Murphy's Law
"She put a bomb in your car?" The woman named Aisha asks as she walks closer to Clay. Clay looks down at her and gives a shrug as he thought over his reply.
"She was volatile." He admits and shoves his hands into his pant pockets. He nods his head at the strange woman and then looks over at Jensen, "Aisha, this is Jensen, Rhos, Pooch, Roque, and Cougar."
The air falls silent for a moment as she looks each of us over. Her eyes land on me and I stare right back, not trying to be subtle about my suspicious attitude towards her. I give her the once over and then she laughs a little, looking back to Clay.
"That's your names? Really?" Aisha laughs and looks from us to Clay once more.
"Is my name really that strange...?" I ask softly and look over at Jensen. He narrows his eyes and shakes his head slowly. I return my gaze to Aisha as I look her over again, slower this time. I was pretty good at reading people, but she was just a language I couldn't put together. One minute she would smile and the next her expression was harder then a slab of marble.
Aisha slowly pulls out a folder from the messenger bag she was carrying on one of her shoulders and tosses it onto the tomb beside Roque. She looks around at us and then points to the folder.
"Gentlemen, in ninety-seven hours Max will be in Miami." Aisha walks to the center of our little circle, slowly turning around to look at each of us, "He travels in an armored truck with at least thirty private security armed to the teeth."
"Damn..." I suddenly comment, blinking my eyes several times. I look over at Clay and shake my head as if to tell him we were in deep, "We would have a better shot at kidnapping the President."
"Yeah...you would, but good news for you is that I have the power to get you all back into the U.S., and fund this operation as you see fit." Aisha finishes and walks back to Clay's side, placing her hands on her hips. I cross my arms over my chest and narrow my eyes at her.
"What do you want in repayment?" I ask, earning Aisha's gaze. She studies me a moment and then slowly a smirk crosses her lips as she laces her hands in front of her.
"You get Max and we're squared." She answers and looks up at Clay. I shake my head a little and roll my eyes, knowing that she had Clay wrapped around her finger already.
"And," Roque begins while twirling a knife in his hand, "why should we believe you?"
"Because I'm the first person you've come across that admits you exist. Listen, you all can stay here in Bolivia and rot for all I care or you can go home and get revenge on the man that framed you." Her words were harsh and it struck a nerve within me.
I could only imagine what the others were feeling. They, after all, had others waiting for them; Pooch with his wife, Jensen and his niece. All I had left now was Clay.
"Colonel?" Jensen speaks up first, looking over at Clay. My eyes follow his and land on the conflicted expression on Clay's face. Clay looks around at each of us, stopping at me as his expression grew somber.
"Don't call me that..." He replies sternly. Even though he was wearing his sunglasses I could just tell that something was completely wrong inside of him. Something had changed, "We're not soldiers anymore."
I narrow my eyes at Clay's words. 'We're not soldiers anymore'? Clay was always and will always be a soldier. That was his purpose in life and now he was abandoning it? This just wasn't like him. I stare at Clay a moment longer until movement to my right catches my eye. I look over at Pooch who had stood up straighter.
"You realize if we do this we're waging war on the Central Intelligence Agency?" Pooch asks and looks over at Clay, slowly making his way to the rest of us. I watch as Cougar flips through the folder Aisha had set down beside Roque and then throws it back into it's place once more.
"They started it." He near growls out. His lips form a tight line as he fixes his hat. We all fall silent, none of us knowing what to say. Well, I knew what I wanted to say. I want to do this. I want to get revenge and bring this son of a bitch down. I want it more then anything. I didn't care how probable it would be to complete it. I just wanted to try. I felt I needed to.
"Well, alright. Meet me here tomorrow morning then." Aisha hands a card slyly to Clay and walks away, the way she had come. Clay looks over the card and then pockets it, keeping his hands in his pant pockets.
"Well that was slightly more then unpleasant." I comment and look around at the others. I place a hand on my stomach and give a small smile at the others, "Anyone else hungry?"
"Starved." Jensen pipes up, rubbing his stomach in return. I laugh and start walking the way we had all come, the others following behind. I hear footsteps close behind me and also a stare slowly burning a hole in my back.
I look over my shoulder at Clay. His look never faltered as he stared right back at me from behind his sunglasses. I could tell he had something he wanted to say to me and it wasn't just because of the guilty look he was portraying either. I could also tell I wasn't going to like what is was he had to say to me.
