Page 57 of Spitfire

"Jesus fuck, you're both serial killers! It doesn't matter if you're both out only killing men who abuse others. The law cannot be taken into anyone's hands!"

"The law fails more times than it saves, Jasper! You know that as well as I do. They go free only to hurt another child or woman. Rinse and repeat. The law is made to protect vile, predatory men, while punishing their victims," Ashmaker screams, her hand shaking violently, and causing another cut to appear.

"Please, Ashmaker! Put down the weapon. You don't want to hurt Scarlett. You've spent your whole life protecting her." Xavier turns towards me, and before I know what the fuck is happening, the bastard has disarmed me of my weapon.

"What the fuck!" I try to grapple for it back, but he points it at my chest. I knew I should have shot the bastard when I had the chance. A chuckle sounds behind us, and we both return our glance to the woman we're both infatuated with.

"Never trust a killer, Jasper. They didn't teach you that in your fancy FBI school?"

"You know I love you, Ashmaker." Xavier gets her attention as he takes a step forward, the gun trained on me, and I have the sudden feeling of being up shit creek without a paddle. "I love both of you equally, not just Scarlett. You belong to me, just as much as she does, and we are the same, you and I. There is nothing I won't do to protect you both. Please don't hurt her."

He extends his arm forward, handing her my gun, butt first. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Ashmaker rips the gun away from him, and points it at both of us, as he returns to my side. "Protecting Scarlett. She doesn't want to hurt her, but she's feeling cornered, and the only thing left to use was our love for her."

A flicker of respect passes between us, and I acknowledge him with a nod. Instantly, we can see a difference in Ashmaker's confidence, as she removes the blade from her throat, and slips it into the front waistband of her pants. I take the first deep breath I can manage, since barging in through the door into this nightmare.

I need to de-escalate the situation somehow, but I'm not really sure how. I've never been in a position where the woman I'm in love with is threatening to kill her other lover, and me, at gunpoint. "Who is the dead guy, Ashmaker?" I direct my question at her, hoping that if I keep her talking, by some miracle Scarlett might be able to gain control, even though I have no idea if that's how it actually works, or whether Scarlett might shoot me anyway, with the way I've treated her lately.

"Jacques St. Clair. Rapist, serial killer, and all-around scum of the fucking earth. The girl in the other room was to be his latest victim. He finds them on dating sites, slips drugs into their drinks, then brings them here to torture and rape them, before dismembering them and burying their body parts all over the surrounding forest area."

"He also ran a site on the dark web, teaching other men how to do what he does," Xavier slips in. Jacques St. Clair, why does that name sound familiar?

Then it hits me. "He's one of the wealthiest surgeons in the state. He was charged years ago with sexual assault, but the charges didn't stick, and he walked."

"Like I said, the system is rigged only to benefit the predator. He went on to kill eleven women." Ashmaker nods in the direction we can hear struggling from. "She would have been his even dozen."

Fuck, I have no idea what to say or even think right now. A part of me is relieved and even proud that Ashmaker has killed this piece of shit. The other part, the one who has always believed in law and order, knows that's not right. That we can't just take justice into our own hands and play executioner. "That struggle, the balanced scales of justice you crave, she feels it too. That's why I hid what I was doing from her, that is, until he started leaving her clues."

I glance at Xavier, and notice he's not remorseful in the slightest at her words. "I needed her to wake from the darkness you were hiding her in. It was making a huge impact on her, and she couldn't function. You knew, and yet you kept pushing her harder. You wanted complete control."

"The headaches and blackouts. The way she zoned out when she pulled her gun on me weeks ago. That was all you, wasn't it?" I demand.

"YES! FUCK!" Her shoulders rise and fall as she forces a deep inhale. "Can't a girl have a little fucking fun?!"

"You could have really hurt her. I could have reacted badly! Not to mention she could have lost her fucking job, and all she's worked so hard to build." I step forward, rage racing through me, and I no longer give a shit about the gun; let her fucking shoot me. This bitch hurt the woman I love. All I can see is the image of Scarlett, as she clutched her head when she came out of the blackout, how ill she was afterward, and how terrified and confused she was.

"She was fine, and I knew you weren't going to fucking hurt her, or get her fired. She's in love with you, both of you, and you two assholes are in love with her!"

Her words send a searing heat through my chest, and at the same time, they're crushing. It's not like I hadn't realized she was in love with both of us. Knowing and accepting, however, are two different things, and I've been grappling with whether I can handle sharing her with the white-haired cunt at my side.

She stumbles backward, a groan escaping her lips, as she raises her bloody gloved hand to the side of her head, and the gun wobbles in her other hand. I glance at Xavier, and realize he's already waiting for me to meet his eyes. "Scarlett is fighting her. It's only a matter of time before she regains control," he whispers.

"When she's safe, you're going to explain to me how you know so much about this, preferably from behind bars in a six-by-eight cell, serving life without parole."

The cocky bastard winks at me. "We'll see about that, Jasper." He returns his attention to Ashmaker, who's mumbling to herself and clutching harder at her hair. "Please, Ashmaker, let her take control. You know you can't continue this way. I promise that we will protect you, and he won't arrest you, will you, Jasper?"

Everything in me wants to deny his claim. I'm a cop. I believe in law and order, right and wrong, good and evil. Yet, I can't reconcile myself with Scarlett, even as Ashmaker, as being evil. She's right that the law fails more than it should. Do I ever believe taking it into your own hands is justified? The thrashing, and whimpers, of the woman that would have died tonight at Jacques St. Clair's hands, remind me that it's not all black and white. There is always lots of gray. The gray is where Ashmaker resides.

Then there's the other component. I stare at the only woman I've ever had a deep connection with, the one I'm certain I'm in love with. I imagine her being gone, taken from me and locked behind bars or in a hospital, slowly wasting away, and it almost brings me to my knees. Can I allow the law to take her from me? Would that be doing the right thing? The part that's harder to get past is that she's not actually hurting innocents. She's doing what the law failed to do: provide justice for the victims. Can I ever get past her killing men, even if they're vile and deserve it?

"Fuck, little vixen, I could never hurt you. I'm deeply in love with you." I meet Xavier's glance, and in it I see the same desperation to save the woman we both love. "I would never arrest you. I don't have it in me to see you behind bars."

"Please let Scarlett out, Ashmaker. We promise that we'll help protect you both." Xavier takes a step towards her, his hands out in front of him, as if he's trying to soothe a terrified animal that's been cornered, and I match his motions, as pain becomes etched on Ashmaker's face.

"You're both fools."

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