Leticia (19 page)

“Stop
,
” he almost whispered
.
“I don’t want them to take you
.
Stay with me...with us
...
let’s do this together
.
”

“I...”

“Please
.
”

“Why?”

“Because...” he breathed
.

“
Because
?”

“
We
look after our own
,
” he said as he moved away from me slightly, his tone becoming cooler again
.
“That’s how it is
.
”

“You know, for
a minute
there
I thought you
might have
give
n
me a better answer than that”

“Like what?”

“LETICIA
!
” I heard Nancy shout
.
“COME BACK INSIDE
!
”

I looked at Jackson again for a moment but his face was unreadable, expressionless, his eyes cold. I shook my head and walked away from him. Nancy led me into the study and shut the door behind us.

“Don’t you dare leave me
,
” she shot
.
“I understand we’ve not know
n
each other long, but I really like you
.
We
get on well
and
I want to keep my friend. Tristan likes you, and Jackson, well, he’s besotted with you
.
I know he comes over as being a jerk and I guess in a way he
is
one, but he
won’t
always be. He desperately wants you to stay with us Tish and
...
”

“I will, I will, just chill out
.
”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah
.
”

“Promise me
.
”

“I promise
.
”

She seemed to get all excited and hugged me tight.
“I know we’ve got a bit of crap going on now but once
it’s
over and done with
and
we win
;
we
can have a good life, the four of us
.
”

“I know, I’d like that
.
”

She took my hand and led me into the living room, Tristan was reading the local paper, Jackson was stood looking out of the window.

“She’s staying
,
” Nancy announced
.
“
And
she promised
.
”

“I should think so lady
,
” Tristan smiled at me
.
“You made the right choice
.
”

“I hope so
,
” I sighed
.

Jackson didn't speak, but as soon as Nancy said I was staying he turned to look at me so
fast
I’m surprised he didn't fall
over
.

“What changed your mind?” Tristan asked
.
“If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Her
,
” I replied, pointing and smiling at Nancy
.
“
Besides
, I might as well stick around and piss
him
off a little more
.
” I laughed, referring to Jackson
.

Again he didn't speak
.
I did see him smirk before he turned his attention back to looking out of the window.

“What are you looking at Jackson?” Nancy asked him
.

“I’ve seen four of the little bastards up to now,
they’re
photographing the house
.
”

“What!”

“Leave them to it love
,
” Tristan told her
.
“Let them think we have no idea what they’re doing
.
Let
them think we’re oblivious to it
.
”

“Why?”

“Trust me
.
”

“They’ve split up
,
” Jackson informed
us. “
Two of them are near the front
gate;
the other two are in the bushes next to the cars
.
”

“Do you get the pleasure or do I?” Tristan asked him
.

“I’ll take this one
.
”
He walked out of the room, a grin appearing on his face.

“
What’s he doing?” I asked.

Nancy looked at me clueless.

“You’ll see, now one of you stand near the window, just act normal, talk away, this won’t take him long
; he’s good I’ll give him that,
” Tristan smiled to himself
.

I didn't want to risk Nancy getting hurt so I took position in front of the window, I stood with my back to it leaning against the ledge. I desperately wanted to turn around, to see these guys for myself, but Tristan warned me against. I could hear a bit of a commotion going on in the room above us. Like chairs being dragged across the floor, then the sound of the window sliding up and open. I started to get fidgety, what was he doing?

The next minute I heard a man shouting,
he was warning his friends that one of them had been shot.
I turned around quickly, just in time to see him run out from the bus
h
es. H
owever, h
e didn't get very far, not two seconds later he hit the
ground
. From the way he fell, I guessed he had been shot in the back. The other two men were now trying desperately to get away, taking cover between the cars parked
in
the driveway.  They waited until they thought the coast was clear, but as soon as they came back into view, they were dead.

Jackson came back into the living room a few minutes later.

“Not bad mate
,
no
t
bad at all
,
” Tristan smirked at him
.

“Thanks
.
”

“I didn't even hear a gun fire
,
” I said
.

“Good, you
weren’t
supposed to
.
”

“You and your collection of
toys
,
” Nancy
shook
her head
.

“Th
ose
toys
come in useful
,
” Jackson told her
.

“What are you going to do with the men?” I asked
.

“I’ll bury them
,
” Tristan said, before stretching and standing
.
“
It
won’t take me five minutes
.
”
A split second later he was gone.

“I’ll go and start tea
,
” Nancy sighed as she walked out of the room
.

I was about to follow her when Jackson spoke.

“So
you’re
staying for good then
?
”

“Yeah, as long as it’s still
OK
with
you
of course
,
” I answered
.

“Sure, no problem
.
”

“Speaking of problems, what’s yours?”

“I wasn’t aware I had one
.
”

“
And
you said you’d talk to me today
.
”

“Did I? About what?”

“
O
h you know what
?
Just
forget it, I give up
.
I’m sick of trying to be nice
to
you when you just blow me off or turn into a dick
,
” I blasted,
turning to
walk out of the room
.

“I’m sorry
.
”

“So am I
.
” I didn't look at
him;
I just carried on walking away.

“Leticia wait
.”

“I don’t think so
.
”

I admit it killed me to be so ignorant, to just continue to walk off. He’s a jerk, I get that, he’s cold, moody, arrogant, but I liked him and that annoyed me. I wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t.

I’d got
ten
as far as the hallway when he grabbed my arm and dragged me into the study, locking the door behind us.

“What do you want?” I asked
.

“You need to have a bit of patience with me
.
”

“Why?”

“You have no idea what I went through, what happened, how much it hurt
.
”

“What?” I asked confused
.

“
And
you have no idea how hard it is to talk about it. I
can’t
even think about it without getting annoyed
.
”

“Look I get it, you’ve had problem
s
, well so have I. The man I loved tried to kill me, left me for dead. I spent years on my own with only animals for company, I lost all my family, my friends, my entire life, and now it’s happening again. But I do
n’t take it out on you do I? I
don’t blow hot and cold with you, nice one minute and then a bastard the next...”

“I know
,
” he sighed
.
“I know
.
”

“Then stop doing it with me, and until you
can
don’t bother speaking to me
.
”
I
turned to leave
but he blocked my exit.
“Jackson move
,
” I almost shouted
.

“I’m
sorry;
I don’t want us to be like this
.
”

“Neither do
I but...”

“Not long after it happened
I seemed to change, I put this titanium wall up around me that nobody could get through. Up until meeting you, the wall stood strong... but you, it’s like... it’s like you’ve weakened it, I try my damnedest to keep it up but I can’t... not all the time
.
”

“Look, if you’re not going to tell me what’s gone on then just move, because I don’t understand and can’t pretend to
.
”

“I will tell you
.
”

“When?”

“We normally go out for a walk one night a week to Winscar
Reservoir;
it’s not t
o
o far away. I think we’re going tonight, come with me
and
I’ll tell you
.
”

“I’ll think about it
.
”

“Please Leticia, I promise
I’ll
tell you
and
won’t
be cold with you
.
”

“Like I said, I’ll think about it
.
”

He didn't respond he just nodded and moved out of my way so I could leave the room. I felt awful not
saying
‘I’ll
come’
but by the same rule, why the hell should I be so nice with him when his mood
s
towards me change
d
faster than the wind changes direction
?

I went to join Nancy in the kitchen.

“Has your brother
always
been a jerk?
Tell me the
truth
,
” I
groaned.