Vengeance: The Program Book 4

by N. M. Catalano

  After a long pause, he nods. “Yeah, honestly I am good.” He turns to me, “Come on, let’s go get your woman.”

  Gwendolyn. She’s all I’m going to focus on for now. I have no doubt there’ll be backlash for the events of last night. That shit can wait. For right now, Gwendolyn is mine. Later I’ll deal with reality.

  We each open our doors and step out of my truck when Rock and Snake pull up. They get out as we walk toward them.

  When we meet in the front yard, I ask Rock, “Anyone follow you?”

  He shakes his head. “No. I’m not sure what to think about that.”

  He’s right. It’s too damn quiet.

  “You thinking what we’re thinking,” Snake questions as he looks up at the house.

  “Yeah. Like why aren’t they all over us like flies on shit?” I rumble quietly.

  “Seems to me if someone had blown up my multi-million-dollar project, I’d be up their ass like a bad case of hemorrhoids,” Snake sneers.

  “It’s too fucking quiet. There were no tails. No traffic except the emergency vehicles going to the mill,” Gringo adds darkly.

  “Shit doesn’t feel right,” Rock says tightly.

  His phone rings with an unknown number. It’s not Summer, and it’s sure as shit is not one of us. It’s five a.m., we just destroyed someone’s illegal gold mine. Whoever’s on the phone is not calling about time-shares.

  He hits the accept button, then puts it on speaker. “Talk,” Rock growls.

  “You just fucked up. I’m sure you’re aware of that.”

  Dominic fucking Fellini.

  “Could you be more specific?” he replies coolly.

  “Do not play with me, gentlemen, there isn’t time. Get them out of the house!”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Gringo growls.

  I know what he’s thinking, we’re all thinking it.

  We were warned not to go after Sasha. They said if we did, they’d kill her.

  “You don’t have time for this!” The line goes dead.

  “Goddamn it!” I snarl.

  We see movement inside the house, my eyes shoot to Gwen’s bedroom window. She’s there, and she waves at me. My heart does this crazy exploding thing as relief floods me.

  Then all hell breaks loose.

  BOOM! It’s an explosion at the rear of the house.

  “NONONO!” the four of us yell as we take off running.

  Flames shoot up from the back of the big house as the scent of smoke and gas hit our nostrils.

  We barrel up the steps as the front door flies open. Raven’s got Summer shoved through the opening with Hawk behind her trying to push her out.

  “Get the fuck off me!” She punches him right in the face. “Where’s Gwen?!” she screams.

  “Where’s Mrs. M?!” Summer cries.

  “Get them out of here!” Hawk snarls at us. “I’m going in to find them!”

  I just fucking died inside. NONONONO!! God, please let them be okay! I have never felt gut wrenching pain as I do right at this moment.

  Snake yanks a furious Raven from the porch and drags her down to the street. He’s got to pin her arms behind her because she’s fighting him. “LET ME GO, WE’VE GOT TO GET THEM OUT!”

  “GODDAMN IT, THEY’RE GOING BACK IN.” Snake’s got to restrain her, she’s going wild.

  Rock’s got Summer in his arms, she’s sobbing and wailing. He grabs her by the shoulders and lowers his face to hers, “Stay right fucking here. DO NOT get close to that house. UNDERSTOOD?”

  She’s staring at him, wide eyed with tears streaming down her face. She clutches his face in her hands, “Okay, but please be careful. I can’t lose you,” she chokes.

  He kisses her on the forehead, long and tenderly. “You’re not going to lose me. No one’s going anywhere.” Then he leaves her and runs back toward the house.

  “GO AROUND BACK!” I yell at him as I push past Hawk and head for the stairs.

  There’s a crash in the back of the house. It’s the kitchen area, I know this place like the back of my hand. It’s home, it’s Gwen’s house, the home she was supposed to raise her ten babies in. FUCKFUCKFUCK. Hawk’s already moving in that direction as I bound up the stairs. I’m insane, I can’t stop, not until I get Gwen out and she’s safe. God, PLEASE let her be okay! When I hit the center landing, Gwen’s coming down.

  “BULL.” She’s in shock, but she’s okay.

  Thank God!

