Ladyfish

by Andrea Bramhall

  She nodded. It was all she could do.

  “Do you know why that was necessary?”

  She tried to shake her head, but his grip was too tight.

  “She didn’t leave me a body. Very selfish of her. She didn’t even leave a note. I had to print one off.” His spittle hit Finn’s face. “But the real kick in the teeth, the real truth is that she isn’t dead. I didn’t kill her. She left. She faked her own death to get away from us. You and me, little girl. She didn’t want anything to do with either of us. She wanted her own whore.” He grinned as the shock of his words was clear on Finn’s face. “That’s it. Even after everything I’ve done for you, you still turned out just like her. A fucking pervert.” He pushed her away from him and laughed when she hit the floor. “You’re right about one thing, though. It does end today. Jack.”

  Jack looked at him expectantly.

  “Kill her.”

  Jack raised the gun and leveled it at Finn’s head.

  “Not in here, you fucking idiot. Take them both outside, take the boat, and toss them over the side. For fuck’s sake, do I have to do everything myself?” He stepped toward Jack and backhanded him across the face.

  Oz threw herself from her seat into Jack’s body, her good arm outstretched, snatching at the weapon and then using her momentum to spin away from him and twist the gun from his grasp, finishing with him in front of her. She struck the butt of the weapon down on the back of his skull, and he crashed to the floor as she leveled the weapon at Decker.

  “Put your weapons down. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Decker lifted his arm, his finger on the trigger.

  Oz’s shot was clean and lethal, hitting him straight between the eyes.

  She barely had to move to bring the third man into her sights. “It doesn’t have to be like this. Just put the gun down.” His gun was already aimed at her chest, but the man’s hand was shaking, his face was pale, and sweat was trickling into his eyes. “Just put it down and you can walk away from this alive.” She watched out of the corner of her eye as Sterling started to move. He was trying to inch toward Finn, intent on using her as a shield. Fucking idiot doesn’t know how good a shot I am. She watched as he moved his hand higher. Not being able to tell where he was going to fire, and running out of time, Oz squeezed the trigger.

  “For fuck’s sake,” Oz yelled as she spun and crossed the room in two strides before pressing the burning barrel of the gun to William Sterling’s head. The gun felt so good in her hand. It was an extension of her body. Pulling the trigger would be as easy as breathing. She looked at him and knew that pulling the trigger would put an end to so many possibilities. The pain he had caused and the suffering he was willing to cause made it so hard to keep the pressure low enough to stop the gun from going off.

  The only possibility she feared in pulling the trigger was Finn’s reaction. How would she feel about her if she killed her father? She didn’t know if Finn was ready to accept his part in all of this madness yet, despite the fact that he had just ordered her death. She wanted to free them all of this monster, but knew Finn would never forgive her for it. But she wanted to. She wanted to kill him for all the ways he had hurt Finn. She wanted to kill him for Pete. She wanted to kill him for all the innocent lives he was prepared to squander for money. Her hand shook as she battled her own instincts, and she realized once again how easy it was for her to turn killer again. She dreaded seeing Finn’s face, fearing that all she would see would be the disgust and hatred she felt for herself, but she had to know. She needed to see that Finn was okay, if nothing else, so she slowly turned to look at her.

  Finn’s eyes were huge as she looked around the room, clearly amazed at the position they were in now. “How?”

  “Training. Baby, are you okay?” She flicked her eyes back to Sterling. “Finn? Baby, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I think so. How did you get the ties off?”

  “Trade secret I’m afraid. You impressed?”

  “Hell, yeah.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake, please shoot me.” Sterling rolled his eyes.

  “Don’t tempt me.”

  Sterling’s face paled as she stared at him.

  “I have about a billion reasons to take you down, right here, right now. And you know what? I’d probably get a medal for it.”

  She circled around until she stood in front of the chair and aimed the gun at his chest. She crouched and rifled through Jack’s pockets until she found more cable ties and a knife, the gun never wavering from Sterling’s heart. She quickly cut the tie that bound Finn’s wrists and placed a tender kiss to her temple as she handed her a couple of the plastic ties. “Put those on your dad. Fasten them with his hands behind his back.”

