On the Rocks

The instant Amie stepped into the shack and noticed Ronnie in the kitchen with his feet kicked up on the table, snow melting from the rims of his thick boots leaving a wet pile on the surface; her vision went red. Several hours passed since she'd seen him last. Her last look at him had been the back of his head as he sped down the road. He was blinded by the case and the money at stake.

This time was different though. A message only addressed to him. The job would be easy to do alone; maybe even better. No one else would be with him, holding him back from finding the thrill he needed. So, when he excused himself to the restroom during dinner at the bar, he slipped out the back door and toward the truck. Ronnie was nearly vibrating as he pulled arrived at the address from the message. A smirk grew on his face once he found the front door unlocked.

At first, the pay had been only a couple hundred to a thousand per job completed. Instructions were easy, find the target and collect the debt. If they didn't have enough money, you take something else. Kill their pet, take their car, burn their house.

Options were endless, except one. Do not kill unless instructed, those letters were always in red. Ronnie had a hard time following that rule. There had been a handful of times, but they were a handful too many. He liked to ruin people, liked to take things from people they held most dear, turning their lives upside down. He kept a record of each time he succeeded in finding the thrill of watching someone lose everything they loved.

Amie never read what he wrote down, but after every job, he was always scribbling away in his little book. The thrills that came so easily before from the simplest acts didn't rise anymore. He craved those feelings, so much so he'd put his job at risk, and the life of his partner. But when he read the next job, and the pay was almost tripled, his heart jumped. The higher the pay, the more fun he had on the cases.

That was his favorite part. Ripping apart the quiet safety the targets thought they had in their small towns. They took those they owed money to for granted, not believing that one day their debts would be collected in the worst way.

The excitement that had built up in Ronnie dwindled once he found the house to be abandoned. The only thing there was a toolbox in the corner. An envelope rested on the lid, with his name written across the top. He opened the box first. Inside was two stacks of bills. Fifties bundled in brown straps. In the envelope was a single piece of paper with Amie's name written in red ink.

Amie waited for over a half-hour for Ronnie to return from the bathroom. It wouldn't be surprising to her if he was taking time with his business. But when she turned and saw their truck leaving the parking lot, she scowled. She was a lot different than Ronnie from the little she could read about him. He had been in this business for quite a while longer than she was. It was like he was born to deal with that type of stuff. To tear people's lives up in mere moments.

After a couple of years gambling in run-down bars, trying to make a living from it; she stumbled across Ronnie. Not long after that, she became partners with him. She had already given up her old life, being driven away from her job as a high school teacher. Rumors had a habit of settling in the smallest cracks and ripping the foundation apart. She couldn't go back, so she started over. Creating a different life.

It wasn't long after Ronnie left the bar when a waitress brought over a small box with the check. Amie cringed at the sight; the box. More likely than not, it was from her boss. Solo jobs drove frown lines deeper into her forehead. Something about the way her name was scrawled across the box was unnerving and irresistible.

A small card rested inside of the box; Ronnie's name written in red ink. Amie's stomach sank for a split second, then she saw the stack of hundreds held together with a mustard band. She became intensely aware of the reality of everyone else in the bar. No one in their right mind would carry that much money in there. It was a one-way ticket to getting jumped if someone saw. She slammed the lid back on the box then left the bar.

Amie could feel the chills going down her spine at each draft through the shack. She wanted to crawl back into the cold at Ronnie’s presence in the room. Both of them spent several minutes in silence, staring at each other. It was hard not to. They tried to act normal. Like the red bullseyes on their foreheads were never placed there. But with the amount of job experience they split between them, the ability to read people couldn't be turned off. Especially for Ronnie.

"You got one too." Was the first thing he said, moving his eyes back to the paper in his hands. Amie tried to say something, but the words stuck in her throat. So, she just set the box on the table, the instructions sliding off the top.

"How much did they give you?" She asked regaining her composure. She couldn't help but ask, it was an itch she'd been dying to scratch.

"Ten thousand," Ronnie said tossing a crumpled letter on the table, the only thing visible was red ink. It was the same amount that Amie was given. She didn't know how to begin processing that information. This was out of the blue. Ronnie moved the chair next to him out with his foot and nodded toward it. Amie glanced at it, then his letter on the table. "I'm not gonna kill you, Am's."

