by Eve, Jaymin
“Sick, isn’t it?” A deep voice said from behind me, and I startled. So much that I almost bumped my brother’s remains off the pedestal. If Richard hadn’t darted forward and steadied the whole thing, we’d both be standing in ashes.
“Richard! How—what are you doing here?” I was starting to question my sanity. Maybe watching Beck get shot had spiraled me into a mental breakdown and I was now hallucinating things. “Wait, you mean this is Oscar?” I turned my gaze back to the urn and needed to swallow down the bile threatening to rise.
“I believe so,” Richard replied, his face full of sorrow. “It’s taken me months, but I think I finally got to the bottom of things.” He held up a well-worn looking journal, but I wasn’t following.
“Graeme killed Oscar? But why?”
Richard shook his head. “No, Catherine did.”
I gasped, even though it really wasn't really that much of a shock. I’d had the exact same thought the moment she slit another man’s throat right in front of me. Not to mention I had I had first-hand knowledge of how she treated her children. Catherine wasn’t fucking sane. Not by a long shot.
“Oscar kept a daily journal,” Richard explained, holding up the book again. “It was an exercise his therapist asked him to do, to help work through his anger after he found out about who really fathered him.”
The pieces started clicking together in my head. “That’s what was in the box inside his coffin? His diaries? Why keep them at all? Why didn’t Catherine burn them or something?”
“Because Oscar knew the location of the Delta vault. My father—your grandfather—had been grooming him to take over the secret when he was old enough, but Oscar was always too smart for his own good and worked out the location on his own.” Richard paused with a sad smile, looking down at the journal. “He’s recorded it in here, but encoded it. Smart boy. When I saw Catherine with this just before the funeral, I forced her to put it in the coffin with—” His voice broke slightly. “With Oscar. She didn’t get an opportunity to get them out again before he was buried, then I figured she just gave up because her read through didn’t tell her anything.”
“Is that why she dug him up?” I wondered. “To have another shot at decoding the diary?”
Richard shook his head, looking unsure. “If I know my wife at all, the reason she had Graeme dig Oscar up was to ensure that no one would ever find out her secret. Being a victim her entire life was her greatest shame… she would rather die before revealing that to anyone.”
It was all starting to come together. Catherine had always seemed unstable and psycho, but the depth of her mental illness was so much more than I’d ever imagined. It literally dictated her entire life. Dictated to the point that she had planned some long-game scheme, twenty years in the making, to turn herself into the queen of the world. Delta had not even seen her coming. So secure in their power, they’d let the snake in the grass taken them down in one fell swoop.
She’d made my job of toppling them that much easier at least. Now I just had to finish the job.
Richard shook himself then, like he was shaking off bad memories. “We should go, Riley. They’ll be back soon; they’re following my trail to try and take me out like the rest of the board members. They got to Rome, so I’m all that is left.”
The pain was so sharp. Biting. I stumbled as my knees threatened to collapse under me again, and Richard grabbed me. “Are they all dead?” I asked, staring up at him, praying he would unbreak my heart and soul. “Beck and the others definitely died?”
“I don’t know,” he returned. “I showed up just as the building exploded, and the emergency services were trying to evacuate.”
“The first explosion?” I asked as Richard started to lead me through the huge penthouse. “Or the second one?”
“The third one,” he replied grimly. “That one took out the entire top floor.”
No! There was no way any of them survived.
Richard continued, not realizing that I was shattering into a million pieces in front of him. “I got there in time to see Graeme and Catherine throw you into the car and take off. It’s only that I’ve been keeping tabs on her and her family over the years that I was even aware of this penthouse.”
“If they want to kill you,” I said woodenly, “why are you here, dropping yourself in their lap?”
I yanked my arm out of his. “You should just go. Leave me here, with your weapon, and I’ll take care of it.”
I might die in the process, but I was okay with that. With Beck and all the rest gone, all that was left for me to do, was to make sure Catherine and her fucked up family never hurt anyone again. It was the one focus in my head. The only reason I was still standing on two feet and breathing.
“Riley, no,” Richard said. “Seriously. They’re not good people. Trust me, I’ve known many bad humans in my life, and these two are topping that list.”
Determination annihilated the pain for a second, and I grasped onto it. “That’s why I need to take them down.”
Before he could say another word, I lurched forward and pulled his gun from the back of his pants. I’d noticed it as soon as he walked in—Beck’s training in observation was paying off.
I hadn’t held this particular model before, it was thicker and heavier than my gun, but all of the normal parts were visible. I flicked the safety off.
“Go,” I said, fury pounding through me, but I somehow managed to keep my hands from shaking. “Hide until I take them down. And if I don’t, get to the vault and find footage to destroy Catherine. You can take Delta back.”
Richard just lifted one eyebrow, not even looking concerned when I leveled his own gun on him. I think he knew I wasn’t going to shoot him.
A scrape at the front door stole my attention, and I immediately jerked my hand behind me, telling Richard to hide.
He narrowed both eyes on me before melting off into the apartment, disappearing. I quickly dropped the gun into my empty holster … I still had Beck’s vest on, even though they’d removed my gun from me.
