A/N: Sorry about my last chapter's cliffie, everyone. But I have chapter nine all ready to go, so no harm done, right? ...Right!? I know, it was still inexcusable. Before we start, I'd like to reply to some of your reviews. Emphasis on the word "some", because there were so many! Thank you!
jepa: What a coincidence! You like Coleridge too? He's my second favorite poet, after (how generic of me) Edgar Allen Poe. As to your insights on Rhodes and Bridges' relationship, my aren't you observant! I was just thinking, hmm, I wonder how Rhodes would react if Bridges got a boyfriend. Lucky for him I'm not planning anything like that.
March Hare: As always, thank you for your excellent suggestions! It's always nice when an author's beta reader is a better writer than herself, because she can only improve!
QueenofSpain: Thank you ever so much for the cookie! *crumbs fly everywhere* Don't worry about making me so mad that I'd stop writing. I've got at least two more stories planned after this one, so don't expect me to go away any time soon.
Jekyll's Affliction: You know, I'm not sure why authors love to torment Holmes, either. I think it's because we're addicted to angst. And since we all love Holmes, we always like reading stories where he's in a dilemma, because it pulls at our heart strings.
RosieG: You check for my updates twice a day!? Wow, I'm flattered! But I'm sorry, you can't take Rhodes home with you. Then who would Bridges have?
shfanatic: *wipes cherry tomato seeds off face* Whew! I'm glad you went easy on me!
Lady Arianna: I *have* read all the Mary Russell stories, since you ask. And if you saw "Case of Evil" on USA, perhaps you'll agree with me and a few others that they totally copied "A Monstrous Regiment of Women" with the whole heroin thing. It was similar enough to warrant suspicion.
Rosethorn: Well, I won't inflict any more cliffhangers on you, but about the snogging... I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the next story. Along with a scene I know March Hare is dying to read. Which won't be long! Just hang in there!
Okay, I think that's it! On to chapter nine!
Disclaimer: I think it's long been established that nothing interesting I do is of my own originality. Maybe Rhodes and Bridges were my idea, but the rest... you have Sir Doyle to thank for that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A Perfect World
a Sherlock Holmes pastiche
by Wakizashi
Chapter Nine: For Us to Decide
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thomas Hu, trembling with anger, shook his head at me again, as if disgusted with me. How did he know? How *could* he know? Neither Rhodes nor I had done anything which would lead him to suspect us. Had we? Had we not been careful enough?
Evidently not.
My gaze caught Rhodes' for a split-second, and I could see by his expression of self-condemnation that he had reached the same conclusion: somehow, we had become sloppy.
"Don't think I couldn't see through that disguise, Nadia," Hu said, his grip on the pistol firm despite his shaking, "I can't believe I didn't put it together sooner. For God's sake, I must have seen your Mr. Rhodes walk you home from my class at least three times."
"I see you know my name," my companion noted, in a less than casual voice. He was certainly having trouble hiding his surprise.
In answer, Hu reached into his coat pocket with his left hand, his gun never straying from its position in front of my chest. He pulled out a crumpled scrap of newsprint; an article torn from a recent newspaper. Turning it around, he held it up for the both of us to see. "'Dismembered Body Found'," he read aloud from the headline. His voice was unnervingly calm and detached. "'Murder Investigation Led by Victim's Private Investigator, Ethan Rhodes'."
Tucking the article back in his pocket, he smiled a little, twitchy, disconcerting smile. "I'm sure you think you're still just a small-time detective, Mr. Rhodes," he said, amused. "But how you could miss your own name in the Sunday paper is really beyond me."
Rhodes' lips pursed in displeasure at this criticism. "I did not miss it, Mr. Hu," he corrected him, low and intimidating. "And I had not expected my picture to be printed in the issue along with it. In fact, I had specifically requested otherwise."
"How unfortunate," Hu replied coolly, narrowing his dark, almond eyes. "But as it turned out, I had this article to thank for figuring out you had targeted me. And I'm sure you know by now, it's the reason I cancelled class tonight. I had to be certain you would follow me. And I was right."
