Author's Note: I'm totally in a groove now. Next chapter is already . . . well, mostly written. I may even post it later today. Again, my thinks to all those who have reviewed. I'd like to extend a special thanks to PadawanMage who's been with me from the beginning.
Chapter Ten
D.E.A. Building
26 Federal Plaza
"Out here. Now," Leon told Jimmy, indicating the area in front of the desk. When Jimmy had done so, Leon pulled Simon with him to verify that the guard was indeed unconscious.
As Leon shifted his gaze behind the desk, Jimmy smiled to himself as he felt the reassuring weight of the gun in his waistband. He'd taken it from Gerald's holster when he'd bent down to check on him. While Leon's attention was shifted on the guard, Jimmy's hand inched to the gun.
Mathilda came to the end of the elevator bay and slowly looked around the corner. She watched as Jimmy found the guard and then moved back to the front of the desk as Leon checked on the guard. She frowned as she noticed Jimmy's hand move toward his back. A weapon? But she saw him toss his gun upstairs, so what was he reaching for? Her eyes widened as he quickly pulled a gun from his waistband. The guard's gun! Dammit, why hadn't she taken it? She rounded the corner at a run and raised her own gun at Jimmy.
"Leon!" she cried out in warning.
'Who the fuck is Leon?' Jimmy wondered distractedly as he pulled the trigger.
Leon, having heard the female voice and the subsequent shot, instinctively whipped around, pulling Simon into the line of fire. A split second later, Simon was thrown against him and he felt a sharp burning sensation in his left shoulder. They both went down hard.
Seeing Leon fall to the ground, something snapped in Mathilda. All these years of mourning his loss, unable to move forward, complete disinterest in other men, the feeling that she had been waiting for . . . what? To step into his shoes and walk his path, maybe? Find some connection to him beyond death?
But he hadn't been dead, just . . . misplaced.
And here he was, on the ground, unmoving. She couldn't yet think about whether he was alive or not. All that she felt was anger which was slowly coalescing into an all consuming rage for Jimmy Pace.
Before Jimmy could fully react to her presence, she calmly raised her gun, aimed at his head, and with a cold calculating glint in her eye, she shot him. A nice round hole appeared in his temple and a messy jagged crater oozing bone chips and brain matter emerged on the other side. His lifeless body slid to the floor and landed in a heap.
A movement by the desk caught her eye. She thought at first that Simon was attempting to get up, but his glazed over eyes told her he was dead. He slumped over as Leon sat up, pushing Simon away from him.
"Leon," she whispered, dropping her gun and bag and rushing over to him. She came to an abrupt halt as Leon raised his gun at her.
"Who are you?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. She hadn't thought she could possibly feel any more pain as she had when believing him dead, but this surpassed even that. Here he was living and breathing before her and he didn't recognize her. She hung her head and a strand of blonde hair fell in her face. The wig! She quickly ripped it off her head and shook out her own dark hair.
"It's me, Leon. Mathilda." He narrowed his eyes, looking her over from head to foot, finally settling his gaze on hers. She saw recognition bloom on his face and he lowered his gun.
"You grew up," he said. She smiled and shook her head as she came to kneel beside him.
"I was always grown up," she told him. "I just got taller." He set the gun on the floor and raised his hand to her face, cupping her cheek in his palm.
"Mathilda?" he asked as if to assure himself that she was actually here. All she could do was nod as tears formed in her eyes. She hadn't cried since the day she thought he had died in that explosion. She suddenly threw her arms around him in a fierce hug but she felt him tense and suck in a breath. She immediately pulled back and noticed the blood on his shoulder.
"You're hurt," she said.
"It's nothing," he replied. She closed her mouth in a grim line and checked his back.
"There's no exit wound," she told him, rising and gathering the wig and their guns to stuff into her bag. She pulled out her cell phone and told the limo driver to meet her out front ASAP. She then helped Leon to his feet and walked him outside to the waiting limo.