In the Light of a Shadow (standard:action, 3984 words)
Author: Smokey	Added: Jan 19 2001	Views/Reads: 4012/2454	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A woman tries to escape her violent past...no one said it would be easy. If you like this Part email me. I will provide the actual ending.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

all over her face.” She paused. “I froze but Berlett was...he shot her 
in the face, right through her eye. He shot her kid too. Little guy was 
in bed with them, couldn’t have been more than two.” Her voice cracked. 
“Berlett shot them both...it was too much Daddy...I had to get out!” 
she sobbed. “He just turned and walked away...no feeling at all.” 
Another pause. “The next day I told Gelati I wanted out. I figured he’d 
understand....he didn’t.” 

The wind’s ferocity was so forceful now, her hair and even her leather
jacket whipped about, exposing her guns and utility belt. Her father’s 
voice was angry. 

What did he do Jessica? He asked, the wind quieted as she began to
speak. “He sent Berlett after me last night.” Her face-hardened again 
as she regained her composure, remembering the recent incident. “He 
broke into to my apartment, but I was ready.” A pause “He won’t bother 
me anymore Daddy.” 

From across the cemetery, a lone figure stepped onto the roof of the
nearby chapel, a sniper rifle in her hands. Her nearly platinum blond 
hair blowing in the wind, she walked, cold, calculating and beautiful 
across the rooftop. Albeit, with difficulty due to the forceful wind 
and slope of the roof. At the edge she lay down on the roof of the 
significantly large gothic cathedral on an old woolen blanket she’s 
brought with her. Flipping the cap off the scope, she shouldered her 
H&K PSG-1, an elegant weapon for a sniper. She adjusted the scope on 
the rifle, bringing her target, Miss Wentling, into focus from 400 
yards away. Her back was to the church; 

“So unprofessional,” the blond thought. “Keeping her back to an obvious
tactical position.” A smile crossed her lips as she aimed the rifle 
without taking her black sunglasses off. This job was supposed to be 
hard...but Wentling was making it easy for her. Gelati, she knew, would 
be pleased, and he would pay through the nose. She decided to use her 
laser dot instead for a bit of sport, to test her skill. Tapping the 
switch the switch on the PSG-1, the laser dot activated, coming to rest 
on Jessica’s left calf muscle. The blond considered blowing out 
Wentling’s knees, but reconsidered and began slowly, almost lovingly , 
moving the laser dot up Jessica’s body. From her legs to her 
well-shaped buttocks, the blond noticed with more than a little 
jealousy. 

“You always did have a better body than I did Jess.” She said as though
Jessica could hear her. 

The laser dot continued the short trip up Wentling’s body, slowly and
carefully, it’s final destination: the back of her target’s head. “I 
hate to shoot you in the back Jess,” the blond began, “but you brought 
this on yourself.” And she meant it. Shooting someone in the back was 
so...dishonorable. Still one can’t afford such luxuries in this 
profession. The laser dot traveled the length of Jessica’s back, going 
over her black leather jacket and past her neck, the red contrasting 
against Jessica’s fair skin, the blond noticed.  “Like mine.” She 
thought. Reaching her final destination, the blond stopped the movement 
of the rifle and steadied it on the back of Jessica’s head. 

“Goodbye, J...” she said easing her finger inside the trigger guard. She
began to squeeze the trigger. Slowly, purposefully, trying not to miss 
the shot. A quarter of the way...half...she was three-quarters of the 
way there when the sound of multiple motorcycle engines broke her 
concentration. Jessica turned to the sound, the blond trying to 
compensate...too late—she fired, in spite of herself, the shot going 
wide just grazing Jessica’s shoulder. 

The motorcycle engines had startled Jessica and the bullet that tore her
shoulder, had gotten her moving. The fact that her $250 leather jacket 
was ruined was a small issue compared to the realization that someone 
was sniping at her. She dived over her father’s headstone and hid 
herself behind it, pulling her the jacket off her shoulder to examine 
her wound. It was cut, but not too deep, and the blood wasn’t gushing. 
She tested her shoulder. It hurt like a sonuva bitch, but it was pain 
she could ignore, she’d felt worse. 