I lowered my gaze to the ground. We had both been complete idiots. I had let Rhodes walk me home from massage class, allowing Hu plain sight of the very man who was seeking to put him behind bars. But I hadn't known. I had had no idea whatsoever that my teacher had taken another man's life, and so cruelly. And how could Rhodes have expected to know that his main suspect was my own instructor? There was no way we could have pieced it together.
But Hu *had* figured out that Rhodes and I were in league together. He had always been ahead of us. And now he was holding all the cards.
"I have to say, I'm disappointed in you, Nadia," he told me quite frankly.
*Yeah,* I thought, *you're not the only one.*
"You were a promising student," he continued. "A very promising student. I imagine you could have done great things for people. But instead, you chose to take sides with *this* fool - take up the life of a detective." He no longer sounded collected, but hard and bitter. "You and I both know there's no future in such a career. You spend your life trying to right wrongs and bring justice to a crumbling system, but you can never make a difference. There will always be crime, and injustice, and death. And in the end, the injustice you fought so hard against will be your own undoing." He smirked cruelly. "Like it has now."
Rage began to simmer inside me. I knew it was hopeless; that we were probably going to die tonight. But to hear all this pessimistic talk about nothing good in this world being worth a damn - the very same kind of talk I had told Rhodes never to listen to - to hear it being uttered by the man who was about to kill me... It was the greatest injustice of all.
"Why?" I heard myself whisper.
Hu blinked. "Why, Nadia? Why what, Nadia?" His repetitive use of my name was beyond annoying.
"Why... are you so callous? Why does the fact that a man is *dead* not matter to you?" My voice was getting stronger, fueled by my burning anger. "Why did you kill Martin Chan in the first place? *Why* did you think that what he did to Janet Fong was reason enough to die!?"
"Don't you *ever* say that name again!!" he shouted. Rhodes began to take a step forward, torn between the importance of my safety and the danger of Hu's gun. Hu was instantly aware of what he was doing, and swung the muzzle toward him. "I wouldn't try any fancy moves, Mr. Rhodes," he threatened. "You take one more step and you'll have the privilege of watching Nadia bleed to death."
Rhodes backed off as he was told, but his green eyes flashed dangerously. I had never seen Ethan Rhodes lose his temper, but I had a feeling it wasn't pretty.
Hu chuckled as his gun trained on me once again. "You're good, Nadia, I will give you that," he said with a touch of what could almost be considered admiration. "You managed to take me by surprise long enough to let your guardian angel try to protect you. It almost worked, Nadia."
"You didn't answer my question, *Thomas*," I shot back, irritated. We were flinging our names at each other like insults. "Why did you feel Chan deserved to die?"
"I don't recall anyone saying I was under interrogation here, Nadia." He glared furiously at me, and for a moment I thought it was all over. "But I suppose since this will be your last night on Earth, I'll indulge you."
I let out a breath of relief, and behind me I could feel, rather than see, Rhodes relax slightly.
"I'm surprised by how much you know, Nadia," Hu began. "But you don't even know half of the story. For example, you think that Martin Chan was just a fool in love, trying to get out of the Triads to protect his new wife. What you didn't find out in your investigation was that Chan was a con artist."
My eyes widened in surprise. I looked back quickly at Rhodes, and his dark eyebrows drew together. This was new to him as well.
"You seem surprised, Nadia. But the sad truth is, Chan was an extortioner, as simple as that. He conned various members of the Triads out of thousands of dollars, including me. And he knew, sooner or later, that we would figure out it was him. So he left, taking his unwilling bride with him.
"Yes, unwilling. Janet never loved him; she and I had been dating for months. But Chan had always been jealous, and did a poor job concealing it. Finally he told Janet he would kill me if she didn't marry him." His teeth clenched, and his voice became unsteady. "When she told me, I said I'd rather be dead than see her married to him, but... but she couldn't let anything happen to me. So she married him. A week later, they took off."
Despite all the anger and disgust I felt for the man, I couldn't help but feel pity as well. The woman he had loved so intensely had been torn from him, to marry a man he despised. I could understand why he felt such injustice, but to kill him? In such a gruesome fashion? That was far too drastic a decision.
