instantly, kicking his gun away from his hand before she spun around toward me
with shock.
“How…?”
I shrugged,
breathing heavily. “I play a lot of Call of Duty,” I said lamely.
I was even
more shocked when she suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the back of my head and
pulled me down into a kiss. I blinked dazedly as she pulled away, retrieving
the gun from my hand.
“I knew you
were worth saving,” she said, a small smile on her lips, before she looked past
my shoulder, and spun me around behind her as the door was kicked in.
The man
didn’t get far. Kate took him out in an instant, but there was the sound of
more running footsteps on the way.
“We need to
go now,” she said and turned to shoot the computer system then snatched the
baddie’s gun, shoving it into my hands before she grabbed her gun case. She
turned back to me and held out her hand. “Come with me if you want to live,”
she said.
I grinned,
all of a sudden giddy, and took her hand.
She tugged
me out the door and down the hall toward the back of the apartment building.
There was a shout behind us and Kate spun around to take out the hitman coming
up at our backs. Ahead, in the stairwell, another guy popped out and I
instinctively aimed and shot. Kate clutched my hand tighter with encouragement
and yanked me toward another room.
This one
was near a fire exit and she shot out the window.
“Go,” she
said, shoving me in the back as a figure burst into the room behind us. He shot
instantly, but was wide. I gasped as it whipped right by my head. A second one
grazed my upper arm, cutting through the layers of shirts and making me cry out
suddenly.
But Kate
was already leveling her gun and squeezing off several shots herself. The guy
went down with a grunt.
The place
was quiet.
“That was
all of them?” I asked, clutching my arm.
“For now,”
she said. “Long enough for us to get out of here anyway.” She swung herself
over the windowsill, and grabbed my hand again. We hurried down the fire
escape.
“How’s the
arm?” she asked.
“I’ll
live,” I told her. I didn’t think I would bleed out from it anyway, though it
really hurt.
Once we got
back to the street sounds of sirens could be heard in the distance. I didn’t
know whether they were there for us or not, but it was probably best to be on
the safe side.
“Here,”
Kate said and pulled me in the direction of a classic blue beetle, the one I
had seen her in earlier.
“It’s very
you, you know,” I told her as I saw the car.
She grinned
and put the gun case in the backseat. “Thank you.”
I climbed
in and suddenly felt bewildered. I had no idea what was going to happen now.
“So what
now?” I asked. “I mean, I guess I can’t go back home.”
“Switzerland
is nice this time of year,” Kate said.
My eyes
blew wide. “Switzerland?”
She blinked
and I realized she wasn’t joking.
I swallowed
hard. Somehow my life had changed drastically in the matter of twelve hours,
and not only because some mob boss had wanted me dead.
“Okay,” I
said slowly. “But only if you come with me.”
She smiled
softly and nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
I reached
over and caught her hand. “I love you,” I said simply.
“I know,”
she replied and we leaned in for another kiss.
And then
she started the car and we were on our way to a brand new adventure.
Copyright
2018 by Hazel B. West
