Carter's Mark - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Resolution
Seth and Wyatt sat in
the corner of the room, watching the hitman and his boss reenter the room. Seth had been so careless with his decision
to allow the old man to make a phone call.
It was that decision that landed them in the predicament they were in
now. If something were to happen to
them, it would be his fault. Wyatt’s
death would be his fault. All for
what? A chance at redemption? A spot of
vengeance to ease his mind? It all seemed so futile now. God had given him a second chance at life,
and he had wasted it pursuing revenge. Put
it out of your mind, and focus. You need
to do something.
For some reason, they
had not been tied down, not been restricted in any way except for the guns that
were constantly being lazily pointed at them.
Seth had been looking for a chance to turn the tables, but still was unable
to find a weakness. Sitting around awaiting death was maddening, and the
thoughts in his head were only making it worse.
Wolf walked around
Shadow, and the two men stood side by side, facing Seth and Wyatt, only feet
away. “Finish it, Carter,” Wolf
said. Carter. A name, for a face. Carter was obviously
hesitating for some reason, and the reason surfaced quickly.
“They don’t deserve it
Tom.” Carter’s focus never moved from
Seth as he spoke. “They were victims of
ours years ago. We’ve already gotten
paid for our services. What’s the point
now?”
“The point, Mr.
Hitman, is that they are looking directly into our eyes. They are sitting in my house. They just discovered our weapons
contact. Exposure is not only probable,
but definite. It needs to be done.”
“Explain to me again
why you can’t do this? I’m not the same
person I used to be Tom.”
“Carter, I’m the
boss. I don’t do the dirty work. I only take care of situations like this if
my men cannot.”
Carter’s stare
remained on Seth, and Seth waited anxiously to see what was going to
happen. What is he waiting for? He had no trouble shooting me back then. What has happened to this man to change him
so drastically? Carter closed his
eyes. “I can’t do it. I’m done with this shit Tom.”
Tom glared at Carter
for only a few seconds, and then reacted.
“So be it.” He pulled his gun out
and took a deep breath. Holding it at his
side, he muttered some words to himself inaudibly. Then something unexpected happened. He raised his gun up, but not towards Seth
and Wyatt. One shot rang out, and the
hitman flew backwards and hit the wall, shot in the chest. He had shot Carter. Seth was awestruck. He couldn’t believe the way this was all
happening. He couldn’t believe that the
same hitman that tried to take his life so many years ago had now risked his
life to avoid repeating his mistake. It
was Tom though, that had made the mistake. Tom moved over to the wounded Carter,
and took a knee. There was no focus on
the two hostages, and Seth immediately noticed that Carter had dropped his
weapon right where he stood when he was shot.
It was about a foot behind Tom as he kneeled, speaking to Carter, who
was still alive, but mortally wounded.
“We were so good
together friend. I trusted you with
everything, and this is how you repay me.
What good is a hitman if he is afraid to pull the trigger?” Seth inched his way forward, desperate for
the weapon that lay only feet away.
Wyatt was frozen solid, unable to move at all, and was shaking badly
with fear. “It’s that girl, isn’t
it? She’s messing with your head. You were like a son to me, but now we’re
worlds apart. Don’t you see? What we do
cannot be undone.” Seth had one finger
on the weapon, so close. “You can’t just
walk away from this business. There’s
too much trust involved in letting someone walk away. I’ve known you you’re whole life, but even
you can’t be trusted to be left alone with what you know. Goodbye, James Carter.” Tom lifted his gun, with a somber face. It looked like he was on the verge of
tears. As he was positioning his gun to
Carter’s heart, Seth had stood up behind him.
“It is what you do
that makes this easy.” Seth pulled the
trigger, and Tom dropped to the floor, gunshot wound to the head. Before today, Seth wanted to do to Carter
what Tom had done to him. It seemed
though, that it was Tom that Seth really needed vengeance against. He was the real evil. Carter was a pawn, and though he was the one
that had shot Seth, it was Tom that manipulated him. Now Carter had stood up for the two
strangers, and it could possibly now be the thing that kills him.
“Wyatt!” Seth called out to the frozen friend, who was
shaking now. “Get over here and help
me!” Wyatt blinked a couple times and
then seemed to come to.
“Um, okay. What are you doing?”
“We’re taking this man
to the hospital,” Seth replied. He
pulled Carter off the wall, and hooked his arms underneath the hitman’s. “Put some pressure on the wound.”
“Why are we trying to
save him? He tried to kill you
right?” Wyatt looked thoroughly
confused, but seemed to trust Seth.
“He got shot because
he started thinking for himself. He’s
not the same person he was years ago. He
helped us, and now we need to repay the favor.”