  “I’m here, baby, I’ve got you!” I run to her.

  She stumbles as another crash sounds, they’re getting closer. I catch her, turn, and run down the stairs and out the front door. She’s shaking violently in my arms as coughs rack her body.

  “You okay? Are you hurt?” I search her face and her body with my eyes. I don’t want to put her down, I can’t let her go, not yet. I’m afraid if I do, she’ll disappear right before my eyes.

  She shakes her head, “I’m fine.” She strokes my face, my head, my shoulders, she touches me everywhere as she stares into my eyes. “Are you okay?”

  This damn woman slays me!

  I smile at her, it’s big and broad. My mouth crashes with hers. I’m filled with so much love for this woman, and I almost lost her. Because of me, she, and everyone almost died. Instantly, guilt consumes me.

  I break the kiss. “You were just in a burning house, and you’re worried about me?”

  She narrows her eyes at me, “Of course I was worried about you. We know what you guys were up to.”

  They’ve been up all night, and probably had the news on. They must have seen the play by play of the emergency situation at the mill.

  Still holding her, I crush her to me. “Everything’s going to be fine now.”

  “CALL AN AMBULANCE,” Hawk shouts from the house.

  Snake lets go of Raven, and all of us turn to Hawk. He’s coming down the stairs with a limp Mrs. Merriweather in his arms.

  Gwen wrestles out of my arms, screaming, “NO! NAN…”

  We can hear the approach of firetrucks and ambulances from town. Neighbors are out of their houses and on their lawns, everyone is watching the scene unfolding in horror. Hawk lays Mrs. Merriweather on the grass a safe distance from the burning house and begins resuscitation.

  “Goddamn it, old woman, wake the fuck up,” he grits out tightly as he alternates pressing on her chest and breathing life back into her. “You’re too damn mean to die!”

  Gwen’s curled over her grandmother’s body, sobbing and pleading with her to wake up.

  Hawk locks eyes with me. “Bull, get her.”

  Fuck!

  Reluctantly, I do. I pull Gwen from her grandmother’s unmoving body. She writhes and kicks and tries to get away. My hold tightens around her. “You’ve got to let Hawk do what he can, baby. PLEASE.”

  “God, save her, she’s all I have,” she chokes.

  No one’s moving, we’re all holding our breaths, our hearts breaking. We all belong to the old woman, and we’re each dying a little bit more inside with each passing second she doesn’t come back to us.

  Dominic Fellini’s warning comes back to haunt me, “Get them out of the house!”

  The Steel Brothers men come from around the back of the house, total fucking messes. Prez is with them.

  Rage unfurls inside me like the flames eating the house.

  What the fuck have they done?!

  If I didn’t have Gwen in my arms, I’d kill them all.

  CHAPTER 28

  Bull

  We were all forced to go to the hospital to get checked for injuries. I barely tolerated the examination and the questions because I was insane with the need to see what was happening with Gwen and her grandmother. The hospital had been a mad house with police and doctors and nurses all taking turns with each of us individually. But no one asked us about the mill or made any comments about two fires in one night.

  We might have gone behind The Program’s back doing the job at the mill, but it appeared they pulle
d some strings and kept the law from searching our vehicles, or questioning us. If there was anything that was good that came from the ordeal, that was it. We have enough weaponry stowed in the tool boxes to start a war.

  Apparently that’s exactly what we did. Now Mrs. Merriweather’s lying in a hospital bed.

  She had a fucking heart attack.

  I feel horrible. And watching Gwen at her side, curled over the old woman’s body, rips me apart over and over again.

  I fucking did it again! I ruined these people’s lives, except this time I almost got them killed. Dear God, what have I done?

  I can’t bring myself to leave the room, and I can’t bear to look at them. Maybe Gwen will make the decision for me and kick me out.

  When Mrs. Merriweather was admitted into a room after they got her stable, I’ve had my ass parked in a chair in the corner, and Gwendolyn has been sitting in vigil by her side. They won’t allow too many visitors at once, so everyone’s been taking turns coming in and out. It’s been a constant flow since we were brought in hours ago. But their presence has helped me to keep my shit together.