We come to the curb where we had started off at the beginning of this 'meeting'. I stop walking by the tomb I had sat on earlier and try to pull my mind from Clay, thinking of where a good place to eat would. The others walk passed me, Jensen and Cougar first.
I take a deep breath and lick my lips when Clay didn't walk behind the others. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see him standing a few feet from me, hands in his pockets, and just watching me carefully as he tried to decide how he would start the conversation he knew I didn't want to have.
"Rhos," Clay starts softly and I look over at him. I give an understanding smile and lace my hands together in my lap, "...you don't have to do this."
"Do what?" I laugh though I knew exactly what. I run a hand through my hair, "Pay for dinner? Really Clay, I don't mind seeing as I'm the one with the highest wage here. Don't worry about it."
"That's not what I'm talking about." Clay's voice goes stern and slowly my smile slips from my face. I nod my head a little and look down at my feet.
"I know what you meant." I reply slowly and knit my eyebrows together, "i just don't understand why you're saying it."
Clay runs a hand over his mouth, a nervous habit I had seen him developing the last few weeks. I narrow my eyes at him as a feeling of anxiousness suddenly washes over me. I had no inclination of what he was about to say to me, but I could just feel in my bones that I wasn't going to like it. Not one little bit.
"You're not just telling me I don't have to go...are you?" I ask a little louder and more forceful.
"No." He replies simply as I spot the others in my peripheral vision stop walking and turn back to look at us. I ignore them and keep my eyes glued to Clay as he runs a hand over his mouth again, "There's no reason for you to be coming with us."
Clay removes his sunglasses, seeming to struggle with forming his words. My mind goes completely blank at his words.
"I'm sorry. What was that?" I ask with a sarcastic laugh and close my eyes. I knit my eyebrows together as I try to make the gears in my brain start working again from the stall. This was not the reply I was expecting. I didn't understand it. I didn't have a reason? Me? I had more of a reason then him, didn't I?
I open my eyes and stare up at Clay hard. Clay looks back down at me and says nothing, just stares at me blankly. I shake my head at him and lick my lips again.
"That's not the real reason." I speak up after another moment. I shake my head again and hop off of the tomb, staring up at the sky, "It can't be. You would never say something like that to me. It's something else. It's gotta be."
"Well it's not." Clay replies as I take to pacing. I turn around and stare at him with my hands on my hips, bitting my bottom lip, and beginning to feel tears prickle at my eyes.
"Yes it is!" I snap back and run a hand through my hair again, taking to pacing once more, "You know I have every reason to go after the son of a bitch. You know that I've been searching for him for months. You wouldn't just suddenly hold him out in front of me and then tell me I can't have him!"
I take a deep breath and rub the bridge of my nose. I shake my head again and look back at Clay.
"So what is the real reason?" I ask, desperately wanting to know what was going on inside his head.
"I don't want you going with us." He finally admits and I could swear time stopped with how silent it had just become. Clay looks back at the others and then down at me again. He takes a deep breath and lowers his voice, "You're completely emotionally compromised. Just look at yourself now. You're shaking."
I look down at my clenched fists and realize he was right. I had known this for a while. I was too emotionally involved, but who wouldn't be? I shake my head anyways and look back at him. I had to go with them. I had to get Max.
"I can take care of myself. You know me, Clay." I bring my tone down and bite my tongue to keep from crying. My vision had begun to blur with unshed tears and I willed them with all my might to disperse.
"Yeah, I do know you, Rhoswen." Clay nods his head and lays a hand on my shoulder. He leans closer and gently kisses my forehead. He gives a small laugh and then takes a deep breath, "and I know I don't need you."
My mind goes completely blank with the sudden blow. It was like I had been hit in the face and now I was numb and I couldn't pull a rational thought into my head. I stare ahead of myself as tears fall down my cheeks. I didn't know what to feel or how to respond.
"Go home..." Clay slowly pulls away from me and lets his hand slide from my shoulder. He looks at me once more, but I don't look back. I can't. My eyes are permanently glued to the scene ahead of me as my mind slowly begins to float back.
"Clay." I speak up as he starts walking down the cobble street. I turn around to watch him and step off the curb, "Clay! CLAY!"
"Clay, man, you're doin' this now?" I hear Pooch's soft voice ask from beside Clay, "What're you thinking?"
"I'm thinking I'm doing what I have to." Clay replies and then starts walking again.
"Clay please!" I feel another tear roll down my cheek. I quickly wipe it away and take a deep breath, trying to compose myself. As much as he had just hurt me the way I was reacting was only proving him right. It wasn't helping my cause.