  Finn did as instructed, and when his wrists were secured she pushed him into a seat and then took it upon herself to secure his ankles too. He stared at her with pure hatred in his eyes but didn’t say anything.

  Oz lowered the gun and pulled Finn into her arms. She kept her eyes fixed on Sterling as she held Finn tight.

  “Baby, we need to call Charlie.”

  Finn nodded against her chest before she pulled away and crossed the room, picked up a phone, and punched in the number.

  “Charlie, it’s Finn.”

  “Are you both okay?”

  “Yeah, sort of. We’re both pretty banged up, but everything’s under control.”

  “Hang tight. The cavalry is almost with you.”

  She hung up the phone and walked back to Oz’s side.

  “How long?”

  “Just a few minutes.”

  “I know you got a lot off your chest before, but this might be the last chance you get to talk to him, so is there anything else you want to ask him?”

  “Where is she?”

  “Who?”

  “My mother.”

  “Why?”

  She stared at him. “Because she was my mother. She loved me. Because I loved her.”

  “The last time I saw your mother, you were twelve years old. She was with her. That bitch she left me for.” Oz snapped to attention even as Finn stared incredulously at him.

  “Who?”

  “That fucking dyke.”

  Finn slapped him across the face. “I take offense to that, Father.”

  He stared at her as though she had grown a second head.

  “Who was she?”

  “Karen Riley.”

  “My cook?”

  “You remember her do you? Did she interfere with you too?”

  “Don’t be disgusting. She and my mum were lovers?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why did you employ her if you knew who she was?”

  “I didn’t. The housekeeper did all the hiring in those days. She wanted to be close to you. Isn’t that sweet? Little Daniela’s guardian angel. Soon put a stop to that one, though.” The smile on his face made Oz feel dirty.

  “What did you do to her?”

  He just grinned.

  “What did you do?”

  “I paid her a little visit, that’s all. After your mother died, so to speak, I thought I’d see what it was that had your mother so interested.” He smiled at her, a lascivious twisting of his lips that didn’t reach his eyes. “I have to admit, your mum had pretty good taste.”

  “What did you do to her?” Finn’s voice was barely a whisper.

  “Nothing she didn’t want—”

  “You raped her.”

  “You say tomato.” The smile on his face widened. “But this is where I got the real shock. Guess who was there with your precious Karen? Shacked up together, having a whale of a time.” He paused, staring at her. “No? Really? Your dear old mum. Have to say, that really threw me for a loop. But in a situation like that, you just have to make the best of things. And I’ve got to admit, finding them both there together? Well, two for the price of one you might say.”

  “You son of a bitch.” It was all Oz could do to stop herself from striking him.


  “You raped my mother.” Finn’s voice quivered.

  “She was my wife! She was the one who left. They had no right to come sniffing around again. She should have stayed dead! I told them both that if they ever contacted you again, they wouldn’t be the only ones to regret it.”

  “You threatened to rape her again?”

  His laughter echoed harshly in her ears. “Daniela, I didn’t need a repeat performance, and neither did they.”

  “Then what? You would have killed her?”

  “Yes, but there was no need. You see, there was this big old soft spot they both had. An Achilles’ heel if you like.”

  Oz had never felt so repulsed. “You sick bastard.”

  Finn stared at Oz, her confusion obvious as Oz held the gun closer to his face.

  “That just gave me a billion and one.” She pointed the gun at his head. “Where are they both?”

  He shrugged and leaned a little closer to the gun.

  “Tell me.” He grinned a little more and the realization hit Oz like a ton of bricks. He wants me to kill him so that he doesn’t go to jail and doesn’t have to face what he’s done. She leaned into his face. “I know what you want.” She looked him in the eye so he could see the truth of her words. “Tell me what I want to know and I will give you what you want.” She pushed the gun against his temple.