The engines got louder, closer, the sniper took another shot at her
chipping off a piece of the headstone. Jessica turned her head from the 
spraying limestone debris, reaching into her shoulder holster to pull 
her two Berettas, the stainless steel pistols a comforting weight in 
her hands. Jessica wanted to escape, she looked to her left to her own 
motorcycle not 15 feet away, but 15 feet is a long distance if you’ve 
got a sniper shooting at you. All of a sudden her motorcycle jerked as 
if stuck, then again and again. The tires deflated, and Jessica 
realized the sniper had the same idea she had and was cutting off her 
mode of escape. She used the diversion to peek out and get a feel for 
her position and found it fairly quickly, partially suspecting the roof 
of the church or inside it. 

She looked up at the roof of the cathedral, scanning, following the red
dot to... 

“Skye.” Jessica said, noticing the nearly platinum blond hair blowing in
the wind atop the church. “Fuck.” Skye was good, Jessica knew. They 
thought alike, and operated similarly, often competing for assignments 
for Gelati. She looked back at her bike. Skye had stopped shooting and 
the red dot seemed to be moving toward the seat of her bike.... 

Jessica got up and ran, knowing Skye’s plan, she sprinted, guns in hand,
towards a nearby tomb. Arms pumping for speed, she got within 5 feet 
and dived, hearing the climactic shot behind her. 

The bullet connecting with the motorcycle’s gas tank caused it to
explode. It flew apart in a million different directions, and sent a 
fireball straight up into the sky. Jessica felt the intense heat and 
pressure as she dived behind the tomb, narrowly missing being pelted by 
flaming parts and metal shrapnel from the explosion. She stood up, with 
her back to the wall, breathing hard, feeling the adrenaline flow, her 
battle instincts beginning to kick in. And just in time as 4 black 
leather garbed bikers on black Kawasaki Ninjas sped onto the scene, 
lured by the explosion. Jessica peered around the tomb, out of the 
sniper’s line of fire, to look at them. They examined the wreckage as 
she examined them, the acrid smell of burning fuel in the air.  They 
were armed with H&K MP5Ks. “Good choice.” She thought as she watched 
all but one get off their motorcycles and begin to search the area, 
fanning out. 2 large black Suburbans drove up the nearby road and more 
goons got out, making a total of 12. Jessica gripped her Berettas 
tighter. 

“What the fuck?” wondered Skye out loud as the motorcycles and Suburbans
drove onto the scene. They were Gelati’s men she knew, but what were 
they doing here. She looked through her sniper scope and saw Gelati 
himself sitting in the back seat of the second Suburban. She reached 
into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone dialing the number to 
his. The phone rang once. 

“What the fuck are you doin Gelati?” 

“Skye?” 

“You goddamn right Skye.” She said, her tone menacing. 

“Listen to me little girl.” His Italian accent coming through in his
anger. “You better hold your tongue. It is not that kinda day.” 

Skye didn’t care. “Let me repeat myself. What are you doing here?” 

“Doing your job Blondie, I get word that Berlett is dead this morning
and that Wentling is still alive, and that she’s on her way to the 
cemetery. She should’ve been a memory like her father, before dawn.” 

“She was ready for Berlett.” Skye argued heatedly. “I had to catch her
off guard.” 

“Well now my men have caught her off guard. And we’ll do it my way. It’s
no longer your problem.” He began to hang up and then said: “And if you 
ever talk with such disrespect again, YOU will be my problem.” He 
clicked off on her, leaving her smoldering. She went back to the roof’s 
entrance and opened the door angrily, as shots began to come from 
below. She heard screams and went back to the edge. Jessica had taken 
down several men and was covered hiding behind the tomb she had escaped 
to earlier. Skye smiled, Jessica was almost as good as she, but 
Gelati’s men would force her out of that hiding place, and there would 
only be one place left to go. Smiling, Skye went back to the roof’s 
entrance and walked down the stairs to wait in the chapel for Jessica 
to show up. 

Jessica hated being forced into this position, to kill again, when all
she wanted was for the killing to stop. She looked at the clouded gray 
sky, silently talking to her father. 

“I’m sorry Daddy, I tried.” A single tear rolled down her cheek. Then
amazingly she did hear her father’s voice. 

“I know honey. Now do what you have to do.” 

There was no time to worry about whether she was crazy or not, or
whether she had actually heard her father’s voice. All that mattered 
was that in those few words, he had given her the will to do what had 
to be done. Her face hardened, she wiped the tear from her cheek. 
Setting her jaw, she cocked the two hammers on her Berettas and turned 
to give Gelati her final resignation. 

