NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22
“I regret everything,” Ashe whined as her alarm blared.
She reached over, grabbing her phone to silence the insistent screeching. Three days of training so far with the couple from hell, and while she thought she was starting to get the hang of things, they still never failed to put her on her ass during anything that wasn’t a clear demonstration.
Ashe grabbed two pills from the nearby bottles and took them, chasing them with some water as she worked her hand with a resistance trainer. She could barely squeeze it on the lowest setting, and wasn’t showing much sign of improvement even after several weeks. Accepting the permanence of the injury was something Ashe was coming to slowly, but she still didn’t like it.
Following that, she took care of the rest of her morning issues, thankful that Crystal had recommended the pain killers as they were less likely to be addictive compared to the stuff she had gotten from the hospital following the attack. One of her parents was usually up to give her a lift to school, but the house was oddly silent as she put together a simple breakfast. A note on the table explained that SWAT was activated for an active shooter situation and they both went in.
That was fine by her, for as much as Ashe appreciated them making sure she made it to school safely, it was starting to feel overbearing compared to her former freedom. At least her parents let her skip school in the days following Gray’s questioning, but she was now three days deep and needed to return before they started asking too many questions.
Giving Jasper some well deserved scritches, Ashe had to hurry so that she caught the bus. She could have called Crystal for a pick up, but the girl deserved to sleep in with all the leg work they had been pulling while searching for leads. The ride was uneventful, but when she got off, she immediately noticed the shift in the air. The IP kids were all keeping to themselves, likely after the police picked up Gray for questioning.
Ashe barely made it to her locker before Rachel came running up and she let out a loud groan. “What do you want?”
“You hear what happened with Gray?” Rachel stage whispered.
Ashe rolled her eyes, grabbing the books she needed for her first two classes. “You seem to forget that I skipped the last few days.”
Rachel huffed. “Like your parents didn’t tell you.”
Well, she had her there. “For all the good it did. Not like they could hold him without hard proof.”
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked, her face taking on a complicated expression. “I thought you didn’t care about Jess?”
“I don’t,” Ashe said truthfully. “I do however care that the people that took her are likely related in some way to the people that attacked me. It’s purely for my own satisfaction. I want those monsters dealt with, and I don’t care who does it.”
Ashe bit her lip at the end, because she’d admitted too much there, but it didn’t matter much. Mercedes had her contacts looking into things discreetly on the Viuda side of things, and she’d gotten Kyle to get some feelers out with Alejandro’s people about watching for Patriot activity. Ashe wanted to hit them again, if for no other reason than to bruise their ego further in the face of nothing obvious being done about their human trafficking.
Stealing from fascists was oddly cathartic, and even though it had only been a week since her little heist, she wanted more. She’d ask Crystal about hitting a place over the weekend, even if it was just another small time dealer. Well, that was something to bring up later and would require some level of planning regardless.
Rachel looked away, watching some of the people trying to pretend they weren’t watching the ongoing conversation. “Thanks, regardless of your reasons.”
She pinched her nose, wanting next to nothing to do with the woman who had helped torment her for the entirety of their shared time in Jericho High. Ashe was seriously considering just punching her to get the suspension, but that would only serve to draw attention to her moms that she’s up to no good and prompt them to pay more attention than they already were.
“I don’t need thanks, least of all from you,” Ashe said, slamming her locker shut before continuing on to her next class.
Some of the other students were staring at her as she walked, that was when she noticed that she was being followed. Ashe wasn’t about to allow that, so when she rounded a corner, she set her backpack aside and waited. When they caught up, one of them damn near screamed when he came face to face with her.
She couldn’t help but snort. “There a reason you’re following me?”
“Just making sure you keep your freakishness in check,” the one that didn’t squeal said.
“Good job, toy soldier,” she answered with a roll of her eyes. “Why don’t you go back to snorting coke in the bathrooms and save me the trouble of making an example of you.”
Ashe was blustering, but less than she would have been a week ago. She was confident enough in herself to handle some untrained school flunkies. She recognized them as some of Gray’s circle, the guys he kept nearby to serve as background intimidation. Likely they were hoping to score some easy points with the rest of the school by picking on the trans girl.
“Like you could,” he said, puffing out his chest.
“We’re on camera here,” Ashe said, gesturing to one of the security cameras she knew worked. She stared him in the eyes, unflinching. “If you really want to be humiliated, then try me, see what that does for your reputation.”
