Wraith

by Kathleen Kelly

  “How much money you got?”

  “What?”

  “Moving requires cash. You’ll need more than what you’ve got, I bet. And that car,” I gesture to it. “It needs replacing.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Help me, and I’ll help you.”

  “With money?”

  “Ten K.”

  “Twenty,” Suzannah counters.

  I grin at her. “Deal.”

  “I’d have done it for fifteen.”

  “I would’ve gone higher.”

  “Shoot!” Suzannah throws her hands up in the air in mock frustration.

  “Write down everything you know about Darius and his woman.”

  Suzannah sits down at the desk and puts pen to paper.

  “You know it won’t bring Ann back.”

  “I know, but it’ll stop someone else's little girl from falling in with them. I might save someone else’s daughter.”

  Suzannah nods and begins to write.

  WRAITH

  Suzannah’s intel is good. I left her at the motel, and I think she’ll wait for me, but the lure of money might not be enough. Her love for her son is strong, so much stronger than my wife’s for our Ann.

  I’m sitting inside Darius’ woman’s home. It’s very clean and tidy, everything in its place. There’s a note on the fridge telling him she had to go to her sister’s place and won’t be home till after ten. I've been through all the bedrooms, and all the beds are made. Her name is Darlene, and she keeps a clean household or is this how Darius likes it?

  The sound of a Harley pulling into the garage breaks through my thoughts. I go into the kitchen and sit at the table. If he has someone with him, this could get tricky, but I’m hoping luck will be on my side. Darius needs to pay for what he did, and I need him to confess his sins before I let the life seep slowly and painfully out of him.

  The only lights on in the house are in the main bedroom. Darius turns off his bike, and I listen for conversation, but there isn’t any. The door to the garage opens, and he walks into the kitchen without turning on any lights. He has no reason to worry.

  “Darlene! You home?” Darius yells as he flips on a light switch and heads for the fridge.

  He hasn’t noticed me. Darius rips the note from the fridge and mumbles to himself, then he opens the door, I presume to look for food. Darlene has a plate made up for him with a cute little note on top telling him how to heat it up. Darius pulls out the plate and turns. Finally, he sees me.

  “What the fuck?” he whispers.

  “Hey, Darius, take a seat.”

  Predictably, he goes for his gun. I stand and pistol whip him with mine, he goes down, and the plate shatters across the floor sending Darlene’s hard work everywhere.

  I kneel down to him. “Look what you’ve done. It looked good, too.”

  Darius says nothing. I flip him over, use zip ties on him, and drag his ass out the back door. Seeing as no one was home, I took the liberty of parking the car I stole in their backyard. Seems the stars are lining up for me tonight. I’ll be taking him to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. It’s private, and I’ve got soundproof insulation up in one room so he can scream as much as he likes.

  It takes over an hour for Darius to wake up. By then, I have him tied to a table, naked. He begins to thrash about, looking around the room wildly when his eyes land on me. He quietens.

  “Who the fuck are you!” snarls Darius.

  “That’s not important. You’re the negotiator. Tell me about your business deals.”

  “Negotiator? I don’t know what the fuck you’re on about.”

  I stand, smile, and pick up a knife. I place it on his chest and press.

  “No! Wait!” yells Darius as I drag its razor edge down his chest.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Darius, you are going to die tonight. The how depends on you. Quick or slow, I don’t care, but you will tell me what I want to know.”

  “What the fuck do you want to know?”

  I pull out the blade and look at the crimson that covers it—it glistens in the light.

  “You’re a sick fucker, aren’t you?”

  I raise my eyebrows and grin at him. “You have no idea.” Darius’ eyes go wide, and he sucks in an unsteady breath. “You are the negotiator. Tell me about your business deals.”

  “We have our fingers in a lot of pies, so you’ll need to be specific.”

  I plunge the knife into his upper thigh. Darius screams and arches upward.

  “The hardest part of interrogation is not hitting any major arteries. You are the negotiator. Tell me about your business deals.’