"I didn't hear anything from her in years, and then one day she sent me a letter, with no return address. Her life was miserable, she said. Chan abused her, verbally and physically. He was a drunkard, and a chain-smoker, and he was slowly but surely killing her. But through all the hell she was put through, she was submissive. She said..." He swallowed, tried again. "She said she had never stopped loving me. She told me to forget about her, to move on. But how could I? *How* could I be expected to forget her when I knew of the endless nightmare that was her life?
"I had to find her. It was hard, since the envelope had no address on it. But it did have one thing to help me find her: a stamp with the California state bird on it. So I went to California, but you can imagine, there are a lot of Chans in this state. It took me years of going through phone books, searching the Internet, and traveling from city to city, without success. But finally I saw an advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle. 'Waterfront Real Estate', it said. 'For information, contact Martin and Mae-Lin Chan.
"Mae-Lin Chan? I thought. Who the hell is this Mae-Lin? Then the truth hit me like a ton of bricks. Janet was dead. Chan finally succeeded in killing her."
I could only imagine the raw hatred Hu must have felt. Years of torment under the iron fist of her abusive husband had killed the woman he loved. I would never condone what he had done, but after that night I had a very different opinion of Martin Chan.
"So I killed him," Hu announced, as if challenging us to rebuke him. "There, you have your confession, Nadia. But am I really in the wrong here? Am I really the criminal? After all, Chan *deserved* to die. Didn't he?"
My eyes couldn't seem to lift themselves up to meet his. "Maybe he did," I said slowly. "And maybe not. But that's not for one person to decide, no matter how much he believes it to be so. No matter *how* much it hurts, or how angry that person might be that everything he loved was taken from him." At last I found the courage to look directly at him. "It wasn't your decision, Thomas. You didn't have the right to play God, and decide who lives and who dies. The decision wasn't yours."
"And what gives *you* the right to tell *me* whether or not it was 'my decision', Nadia?" he asked, his voice high and strained. "Who made *you* judge, jury, and executioner here tonight? You have no business telling me what's right and wrong, Nadia." He narrowed his eyes again, and I could see his finger tightening on the trigger. "You're about to die, Nadia. You've made a vain attempt to try to change my mind with your holier-than-thou attitude, but it's not going to work."
Behind me, Rhodes was as tense as a taut rubber band. But Hu seemingly didn't notice, so focused was he on venting his rage. "I really don't want to kill you, Nadia," he said, sounding truly regretful. "I never did. I'm sorry it had to come to this, and if there was another way, I would let you live. You and your friend." He shook his head resolutely. "But you know too much, and you have to die. Goodbye, Nadia."
With an agonizing slowness, his finger squeezed the trigger.
What they say about your life flashing before your eyes is probably true in most cases. But for me, it was entirely different. I thought of all the things I wanted to do, but would never be able to. I thought of my friends in Olympia, and how they would react when they found out I was dead. I thought of my father; what would he do without his little girl?
I thought of Rhodes. I thought of how hard it would be for him to see me die. Even if he escaped with his life, just how easily could he return to his lonely existence?
All this went through my mind in a fraction of a second. I watched helplessly as Hu pulled the trigger, but before I could hear the gunshot that was my death sentence, I was shoved roughly out of the way. With a deafening blast from the gun, Rhodes jerked from the impact of the bullet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A cold sweat broke out all over my body.
In slow motion, Rhodes dropped to his knees, then collapsed on the cold, wet surface of the dock. I watched in horror as a crimson stain spread across the front of his snow-white shirt. One long arm crossed feebly over his chest as he covered the wound with his hand. His pale fingers were quickly soaked in his own blood.
Even as the hot tears spilled down my cheek, I felt an overwhelming desire for vengeance. With an effort, I tore my gaze from Rhodes and looked at Hu, and the smoking gun. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to rip his heart out, so he could experience what I was feeling.
I wanted him to die.