Catherine flew into the room, Graeme right behind her.
“What the fuck did you do?” she screamed, getting right in my face, her hand swinging out to crack me across the cheek. “The footage is everywhere.”
I blinked, managing to dodge her first hit before knocking her back with a little straight shot. Graeme remained back, watching the pair of us.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about?” I said softly, looking between them, all the while my hand was inching to my side to grab the gun.
Graeme lifted a small device and hit a button, and a massive television started to lower out of the roof. Somehow it was already on, and the news was playing.
Catherine and Graeme’s faces were flashing at me. And there was a banner running across the bottom of the screen. ATTACK AT DELTA OFFICES. TEN DEAD.
Graeme hit another button and there was sound: “Catherine Deboise and Graeme Huntley are wanted for questioning in relation to ten murders and corporate espionage. They are considered armed and dangerous.”
The report paused, giving out the police line to call. Then he crossed to another reporter who was on the scene at the office.
The dark-haired woman stared right at us as she spoke, her face serious. “Devastation here today, at this attack on the multi-billion-dollar Militant Delta corporation. The closely held family business has always had only five seats on its board, and we … at this stage, cannot confirm if any of the board members or their heirs are alive.”
It crossed back to the original reporter.
“Can you tell us about the footage of Catherine Deboise and Graeme Huntley initiating the attack?”
The other reporter nodded a few times, like there was a delay in their information. “Yes, Sam, we can confirm that our news station received an anonymously sent file which shows Catherine Deboise allegedly murdering multiple board members. And she is joined by her brother, Graeme Huntley, another Fortune 500 member, to fini
sh the attack.”
There was a quick flash on the screen, showing Catherine, bloody knife in hand. They had blurred out most of the faces, and there was no obvious graphic violence in this clip, but there was no mistaking it was Catherine. The next clip was Graeme, his gun in hand as he fired a few rounds off.
I’d been watching the screen so intently that I had let my focus fall from the danger in this very room. Catherine’s hand wrapped around my throat, and I let out a shriek, kicking myself for being so stupid. We went down, and I managed to claw at her face, and she released me briefly. I landed hard on my back, groaning as new pains hit me before I scrambled to grab the gun.
Only, before I could get my hand on the trigger, there was another gun pointed right at my face. “Say goodbye to your daughter, CC,” Graeme said, death burning in his eyes. “If there are no witnesses left, then no one can really prove that footage wasn’t doctored. We both have an alibi after all.”
Catherine kicked me hard in the side; her pointed heels felt like they broke a rib. “This lowlife slut is no daughter of mine.”
Graeme grinned, and I closed my eyes, knowing there was no way I could get my gun out in time. If only I’d left it with Richard, then we might have had a chance, but I’d wanted to finish this myself. Looked like all I was finishing was my time on Earth.
You’ll see Beck soon. And Dylan, Jasper, Evan.
That was some comfort.
“Don’t touch my fucking daughter,” Richard roared, appearing from somewhere with a blade that he launched across the room and right into the side of Catherine’s chest. Graeme swung around in a flash and four loud bangs sounded as he shot Richard in the chest. No! No more. In my head, I was sobbing and screaming, but my body had also gone into this robot survival mode. Without a thought, I whipped out my gun, and as Graeme turned around, I shot at him, landing at least one hit around his throat.
He dropped onto my legs, his gun spilling over to my side, and I snatched it up before managing to kick his gurgling and gasping ass off me, so I could lift myself up. I immediately searched for Catherine. Only there was nothing but a bit of a blood trail from where she’d dragged herself off somewhere.
Richard let out a groan, and I hurried to him, trying not to panic. My father was definitely an unknown entity, having been someone that appeared both trustworthy and also the absolute last person I should trust. But he had helped me a lot lately, and he’d just saved my life at great cost to his own.
When I reached his side, I let out a low cry; there was so much blood. It was everywhere, pooling under him.
“Phone?” I said, frantically patting his arm.
He groaned again, but I managed to find a slim cell in his pocket. I quickly dialed 911, screaming for an ambulance because my father had been shot. I also told them that I’d been kidnapped by Catherine Deboise and she was here. The person on the other end was frantic, and tried to get me to stay on the line, but I told her no. I stayed just long enough for them to trace the address from the cell, and then I hung up.
“They’ll never find the entrance,” Richard said, blood bubbling up in the corner of his lips. “Not in time.”
He coughed weakly, and I held his hand tightly, refusing to leave him. I did keep an eye out for Debitch though, but she didn’t show her ugly face.
“Riley,” Richard said, his voice sounding weaker.
I leaned down closer to him.
“Give me my gun. Wipe it … clean.”
I knew immediately what he was doing. Trying to take the wrap for killing Graeme, so that I didn’t have to deal with that when I got out.
“No,” I shook my head. “Catherine might come back.”
He looked toward the other gun—Graeme’s gun—and I relented, dropping Richard’s into his hand. He managed to pull it to his chest, hugging it close.
His eyes found mine again. “I’m sorry for everything, Riley,” he choked the words out. “So…” cough, “...sorry.”