  “I don’t know.” He stared at Finn. “I spent years trying to find them again. But every time I thought I had them, they were gone again. If I had found them I would have killed the bitches. I might have been able to use it to turn you into a proper daughter.”

  “You’ve been tracking her?” Finn asked.

  He nodded.

  “Where was she last?”

  “I don’t know. I just get updates from the investigators. They send me e-mails.”

  “Where’s your computer?”

  He stared at her blankly.

  “Don’t make me ask again.” He nodded in the direction of the bar.

  Finn grabbed the laptop from the cabinet he pointed to and booted the system. “Password?”

  He stalled, looking at Oz. She pushed against him with the barrel of the gun.

  “Alchemy.”

  Finn punched the keys and quickly e-mailed the details to herself. She riffled through the case and found a portable hard drive, which she plugged in. The files transferred quickly and she wrapped the hard drive in a plastic bag she found under the sink before tucking it in the folds of her wet suit sleeve.

  “Drop the gun.” Jack’s voice was rough, the traces of his concussion audible around the edges.

  Oz felt cold metal press against her temple.

  “I said, drop the fucking gun!”

  Finn froze as she watched from across the room.

  Oz flicked her eyes toward her threatened temple and looked hard at Finn, shaking her head almost imperceptibly.

  “I said—”

  “Okay, okay.” She pulled the barrel of the gun from Sterling’s temple and held the gun out to the side, a good six inches in front of her, and at the full reach of her arm.

  Jack reached for it, but her long arms, coupled with his position behind her, put it well beyond his hand. He stepped around and tried to grab it.

  Oz knew the blow to the head would slow him down, and she knew she could spin out of his reach and disable him, despite having only one functioning arm.

  But Sterling saw his opportunity and wasted no time. He threw all his might into propelling his body out of the chair at her, landing heavily against her body, his weight taking them both to the ground. The impact of landing on her dislocated shoulder dislodged the gun from her grip and sent it skating across the floor.

  Jack scrabbled in the direction of the pistol only to find himself staring down the barrel as it shook in Finn’s hand. He laughed as he pulled himself to his feet.

  Oz grunted from the floor, pinned beneath Sterling’s weight. She struggled and twisted, trying to dislodge the body above her.

  Jack edged toward Finn. “You can’t use that.” He took a step closer to her. “You haven’t got the balls to pull the trigger.” He stepped closer. “So why don’t you hand it over to me?”

  “Get back, Jack.” Her hands were shaking as she pointed the gun at him.

  He stopped advancing but didn’t back away.

  “Or else what? Hmm, Daniela? Or else what? You going to shoot me? To make Daddy proud?” He laughed cruelly. “He’s never been proud of you. Never fucking wanted you or that whore of a mother of yours. You know he only married her for the money, right?” He took another step closer.

  Oz could see the fear and pain on Finn’s face. She knew that she desperately didn’t want to pull the trigger, but she could see something else too. She saw resolve. It was the same look in her eyes that Oz had seen when she said she was going to confront her father to keep Oz safe. Her mouth was set in a grim line and the tiny creases at the corners of her eyes were deeper than normal. Oz knew that her shaking hands didn’t mean she wouldn’t pull the trigger. She was convinced that Finn could, and would, kill him. She wanted to spare her that burden. She pushed at Sterling’s body with her good arm while twisting her hips and torso, trying to get her legs in a position where she could roll him off her.

  “I told you to stay back,” Finn repeated.

  He was beyond hearing her. “Married the bitch for her fucking money. Now hold still while I fucking kill you. Then I’m gonna kill that fucking bitch over there.”

  The shot rang out, echoing through the room. The smell of cordite hung in the air that suddenly felt heavier than the body lying across her. Jack’s steps slowed as he looked down at his chest in surprise. The red flower blossomed outward, but still he stepped forward again.

  Finn tried to steady the gun, but her next shot went wild, lodging in the ceiling. The third bullet ripped through his shoulder and threw his balance off.

  Jack screamed in rage and pain as he tried to lunge for her.