Nearly blind with rage and tears, I lunged at him, trying to snatch the gun out of his hands. Alarmed, he stumbled backward, but I didn't loosen my grip. I saw him squeezing the trigger again, and I pulled up on the barrel. The shot went up harmlessly into the air, but my fingers burned from the discharge.
Not knowing what else to do, I ducked my head under his flailing arm and bit down on his hand. Hard. To my disgust, I heard a crunch, tasted blood in my mouth. Hu yelled in pain, dropping the gun to clutch his injury. It fell, clattering on the damp wood, and I quickly grabbed it before he could think to bend down and reach for it.
Spitting blood out of my mouth in revulsion, I pointed the gun at his head, my aim unwavering. He met my eyes and knew he was done for. His shoulders slumping, he held up his hands in defeat. "You win, Nadia," he said wearily. "Just let it be fast."
The tables were turned now. Instead of me being at the mercy of a killer, his life was now in my hands. Out of nowhere, Hu's words echoed through my head: "Chan deserved to die. Didn't he?"
Fresh tears escaped my burning eyes as I heard my own voice answer him. "You didn't have the right to play God, and decide who lives and who dies. The decision wasn't yours."
I had spoken those words mere minutes ago, and now I was ignoring my own counsel. I was filled with such anger and grief that I just wanted Hu dead; nothing else mattered. Maybe he didn't deserve to live, but maybe there was still some good in him. Either way, it wasn't up to me to make that decision.
"You've done something horrible, Thomas," I said quietly, oddly tranquil as I looked in his defeated black eyes. "You've killed one person and..." Choking back a sob, I continued, "and most likely two. The world would probably be better off if you were dead. But I can't make that call."
He remained silent, but I knew he was listening to every single word. "Maybe there's no point to what I'm doing. Maybe I will never make a difference in this world, as long as it's filled with people like you. I don't know." I had to blink rapidly to dispel my tears. "All I know is that there's enough good in this imperfect world to keep trying."
With a swift motion, I used all my strength to bring the butt of the gun down on his head. It connected with hard bone with a sickening noise, and Hu fell to the wet dock. A low groan escaped him, and he lay still. His black hair shone with blood in the silver moonlight.
Letting out a deep, pent-up breath, I let the gun slip out of my hand.
I frowned as I heard an alarmed voice, and I turned to see a retired, elderly man with gray, grizzled hair standing on the deck of his yacht, by the door to the cabin. Apparently he had heard the gunshots and came out to see what was going on. "What in blazes happened here?" he demanded, confused.
"There's no time to explain," I replied. "Please, just call the police, and get the paramedics down here right away!"
Still frazzled, he shuffled back inside the cabin of his yacht to dial 911.
Kneeling down next to Rhodes, I took off the jacket he had lent to me and wrapped it around him. I gently touched his neck right below his jaw line with my fingertips, feeling for a pulse. It was weak and irregular, but at least it was there. "Rhodes," I said softly. "Rhodes, can you hear me? Answer me, please."
He gave no response, and I suspected he was unconscious. Then his eyelids fluttered open, and he stared up at me. I was distressed to see that his eyes, usually so bright and alert, were now vacant and glossy. His lips moved slightly, and I had to strain to hear him. "Bridges?"
For the millionth time that night, I cried. Rhodes gave me a weak smile, raised his white hand, and caressed the side of my face. I covered it with my own, my shoulders shaking with each sob. In the distance, I could hear police sirens, faint at first and then steadily louder. But I would never get the sound of that first gunshot out of my head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Aaaahhhhhh, God, I wrote all of that in one day. How, you ask? Well, I had nothing better to do. But that was just the first draft. I have March Hare to thank for giving me ideas and suggestions on how to change it for the better. So if you liked it, be sure to thank her for pointing me in the right direction. I know it's kinda short. Sorry about that. But I felt it was the right length for such a tension-filled chapter. And before you start screaming "NO! NOT ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!!" it wasn't *really* a cliffhanger. Because we all know Rhodes will be okay. There's only so much we can take, right? So please leave a review telling me what you thought. 'Preciate it! And be looking for the next chapter soon, in which we see the return of our old friend (ha) Agent Solomon!