It hurt to breathe, and it wasn’t just because Catherine had smashed my ribs. It hurt because I knew Richard was going to die, right here in front of me, and I’d already lost everything today. I’d lost my entire fucking family in one fell swoop.
I couldn’t take another loss. I already had my hands pressed to his wounds, trying to stop the bleeding, but it still seeped out, so I shrugged off my jacket and used it like a makeshift bandage, trying to wrap it tightly across him.
“Stay with me Richard,” I said, staring down as his eyelids fluttered. “Don’t give up, Dad. Please don’t give up.”
The slightest smile tilted up his lips, and another sob ripped from me.
“D—d—daughter.”
He managed to open his eyes and look right up at me then, but just as he did, horror replaced the pain on his face, and he tried to shove me aside, but he didn’t have any strength left. I wasn’t letting that bitch get the drop on me again, though, and with his slight warning, I dove to the side, and rolled a few feet away before jumping up. Catherine had a gun pointed at me, her other hand pressing to the knife wound in her chest.
She limped closer.
“It’s all over,” she said, and there were tears running down her cheeks. I wasn’t even sure she realized she was crying. “The pain can finally stop,” she whispered, staggering forward again.
I had my gun up as well, but she didn’t care.
Finally, her eyes focused on me, and I wanted to just shoot her, but it was hard to kill someone. It hadn’t gotten easier the few times I did it, and right now Catherine was an injured, broken woman.
So like a dumb fuck, I let her continue talking while I searched for the fortification to take another life.
“I thought that if I had all the power in the world, I would never be weak to anyone again,” she told me, almost conversationally. “My father … he was a very bad man. Mean daddy,” she added, in a little girl’s voice. “Mean daddy always hurts me. Mean daddy loves me and hates me. Mean daddy hurts me.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
She was gone, her mind existing somewhere back in the horrors of her childhood. She kept talking to her father, over and over, screaming for him to stop hurting her. I was briefly distracted from this when Richard’s head lolled to the side, his eyes closed, and as my breathing turned ragged and harsh, Catherine seemed to snap back into herself.
“I killed Daddy, do you know that?” She was talking to me again. “He was my first kill, and I enjoyed it so much. That high of being the one in control. The one in power.”
I shook my head. “Richard saved you first, and you know it. Without his strength, you would have been nothing.”
Her face was red, black smeared around her eyes, hair in a dark tangle. She looked younger than usual, but also way more insane. “Richard was my angel, but then he was bad too. Always bad men. Always touching me.”
Her sorrowful face turned to her brother. “Graeme was the only one who ever loved me. Loved everything about me. We could have ruled the world together.”
I saw the moment her fury took over the sorrow. The moment the bad memories were replaced with the cold-hearted killer that she was.
Her gun kicked in her hand, and I pulled the trigger on mine in almost the same instant before I felt the slam of the bullet into my chest. Right above my heart.
She cried out as she fell, and I cried out too because the pain was so strong. My head slammed into the table that was behind me, and everything flashed in black and white at me while my chest screamed in agony.
As the darkness started to take me, I swore I heard the sound of sirens, of people storming into the apartment, but it might have all been a dream. Then, as I finally succumbed, I heard the one thing that brought light to my darkness.
“Butterfly!”
I was going home to Sebastian Roman Beckett. My heart.
30
Beck
I managed to drag Jasper and Evan out before the third explosion. For a split second I thought Dylan hadn’t gotte
n out, but then I saw him, a man over each shoulder, as he rescued a couple of Delta employees. Emergency service workers rushed at us, but I waved them off. “I’m fine,” I snapped, “Evan and Jasper need some help though.”
The woman hesitated, running her eyes along the blood trailing down my shoulder. One of the bullets clipped me, the other three ending up in my vest. I’d had multiple reasons for putting that vest on Riley earlier. One being a place for her gun, but two was the fact this was state of the art, top secret, developed exclusively by Delta’s underground division, Kevlar.
It was basically designed to stop any bullet on the market, even armor piercing ones, and I made sure we all had them tonight. These vests saved our fucking lives.
Dylan strode over, rubbing his arm. “They took Riley, we have to find her.”
I was so angry that it was starting to swell in my veins, my vision taking on something that resembled black and red. Death and blood.
“They won’t kill her,” I said, “Catherine needs her to take over Delta. We just have to figure out where she would lay low for a few days?”
We watched as our brothers were loaded into a van, both of them okay but knocked around. Jasper waved me over just before the door was shut. “Don’t forget the footage,” he wheezed. “Use the footage.”
Fuck.
Dylan heard him too, and already he was on the phone, talking to our guys that we’d set up earlier to tap into the Delta offices. I’d had an idea that something big was going down here tonight, and I wondered if we might not get the footage we needed, to take them all the fuck down.
“They got it,” Dylan said. “What do you want to do with it?”
I didn’t even have to think. “Send it to Riley’s lawyer. Make it anonymous. He’ll know what to do with it.”
Dylan nodded and barked out a few more commands on his phone. Police crowded in closer to us, asking questions, detaining people in the area, and I could not spend the next few hours locked in one of their interrogation rooms. I needed to find my girl.