Brian Finn had heard what he thought to be the sound of guns being
cocked from behind the tomb 10 feet away from him. Pointing with his 
H&K, he signaled to his partner to flank the opposite left side. He 
took point, walking slowly trying desperately not to make a sound. Finn 
didn’t mind admitting that he was scared, even if he was hunting a 
girl; he’d heard stories about Miss Wentling. They didn’t call her the 
“Goddess of War” for nothing. She might only be 5’0” tall but she was a 
badass in every sense of the term. On the other hand, if her were the 
one to pop her, he’d score major bragging rights with the guys and 
maybe Gelati would finally make him an enforcer... 

Visions of Jessica Wentling’s head on his trophy wall danced in his mind
as he signaled for his partner to flank her from the opposite side. The 
next second she came around the tomb with two guns raised at Brian. He 
froze. She looked him in the eye though her dark sunglasses kept him 
from seeing hers. 

“Hi!” was all she said before opening fire, shooting Brian 6 times in
the gut. His blood bursting from his body as the bullets penetrated 
him, acting as if they were setting off mini explosions in his chest. 
She kept firing though, walking toward Brian rapidly pulling the 
triggers. Brian walked backward screaming involuntarily, though he was 
pretty much dead on his feet. Finally after emptying 20 rounds into his 
torso, the guns clicked dry and Brian’s corpse collapsed to the ground. 
Jessica ejected both clips and shoved the guns into her holster, 
hearing rapid footsteps behind her. She rolled picking up Brian’s H&K 
on the fly, hearing one being fried behind her, the bullets tearing up 
the ground where she’d stood not 2 seconds ago. 

With effort, she turned the roll into a crouch, pointing the H&K at
Brian’s partner before he could get her in his sights again. She pulled 
the heavy trigger and held it down, letting the gunfire on fully 
automatic, and the recoil of the submachine gun not affecting her 
deadly aim as she held the gun with just one hand. 

The force of the bullets tore through the goon’s body, most of them
puncturing through bone and vital organs continuing their trip through 
the entire body exploding outward spraying blood and throwing him to 
the ground in a heap.  Out of the corner of her eye, someone running up 
a nearby hill. Jessica turned and decimated him with the remainder of 
the last of the clip, watching his blood coat the leaves, grass and 
nearby headstones. 

Dropping the H&K, Jessica spun back to the nearby tomb wall as another
of the two bikers came up the hill after the other goon she’d wasted 
and opened fire; the thunderous rapid cry of an H&K once again echoing 
throughout the cemetery. He fired again as she hid, ripping particles 
of stone from the tomb. Jessica pulled her Berettas and reloaded, 
putting one back to save ammo and make her shots count. 

Ignoring caution, Jessica stepped out into the kill zone and fired a
single shot to the head of the goon 50 yards away, the Beretta jumping 
lightly in her expert hands. It was a helluva shot, and before the body 
had fully slumped to the ground, she took off, sprinting toward one of 
the goon’s motorcycle 30 yards away. She knew that the tomb would keep 
her out of the line of fire of some of the goons, but she heard the 
rest coming due to her recent exchange of bullets with her former 
employer’s men. 

The throaty howl of another motorcycle engine erupted from beyond the
hill. Jessica didn’t stop, she just kept ran, closing the distance 
between herself and the Kawasaki. Arms pumping, legs driving, she could 
feel the adrenaline flow through her veins. She focused all her energy 
toward running, and suddenly got a burst in speed. The sound of the 
engine was louder...closer. 

The last rider of the motorcycle squad came flying over the hill, still
riding his Kawasaki. Jessica saw him flying straight toward her and 
dived, just barely, out of the way. She landed painfully on her side 
and skidded to a stop, but held onto her gun. She’d drawn a bead on the 
guy as soon as he’d come over the hill and before her eyes had 
refocused from her head connecting with the ground; before the guy on 
the motorcycle had firmly landed; before she even slid to a stop...she 
already had the gun pointed in his direction. 

The goon on the bike hit the ground hard gripping his brakes for all he
was worth and swinging his bike around to face the opposite direction, 
tearing up clumps of dirt and cracking one of the headstones with the 
back of his bike. Jessica looked at her opponent through blurred 
vision. She could hear him gunning the engine of the sports bike. The 
cocky bastard wanted to make a show of finishing her off, but Jessica 
had other plans. She cocked the hammer on her 92C, taking aim through 
the blurriness, ignoring the headache, the body aches, and the ringing 
in her ears. Again she focused all of her energy into that one task, 
gripping the Beretta tighter... 

