Chapter 8

Ash cursed his vivid green eyes and his superstar looks. They made him too noticeable. He'd long since raked his hand through his hair, pulling locks forward to shield his eyes. He kept his head low, and stuck to the alleys.

After a while, he became tired and sat beside a puddle like a homeless person. He shielded his face with a piece of cardboard that had been lying around and closed his eyes, intent on getting some rest.

Ash was on the verge of falling asleep when he heard cautious footsteps coming towards him. After his encounter with the Green gang, he'd developed a healthy dose of paranoia, thinking that everyone was out to get him.

He clenched his fists in the dark and waited.

Seconds later, the footsteps sounded nearer and he tensed.

When the person was directly in front of him, he lashed out and pulled the person's legs, causing the person to fall on him.

He immediately, rolled the person over and straddled him, holding his hands to his throat.

"Get off me, get off me. Rapist! Help!" Ash was astounded to hear Jo's voice as she struggled beneath him.

"Hey. Shhh! Stop shouting or you'll draw attention to us." Ash said, covering her mouth with his hands.

Jo stopped shouting and struggling. Ash relaxed his clamp on her mouth and she used the opportunity to bite his palm, hard.

"Ouch! You stray cat! It's me, Ash." He said, trying and failing to inspect the bite marks she'd left on his palm.

"Get off me, then!" Jo said, recognizing his voice at that moment.

Ash did as she told him, and got off her. Jo stood up and glared at him. Ash saw she was wearing a hoodie that looked to be at least three times her size.

It made her look tiny and vulnerable, and at that moment, Ash realized that she'd also gone through the same shit he had, and was running away.

"So, it's crazy right?" he asked.

"Very crazy. But just so you know, this was all your fault." Jo said, as she took the cardboard Ash had used to cover his face, laid it on the ground and sat on it. She figured it would be a while before she found a suitable place to rest, she might as well do it there.

"Don't you tire of saying those words to me?" Ash said as he followed suit.

"No."

Ash decided not to engage in an argument with her and changed the subject, "Whose hoodie are you wearing?"

"It's Rex's."

Ash frowned in the dark. He didn't like the idea of Jo wearing another man's clothing. When he realized what he was thinking, he let out a frustrated sigh. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't mind if she wore your clothing, an inner voice said to him.

"I was at his apartment when the bounty went viral. Immediately, some people came for me. He helped me get out in time." Jo said.

Ash replied, "The Green gang came after me. I almost got shot."

Jo didn't reply, and they sat in companionable silence for a while, before Ash broke the silence, "You know someone's framed us, right?" he asked. After he'd escaped his apartment, Pascal had sent him a series of more detailed text messages telling him why the police had placed a bounty on him.

"Yes, I do." Jo shot back, her frustration evident in her voice.

"I suggest we work together and find out who's behind this, so we can get our lives back." Ash said.

Jo shook her head, "We've got a bounty worth thirty thousand dollars on each of us. If we stay together, we'll just be making it easier for anyone who decides to hunt us."

Ash thought she made a lot of sense, but he didn't want her running off, frightened and alone. He found that he wanted to protect her from all the shit that was going to come their way, because he knew what they'd already experienced was only just the tip of an iceberg.

Ash was about to dissuade her of that notion when he heard footsteps and saw the unforgiving glare of a flashlight hit a spot on the wall next to them. He immediately grabbed Jo and put his mouth on hers.

* * *

Jo was annoyed and tried to kick Ash. The idiot had been taking liberties with her ever since she'd met him in the alley. Firstly, he'd had her on her back, and while she knew he'd thought she was an attacker, it hadn't diminished the pleasure she'd gained from having his powerful thighs around her.

And now, he was trying to kiss her. Forcefully. Well, that'd happen over her dead body.

She bit his lips. Ash retreated only fraction and whispered so quietly she barely heard the words, "Kiss me like you mean it. Now!"

Jo grew more incensed. Who did he think he was that he could order her about?

Her anger fizzled out when she heard footsteps coming close and saw the beam of a flashlight. They'd been spotted.

She returned Ash's kiss with ardor. Parting her lips when he became more insistent, their tongues met and dueled in a passionate war.

All of a sudden, Jo took charge of the kiss. She gripped his shoulders through his shirt and slanted, gaining more access to his tongue. She rubbed hers against his and a moan escaped her lips at the sheer pleasure and splendor packaged in the kiss.

She broke off the kiss when she heard voices.

A faraway one asked, "You see anything?"

The voice nearer to them replied, "Just some fags makin' out!"

Jo blinked. Thanks to the oversized hoodie and her slight frame, they'd thought her to be a boy.

"Let's have some fun with 'em." A new voice suggested gleefully.

Ash and Jo tensed in readiness for an attack.

"Nah, we've got sixty k waitin' for us. We can't waste time here." One said. After that, the intruders all retreated.

Jo and Ash stayed as they were until they heard the footsteps no more. Immediately, Jo pushed away from Ash as if he were made of hot coal.

Ash sighed, still overwhelmed by the kiss. Sure, he'd kissed many beautiful women in his life, but by far, his kiss with Jo was the best. He snorted with disgust, wondering how a man only two years shy of thirty could be so elated at the prospect of a kiss, he wasn't in fourth grade for crying out loud.