  “Hey,” Gringo walks quietly in. I turn my face up and wish I hadn’t. He’s completely wrecked. He’s taking it worse than I am, it’s obvious he blames himself as well, probably because of his one mission in life to find Sasha, fuck the consequences. After we brought hell down on those who stole her. Look at the consequences it brought.

  Gwen lifts her face from where it was resting on the side of the bed. Her eyes are blood shot and her face is streaked from her tears. “Hi. You look terrible.”

  She’s unfuckingbelievable. Her grandmother had a heart attack because of us, her goddamn house went up in flames, and she’s still being kind?

  He diverts his gaze, “I’m fine. How’s Mrs. M.?”

  Gwen stands and walks over to me. With her arms hugged around her middle, she replies, “They’ve got her stable, and they say she’s resting comfortably,” she snorts a disgusted laugh. “Whatever that means.”

  Gringo takes a few steps closer. “Gwen, I’m so sorry,” he chokes. I can see the emotion he’s fighting, he’s ready to completely shatter.

  “Don’t. It’s not your fault,” she turns her eyes to me. “It’s not any of our fault.” She sucks in a sob. “We didn’t know what they were capable of. When they called me…,” she can’t continue as another tear rolls down her face. “She almost died,” her eyes latch on to mine again.

  Her pain is slicing me open and ripping out my guts. I want to make this all go away, I want to make her feel better, I want to make this entire fucking situation disappear.

  Gwen looks from me to Gringo, then back. “What did you guys do over there?” she asks quietly, her gaze pinning me with the weight of her question. I slice my eyes to Gringo, looking for...I don’t fucking know what. Do I tell her? Does she want to know everything that happened?

  I stand and place my body right in front of hers.

  “We burned the place down, and eliminated everyone in there,” I tell her the truth.

  Her eyes search mine, she doesn’t flinch, and she doesn’t turn away.

  “Is this what you really do, because you’re not tattoo artists?” she whispers.

  Son of a bitch, she’s going to make me tell her everything.

  I steel myself for it. “Yes, the four of us belong to an organization. We get hired for jobs, jobs very similar to this one. But this, we did this on our own.” I watch her, study every flinch of every emotion she’s going to give me. “We did this for the people we care about.”

  She stands taller with her blood shot gaze boring into mine. “Who, Bull? Who did you do it for?”

  “I did it for you,” I steal a glance at Mrs. Merriweather in the bed. “I did it for her, and her husband. I did it for Sasha, and Summer, and everyone in that goddamn town. I did it because those bastards would have killed her, and they weren’t going to stop there.” Now that I’ve started, I can’t stop the words from pouring out of me. “I’m so fucking sorry, Gwen. I never wanted anything to happen to you, or your grandmother. I’ve been sitting outside your house to prevent that. We all have. But we had to stop them, because if we didn’t, it would have been a hell of a lot worse.”

  The room is quiet for long time, the only sounds are the machines attached to the old woman and the voices in the hallway.

  Gwen takes a step closer, her eyes never leaving mine. “I know that. And I’m glad you did.” She lays a hand on my chest. “You had to,” she looks at Gringo, “you all did.” She rests a cheek on my chest.

  I snake an arm around her and pull her close. “She’s going to be okay, Gwendolyn,” I stroke her back and try to comfort her, to at least take a small portion of her grief away.

  “I’m glad you burned that place down,” she whispers again.

  That is exactly why we all did what we did. And, fuck yes, I’d do it again to make sure all of them stay safe.

  No one says anything as the beeps and whirs of the machines confirm what Gwen’s just said.

  We’re all lucky.

  Unfortunately, there’s still someone we have yet to take care of.

  Gringo takes a deep breath, then holds out the bag he’s holding. “I brought some clean clothes and some stuff we thought you two might need. The girls picked out your things, Gwen. Rock, Hawk, Snake, and me had no clue.”

  “Thank you,” Gwen lifts from me and takes the bag solemnly.

  I watch her for a moment as she occupies herself with something other than what we’ve been doing for hours.

  “Everything stop at the house?” I ask Gringo quietly, for nothing else than to fill the space of silence. “When I called before they said the fire was put out and only the back portion suffered damages.”