  Finn pulled the trigger again and Oz watched as the fourth bullet drilled through his upper chest. Crimson foam bubbled from between his lips as he attempted to pull in a lungful of air.

  “I can’t believe you actually shot me.” He dropped to his knees. “Fuck, that hurts.”

  The doors burst open and several armed men flew into the room with their guns poised and ready. Two of them quickly dragged Sterling off Oz and helped her to her feet. Finn was staring at Jack’s body, her eyes locked on the growing pool of blood that surrounded him.

  “Finn, babe, can you give me the gun?”

  Tears began to fall down her cheeks, the gun shaking wildly in her hand as she stared at the crumpled body lying at her feet.

  “Finn? Give me the gun. Baby, you’re okay. We’re both okay, but I need you to give me the gun now.”

  Finn held the gun straight out to her, totally oblivious to the fact that she was pointing a loaded weapon at Oz’s chest. Oz quickly clasped her hand over the top, engaged the safety and passed it to the soldier behind her.

  “Looks like we got another SEAL in the family, hey?”

  Oz turned around, noticing for the first time that it was her cousin standing behind her. She wrapped her arm around Finn, closing her eyes and allowing herself a few moments to revel in the fact that they were both now safe. “Junior, I never thought I’d be so glad to see you.”

  “I think I should be offended by that. It’s a damn good thing you were diving with a GPS thing in your wet suit today, cousin. Your crew called the dive center, and Rudy called Charlie. We tracked your transmitter, but they had a damn good lead on us.” He grinned at her, but she could see the concern in his eyes. “Let’s get you out of here.”

  “You saved us, baby.” She kissed Finn’s temple and continued to whisper to her, trying to soothe her as she trembled in her arms. “You saved us.” Her relief at having Finn safe was overwhelming; it almost let her forget the price that safety had cost, but not quite. She knew Finn would need time to deal with wha
t she had done to keep them both safe. The burden of taking a life, no matter how justified, was one she knew too well.

  The SEALs were milling around the room, checking bodies for signs of life. They pulled Sterling outside and forced him to his knees while they waited for orders.

  “Oh for Christ’s sake, Oz! You didn’t leave me anything to do!” Junior threw his hands in the air.

  Oz grinned. “Sure I did, Junior. The cleanup is all yours.” She stepped to the side, keeping her arm around Finn’s shoulders, and led her out to the chopper.

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Oz sat in the living room at the navy house and wrapped her arm around Finn’s shoulders, placing a tender kiss at her temple, unable to stop smiling. They’d spent two hours in the emergency room before Oz’s mom picked them up.

  “How’s your shoulder?”

  “It’s fine, baby. Doc just wants me to keep this sling on to rest the ligaments for a few days.”

  “When do we have to talk to Charlie?”

  “He’ll be here soon. You know you’re going to have to give him that hard drive you copied, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I just want to know what my father knew about my mum. And I want to see for myself. I need to.” Finn didn’t know if she could explain why she needed to know the lengths that her mother had gone to remain hidden from him, but she did. She needed to understand what she had gone through. This woman who was both a stranger to her and yet had loved her so completely that she had been willing to give up her life to save her from harm.

  “Then we should probably take a look now before he gets here. I’ll grab my laptop.” Oz kissed her head again before she stood and left the room.

  Finn closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the sofa. She wanted to erase the last twelve hours from her head. The gunshot still rang in her ears, the smell of gunfire filled her nostrils, and the metallic scent of blood was so thick she could almost taste it. The bright red stain growing on Jack’s chest as the life seeped from his body, one heartbeat at a time. Her choice. Her decision. Her action. Cause and effect perfectly displayed. One question burned in her mind and she found she couldn’t answer it. Did she regret it? Did she regret taking Jack’s life? Knowing that he would have killed her and Oz if she hadn’t pulled the trigger made it seem clear. Her response was completely logical and understandable. It was self-preservation at its most primitive level. Kill or be killed. Live or die. Intellectually, she accepted it, understood it, and knew that rationally, there was no real choice to make. But she still couldn’t decide if she regretted what she had done.