After Alejandro, it would take something special to intimidate her, and these jokers didn’t qualify. She didn’t have time for them, not that she cared much about her classes. The entire Florida school system was a joke nationally, especially with some of the reforms put through in recent years. She wanted to just get her GED, but that would give the state leeway to have her parents declared unfit thanks to some of their legal fuckery. Walking away, she knew that one of them would try to get the last word in, they always did.
“You think that just because some dyke stuck up for you, you’re tough shit now?”
Sometimes, Ashe hated being right. She turned back and crossed her arms. “Someone’s heard some things. Mind sharing where you got that tidbit from? I’d be interested in talking to them myself.”
If word was getting around about Crystal beyond the confrontation Monday afternoon, it meant the lone survivor was making sure word got around. There was already a plan to pay him a visit sooner than later, to see what else he happened to know, now she had an excuse. That or the dead guy sang like a canary before they offed him. Either or could be true, but it would cross him off her list.
The two guys gave each other side glances before one spat to the side. “Fuck this, it ain’t worth it.”
Ashe snorted. “Fucking pussy.”
“Says the so-called ‘girl’ that has a bigger dick than me,” he shot back.
Ashe couldn’t help but laugh. “Not the insult you think it is.”
She left the confused jocks behind as she made her way to class. It was proving to be an entertaining day at the very least, now she just needed to get through the rest of it.
Aside from a few snide remarks here and there, which were more par for the course than anything, the day proved uneventful. Rachel kept trying to play nice, pretend to be friendly, but Ashe wasn’t having any of it. There wasn’t a bridge left standing to burn. Exiting the school, Crystal was waiting at her usual spot, leaning against her bike.
More than a few of the jock types were glaring at her, but she wasn’t even attempting to hide the shoulder holster under her leather jacket. It was an open dare to anyone stupid enough to try something with her. Ashe couldn’t help but smirk at the display, because it was kinda hot.
“Scaring kids?” Ashe asked as she stepped up.
“Apparently,” she answered with a grin. “though, are you including yourself in the whole kid thing?”
“I’d be tried as an adult, so no,” Ashe answered. “Any updates?”
Crystal sighed. “Mercedes has some leads she’s chasing down, but nothing yet.”
She had expected that. “I’d like to look into my other attacker before tonight’s lesson. There’s a good chance he’s been running his mouth if today’s rumors are anything to go by.”
“I thought the police were keeping an eye on him,” Crystal hesitantly asked.
Ashe waved her hand in a so-so gesture. “Odds are it’s two shit officers being given an easy gig to keep them from fucking up anything important. Should be easy enough to at least get some basic information on the guy.”
“Do you know where to start?” Crystal said, sounding exasperated.
“I figured you did,” Ashe said with a shrug. “You found the first guy easy enough.”
Crystal looked off to the side, muttering something under her breath. “I know where he works, but not where he lives.”
“Anything that we reasonably could check out?” Ashe asked.
“It’s a pawn shop near the cape,” Crystal said. “We could check it out, I suppose, but no starting shit.”
“Yes ma’am,” Ashe said with a smug grin and mock salute.
Crystal just rolled her eyes. “Alright, get your smart ass on the bike, it’s a bit of a ride from here.”
Ashe pulled her helmet on and secured her own holster in place before they got underway. The ride was peaceful, the afternoon breeze pleasant and warm for the weeks leading into spring. Ashe was growing used to hanging on the back of Crystal’s bike to get around, and thinking on it, she had the money to get her own bike if she wanted one.
That was something she could consider for the future, as she was quite enjoying her current situation at the moment, and holding on to Crystal’s firm stomach was absolutely not something to complain about. The pawn shop was one of those generic Pawn and Gun places that seemed to be on every other street corner. The only saving grace was that the sea wasn’t far off.
There were a few dirt bikes out front, but none of them really caught her eye, odds were each of them was in terrible condition and in need of hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in repairs to get up to par. They would be perfect for some kid that wanted to fuck around on the sand dunes for a summer though.
Ashe hopped off the bike, taking her helmet off and shaking her hair free in the afternoon breeze. She turned back, and caught Crystal staring. Ashe grinned as her friend quickly looked away, a dusting of red spreading across her cheeks. There was more than a bit of smug satisfaction at getting such a reaction out of her, because Crystal was easily a ten.
