Deception (Chapter 15)
A/N: Thank you all so very much for the awesome reviews. Your support means the world to me. So glad you are still enjoying this story.
Previously: Shane calls an old friend to make a house call; possible pregnancy for Rick and Michonne; T-Dog is patched up; Deanna turns to Morgan for help; the assassin is made ready for interrogation.
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Rick looks around the dark, dank room, the likeness so familiar to scenes from his past military experiences that he has to remind himself exactly where he is. He can categorize his service as some of the best times in his life and some of the absolute worst. He watches Shane closely, garnering his best friend's demeanor. Things like this could go very wrong, very fast and he knows he has to be the one to remain completely in control.
Shane unloads some items from a safe and places them on a nearby work table. Upon closer inspection, Rick can see two handguns, ammo, a taser, smoke canisters, a hunting knife, rope, lock picks, and a small backpack.
"I gotta say I'm impressed but then again I'm not. I used his blindfold and duct tape on him but where's the long scope? Most assassins don't like getting up close and personal. Looks like he had something different in mind but he obviously didn't know who he'd be dealing with on this job," Shane states.
Rick frowns. "Different in mind?"
Shane looks at the man restrained in the chair. He walks toward him and kicks him in the calf hard before snatching the duct tape from his mouth. Satisfied with the painful yelp made, he states, "You already know what this is about so let's get it over with. Tell us who hired you. We don't care about the money, your reasons….this is the end of the line for this particular assignment so give it up."
Rick remains calm, allowing Shane to take the lead.
The silence grows so Shane kicks the guy again. "I'm hoping I don't have to hurt you but you should know I will. Start talking. You left your wallet, cell, and keys in the vehicle you came in right?" A pause. "That's fine. We'll retrieve it. You see this ain't our first rodeo either."
The man grunts as Shane jerks the blindfold from his eyes, pulling strands of long light colored hair with it. He blinks his beady eyes several times before staring up at Shane and then Rick who takes a long hard look at him trying to remember if he'd seen him before.
The assassin's expression hardens before he grunts, snorts, and spits toward the floor, ensuring that his fluids land on Shane's boot.
The latter looks down and shakes his head. "I oughtta make you lick that shit up." He balls his hands into fists at his sides and asks, "Who are you working with? We already know there's a prison connection here. We just want names."
"You want a snitch is what you want and I ain't no snitch," the man remarks.
"Well what you can be is alive if you cooperate," Shane suggests. "I don't think you'll like the alternative."
"What? You guys cops or something? All you can do is arrest me."
"Really? You think that's all we can do to you? And what makes you think we're cops?" Shane wants to know as he inches closer to the assailant. He leans down, looking the intruder directly in the eyes. "You got something we wanna hear or not?"
"Fuck off."
WHAM! Shane delivers a hard blow to the goon's nose. "Wrong answer." WHAM! He uses his other hand, targeting the same spot, relishing in the pain he inflicts.
The assassin cries out in agony as blood trickles from his nose onto his mouth and chin. "You son of a….."
"Names. We need names," Shane reminds him.
"And I said f…" He yelps as another blow is delivered to his face. "Got damn it! Why my face you asshole?!"
Shane quickly chops him in the throat. "Is that better?"
The guy coughs and sputters, wheezing in air soundly. They give him a few minutes as he drops his head, seemingly defeated. They watch as his shoulders start to shake and his giggles fill the room. The two friends exchange confused glances, wondering at this guy's play.
The man raises his head slowly, his eyes flashing from Rick to Shane. He makes a show of sliding his tongue across his teeth, the giggles fading away as a smirk morphs his expression from jovial to evil.
"Ok….I wasn't gonna kill her right away," he drags out with confidence. "You see the taser and the rope?" He clears his throat and attempts to sit up straighter in the chair. "I was gonna use those to have some fun first. Ain't every day I get to off some big time movie star." He pauses to make sure he truly has their attention. "I like to know all I can about my targets so I looked this little hot piece up on the net and my oh my….she was smoking! So my plan was to fuck her first….several times frankly and then I'd off her when I was good and satisfied." He smiles evilly, revealing his yellow crooked teeth and spits again, this time aiming for Rick's face.
The spittle lands on Rick's shirt instead but he doesn't utter a word. He looks at the watery substance as it dribbles down, saturating the material. He frowns with disgust and before another sound is made, he dives toward the assassin, knocking him and the chair to the floor, landing blow after blow to his face.
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Michonne opens her eyes slowly and immediately notices the absence of her boyfriend. She inhales deeply, stretching long as she exhales and rubs the sleep from her eyes. Her stomach rumbles loudly and she realizes that soup just wasn't enough to satisfy her. She makes her way out of the bedroom to go in search of food and the guys.