Seth and Wyatt dragged Carter out through the front door, out to the
car, and after much effort, pulled him into the back seat. Sirens could be heard in the distance. “Let’s
roll, trouble is coming.” Carter was
slipping in and out of consciousness, and seemed to be unaware of what was
happening. His wound was bleeding out
fast, and he started to go pale. The
hospital, however, was on his side as it was only two blocks away. “Keep some pressure on the wound Wyatt, he
needs to live.” Just a few minutes
later, Seth and Wyatt were carrying Carter into the hospital, and the nurses
had him on the gurney and into surgery almost immediately.
“We’re not waiting,
we’ll come back. Cops will be all over
this place soon.” Seth and Wyatt left as
quickly as they arrived, and started back towards Wyatt’s house.
In an apartment
nearby, Gweneth Spears was packing suitcases and getting ready to leave
Savannah and start anew with the love of her life.
. . .
Two days had passed,
and it had been an emotional roller coaster for Gwen. She had not slept since Carter failed to come
back after his trip to Tom’s. She hoped
for the best, but assumed that he had gotten killed trying to leave the
criminal lifestyle. She wished she’d
have been able to pry more information from him, get him to tell her where
Tom’s house was, anything that could help her locate him now. She had nothing to go on though, and found
herself just riding around aimlessly around town, pleading for any kind of luck
to find her.
Now, after having
found nothing to put her fears to rest, she had assumed the worst. After work, she walked to the nearby
hospital, hoping that Carter would be there.
If he was not there, she figured there would only be two other possible
scenarios. One would be that they had
killed him, and disposed of the body, which would be the worst thing
possible. The other scenario was that he
took off, afraid to involve her if he was in danger. She could handle neither scenario. He had to be here.
“Yes ma’am, can I help
you?” The receptionist was younger girl,
about twenty, and was very courteous for the type of people she most likely had
to confer with all day.
“Is there a James
Carter admitted to this hospital by chance?”
Gwen’s face was stained with dried tears that had been pouring out of
her nonstop since she convinced herself that he wasn’t coming home.
“Just a sec,” the
receptionist replied. About fifteen
seconds of frantic typing, and then some fast eye movement of her eyes reading
the monitor. “Yes, gunshot wound, Room
145, Critical Care.” As she looked up,
Gwen had already left the counter, and was running towards the CCU. A look of empathy came over her face as she
returned to work. Never had Gwen run so
fast in her life.
As Seth and Wyatt
waited in the waiting room, they noticed a beautiful blonde woman almost fall
as she rounded the corner of the building, and flew into the hitman’s
room. Wyatt turned to look at Seth, and
said “Who is that?”
“No idea.”
As she entered the
room, she was relieved to find that Carter was breathing on his own. Next, she found that his chest had been
heavily bandaged, and he was receiving blood from an I.V. “James, can you hear me?” Nothing.
She sat on the edge of his bed, and started to cry again, when two
strange men entered. “Who are you guys?”
“My name is Seth, and
this is Wyatt. We found this guy and
took him to the hospital. Are you his
wife?”
“No, but we’re very
close. Have the doctors said
anything?” Gwen cared nothing about
these two strangers, and just wanted some information.
“Well since we’re not
family they wouldn’t tell us. But we
have been here for a couple hours. He
seems to be doing a lot better than when we… found him.”
Gwen studied Seth
thoroughly when he stalled. Did they
do this to him? “What did you say
your name was?”
“I’m Seth.”
“Seth what?”
“Marks.”
A look of shock came
over her face as he spoke his last name.
Why were they here? “Um, could I have a minute alone with
him?” She tried to hide her
acknowledgement of Seth’s identity as she spoke. “I need you two to leave for a few.” Seth and Wyatt looked at each other, and then
proceeded back out into the waiting room.
“Baby? James, wake up please,” Gwen pleaded to him. “I need for you to wake up.” She shook him, and his eyes sprouted to
life. Gwen was startled when they
opened, it was so fast. “James.” She wiped her eyes dry, and laid her head on
his right shoulder. “I thought you were
dead. You scared me.” She sat back up, and looked at her hitman.
“How did I get here?”
Carter seemed to be taking in his new surroundings for the first time. “Did you bring me here?”
“No, baby. Two guys are here in the waiting room. One of them is that guy you told me that
story about, that Seth guy. Is
everything okay?”
Carter sat upright,
and then winced in pain, grabbing his chest.
Lying back down, his eyes caught Gwen’s, and he smiled. “You’re so beautiful, you know that?”
Gwen laughed out loud
slightly, through her tears of joy, and stared lovingly at Carter. “You’re not so bad yourself young man.” She smiled.
“Can you do me a
favor?” Gwen nodded, and James
continued. “Can you ask Seth to come in
here?” Looking surprised and confused,
Gwen resisted only for a second, and then said “Um, sure, okay.” She went to the door, and called out for the
red haired man. As Seth entered, Gwen
gave him an evil stare.
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