Granger’s Run 6

by evilgrin on 27 Dec 2005, 18:35
::SIX::

The little knife is beautifully made, perfect. You must have picked it up while we were getting supplies. You never say anything, but you remember everything. I had lost my switchblade during the madness with McDermott, and I didn’t think I would see another so perfectly balanced again.

You’re pulling off the ridiculous shirt before the door to our room is even closed. You looked good in it, but it just isn’t you. It’s a little difficult to get service at a decent restaurant without one though. I’d be willing to change a lot in my life for you, but, as a woman, there are just some things I need every once in a while.

The room is lit only by the dim soft glow of starlight. Smell of age, and old velvet. Luxury. This place must have been nice in it’s day. My toes sink deep into the carpet, as I step out of my heels. Unstrap the knife at my thigh, replacing the straight razor with your gift.

I reach back to unzip my skirt. Stop as I feel your hands on my hips, your lips against my ear.

“You know we’re being watched, don’t you?”

A deep silken whisper. A sound that’s felt, a vibration picked up, by some part of my body nowhere near my ears at all. No one else, no matter what sort of reception they have, is going to hear you.

“What do you want to do about it?”

“It’ll be at least three weeks before we get to do this again. Let them watch.”

You finish unzipping me.

~~~~

Vaughn hooks the uplink into the laptop. Seems a lot of dirty business went on in this place, for a long time. Most of the rooms are wired. Just a matter of finding who to pay off to get access. Vaughn’s cagey about where he got the info. Then again, I haven’t exactly been honest with him either.

I still haven’t said word one about Riddick and his girl. Hell, do I call it a date? What the hell do I call that? Like I said, no one here would believe me anyways.

Sent Petrie out for coffee. If I could have sent him away farther, I would have. The kid doesn’t belong here. Head hurts. I’m drinking too much. Davis is still out, somewhere. Don’t want to think about what he might be doing.

The uplink is complete. I hit record.

“You know, we have the room number, we could just go take them out, pretty easy.”

Vaughn. He’s twitchy. Would love nothing more than to burst in on Riddick, guns blazing. That’s not the deal. Can’t get money for Riddick if he’s dead. And the girl has to be taken alive. Don’t exactly know what the guild wants with her, but they want her alive.

“They’ll be here another day, Vaughn. We wait. That’s how you stay alive. You wait.”

“What, like you, old man? You’re going to lose them both, you don’t have the guts for this anymore!” His anger is rising, his hand rises up to the scar again, with a will of it’s own.

My voice grows calm. Age has it’s purpose, after all. “Have you even seen the girl, Vaughn? I have. No doubt, she’s beautiful, but there’s something else in her too. Riddick gave her a switchblade as a gift during dinner. I never mentioned McDermott, did I? No”, I don’t give him a chance to answer. Maybe, if he’s smart, he might learn that this particular stupid old man might have a few tricks up his sleeve that have kept me alive so far, I continue.

“I didn’t think so. You’ve probably read about McDermott in the news. I’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say, McDermott was killed with two weapons. She started out with a switchblade. Couldn’t pull it out of his chest after she stabbed him with it the last time, before switching to the razor. Hell, the coroner had a hell of a time with it, for that matter, ended up cutting it off at the hilt, and pulling the rest out through the back.”

I’m watching his eyes, he’s trying not to be baffled. I’m supposed to be a washed up drunk. Maybe not everybody is what you think they are.

“You said ‘she’, you think the girl did that?”

“Yes, I do Vaughn. She’s an assassin, remember. I believe McDermott pulled her contract, demanded that she kill Riddick, and she wouldn’t, for whatever reason. She’s not to be underestimated, Vaughn. Davis hates women, doesn’t think they’re much good for whatever it is he does to them. You’re not stupid. This woman is extremely dangerous. The fact that she’s with Riddick just goes to prove that fact. I believe she went off on McDermott. Probably killed a good deal of the guards there as well. That one guard outside was killed with a wire, that’s not Riddick’s style.”

This is hitting Vaughn like a bolt out of the blue. Sometimes it’s nice to drop a bomb on them, let them know you’ve still got a thing or two.

“Then there’s the disturbing idea that I think Riddick love’s her, and I pity the poor bastard that would harm her.”

I let that sink in with him for a while.

“I thought he was a sociopath?”

He’s genuinely puzzled. Can’t say I blame him. I still can’t get my head around it myself.

“I don’t know what it is, or even if what I saw was real. But I do think that barging in anywhere right now will end up with everyone of us getting killed.”

The lights come up, as the tape starts, in a darkened room, as Riddick and his girl enter. Infrared. You leave the lights off for him. You glow, the palest pink. Your hair a halo of shimmering light. So this is how he sees you, maybe he’s the lucky one after all.

“I sure as hell wouldn’t mind fucking her before this is over.”

Davis. He’s back. Never even heard him come in. Too busy watching the screen. Going to have to watch that. His face is scratched. I can feel my revulsion, a kick in the gut, as I imagine some poor woman trying to fight you off. Part of me hopes you get to tangle with this girl. She’d rip you apart, if Riddick didn’t beat you to death for the thought, first. Davis’s eyes don’t leave the screen. The girl, naked now.

Vaughn, looks at me, and closes the laptop. We share a look. If Davis were to have an accident, I don’t think either one of us would say boo about it.

next…