The wood creaks loudly within the stillness of the cabin as she descends the stairs. Her eyes immediately go to the left where they subdued the assailant and where Spencer was shot. The bedroom door at the end of the hall is closed and she wonders if the blood is still there. She hesitates but reaches for the light switch and illuminates the hallway. There is a board against one of the windows and she can only guess that the glass was broken somehow. She inches closer but doesn't see anything else that would indicate the events of before. She breathes a sigh of relief and makes her way to the open space at the end of the hallway.
She puts her ear to the door then knocks softly. No one answers so she opens the door and sticks her head inside. T-Dog is fast asleep in the bed, a glaring white bandage wrapped tightly around his right thigh. She closes the door and glances toward the kitchen. She was about to head in that direction when she is startled by a loud thump. She looks around cautiously unable to determine the origin of the sound. She wonders where Shane and Rick are and realizes she left her gun upstairs. She races up to the bedroom as fast as she is able and retrieves her gun from the night stand. She checks the ammo and the safety and moves toward the living area.
Looking around cautiously, she calls out. "Rick?" Her heart pounds with anxiousness. She knows he wouldn't have gone far but….where is he? She hears another thump and determines that the noise might be coming from the living area. She continues forward, arriving in the spacious front room quietly. Another bump. She remains at a standstill and listens closely….muffled voices.
Shane grabs Rick from behind but the latter is still enraged so he kicks out connecting with the assassin's side. "Calm down man."
Rick pushes away from his friend and goes down on one knee, looking at the bloodied face of the intruder. "Tell us what we wanna know…..now."
"You stupid son-of-a-bitch. You best kill me because I swear if I live through this…you, that rich cunt….none of y'all will be safe. You can lock me up and it still won't make a difference," the goon states.
Rick pulls the gun from his belt and aims it at the guy's head. "You better start telling us what we wanna hear."
"Or what?! You gonna kill me?! Do it!"
The trap door creaks open slightly and Rick hears his name.
"Shit!" He puts his gun away and moves toward the ladder to exit.
"Don't run off now! We just getting started! If that's her you tell her I'm coming for her, you tell her….."
Shane moves over to the assailant and kicks him in the mouth. "Shut up."
Rick exits quickly, moving into the living area where Michonne is standing. He peruses her from her toes to her head before he closes the trap door with a soft thud. "You ok?"
Her eyes take in all of him, the blood stains on his shirt, his bruised and bloody hands that are probably going to take weeks to heal. "Are you? What's going on down there?"
He starts pacing, moving from one end of the room to the other, the agitation and anger rolling through his body. The assassin's words about Michonne keep replaying in his head which only serves to increase his rage.
"Rick?" She whispers, trying to get through to him.
He glances at her briefly, shaking his head as he continues to pace.
Another bump and some incoherent noises draw their attention to the trap door again. Her boyfriend's disheveled appearance finally bring clarity to the situation as she realizes they were probably questioning the guy. "Rick?" She heard pieces of their conversation, enough to know that the guy sounded like a complete scumbag.
He finally stops pacing and stands near the trap door, starring down at it, deep in thought.
"Rick?" She repeats yet again. He looks up at her with wild eyes and she almost doesn't recognize him. She quells down her panic, stifling the shivers that want to take over her body. "Babe? You're scaring me."
He moves toward her, taking a hand into one of his. She closes her eyes in relief as his touch is warm, soft, gentle….the touch she has come quite familiar with.
"I'm sorry. I…I just…." He cups her cheek. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you." He shakes his head. "This guy….I've seen his kind before. He's crazy and he's dangerous. If we don't put a stop to him….he's just gonna keep coming until he achieves his goal. That's who he is. I can see it."
She's not sure how to process that information so she decides to do something to keep from panicking. "Come on. Let's look at your hands." She leads him away from the living area, walking into the kitchen. She wets a cloth despite his protests and starts to clean his knuckles gently. "Has he said anything about the people from the prison? The ones that Spencer knows?"
"All he talked about was…..you. What he was…." He closes his eyes, reining in his anger. "This guy….he can't….."
"I want to talk to him," she interrupts.
Rick opens his eyes and narrows them in disbelief. "What? No. No."
"You were the one who told me I can't walk away from this…that I have to face the truth. Well…this is the truth right? This is what's happening and it's happening to me. Deanna said she tried to call it off but this guy kept coming."
"It's not just him remember? We need names, players so this will end for you and they won't be able to terrorize anyone else."
"So let me ask him."
"Michonne….."
"Rick, I need my life back and you can't do everything for me. I was completely terrified when he got inside. I don't want to feel like that ever again. Let me put a face on this fear so I won't be looking at everyone in the crowd wondering. I'll know."
