44: Point of No Return

Ronald pushed Sophie through the crowd. He didn’t give off a shred of suspicion. He expertly maneuvered her to the men’s restroom. Sophie hesitated. Ronald pushed his gun harder into her waist. She gasped as tears started to run from her eyes. She gave in and moved as he forced her to. As she stepped inside, she saw two terrifying muscular men wearing janitor’s overalls that looked like they had been waiting for her. Ronald stepped in behind her and closed the door. A large cardboard box sat on the floor with a pencil drawing of a toilet printed on it. The men saw Ronald behind her and offered a slight bow in respect. The men had been impersonating the janitors and had been diverting the public to the other rest rooms, citing the change of a toilet. It had worked and the entire restroom was deserted. Ronald gave them a nod. She shuddered in terror as one of them approached her. He walked closer to her and gently held a rag to her face. She felt limp in an instant. Ronald holstered his gun and held the girl as she plummeted. The weeping face of her departing lover was the last image she had in her mind as she fell unconscious.

The hood over her head was abruptly removed and Sophie squinted to see in the stark white light. It took her a while to calibrate. The place looked like a small office. There was a desk with a computer on it. There were files and a water dispenser stood at the corner. She had lost the track of time. There was no clock in the room. Sophie realized that she was sitting on a revolving chair close to the table. A small black couch sat at the side. She had no idea where she was or what time of day it was. But what she did know was that she was in the custody of the ruthless enemy. She vividly remembered the bone chilling smirk Ronald had offered when she had seen him at the station. The face reappeared again right in front of her but this time it was not a memory.

“Rise and shine, my dear!”, Ronald exclaimed as he landed on the couch across the room. Sophie felt chills run down her spine. She realized that her hands were not bound nor were her feet. She stared at the palms of her hands and looked up bewildered at the man sitting across him. They were alone in the room but there were obvious shadows of men wandering outside, visible through the blinds. “Want some water?”, he offered as he stood up and walked to the dispenser. Sophie didn’t react. He took it as a ‘Yes’ and poured a glass for her as well. He handed her the glass. She didn’t know what to believe. She had expected ropes, pliers, jumper cables and what not. He walked back to the couch.

“As you know by now, I’ve been given the task to terminate your boyfriend. The reason shouldn’t concern you but I’ll narrow it down to ‘causing damage to my employer’s family’. I’d like to keep it at that”, he spoke. Sophie knew the charges.

“Aaron killed his son, didn’t he?”, Sophie responded and Ronald winced. He ground his teeth as he revisited the painful memory. His leniency was being tested. “But it was self-defense”, she added. She wanted to convince him as he had extended such kindness of not hogtying her. Ronald almost lost his temper.

“Bullshit!”, he yelled loudly as he threw his cup furiously, startling Sophie. He instantly regretted it and worked to gather himself. He slowly exhaled thrice. “Samuel Hudson was killed in a pre-planned assassination scheme master minded by your ‘Aaron’. There were no accidents. No coincidences. No acts of god. Hal-eck laid the plan and executed it. End of story!”, he concluded. Sophie was in no position to argue or ask what he knew.

“As I was saying, my aim is to kill your ‘Aaron’. Him alone. Doing so in broad day light, in front of his men, would raise questions and would be detrimental to my employer’s reputation”, he explained as soon as he was back to his usual over formal self. “I want no collateral damage. To which end, I also approached your father but apparently, he didn’t heed my words”, he continued. Sophie went pale by the mention of her father. She wondered what the maniac had done to him. She contemplated if her father’s untimely phone call was linked to it. “I didn’t hurt him. How ironic would it be if I had hurt him to not hurt you? I just vaguely asked him to pull you out of the scene. That’s it”, he added. Sophie was infuriated. She glared at him with utter hatred. “Like father, like daughter. I’ve seen that vile glare before”, he remarked and chuckled.

“So, you want me out of sight?”, she asked as soon as she felt like talking. Ronald nodded plainly in response.

“After you tell me where he is”, he mumbled. She felt flushed. The man looked ruthless enough to torture it out of her but he had already laid his card flat that he was not willing to hurt people other than his target. “Or don’t! Its easier if you don’t. Hal-eck will try to release you sooner or later. I’ll just have to wait”, he spoke. Sophie realized that she had become the burden the elder werewolves feared she was. There was at least a dozen or so men outside, she judged by the moving shadows outside the blinds. It was safe to assume that the men would be as strong as the ones at the subway station and probably armed. She remembered the private army Ronald had lead into her work place in the guise of security. She wept thinking what might happen if Aaron actually did come. He would be torn to shreds. Ronald saw the tear falling from her eye.

“If he had really loved you, he would’ve pushed you away”, he suggested, not suppressing his dissatisfaction.

“He needed me”, she responded. Ronald wasn’t sold on the emotional mumbo-jumbo.

A loud crash of broken glass outside the room attracted their attention. Ronald peeked outside and found the expanse outside the room filled with smoke.

“We’ve seen that trick before, haven’t we?”, Ronald said and snickered. The men outside called out to each other and armed themselves. There was a brief calm. A loud storm of gunshots broke the silence. Sophie darted to the table and ducked under it. Ronald stood at the window, looking for anything perceptible. He saw multiple lasers roam the expanse. He was puzzled. None of his men had guns with laser pointers. The air vent inside the room abruptly opened and a flashbang landed right in front of him. He tried to take cover but failed. A commando with gas mask landed right after the grenade and emptied his entire clip on him. Sophie frantically screamed with her hands on her ears, at the gun noise near her. Ronald couldn’t manage a single word. The gunshots from outside had ceased.

“Clear!”, the commando barked on the radio and pulled Sophie out from under the table. The smoke dispersed and the door opened. There were more than a dozen heavily armed men with gasmasks staring at her with their muzzles aimed to the ground. Another man with a gas mask entered the room without any weapons. He took off the mask. Sophie jumped at her father and hugged him tightly. She sobbed audibly and so did Mike. It took them a while to gather themselves. And when they did, they decided to leave. The faint words coming out of Ronald’s soon to be deceased body stopped them. He sat back on the couch which was drenched in blood. His body was riddled with bullet holes. They leaned closer to listen more clearly.

“I tried my best. The bell has now been rung. You can’t un-ring it”, he uttered in his last breath.