Wakizashi
tricksparrow@hotmail.com
jepa: What a coincidence! You like Coleridge too? He's my second favorite poet, after (how generic of me) Edgar Allen Poe. As to your insights on Rhodes and Bridges' relationship, my aren't you observant! I was just thinking, hmm, I wonder how Rhodes would react if Bridges got a boyfriend. Lucky for him I'm not planning anything like that.
March Hare: As always, thank you for your excellent suggestions! It's always nice when an author's beta reader is a better writer than herself, because she can only improve!
QueenofSpain: Thank you ever so much for the cookie! *crumbs fly everywhere* Don't worry about making me so mad that I'd stop writing. I've got at least two more stories planned after this one, so don't expect me to go away any time soon.
Jekyll's Affliction: You know, I'm not sure why authors love to torment Holmes, either. I think it's because we're addicted to angst. And since we all love Holmes, we always like reading stories where he's in a dilemma, because it pulls at our heart strings.
RosieG: You check for my updates twice a day!? Wow, I'm flattered! But I'm sorry, you can't take Rhodes home with you. Then who would Bridges have?
shfanatic: *wipes cherry tomato seeds off face* Whew! I'm glad you went easy on me!
Lady Arianna: I *have* read all the Mary Russell stories, since you ask. And if you saw "Case of Evil" on USA, perhaps you'll agree with me and a few others that they totally copied "A Monstrous Regiment of Women" with the whole heroin thing. It was similar enough to warrant suspicion.
Rosethorn: Well, I won't inflict any more cliffhangers on you, but about the snogging... I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the next story. Along with a scene I know March Hare is dying to read. Which won't be long! Just hang in there!
Okay, I think that's it! On to chapter nine!
Disclaimer: I think it's long been established that nothing interesting I do is of my own originality. Maybe Rhodes and Bridges were my idea, but the rest... you have Sir Doyle to thank for that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A Perfect World
a Sherlock Holmes pastiche
by Wakizashi
Chapter Nine: For Us to Decide
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thomas Hu, trembling with anger, shook his head at me again, as if disgusted with me. How did he know? How *could* he know? Neither Rhodes nor I had done anything which would lead him to suspect us. Had we? Had we not been careful enough?
Evidently not.
My gaze caught Rhodes' for a split-second, and I could see by his expression of self-condemnation that he had reached the same conclusion: somehow, we had become sloppy.
"Don't think I couldn't see through that disguise, Nadia," Hu said, his grip on the pistol firm despite his shaking, "I can't believe I didn't put it together sooner. For God's sake, I must have seen your Mr. Rhodes walk you home from my class at least three times."
"I see you know my name," my companion noted, in a less than casual voice. He was certainly having trouble hiding his surprise.
In answer, Hu reached into his coat pocket with his left hand, his gun never straying from its position in front of my chest. He pulled out a crumpled scrap of newsprint; an article torn from a recent newspaper. Turning it around, he held it up for the both of us to see. "'Dismembered Body Found'," he read aloud from the headline. His voice was unnervingly calm and detached. "'Murder Investigation Led by Victim's Private Investigator, Ethan Rhodes'."
Tucking the article back in his pocket, he smiled a little, twitchy, disconcerting smile. "I'm sure you think you're still just a small-time detective, Mr. Rhodes," he said, amused. "But how you could miss your own name in the Sunday paper is really beyond me."
Rhodes' lips pursed in displeasure at this criticism. "I did not miss it, Mr. Hu," he corrected him, low and intimidating. "And I had not expected my picture to be printed in the issue along with it. In fact, I had specifically requested otherwise."
"How unfortunate," Hu replied coolly, narrowing his dark, almond eyes. "But as it turned out, I had this article to thank for figuring out you had targeted me. And I'm sure you know by now, it's the reason I cancelled class tonight. I had to be certain you would follow me. And I was right."