“Think he’s working today?” Ashe asked, giving Crystal a much needed out.
Looking around, she noticed there was a sign for a loading area around the back and a sandy road leading in that direction surrounded by a mess of dense trees and brush. She took her phone out and started recording a quick video of the area before snapping pictures of each vehicle with the license number visible.
It only occurred to Ashe as they were walking in that she had just not so subtly cased the place for a potential robbery. Funny enough, that thought didn’t bother her nearly as much as it should have. Inside, they were met with two rows of massive TVs that flanked the path to the front desk. Each was several years out of date and playing a low quality split feed from a DVD player. From the desk, the paths split. To the right was electronics, movies and jewelry, to the left was power tools and firearms.
Ashe banked left immediately. She didn’t see their target, but the two guys behind the counter were watching Crystal with a leering eye. Ashe almost chewed them out for staring, but then she saw that they weren’t watching her ass nearly as much as they should have been, they were watching her hands around the merchandise.
She wasn’t sure if that was better or worse, but she’d take it.
“I don’t see him,” Crystal whispered as they made it to the glass display case holding the pistols.
Most were bog standard, Glocks, Sigs and so on. Nine mil, twenty-two and even a couple of forty-fives. On the wall were the assorted bargain bin hunting rifles and ARs, but there was one gun that Ashe couldn’t look away from. She was surprised to find one at all in Jericho, but then again, the Iron Patriots loved to claim to be pro-Israel while also being antisemetic.
A Tavor TAR-21 that looked to be in excellent condition hung on the wall next to a knock off AK-47 and a basic bitch AR-15. Ashe took one look at the price tag and had to swallow heavily. They wanted twelve hundred for it, which wasn’t a bad price for the gun, a new one often ran almost a grand higher.
Better yet, her instructors liked to talk about their time in the Israeli armed forces and both of them loved their own rifles, quirks and all. Half the reason she was fixated on it was because of some of the tales they had shared about the rifle and what they had managed with it. Plus, there was something deeply amusing about the thought of using the weapon against the fascists in the city. The problem of course was that the gun would stand out, and if she bought it, people would question her very quickly if someone started using it in hits against the Iron Patriots.
That alone was a splash of ice water down her spine.
“Did the math?” Crystal asked, looking at the gun herself. “I mean, you could afford it.”
“But I can’t use it,” Ashe said, dejectedly. “It’s too conspicuous.”
Crystal tilted her head, then nodded. “Plus, your parents would ask all kinds of questions if you brought it home with you… Hmm…”
Ashe watched as she started tapping her chin, eyes still on the gun before she smirked in an incredibly distracting way and snapped her fingers. She then walked over to one of the clerks and talked with them for a moment before pointing back towards the gun. She knew there was a bemused smile visible on her face as the pair returned.
“That one,” Crystal said, pointing at the TAR-21.
Ashe blinked as the skeptical clerk took it down from the rack and handed it over. Ashe accepted it with an almost reverent gentleness as she checked the magazine release as well as the chamber before taking a moment to get the feel for it. Aside from needing a bit of basic maintenance in the form of cleaning and oil, it appeared to be in excellent condition.
“It’s a gorgeous gun,” Ashe admitted.
Crystal smiled, watching as she let the gun rest then brought it back up to a ready position. “I think she’ll take it.”
“It’s a three day wait for any purchase, and you need a state ID,” the clerk said.
Crystal chuckled. “Show them your Concealed Carry Permit.”
Ashe blinked, then fished her license from her wallet before showing it to the clerk. “Never mind then. Let me get you rung up and you’ll be on your way.”
“Why are you doing this?” Ashe asked as the clerk took the gun back and began to move to the register. The clerk began to ring things up as well as log the purchase forever cementing the gun as one she couldn’t use in the field.
“Because,” Crystal said, adding seven hundred dollars of her own money before Ashe had even fished out her first hundred. “Now I have an excuse to drag you out to a range that won’t make your parents question things too much.”
Crystal then winked, leaving Ashe speechless. It would work too, hell, her moms might even book some range time of their own as a family bonding experience. More so, Crystal had to know that too, which would give her a chance to get to know her parents as well in a fairly casual environment that also let them show off a bit. It was brilliant, and Ashe could only appreciate the beauty of it.
Well played, Crystal, well played. She thought with a grin.