"Clay, I can't go home!" I yell out at the top of my lungs. I feel another tear roll down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away again, "I have no home to go back to! Max stole it from me!"
Clay stands rooted to his spot. The others look from me to him and then back, unsure of what was going to happen.
"Just listen to what she has to say." Roque buts in, looking back at me with a curious look. He turns and looks back at Clay, who stares at him hard, "All you have to do is listen to her. You can handle that, right?"
Roque pats him on the back of the shoulder and then gives a gutsy laugh, looking back at me. I had never really liked Roque, but I was grateful for him sticking up for me. Even if it was to satisfy his own needs.
Clay slowly shakes his head and looks up at the sky. He turns back to look at me, hands in his pockets.
"So what are you gonna do? Huh? Steal it back? You rescue people. You can't kill and that's what you're gonna have to be able to do. Are you ready for that?" Clay retorts, his voice hard and will with sarcasm, "You really ready to steal your life back even if it means stealing life from others?"
I fall quiet and look at the others around him. I notice some of them look back at me again, waiting to see my reply.
"What the hell...?" I whisper to myself as I look from one person to the next, landing lastly on Clay. Something felt strange about the situation I was in. At first this felt as if Clay was just telling me I couldn't go, but now...now it felt like he was...testing me?
I look to Roque, who stood playing with one of his knives again and had a smug grin on his face. Then to Pooch , who had his arms crossed over his chest and one hand covering his mouth as he looked from me to Clay. My eyes move to Cougar, who gave me a small smile as he jutted his thumbs through his belt loops. I move my gaze to Jensen, who stands with his arms in his jacket pockets. He nods his head at Clay and then gives me a quick wink.
I look back at Clay and shake my head. I feel my nostrils flare and my blood boil as I realize what had just happened. I had fallen right into it.
"First I'm going to kill you." I start and point a finger at Clay, "And then I'm going to kill Max, you son of a bitch. You have some nerve trapping me like this, Clay. Trying to get me to back out because I might have to actually kill someone. I've killed before, you asshole."
Clay gives a small laugh and takes a quick look down at the ground. He knew he was caught and that just made me even angrier. He looks back up at me and shakes his head.
"You're gonna get yourself killed if you come with us." Clay calls back, pointing a finger at me. I grit my teeth and give him a hard stare. That was really the best he could come up with?
"And you think I'm okay with you getting killed?" I ask and stare back at him. I cross my arms over my chest and walk a little closer to him and the guys.
"You and you're brother were the closest thing to a family I ever had." Clay stops and bobs his head a little, "Apart from these guys. But they don't really count."
I roll my eyes and take a deep breath while he shakes his head and looks down at the ground.
"Your parents treated me like a son. Now, what kind of a kid would I be if I didn't look after their only daughter? What kind of an older brother would I be if I didn't try and get you out of this?" Clay asks rhetorically and looks back at me. I give him a blank stare and then look off to the side, shaking my head. He was acting just like Liam if he had been here. Liam always tried to stop me from doing things that could 'potentially' get me hurt or, of course, killed.
"You know," I start and move a little closer to stand in front of him, "this is the kind of crap I'd expect from Liam, not you. I liked you more when you just let me do what I want and be there to help me fix my mistakes. That's kind of why I liked you more Liam."
Clay gives a laugh and then smirks down at me. It was a winning smirk that only he could portray as cockily as if he had just one some great consolation prize. I shake my head at him and inwardly curse him.
"How about that dinner now?" He asks and turns away from me, walking down the cobble street. I look up at the sky and grit my teeth.
"I swear to God I'm going to kill him one of these days." I mumble and then look to the others. I motion for them to follow after Clay, my stomach getting the best of me. I walk in between Jensen and Cougar, arms still crossed over my chest, "Thank you Jensen."
"What for?" He asks and looks down at me. I look up at him and give a small smile.
"If you hadn't of winked I probably never would have gotten that he was testing me." I admit and walk a little faster to be behind Clay. I place my hands on his shoulders and then hop up. Clay catches my legs as i wrap my arms around his neck.
"I know I'm like an older brother, but aren't we a little old to still be doing piggy backs?" Clay asks and bounces me to get a better grip on me. I give a laugh and shake my head as I feel my feet sway forwards and backwards as he walks.
"I'm not, but you sure as hell are old man." I laugh again as Clay suddenly pinches my leg. I smack him as we, well they, continue to walk into town.