I lowered my gaze to the ground. We had both been complete idiots. I had let Rhodes walk me home from massage class, allowing Hu plain sight of the very man who was seeking to put him behind bars. But I hadn't known. I had had no idea whatsoever that my teacher had taken another man's life, and so cruelly. And how could Rhodes have expected to know that his main suspect was my own instructor? There was no way we could have pieced it together.
But Hu *had* figured out that Rhodes and I were in league together. He had always been ahead of us. And now he was holding all the cards.
"I have to say, I'm disappointed in you, Nadia," he told me quite frankly.
*Yeah,* I thought, *you're not the only one.*
"You were a promising student," he continued. "A very promising student. I imagine you could have done great things for people. But instead, you chose to take sides with *this* fool - take up the life of a detective." He no longer sounded collected, but hard and bitter. "You and I both know there's no future in such a career. You spend your life trying to right wrongs and bring justice to a crumbling system, but you can never make a difference. There will always be crime, and injustice, and death. And in the end, the injustice you fought so hard against will be your own undoing." He smirked cruelly. "Like it has now."
Rage began to simmer inside me. I knew it was hopeless; that we were probably going to die tonight. But to hear all this pessimistic talk about nothing good in this world being worth a damn - the very same kind of talk I had told Rhodes never to listen to - to hear it being uttered by the man who was about to kill me... It was the greatest injustice of all.
"Why?" I heard myself whisper.
Hu blinked. "Why, Nadia? Why what, Nadia?" His repetitive use of my name was beyond annoying.
"Why... are you so callous? Why does the fact that a man is *dead* not matter to you?" My voice was getting stronger, fueled by my burning anger. "Why did you kill Martin Chan in the first place? *Why* did you think that what he did to Janet Fong was reason enough to die!?"
"Don't you *ever* say that name again!!" he shouted. Rhodes began to take a step forward, torn between the importance of my safety and the danger of Hu's gun. Hu was instantly aware of what he was doing, and swung the muzzle toward him. "I wouldn't try any fancy moves, Mr. Rhodes," he threatened. "You take one more step and you'll have the privilege of watching Nadia bleed to death."
Rhodes backed off as he was told, but his green eyes flashed dangerously. I had never seen Ethan Rhodes lose his temper, but I had a feeling it wasn't pretty.
Hu chuckled as his gun trained on me once again. "You're good, Nadia, I will give you that," he said with a touch of what could almost be considered admiration. "You managed to take me by surprise long enough to let your guardian angel try to protect you. It almost worked, Nadia."
"You didn't answer my question, *Thomas*," I shot back, irritated. We were flinging our names at each other like insults. "Why did you feel Chan deserved to die?"
"I don't recall anyone saying I was under interrogation here, Nadia." He glared furiously at me, and for a moment I thought it was all over. "But I suppose since this will be your last night on Earth, I'll indulge you."
I let out a breath of relief, and behind me I could feel, rather than see, Rhodes relax slightly.
"I'm surprised by how much you know, Nadia," Hu began. "But you don't even know half of the story. For example, you think that Martin Chan was just a fool in love, trying to get out of the Triads to protect his new wife. What you didn't find out in your investigation was that Chan was a con artist."
My eyes widened in surprise. I looked back quickly at Rhodes, and his dark eyebrows drew together. This was new to him as well.
"You seem surprised, Nadia. But the sad truth is, Chan was an extortioner, as simple as that. He conned various members of the Triads out of thousands of dollars, including me. And he knew, sooner or later, that we would figure out it was him. So he left, taking his unwilling bride with him.
"Yes, unwilling. Janet never loved him; she and I had been dating for months. But Chan had always been jealous, and did a poor job concealing it. Finally he told Janet he would kill me if she didn't marry him." His teeth clenched, and his voice became unsteady. "When she told me, I said I'd rather be dead than see her married to him, but... but she couldn't let anything happen to me. So she married him. A week later, they took off."
Despite all the anger and disgust I felt for the man, I couldn't help but feel pity as well. The woman he had loved so intensely had been torn from him, to marry a man he despised. I could understand why he felt such injustice, but to kill him? In such a gruesome fashion? That was far too drastic a decision.