  “Let’s make a deal,” screams Darius as I twist the knife.

  “Deal?”

  “I’ll tell you what you need to know, and you’ll let me go!”

  I toss another knife over and over in my hand while I stare at him with no expression. His eyes are wide, and he’s got his teeth clenched together. Darius knows he’s fucked.

  Like the five stages of grief, those being tortured go through a process. Darius here has skipped a couple of steps and gone straight to bargaining. It’s not unusual. Men like him know what it’s like in the seedy underbelly of life, and he is under no illusions. If he can save his own skin, he will, and Darius here would sell his own mother to stop me from what I’m going to do. I nod and stop tossing the knife. Darius relaxes.

  “Hammer is the seller. I’m assuming it was you who took out Karen and Declan?”

  “And the others.”

  “Fuck!” Darius cusses. “Cut me loose!”

  “You’ve told me shit. Shit, I already know.”

  I stand over him and plunge a finger into the slice in his chest and drag it down through the wound. Darius’ eyes roll back in his head, and he passes out. Dammit. I thought he had more stamina than that. The blood between my fingers is slick and slightly tacky. Blood has a coppery smell to it. Some can’t handle it, but me, I like it. It’s like an aroma, the deeper you dig, the better it gets. Only I can’t dig too deep… yet.

  I have a bucket of water under the table. I wash off my hand and then throw it over Darius, who splutters and coughs his way back to consciousness.

  I slap him on the chest. “You with me, Darius?” He’s still coughing, arching up as he tries to clear his airways. He nods furiously at me, and I smile. “Who do you give the girls to? Give me a name.”

  “Mainly the Russian mob, Alec Petrov. He’s the son of Roman Petrov.”

  I’ve crossed paths with the Russian mob before, and the Petrov family are small right now, but they are trying very hard to play with the big boys.

  “How do you pick the girls?”

  “The girls come to us! Broken homes, abusive fathers.” I glare at him, and he smiles. “Do we have your daughter? I could get her back!”

  “My girl is dead.”

  Darius shakes his head. “No! We don’t kill them. We rough them up, but we don’t kill them! They’re too valuable.”

  I sneer at him. “Her trail went cold. I know how to find people, Darius, it’s how I found you.”

  Sobs tear through his throat as he shakes his head from side to side. “You don’t know that! You don’t know! She could be alive. What’s her name?”

  The thought of Darius saying her name, breaks something in me, and I scowl down at him, the urge to carve into him becomes overwhelming, and I pick up another knife.

  “Please no! Please!” screams Darius.

  “Tell me about Hammer. Where does he sleep?”

  “Mainly at the clubhouse.”

  I nod.

  “Is he like you? Does he have a woman he sees?”

  “M-many,” stammers Darius.

  “Give me something I can use, Darius. Is he ever alone?”

  Darius’ eyes dart around the room, and eventually, he looks at me. “If you kill me, he’ll never be on his own. The club won’t allow him to be without his Sergeant at Arms. You won’t even get close.”r />
  I snarl at him and stalk out of the room. He’s right, if he goes missing, they will tighten their ranks. By now, they have to know that the guy who was following me isn’t coming back and now their VP is missing, it won’t take a genius to figure out that someone is hunting them.

  It’s nothing I haven’t had to deal with overseas when I’ve been hunting a target, except I’ve had backup, and I’ve been more careful. Getting so close to the end, I’ve screwed up. I should never have stayed in the clubhouse bar for as long as I did. It was a stupid move.

  I walk back into the room. Darius turns his head to stare at me.

  “You’re of no use to me, Darius.” I pick up my sharpest blade and approach the table.

  “We made a deal!” yells Darius as he strains against his bonds.

  “Yeah, but we both know I was never going to let you go. This is for my Ann, for my girl.”

  “Ann?” I nod, and as I plunge the blade into his heart, he screams, “Felder?”

  The knife is all the way in, and blood oozes out the side of his mouth. I apply pressure to his wound, but I know it’s futile.

