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5. Killing

Ophelia POV

Fox had walked me to a small bistro for lunch. I had spent hours with Fox, and it had felt like we were kids. It unnerved me but I had not felt this alive in a long time. I couldn’t believe I had run from the cops. I was a federal agent, and I had been so stupid, but the car had been so enticing. What was I doing, here? I couldn’t be doing stuff like this. There was no way I could report the car chase with the director.

I rationalized and decided I would just tell him that Fox had taken me to various places showing me the city. It would seem simple enough, and they would be none the wiser. I wouldn’t mention the speeding or the fact that all the places were ones I had gone to growing up and now they were something else.

Yes, that was the plan. The director wanted me to get close to Fox, integrate he told me, and integrating with Fox involved breaking the law sometimes. I tried to tell myself I still had control over the situation. I had to keep control, but everything was still there. My desire for Fox was still there, the way he made my heart pound. I thought the time away from him and this horrible city would have calmed me. It was supposed to tear down my erratic wild nature I had as a child.

I had calculated my life perfectly. I had a stable government job. One that would stop the crime I had been so close to growing up. I had been in a lab, helping solve crimes by forensic science. I had changed my future but one day with Fox, and I had already broken the law. I had trashed rooms like they were nothing. Though at least that was legal. I didn’t know what had come over me.

Maybe it was a combination of things, but it had felt so good to let out my frustrations. And I had way too many of them. I looked at Fox as we sat outside. His cigarette between his mouth. I internally chanted “Murderer, horrible human, savage.” I knew he was those things. I had to remind myself again. I had been having fun, I had fun with someone who was involved in crimes I couldn’t even wrap my head around.

But I felt it in my gut. He brought out that part of me I shoved down for so long. Stop, I yelled internally. I couldn’t be doing this. He was a job, and I couldn’t bring myself to have those feelings. Remember your training, I told myself. “Criminals can be appealing and smart they will trick you by showing you their good side. But when you start to look at the good you sometimes forget the gravity of their crimes. You begin to rationalize their behavior. This is when you step back for a moment and remember what they are responsible for. This is how you push through the sympathy.”

I bet none of the field agents had such a past with the criminals they were trying to incriminate. They didn’t have to deal with their past every second they were in the presence of who they were tracking. I noticed Fox examining my scar. He looked fascinated by it. Suddenly his eyes met mine and I felt exposed suddenly. He smiled that wicked smile, that was sure to draw me in. “What is in that head of yours?” He asked. You, and how much I am feeling, but I would not admit that. I had already told him too much today. Telling him about my loneliness', that had been the worst of it. “The food is good here.” I lied; I couldn’t really tell him. He smirked. “You always have been a beautiful liar.”

I gulped not responding, of course he knew I was lying. “So where to next?” I asked as we had finished our meal. “I am going to take you to one of the buildings I own.” I raised a brow, I knew he owned a lot of real estate, I had been briefed on it. They wanted me to snoop and see if there was anything nefarious going on. This could be my out I thought. I could get something, turn on him and go back to my quiet life. If I did find something, I didn’t know if I could turn on him. It scared me.

“Do you want to drive again?” Fox asked me. Yes, I wanted to. “Nah you can drive.” I said. I need to keep control at all costs and driving was not going to help me do that. I pushed my desires down tight trying to lock them up. He shrugged as we made our way back to the garage and took off to one of his buildings. It was a sky scrapper. He parked in the garage. Which surprised me considering it was not below ground. “Come on we will go in my personal elevator.” That seemed strange. He used a key card he had in his wallet and hit the B button, and I felt us descend.

The door slid open, and I saw a wall of guns. So many types, automatics and handguns. My eyes got big looking at the weapons. He moved in, picking up one of the handguns and the magazine for it, handing it to me. I took it tentatively and then really looked around the space. This was a gun range. Next Fox handed me noise protection. “Fox what are we doing here?” I asked him. “I want to see if you remember how to shoot. See if you remember what I taught you.”

I gulped. “Are all these weapons legal, is this range even legal?” I asked and he shot me a glare of knowing and then said. “Of course not. I thought you knew me better than that.” I did know him. I knew he had illegal weapons, he ran them, just like his father before him. This is what I needed to get him behind bars. He had a key card for coming down here, he owned the building, this would be enough I thought. I could get out of here soon, but my chest hurt at the idea of turning him in and seeing him rot behind bars. Then there was the thought of leaving him again.

He grabbed the back of my neck softly and led me to the shelf that ran the link of the enormous concrete range. I saw the dummies set up. All of them had sacks over their heads. All bound and on their knees. I saw some stuffing peeking out of a few of the burlap sack heads. He removed his hand on my neck, putting on my noise cancelling headphones and then his own.

I knew how to shoot, Fox had taught me, but I did more of it at Quantico. But Fox was the one who taught me originally, he was the reason I was a good shot and got high praise from superiors. I loaded the magazine of the handgun and felt Fox large hands skim my lower back as I got into position. I would start from the left and work across the dummies. I inhaled and as I exhaled, I fired. I hit the first one dead on in the head. I continued down the line. I was feeling good as I showed that Fox’s lessons had been effective, and I could hit heads like it was nothing.

I got to the last dummy and shot. But instead of staying upright it fell and dropped to the ground. I pulled off my headphones and looked. There was blood coating the concrete floor. I had killed someone, the realization hit me like a freight train. Fox had made sure I killed someone. I dropped the weapon and jumped over the short wall of the range and ran to the man I killed.

This had to be some kind of trick, Fox had made me think I killed someone, he wouldn’t really do this to me. I untied the burlap sack that was now coated in dark red blood. I finally got it removed and saw the man face. This wasn’t a trick I had shot a man in the head. I checked his pulse, not believing he was dead. There was nothing. I stared down at the perfect bullet hole in his forehead. It had been a clean shot.

How did I not know he was a person when I fired. I felt Fox standing over me. I turned to look at him. He looked dark and demented. He had planned this whole thing. We had a good day together just to end it with me committing murder. I looked down at the man again. He couldn’t have been much older than me. I looked at my bloody hands. They were shaking. Fox hoisted me from the ground.

His hands came up and grasped the side of my head. His thumb stuck out so he could run it over the part of my scar on my chin. Then with no emotion he said, “I own you.” I thrashed against Fox, but he was stronger than me, his arms engulfed me, but I kept thrashing. Fox was poison and he had just stained my soul. “Let go of me” I screamed. I kicked and tried to scratch him as he forcibly removed me from the range leaving the dead man behind. “I hate you.” I couldn’t stop as we went up the elevator. All the while thrashing about.

He shoved me in the car and raced to the other side. I went to hit him now that he was not restraining me, but instead a metal cuff wrapped around my wrist, and he snapped it on the steering wheel. “Let me go Fox.” I screamed. He didn’t say anything to me as he peeled out of the garage. I was screaming like a mad woman. I had killed someone; it didn’t take long until we were somewhere. He shut off the car coming around. Reaching across me and undoing the handcuff. He pulled me out of the car and began to drag me into a stone building. My eyes adjusted and I knew where we were at Saint Anthony's cathedral. This is where Fox kissed me all those years ago. “Scream all you want; you know the priests won’t care.”

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