"I didn't hear anything from her in years, and then one day she sent me a letter, with no return address. Her life was miserable, she said. Chan abused her, verbally and physically. He was a drunkard, and a chain-smoker, and he was slowly but surely killing her. But through all the hell she was put through, she was submissive. She said..." He swallowed, tried again. "She said she had never stopped loving me. She told me to forget about her, to move on. But how could I? *How* could I be expected to forget her when I knew of the endless nightmare that was her life?
"I had to find her. It was hard, since the envelope had no address on it. But it did have one thing to help me find her: a stamp with the California state bird on it. So I went to California, but you can imagine, there are a lot of Chans in this state. It took me years of going through phone books, searching the Internet, and traveling from city to city, without success. But finally I saw an advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle. 'Waterfront Real Estate', it said. 'For information, contact Martin and Mae-Lin Chan.
"Mae-Lin Chan? I thought. Who the hell is this Mae-Lin? Then the truth hit me like a ton of bricks. Janet was dead. Chan finally succeeded in killing her."
I could only imagine the raw hatred Hu must have felt. Years of torment under the iron fist of her abusive husband had killed the woman he loved. I would never condone what he had done, but after that night I had a very different opinion of Martin Chan.
"So I killed him," Hu announced, as if challenging us to rebuke him. "There, you have your confession, Nadia. But am I really in the wrong here? Am I really the criminal? After all, Chan *deserved* to die. Didn't he?"
My eyes couldn't seem to lift themselves up to meet his. "Maybe he did," I said slowly. "And maybe not. But that's not for one person to decide, no matter how much he believes it to be so. No matter *how* much it hurts, or how angry that person might be that everything he loved was taken from him." At last I found the courage to look directly at him. "It wasn't your decision, Thomas. You didn't have the right to play God, and decide who lives and who dies. The decision wasn't yours."
"And what gives *you* the right to tell *me* whether or not it was 'my decision', Nadia?" he asked, his voice high and strained. "Who made *you* judge, jury, and executioner here tonight? You have no business telling me what's right and wrong, Nadia." He narrowed his eyes again, and I could see his finger tightening on the trigger. "You're about to die, Nadia. You've made a vain attempt to try to change my mind with your holier-than-thou attitude, but it's not going to work."
Behind me, Rhodes was as tense as a taut rubber band. But Hu seemingly didn't notice, so focused was he on venting his rage. "I really don't want to kill you, Nadia," he said, sounding truly regretful. "I never did. I'm sorry it had to come to this, and if there was another way, I would let you live. You and your friend." He shook his head resolutely. "But you know too much, and you have to die. Goodbye, Nadia."
With an agonizing slowness, his finger squeezed the trigger.
What they say about your life flashing before your eyes is probably true in most cases. But for me, it was entirely different. I thought of all the things I wanted to do, but would never be able to. I thought of my friends in Olympia, and how they would react when they found out I was dead. I thought of my father; what would he do without his little girl?
I thought of Rhodes. I thought of how hard it would be for him to see me die. Even if he escaped with his life, just how easily could he return to his lonely existence?
All this went through my mind in a fraction of a second. I watched helplessly as Hu pulled the trigger, but before I could hear the gunshot that was my death sentence, I was shoved roughly out of the way. With a deafening blast from the gun, Rhodes jerked from the impact of the bullet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A cold sweat broke out all over my body.
In slow motion, Rhodes dropped to his knees, then collapsed on the cold, wet surface of the dock. I watched in horror as a crimson stain spread across the front of his snow-white shirt. One long arm crossed feebly over his chest as he covered the wound with his hand. His pale fingers were quickly soaked in his own blood.
Even as the hot tears spilled down my cheek, I felt an overwhelming desire for vengeance. With an effort, I tore my gaze from Rhodes and looked at Hu, and the smoking gun. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to rip his heart out, so he could experience what I was feeling.
I wanted him to die.
Nearly blind with rage and tears, I lunged at him, trying to snatch the gun out of his hands. Alarmed, he stumbled backward, but I didn't loosen my grip. I saw him squeezing the trigger again, and I pulled up on the barrel. The shot went up harmlessly into the air, but my fingers burned from the discharge.