  “Ann Felder, you know my Ann?” I yell.

  “S-she’s…” The life drains out of his eyes.

  I pull the knife out in frustration and roar. He knew her name. He knew her name. Why didn’t I ask him about her directly? Why? Now, it’s more imperative than ever that I get hold of Hammer. He must know where my girl was killed.

  WRAITH

  To be careful, I’ve done a couple of drive-bys past the motel that I left Suzannah and her boy at, then ditched the car, and walked around it a couple of times. There’s no surveillance or if there is, they’re better than me.

  I knock softly on the door, and Suzannah looks out the window before she opens the door. Whatever she’s been through, it’s made her smart enough to know not to open the door, even a crack. It’s easy to bust open a door, even with a chain on.

  “Hey,” Suzannah says easily as I enter.

  “Hey.”

  “You’ve been gone two days. If you hadn’t come back, I would’ve left in the morning.”

  “Your intel was good.” I hand her an envelope.

  Suzannah opens it and shakes her head. “It’s too much. We agreed on twenty.”

  “Your intel was good,” I repeat and sit on the end of the bed. “Where’s Jack?”

  “I took him to a friend’s house.”

  “Smart.”

  “I don’t know you. I agreed to do this for,” Suzannah holds up the envelope and continues, “a price. You might have double-crossed me. Hell, you still might.”

  I shake my head. “No. My word is good.”

  Suzannah sits beside me. “How’s the stab wound.”

  I shrug. “It’s fine. Doesn’t hurt much.”

  “You hungry?” I think about it, and my stomach growls. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  I grin at her. “It seems my stomach has betrayed me.”

  “I’ll go get burgers. You eat burgers, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  Suzannah puts the envelope in her handbag and leaves. I lay down on the bed, close my eyes, and wake up when she comes back through the door an hour later.

  “Sorry, did I wake you?”

  “Yeah, must be more tired than I thought.”

  I stand, take the bag from her, and place it on the small table in the corner of the room. I set it out with napkins and put coasters under the cans of drink then place the burgers on plates. Suzannah got two for me. When I’m done, I realize she’s staring at me and not moving.

  “Ahh, dinner is served?” I say tentatively.

  “I’ve never had a man layout takeaway food like that before. Normally, I’ve just eaten it out of the bag.”

  “All meals should be appreciated. Things are better digested if you sit, eat, and talk, no TV.” I pause and look at her. “Sorry, it’s an old habit.”

  “It’s a good habit.”

  Suzannah gives me a small smile and sits down.

  “How did it… go?” Suzannah asks tentatively.

  Without giving her the intimate details, I say, “I need to get close to Hammer, and that’s not going to be easy.”

  “Why him?”

  “He’s the last piece of the puzzle. Well, almost, there’s one more after him.”

  “You think Hammer took your daughter?”

  “Yeah. I need to find out what he knows. Confirm who’s next in the chain. I’m just not sure how I’m going to get close to him without a lot of… fuss.”

  “You think there are more people involved?”

  “Darius mentioned someone else.” I take a bite of my burger.

  “Who?” Suzannah asks.

  I look at her with a mouth full of food, and she starts waving her hand in my face.

  “Don’t tell me! I don’t want to know.”

  I nod at her and swallow my food. “The less you know, the better.”

  “Agreed.” Suzannah takes a bite of her burger and looks thoughtful. She cocks her head to the side, puts the burger down, wipes her mouth, and says, “I think I can get you close to Hammer.”

  “How?”

  “He’s the reason I quit the bar. Hammer wanted to fuck me in the back room. I declined, but I could go back and tell him I need to be romanced first.”

  “No, too dangerous.”

  “You’re dangerous, but I’m still here, and besides, you paid me more than we agreed on.”

  “No. You have your son to consider.”

  “And he’s safe.”

  “Suzannah, no. I’ll find a way.”

  “How? Hammer thinks he’s God’s gift, and he wants to fuck me. I’ll be careful.”

  “Why would you put yourself in danger for me?”