She watches as his eyes soften with admiration. He reaches forward and puts a hand on her shoulder, squeezing affectionately. She places her hand over his and leans in to kiss him softly. "So you're ok with this?"
"No but if this is what you need to do…..then let's do it," he answers.
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Shane rests against the work table, his gun casually trained on the intruder. After several minutes alone with him, all he knows is that Jared is crazy as fuck and they'd be showing severe incompetence by allowing him to live imprisoned rather than killing him. He was tempted to off him without Rick but knew his friend wouldn't take too kindly to that. His case for permanently silencing this menace had already started playing out in his head.
The sound of the trap door opening draws his attention and he is relieved that Rick has finally decided to join them again. He waits as his friend comes into view. "Man what took you so long? We…." He trails off when he sees Michonne coming down after Rick. "What the….No!"
"Shane it's ok," Rick states. The former rubs his head in agitation but remains silent.
Jared watches the exchange curiously. He can still see although his eyes are starting to swell, obscuring his view. He smiles as he recognizes Michonne. "There she is ladies and gentlemen, alive and in the flesh." He takes in her simple t-shirt and jeans. "Damn girl…how you even better looking in person?"
Michonne looks over at the ladder she just descended and considers leaving. The urge is so strong that she knows if she doesn't say anything she will lose her nerve. "We need the names of the people you're working with."
Jared tilts his head to the side. "And what's in it for me sweetheart?"
"You…you'd be doing the right thing and maybe if you cooperate your sentencing won't be so harsh," she informs him.
He scoffs. "And what sentencing might that be?"
"You're going to prison for the things you attempted to do. You're here to kill me right?"
"Oh I'm gonna do a lot more than kill you baby," Jared informs. "All this time jerking off to pictures of you…."
Michonne's sharp intake of breath has Rick removing his gun and aiming it in mere seconds. She can feel the barely restrained anger pouring off him so she slowly reaches a hand up and covers his holding the gun. She guides him to lower it to his side, swallowing nervously.
"Thank you darling. I just hate interruptions don't you? Now as I was saying…."
"Is this some kind of joke to you? You broke in here to kill me. There's nothing funny about that," Michonne asserts.
"I'll tell you what's not funny. Do you know I fantasized about you and jerked off to your images so much that I couldn't even get it up for another woman? Not even a fucking hooker," Jared admits. "So it's all settled for me. I'll have the real thing for as long as I want and any way I want before I off you."
"So not only are you a murderer but you're a sorry ass rapist too?" Shane asks.
Jared licks his split lips, his tongue lingering at a corner of his mouth. "It won't be rape for long. She'll start to like it….eventually."
Rick's hand quivers, matching Michonne's. He watches as she steps closer to Jared. She takes in his swollen eyes, busted nose, the long wheat colored hair, the blood stained skin, the unkempt beard and mustache, the crooked teeth.
"There's a special place in hell for you," she tells her would be assassin. He opens his mouth to speak but she turns her back and tunes him out. She walks over to the ladder and starts to climb up, needing and wanting to exit.
Rick ignores Jared as well. He looks to Shane. "I'll be right back."
He takes the path his girlfriend took and finds her standing in the hallway, her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection. "You alright?"
"Why do people like him even exist?" She asks shakily.
"I don't know." He puts his gun at his back in his belt. "Will you wait for me upstairs?"
She stares into his eyes, the determined glint evident. She gives a slight nod. He accepts her answer with a sad smile and steps toward her. He leans forward and touches his forehead to hers.
"I'm sorry," he whispers.
"I'm not," she whispers in return. She cups his face, the brusqueness of his whiskered cheeks awakening the sensitivity of her palms. Her hands linger on him even as she starts to walk away.
He waits until she is safe behind closed doors before he makes his way back to Shane and the assassin.
His friend meets him by the ladder. "Everything ok?"
Rick only nods in answer.
"You know that shit was stupid right? Letting her come down here like that. She didn't need to know anything about this," Shane utters.
"She needed that ok? Now I've got a job to do," Rick answers.
"Hey. You don't have to do this. I got your back no matter what," Shane returns.
"I know but this is on me. I've gotta make this right for her. Understand?"
Shane remains silent as Rick grabs a silencer from the work table and walks over to stand in front of Jared.
"That shit supposed to scare me or something?" He asks.
Rick continues to attach the silencer to his gun, not even acknowledging that the man in front of him had spoken. He releases a bullet into the chamber, readying his gun to fire.
"What the fuck man?" Jared looks toward Shane. "You gonna rein this crazy motherfucker in or what?"
"This was your show. All you had to do was tell us what we wanted to know. You talked about everything but what you should've been talking about. Now we don't want you to talk anymore," Shane advises.
A/N: Your reviews/opinions will determine what happens next for the assassin. I'm kind of torn with this one so let me know.