It all happened in an instant, Jessica’s eyes refocused just as the
motorcycle goon stopped gunning his engine and slammed on the throttle, 
speeding toward her and kicking up large quantities of dirt. He took 
off; Jessica aimed. He came forward at 30 mph, she concentrated. He got 
within range, Jessica fired one quick shot, expertly squeezing the 
trigger. Jessica wished she could’ve seen the look of surprise on the 
goon’s face but unfortunately, she wasn’t allowed the pleasure due to 
his wearing of a helmet. 

What she did see was the result of her flawless shot to the goon’s gas
tank (showing that no good idea ever dies) triggering an explosion that 
sent the goon flying from his motorcycle as a flaming, screaming mass 
of flesh into a tree some 20 yards behind Jessica. He connected with a 
bone jarring snap-crunch, and lay on the ground screaming in agony. 

Jessica smiled briefly, picking herself up off the ground. She put her
sunglasses back on (they’d come off in her fall), and made tracks for 
the nearby cycle. She couldn’t hear, but she knew the rest of the goons 
were on her ass, so she didn’t dare stop running. She felt blood coming 
out of her ears, and her skin like she’s gotten some kind of huge full 
body sunburn from the explosion. But she didn’t regret her decision 
even if it left her with muted hearing. 

Reaching the motorcycle, Jessica crouched, just as several bullets
streaked overhead, the muted sound of an H&K barely audible in her 
ears. Squatting behind a nearby gravestone, she turned and started 
providing her own cover fire, shooting at the goon who had shot at her. 
She could hear her own thunderous shots as she occasionally squeezed 
the trigger, searching the motorcycle’s lock box for keys. Finding 
them, she covered herself for the last time, firing three rounds behind 
her, wounding a goon foolishly trying to hide behind a bush. 
Immediately thereafter, Jessica jumped on the motorcycle and jammed the 
keys in the ignition. She twisted it and the cycle sprang to life, 
roaring to life, roaring loudly. She slammed the throttle and the cycle 
took off tearing up the dirt around her. 

The goons came from behind their hiding spaces and all out opened fire
on her. Jessica raced through the cemetery on the Kawasaki, hearing the 
bullets tear  up the scenery, as well as feeling the dirt and debris as 
she rode past. “A little too close for comfort.” She thought. 

Finally she careened onto the road where the two Suburbans were parked,
screeching to a stop while she contemplated her next move. She eyed the 
Suburban closely. Then looked back at the steed she was already riding. 


“The lady or the tiger?” she asked aloud. She almost didn’t notice
Gelati until it was too late. She whirled, swinging her leg up and over 
the cycle and pulling her Beretta at the same time. Her leg connected 
with Gelati’s fat round face and sent him sprawling to the ground. 

Pointing her gun at Gelati’s head, she looked down at the man she had
once called her second father, her face an unreadable mask. Gelati’s 
eyes were wide open in fear. 

“Don’t do it Jessy please!” he begged. 

“Why not?” she asked, her face still unreadable. “You were going to kill
me, YOU SENT THOSE MEN TO KILL ME GELATI!” her mask didn’t crack as she 
yelled at him, but Gelati could see the tear streaming down her face. 

“You understand Jessy, it was business eh?” he scrambled. “How would it
look if I just let any of my enforcers quit on me huh? How would it 
look?!” 

“I don’t care.” She steadied her gun hand. “Consider this my final
resignation.” She said and pulled the trigger, the gun sliding forward 
with a dry snap-click...empty. She tucked the empty gun in her 
waistband and got back on the still humming cycle. “You owe me Gelati.” 
Was all she said. The goons finally made their way out of the cemetery. 
They saw Gelati on the ground and pointed their guns at her. Jessica 
swung her bike around and hit the throttle, flying forward toward the 
exit. She heard no shots and cast a look back to see Gelati yelling at 
his men. 

She knew that he really couldn’t be trusted and would probably still
come after her, because deep down he had no honor. Still she hoped it 
was over, and as she felt the soft rain begin to fall, she knew that 
these were not drops of rain pelting her from above, but the tears of 
happiness from a father who only wanted what was best for his daughter. 
Jessica smiled and rode her Kawasaki into the horizon, her destination: 
anywhere but here. 

End Part 1. 

Hey if you want the real ending to this story Email me at
rhagans54@hotmail.com. If i get enough responses i will post the 
ending..and boy is it something. 


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