Price of a Bounty (Reliance on Citizens Makes Us Great!) by S. L. Wallace

the seat and bent forward with my head on my knees.

-Guy-
    Bringing
Her Back

    I
was just about ready for bed when I heard someone at the front door.
No one other than Eberhardt and my parents had a key, and my parents
would have called first. Did Eberhardt need to tell me something
without Keira present, something that couldn’t wait until morning? I
hurried into the living room to see what he wanted but stopped short
when I saw Keira. Eberhardt led her to the sofa. Her face was
ashen.
    “Her
apartment just exploded,” Eberhardt informed me.
    “It
burned down?” I asked, dumbfounded.
    “No,
it exploded,” he repeated, “just as we arrived.”
    “Elaine
Ramsey…” I began. “Could she have?” If there
had been any doubt before, it was gone now. Keira was right. Elaine
Ramsey had ordered a hit on Rose – there was no doubt about it.
And this…this was more than a warning.
    I
sat down on the sofa and put my arm around Keira’s shoulders.
Eberhardt dropped into a nearby chair. Keira leaned into me and
began to sob. Eventually, she settled and grew quiet.
    “She’s
asleep,” Eberhardt whispered.
    “Thank
you for bringing her back.”
    “Do
you want me to stay?”
    “No,
you can go home. We’ll talk tomorrow.” He reached over and
squeezed my shoulder.
    I
lifted Keira and carried her into the bedroom. She was so light and
fragile-looking. One would never guess she was a Freelancer. I set
her on the bed and gently removed her shoes. Then I sat down to
watch over her.
    Would
this strengthen her resolve or weaken it? It was obvious that she’d
been shaken to the core, but why exactly? Was it because of the
attempt on her life? No, I felt it was something else. The building
was just an apartment, wasn’t it? I’d have to ask Scott exactly
where they’d lived when their parents were still alive. Maybe the
building itself had been important to her. Perhaps it was one her
father had designed or maybe there was something important within her
apartment. What had Keira lost tonight?

-Keira-
    Needs

    I
woke when Guy set me gently on the bed, but I didn’t open my eyes. The locket, my mother’s music, they’re really gone. My last ties
to my parents, gone. I felt myself sinking. Breathing became
difficult.
    I
was aware that Guy had not left the room – that he watched over
me. After sinking and sinking and sinking some more, I realized I
could no longer feel anything. I was just hollow, empty, gone. I
needed to fill the void, to feel something other than the emptiness
and the suffocating pressure on my chest.
    I
listened to Guy breathe: inhale – exhale – inhale –
exhale. He sat next to me on the bed and held my hand. He kept me
tethered to the world. I began to breathe in sync with him. It
released some of the pressure. Scott said I could trust him. April
suggested that I should seriously consider him. Even Guy had talked
about trust.
    I
kept my eyes closed, pulled my hand away from his and reached out to
caress his thigh. I willed him to lie down next to me, to gather me
into his arms, to make me feel something.
    When
he didn’t respond, I opened my eyes and looked deeply into his. I
wanted to sink into that sea of blue rather than into the blackness
that surrounded me. I wanted to leave this world behind, if only for
a little while. I stretched my hand toward his face and cupped his
cheek, rough with stubble. Couldn’t he understand what I needed?
Didn’t he want to help me?
    He
stood and backed away. I let my hand drop and just looked at him. I’m wrong. He doesn’t want me. He turned and walked away.

-Guy-
    A
Decision

    No,
not like this. Not tonight and not as an act of desperation. I
was shaking, but I refused to do something we would both regret.
    I
walked into the bathroom, closed the door behind me and leaned
against it for support. When the shaking subsided, I walked over to
the sink and turned on the faucet. The background noise helped me
think. I leaned forward and gazed into the