Not to mention that he was of half a mind to pull Jo in, and continue from where they left off. In fact, if he had his way, they'd be doing a whole lot more kissing, let their surroundings and circumstances be damned, but he knew the idea wouldn't fly with her.

When he saw her staring hard at him, he realized she must have spoken to him.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" he asked, shaking his head to dispel the vestiges of his thoughts.

"I said, we need to get out of here before someone comes looking for us." Jo said, standing up.

Ash stood up too and they walked out of the alley as quietly as possible, making sure not to step into all the puddles on the ground.

They made their way out of the alley and right into Massage Lenny.

"Just the two people I was looking for," He grinned malevolently at them, "and you just fell into my lap."

Had he been alone, Jo would have kicked him in his groin and left him writhing on the dirty ground in his vintage suit, but he was with five huge men, two as huge as Rex. They were his leg breakers.

"C'mon Lenny. I've got no problem with you. Let us go and someday in the future, I might repay the favor." Ash said.

"I can't say the same for Jo now, can I?" Lenny asked cheerfully.

"Lenny, what you did was wrong. Those girls are underage. They shouldn't have worked at your sleazy massage parlor." Jo said.

"There you have it," Lenny said to Ash, "She destroyed my massage parlor and took my stash of cash with righteous fury just because of a little misunderstanding. Now, I need money to renovate. Just bear in mind that this is happening to you because of her."

Ash pushed Jo behind him, "I'm sorry, Lenny. But we aren't going to hand ourselves over. Now get out of our way."

To Jo, he whispered, "I'm going to draw their focus on me by engaging them. When I do so, run."

Before Jo could reply, Ash attacked one of Lenny's men. This one was actually the least muscular, but Ash still looked like a matchstick when compared to him.

He hit the man in his groin and he went down one knee.

The other four descended on him, kicking and punching him.

Jo was about to run when she heard Ash groan.

"Fuck this!" She said as she went for Lenny. She grabbed him by his collar and pulled his short frame up. Lenny looked at her in fear, praying inwardly that she wouldn't dash him on the concrete ground like a rat.

"Tell your men to leave him." Jo growled at him, giving him her most menacing scowl.

Lenny looked at her and looked at his men. Apparently, he was considering if sixty thousand dollars was worth what Jo would do to him.

Jo shook him vigorously and repeated, "Tell your men to let go of him or I'll throw you to the floor. Your best case scenario is going to be a bad concussion, and your worst case scenario is your brain, all over the pavement. Either way, sixty thousand won't do shit for you."

That seemed to convince Lenny because he gulped and said to his men, "Stop."

His men continued hitting Ash, irrespective of their employer's demands.

Jo narrowed her eyes, "Louder!"

"I said stop! Stop, you idiots!" Lenny screamed.

His men stopped and looked at him. For the first time, they noticed he was in danger and sought to help him.

Jo tightened her grip on him, "Tell them to stay away!"

Lenny began to plead with her, "Please let me go!"

"Do as I said!" Jo barked, not moved by his pleas.

"Stay back!" Lenny told the men.

Ash stood up and looked at Jo in astonishment.

"Are you okay?" Jo asked him.

Ash nodded, but his lip was bleeding and he walked with a noticeable limp.

"Walk over to me."Jo told him.

Ash ran as fast as he could to where Jo stood with Lenny in her clutches.

Jo turned to Lenny, "Now, tell your men to run away as fast as they can!"

Lenny looked at Jo as if she'd gone crazy.

Jo narrowed her eyes and acted like she wanted to dash him.

Lenny's eyes widened and he said vehemently to his men, "Run away!"

His men scowled. They didn't understand why their boss was doing as the puny woman asked.

"Run, you fools!" Lenny said, on the verge of tears.

His men looked at one another and shrugged. If Lenny wanted them to run, then run they would. After all, he was the one paying them.

They faced the opposite direction and ran into the alley as fast as they could.

Jo dropped Lenny roughly on his feet and gave him a parting quip, "Stick to running an enterprise. This is just not your forte."

Then, she and Ash ran off, not looking back even once.

Lenny fell to the ground and called to his men, "Go! Go! Run after them!" but his men had taken his previous order seriously and were well out of earshot.

He folded his arm beneath his chest and cursed Jo. Whenever she was involved, he always got shamed and always lost money.

* * *

When Jo and Ash saw that no one was chasing them, they slowed down to a walk.

Ash was so confused. On one hand, he was furious at Jo for not listening to him, and other hand, he was glad she hadn't because he might have been in police custody if she had.

Hell, his face, side and legs hurt enough already. He was sure he would be bruised for a long time.

"Why didn't you run when I asked you to?" Ash asked.

Jo's mouth tightened, "Is this the thanks I get for saving your life?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful you saved me, but there was nothing stopping you from running. If you had, they wouldn't have come after you." Ash said.

Jo sighed, stopped and turned towards him, "I didn't run because; one, you're not the boss of me so you can't tell me what to do, and two, you were the one advocating that we should stay together. I wanted to give that a try."

Ash smiled and winced at the hurt the movement brought to his face.

"So, what do we do?" Jo asked.

Ash said, "Don't worry. I know a family that lives around here. I've helped them a lot, and they're completely loyal. They'll let us spend the night. We'll rest up, eat and think out a plan."

Jo eyed him suspiciously, "Are you sure these people won't hand us over to the police?"

"You bet I am." Ash said as he limped on, leading the way.