Amie breathed out a sigh she didn't know she was holding and sat in the chair. She read her card again for what seemed like the millionth time. For the first time in a while, she felt stuck. There was no clear path forward like usual. Every past job was simple, easy.

"Why not?" Amie asked.

"Don't want to," Ronnie said and glanced up to her again. "Why aren't you going to?"

She only shook her head and stared at her card. The red started to bleed from the melted snow underneath. It looked like it was mocking her. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, as I see it, we've got two options." Ronnie began and moved his feet from the table. Smearing the puddle across the table. "One, try to kill each other for the rest of the money. Or two, skip town with what we've got."

"Then let's leave." Amie said.

Within the hour, the two of them were gone from their shack. Leaving everything they couldn't fit in the back seat and bed of the truck. Ronnie had put the combined twenty thousand inside the safe bolted in the glovebox. There wasn't enough trust left in him to leave it out.

Amie's hands were shaking as she drove, from either the shock or alcohol withdrawal it didn't matter much. This was too similar to before she met Ronnie. Leaving her life behind once was hard enough, but twice? She didn't know if she was strong enough to do it again. No part of her wanted to start over once more, to rebuild yet another life from nothing. What else was could go wrong this time?

They drove in silence, not even the radio was enough to cut through the thick tension in the car. Ronnie hadn't said anything to Amie since they left. Only directing her to stop at the last gas station in town before they passed all the way through. All Amie could do was nod and pull over.

The anxiety in her chest was heavy as it spread through her limbs. She looked at every car parked at the other pumps. Her heart jumped when she made eye contact with another driver. They knew. About the money, that they were running from their job.

Her thoughts were spinning out of control. She glanced toward the market where Ronnie went, and it hit her. Nothing was forcing her to stay here. She could leave. The money was still in the safe. There was more than enough in there for her to start a real-life over. Something she had desperately wanted for so long was one decision away. All she had to do was leave without him. The money would be all hers, and she wouldn't need to do another case again. She would never see Ronnie again.

Amie wasn't like Ronnie. She didn't enjoy any part of this business. In the beginning, she only liked the money. But as a few months turned into a year, and a year turn into two she found the hate she held for the job grow more and more.

Every time she saw Ronnie's euphoria as he struck the final match or hogtied another target and leave them in the lobby of their jobs, her distaste grew. A day would come where it'd be too much for her to handle. Watching people's lives fall apart just like hers had. Exactly like hers had. Everything she loved taken from her because one mistake she made, one debt she couldn't pay off.

Two people had come to her office after the last bell of the school day rang. She had never met them before, but she knew instantly what it was; her own damn fault. She struggled at first, begging for more time. Another week, one more day.

It didn't work, they were there to collect and if they couldn't take money, they'd take everything else. They left seemingly with nothing, but a week later their work was done. Amie was fired from her job at the high school. Charged with sleeping with a minor. She hardly escaped the police coming to her home, leaving everything behind. The home she recently paid off. Her family, her pets. Everything she loved, even her old name. The warrant for her arrest sat heavily on her shoulders as she ran toward her unwanted new life.

The radio showed 3 am when Amie pulled over. She had driven for eight hours straight. Not looking back once. Not stopping for anything. She barely made it to another truck stop before the gas light blinked off. She parked the truck and checking the locks three times. The only thing on her mind was the glove compartment. With shaking hands, she twisted the combination lock after a moment. Eight. Eleven. Twenty-seven.

The bolt was thrown, a deafening sound against the heavy silence. Her left hand hit the truck's locks once again then pulled the safe open. Inside was a little black notebook. Ronnie's notebook.

Amie felt a surge of anger again at the sight of it and ripped the cover open. It was almost filled. Each page dedicated to a case number and a name. Details written underneath along with notes from Ronnie. Every single one of his adventures were documented thoroughly in the notebook. Amie felt nauseous at the writing. The last page made her breath hitch.

'Case 134, Amie Cooper. Fired from dream job, ran from police. Debt still unpaid…..' One last thing was written under that line, in red ink. 'Thanks for the fun, Am's' '

Amie screamed and threw the book against the passenger window. The empty safe glared at her through the truck’s darkness. The money was gone. So was any hope for starting again.