  A frown creases her brow. “To be honest, I’m not sure.” Suzannah takes a sip of her drink. “Maybe it’s the way you talk about Ann. Let me help.”

  If I were on a mission, I’d take advantage of her and this situation in a heartbeat, but this is my mission, not something impersonal that the government sent me on. It’s one thing to get myself injured or worse and another situation entirely to have something happen to Suzannah.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “That’s a lie. Let me feel him out, see if I can convince him to see me alone somewhere, and if he agrees, you can do your thing, and I’ll leave town. You’ve given me enough money that I can start over somewhere new very easily.”

  “I haven’t given you that much money,” I reply as I sit back in the chair.

  “It’s enough.”

  I look at her surprised. “No, it’s not. The Harbingers of Death is an active MC. They’re being watched by multiple agencies, and all of them have nothing on them. If you do this, you’ll have to cut ties with everyone you know, change your name, move out of state. It won’t be as easy as you think.”

  “I’ve changed my name before, you know that. And I was moving out of town when you tracked me down. There’s no one in my life I can’t walk away from. It’s been Jack and me for a while. Let me make the call, and if you still think it’s too dangerous, I’ll go.”

  As much as I don’t want to use her like this, I don’t have many other options.

  “Okay. But if I say walk, you’ll fucking run, yeah?”

  “Fuck that, I’ll sprint.”

  I followed Suzannah to the bar dressed like a homeless man. People didn’t make eye contact or even notice me. I stopped about a block before the bar and sat down in a doorway. I’d gotten used to the way Suzannah dressed when she wasn’t working, not a lot of skin showing. When she came out of the bathroom in her black tank and short skirt, I spat my coffee everywhere. Suzannah no longer looks like a soccer mom, she looks like Candy, the bartender. As she walks into the bar, every man who walks past her does a double-take.

  I watch as she squares her shoulders and takes a deep breath before opening the door to the bar, and my gut clenches. This is a bad id
ea. I don’t have eyes on her in the bar and have no way of knowing if she’s hurt or worse. I stand and pretend to stagger up the street. I know I can’t enter the bar, but I need a better look.

  As I get to the door, Suzannah walks out backward, a smile plastered on her face talking to someone I can’t yet see. I stagger around her and keep going. Glancing over my shoulder, I see it’s Hammer. He’s talking to her, touching a length of her hair, and looking like he hasn’t got a care in the world.

  I walk across the street and down an alley. When I turn back around, Hammer and Suzannah are gone. My gut does a somersault, and I double-time it back to where we left Suzannah’s car. She’s sitting on the hood, talking on the phone, and waves at me as I approach her.

  My heart beats a little faster, and as soon as she hangs up, I pull her into my embrace.

  “Whoa!” says Suzannah.

  “I was worried.”

  She pushes me off and grins. “No need to be. He was eating out of my hand. Can you open the car? I want to put a shirt on.”

  I unlock her car and sit on the hood. Suzannah puts on the long-sleeved shirt she wore the first time I met her and sits next to me.

  “You okay?”

  “I saw you out front, and by the time I’d turned around, you were gone.”

  “Sorry.”

  There’s an awkward silence. I’m processing why I’m feeling this way while Suzannah plays with a loose thread on her shirt.

  I stand and open the driver's side door. Suzannah follows suit by opening the passenger door. I stare at her over the roof of the car.

  “Did you get him to agree to see you, alone?”

  Suzannah grins and nods. “Yeah, I’m meeting him at his house at seven.”

  “Good.” I tap the roof twice and get in the car. When she gets in, I say, “Obviously, you aren’t going to be there.”

  “No, I’m not,” Suzannah sighs. “You’re on your own. I’m picking Jack up, and we’re leaving.” She reaches across and grabs my hand. “Do you want to know where we’re headed?”

  I look down at her hand in mine. I know what she’s asking me, and yeah, I want to know where she’s headed, more than anything, but she won’t be safe. I’m not safe. I place her hand back on her leg.