Not knowing what else to do, I ducked my head under his flailing arm and bit down on his hand. Hard. To my disgust, I heard a crunch, tasted blood in my mouth. Hu yelled in pain, dropping the gun to clutch his injury. It fell, clattering on the damp wood, and I quickly grabbed it before he could think to bend down and reach for it.
Spitting blood out of my mouth in revulsion, I pointed the gun at his head, my aim unwavering. He met my eyes and knew he was done for. His shoulders slumping, he held up his hands in defeat. "You win, Nadia," he said wearily. "Just let it be fast."
The tables were turned now. Instead of me being at the mercy of a killer, his life was now in my hands. Out of nowhere, Hu's words echoed through my head: "Chan deserved to die. Didn't he?"
Fresh tears escaped my burning eyes as I heard my own voice answer him. "You didn't have the right to play God, and decide who lives and who dies. The decision wasn't yours."
I had spoken those words mere minutes ago, and now I was ignoring my own counsel. I was filled with such anger and grief that I just wanted Hu dead; nothing else mattered. Maybe he didn't deserve to live, but maybe there was still some good in him. Either way, it wasn't up to me to make that decision.
"You've done something horrible, Thomas," I said quietly, oddly tranquil as I looked in his defeated black eyes. "You've killed one person and..." Choking back a sob, I continued, "and most likely two. The world would probably be better off if you were dead. But I can't make that call."
He remained silent, but I knew he was listening to every single word. "Maybe there's no point to what I'm doing. Maybe I will never make a difference in this world, as long as it's filled with people like you. I don't know." I had to blink rapidly to dispel my tears. "All I know is that there's enough good in this imperfect world to keep trying."
With a swift motion, I used all my strength to bring the butt of the gun down on his head. It connected with hard bone with a sickening noise, and Hu fell to the wet dock. A low groan escaped him, and he lay still. His black hair shone with blood in the silver moonlight.
Letting out a deep, pent-up breath, I let the gun slip out of my hand.
I frowned as I heard an alarmed voice, and I turned to see a retired, elderly man with gray, grizzled hair standing on the deck of his yacht, by the door to the cabin. Apparently he had heard the gunshots and came out to see what was going on. "What in blazes happened here?" he demanded, confused.
"There's no time to explain," I replied. "Please, just call the police, and get the paramedics down here right away!"
Still frazzled, he shuffled back inside the cabin of his yacht to dial 911.
Kneeling down next to Rhodes, I took off the jacket he had lent to me and wrapped it around him. I gently touched his neck right below his jaw line with my fingertips, feeling for a pulse. It was weak and irregular, but at least it was there. "Rhodes," I said softly. "Rhodes, can you hear me? Answer me, please."
He gave no response, and I suspected he was unconscious. Then his eyelids fluttered open, and he stared up at me. I was distressed to see that his eyes, usually so bright and alert, were now vacant and glossy. His lips moved slightly, and I had to strain to hear him. "Bridges?"
For the millionth time that night, I cried. Rhodes gave me a weak smile, raised his white hand, and caressed the side of my face. I covered it with my own, my shoulders shaking with each sob. In the distance, I could hear police sirens, faint at first and then steadily louder. But I would never get the sound of that first gunshot out of my head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Aaaahhhhhh, God, I wrote all of that in one day. How, you ask? Well, I had nothing better to do. But that was just the first draft. I have March Hare to thank for giving me ideas and suggestions on how to change it for the better. So if you liked it, be sure to thank her for pointing me in the right direction. I know it's kinda short. Sorry about that. But I felt it was the right length for such a tension-filled chapter. And before you start screaming "NO! NOT ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!!" it wasn't *really* a cliffhanger. Because we all know Rhodes will be okay. There's only so much we can take, right? So please leave a review telling me what you thought. 'Preciate it! And be looking for the next chapter soon, in which we see the return of our old friend (ha) Agent Solomon!
Wakizashi
tricksparrow@hotmail.com
