Charliee

Chapter 8

Thomas opened his eyes.
My body is numb, he thought to himself. That must be why I don’t feel the bullet.
He was still on his feet. Strange, I should be on the ground by now.
Not much of what was happening in the warehouse was clear to him. There were voices, a few men, Lucien, Carlisle, and a woman – Charliee, he realised. Lucien wasn’t holding a gun anymore. His hand was on his shoulder, and there was blood coming out from between his fingers. He was yelling at someone. The man who had been standing behind Charliee was gone, Thomas couldn’t see him anymore. Charliee was shouting at someone too. At him… Charliee was shouting at him!
Suddenly everything became clearer. Lucien was crouched low, using the factory equipment to hide himself while he held his wounded shoulder. Meanwhile, the large man was lying dead behind the chair in which Charliee had been sitting. From what he could tell, Carlisle was busy shooting at the guard who had been shadowing Thomas since he came in the room. Thomas hit the floor. He was grateful that the shock had prevented him from moving into the path of any oncoming bullets when the fighting had broken out.
The room filled with dust and dirt. Thomas had to wipe his eyes clear before he could see anymore. Charliee was still yelling at him, waving him over to where she was hidden behind a conveyor. She was holding something but through his blurred eyes Thomas couldn’t make out what it was.
The gunfire stopped. Either Carlisle had run out of bullets or he was determined to save what he had left until he had a better shot. The man by the door did the same. Lucien was shouting orders for him to move closer to the window. Neither of them saw the door to the office move incrementally before Carlisle’s bodyguard stepped out and put his gun to the head of Lucien’s bodyguard.
The man dropped his gun and raised his arms. Thomas breathed a sigh of relief, then felt something strong pull at the collar of his shirt. It was Lucien. His had picked up his gun with his wounded arm and was holding Thomas firmly with the other.
‘Nobody move!’ he shouted. ‘You! At the window! Throw your gun down before I blow this man’s head off!’
From where he stood, Thomas could see the stricken look on Carlisle’s face as his did as Lucien instructed. He couldn’t see Charliee at all. He could hear was Lucien breathing heavily behind him, swearing each time the pain from his shoulder got too strong.
‘Now,’ Lucien said, looking at the suited man, ‘You’re going to put your gun down, or this guy dies! You hear me?!’ The suited man looked from Thomas to Carlisle, but said nothing. Thomas could feel the gun shake in Lucien’s hand. ‘I said, do you hear m…!’ His voice was cut short by a bang that echoed through the warehouse. Thomas felt the grip release and heard Lucien fall backwards, his knees giving way so that he crashed in a heap in the dirt. Across the room, Charliee was still holding the gun she had used to end Lucien’s life.
Thomas watched Charliee, unmoving, with the gun perfectly still in her outstretched arm. He had trouble thinking about how careful she had to be to avoid accidently shooting him instead. Slowly, she lowered her arm, and walked over to Thomas. She put the gun on the desk next to the laptop, and put her arms around his neck. Finally, he put his arms around her too. They weren’t aware of anyone else in the room for a long time.

Carlisle had decided he wanted nothing to do with either of them ever again, and had said as much as he climbed into the back of the black four-wheel-drive. He had all the guns in a bag and said he would pass them on to someone who ‘can move these for a good price.’ He also put in a call to someone to clean up the warehouse. He assured Thomas there would be no issues with the police.
Meanwhile, Charliee had asked Thomas to do what he had originally planned all along, and take her to a train station. That night, Charliee looked just like anyone else standing on the platform. It was warm again, and not yet as dark as it would have been at that time a month ago. Her signature backpack was gone; all she took with her was the laptop. She hadn’t told Thomas where she was going, and he hadn’t asked. He secretly wondered if she even knew, or cared. The next day Thomas called Harrison and accepted his job offer.
A week later, Thomas got off a bus near his new apartment. It was a temporary place Harrison had put him in while he searched for something permanent. ‘The price of moving states and all’ he had said with a ridiculous grin. Thomas had left the red convertible at the train station where he’d dropped Charliee and had never gone back for it. He supposed eventually he’d have to get a new car.
When he got inside his landlord called to him. Something had arrived for him during the day, marked urgent. There was no reply address, just a partial name: C. Evans. ‘Charlie E.’ Thomas thought to himself, smiling. The name was surrounded with postmarks from several continents. Once inside his apartment, he opened the package to find a laptop inside, similar to the one he had picked up from Carlisle. It connected immediately to a satellite network and asked for his password. Eight letters.
Thomas ran the strange events though his mind. What passwords had she given him? Her words flooded his mind, her voice complete with its unusual playfulness: ‘Your password to me,’ the voice said.
C-H-A-R-L-I-E-E
The screen blinked to a summery page, on which it displayed a total accessible balance of $50 million. Thomas wondered briefly what kind of car he should buy.