Forced to Change

I aimed my gun at the back of the driver's seat. I could kill him even though he was driving down the road at over sixty miles an hour. My seatbelt was fastened and the only thing stopping me from pulling the trigger was the fact that Kathryn wasn't restrained. She'd be thrown from the car.

"We don't have time for this," I said.

"We have time," CJ responded. CJ was a problem. He might be the very reason I'd been feeling wrong the entire night.

"I wanted to be there by midnight. You don't think. We should have left her and taken the car. We won't get there in time..." My voice trailed off. Kathryn was awake. She was trying to hide the fact that she was conscious, but her breathing had changed enough to alert me to it.

"We'll be fine. Fuck, you have such a hard-on for these guys. I want her," CJ said.

I didn't like his wording. He wants her? What the hell would he want with her? He doesn't even know her. Maybe he does know her. This was wrong and I had to figure out why she was here. Does he mean he wants a woman or Kathryn specifically?

"You could have waited," I said. "You should have waited. She's off-mission. We need to stick to the plan."

"Isn't that where you live? Off-mission." he said.

"I don't know what you think you know about me..." I stopped. He was baiting me. He was trying to get me to reveal my hand and it had almost worked. CJ didn't know anything. He couldn't know anything about anything.

"Relax. Just because you're a monk doesn't mean I am. There's nothing around the cabin for miles. I have needs, and the girl was there. And looky here. We have a vehicle, we're headed to the cabin, and now we've got something to fuck. So no need to search for anything else."

I didn't know which part of his little speech bothered me more. I had a line on how he ended up in this type of work from it, though. CJ was the type of hitman who "killed for thrill." He enjoyed it. He was the type that loved the violence-not just a murderer, but a rapist too.

He didn't know her. She was just a woman he could use. I should have felt better about that. He was fishing. He sucked at interrogation. CJ was just a moron too green to know any better. He was untrained and unprofessional. I needed to calm down.

Kathryn shivered, trembled. He didn't even have a clue she was conscious.

"Shut up. She's awake," I warned.

"Good," CJ sneered. He turned his head to the side to look at her. "Sweetheart, want to get up here and make a man happy? It's been a while since I've had some sweet dark chocolate."

"Shut up! You don't have time for this. Just drive," I growled. The gun was in my hand aimed at the back of his seat. I could kill him, except I still needed him to find the targets. Dammit, life would be much simpler if I could just kill the idiot.

CJ laughed and Kathryn trembled again. Oncoming headlights brightened the car's interior. I forced myself to focus my attention on Kathryn. I saw her wince but otherwise she was silent. There was a flash of recognition in her eyes and I had to turn away. I hoped she wouldn't see me.

Suddenly Kathryn kicked out and connected with the side of my hand holding the gun. The pain barely fazed me but I was impressed and surprised by her attempt. She followed the kick with a punch to my face as I intentionally dropped my gun. I pulled back enough that her fist glanced off my cheek.

Her attack was slow and jerky and I was able to compensate quickly and blocked the next few punches. CJ slammed on the brakes and the force of the sudden stop sent her flying into the back of the passenger's seat. It would have been more of an admission of my feelings than I was willing to show to stop her collision. She grunted from the impact.

She grabbed above her head for the door handle, yanking it with all her might. I could have subdued her easily. A part of me was curious where she'd go.

The door opened and Katie wiggled her way out of the vehicle. She continued to kick out at me as she inched her way through the car door. She landed a few good kicks to my body and hands as I made a half-ass grab for her.

Her back was on the edge of the seat with her head out the door. She used my shoulder to give herself a step up as she crawled across the roof of the car with her feet and legs and finally she managed to flip herself out of the open door. She landed in a crouch.

"She's getting away!" Captain Jerkoff yelled from the front seat. She was up and running the moment she hit the ground. I smiled, silently cheering her escape.

She charged into the open field which was covered in snow. CJ went out the driver's door a moment later. I dove across the seat and out the back door. I chased her. It was better for her if I caught her first. I had no idea what CJ would do. She was mine to kill, not his.

She went down in the snow, crashing a little over ten feet away from the car. She regained her feet and flashed forward with unexpected speed when I almost had her.

CJ stopped, winded, and let me chase her as he called out, "Get her. Don't let her get away!"

I let her put some distance between us, only to see her trip and fall again into a pile of fresh snow. I increased my effort and fell halfway on top of her prone form. I cut off her scream by pressing her face into the ground.

She rolled to her knees as a gasp of pain escaped her lips, but it was too late. I had her.

Katie shifted under my body, digging her hands in for purchase. I wrapped my arms and legs around her and gripped her in a choke hold. Her head fell forward and I braced my neck for the impact of a head butt. Only she didn't use the move I anticipated so I relaxed my hold in case she couldn't breathe.

She gasped for fresh air, then she struggled anew. I rolled us over, panting, and reinforced my hold on her until her struggling ceased.

"I. Won't. Hurt. You," I breathed. Each word took incredible effort. She'd been a lot faster than I expected and we'd covered better than a football field of distance from the truck. Adrenaline is a powerful thing. If she'd made it another fifteen feet to the cover of the trees I would have let her go.

"Liar!" she yelled.

"I promise I won't let him hurt you. But I can't let you go." I loosened my grip on her neck and she turned, not far, but enough. She looked back and stared at me.

"You have to trust me," I pleaded.

"How about not," Katie said. She threw her elbow back, not really connecting because once again I'd predicted her move.

"I could kill you now. I'll leave you...here...in this field," I growled. I captured her wrists and twisted her arms until she moaned in pain.

"Good. Go ahead!" she spat.

We glared at each other, both trying to catch our breath. Her neck was at a weird angle from looking back over her shoulder. Katie turned and watched as CJ jogged toward us, a gun in his hand. She returned her stare to me as she took a long blink and then she sighed, defeated.

I whispered in her ear too low for anyone else to hear. "I swear I won't let him hurt you. Just come quietly and don't make any more trouble."

She stared at me, probably trying to place my face. Recognition lit in her brown eyes again and I resisted the urge to turn away. She released her breath slowly and nodded her head.