  Gwen’s rifling through the bag, I’m sure she’s listening to the conversation.

  “Yes, once they were sure everything was out, they taped off the scene. There’s going to be an investigation,” Gringo replies, his eyes intent with the anger that’s still brimming inside him.

  I can’t wait to read that, as long as the scumbag James Williams doesn’t fix it. It ought to be an interesting read.

  I narrow my eyes at him. “You took care of my truck?”

  He nods. “Hawk already had it taken care of.”

  He’s not so bad to have around.

  “I’ve no doubt me boys will sort everything out,” Mrs. Merriweather whispers roughly from the bed.

  “NAN,” Gwendolyn drops the bag of clothes and runs to her. “How are you feeling?”

  “Posh, lass,” Mrs. M. coos hoarsely, “it’d take more than a bit of fire and smoke to put this old woman down.” I can hear Gwendolyn quietly weep again as she hugs her grandmother, cradling her the best she can. Mrs. Merriweather strokes Gwen’s hair gently with the tubes and IV attached to her arm. “Shush, now, love, it’ll all be just fine. You’ve got a fine lad to look out for you, you do. Four of them,” the old woman chuckles. Her eyes are on me as she comforts her granddaughter.

  “Yes she does.” I’m so damn happy to see her awake.

  Gringo approaches the bed slowly. “I’m glad to see you. How are you feeling?”

  Gwen lifts her head and smiles at him, the first one I’ve seen on her face since she left the shop yesterday.

  “Right as rain, lad.” She reaches a hand out for him. He takes it, and the gesture is the best thing I’ve seen in a long time. “When I get out of this bed, though, lads,” her gaze moves from Gringo to me, “the lot of you will be getting a good tongue lashing, you will.”

  “I believe I go first, my dear,” a man’s voice comes from the open hospital room door.

  Dominic fucking Fellini.

  My rage roars. But Gringo charges him. “WHERE IS SHE?!” he bellows as a sick thud of bone hitting cement sounds loudly. Gringo slammed him against the wall and smashed his head into the cinder block wall.

  Gringo’s going to murder him.

  “JESUS CHRIST, just lis
ten to me a moment!” Fellini yells.

  Hawk appears and jumps on Gringo’s back trying to pull him off. “Gringo, STOP!”

  “GET THE FUCK OFF ME! It’s his fault! She’s in that bed because of him. Sasha’s missing because of him!” He tries to throw Hawk off. “Where is she?!” Another sickly sound of skull on cement.

  Gringo’s last tether of his frayed sanity has just been ripped to shreds with Dominic Fellini’s appearance. He’d been holding it together, just barely at times, but with the house fire and Mrs. Merriweather having a heart attack, he had to have an outlet for all of his pent up rage. Fellini is it. Rightfully so, he was the man who kidnapped the woman he loves. I want a piece of his ass myself. Instead, I grab one arm as Hawk gets the other to get Gringo under control.

  “Gringo, I’m here!” comes Sasha’s voice through the yelling and fighting. We don’t see her.

  Son of a bitch, now I’m imagining things.

  “Sasha?” Gringo stops fighting us and goes still. He heard her too.

  “Gabriel, I’m here.” It’s her, it’s definitely fucking her!

  “Oh, my God!” Gwen gasps.

  The three of us, me, Gringo, and Hawk look up, and there’s Sasha. She looks perfect, she looks good, really good. She also looks nervous as hell. I don’t blame her, Gringo was going to kill Fellini. But there’s something different about her. It’s the clothes, she’s not wearing the fancy suits she used to wear. She’s dressed in jeans and a big billowy top. She looks…content.

  “Sasha, you are a sight for sore eyes, you are,” Mrs. Merriweather rasps out a laugh.

  “What’s going on?” I’m stunned. I look from Fellini, to Sasha, and try to make sense of what the hell is happening.

  Gringo shakes us loose and stands. He walks slowly to Sasha, a storm of emotions crashing over his expression. “You’re safe. You’re here…,” he chokes out

  She laughs as tears stream down her cheeks. “Yes, I am. Thanks to what you guys did, I was able to come out of hiding.”

  Gringo traces her face with a fingertip, needing to make sure she’s real. “You’re really here.”

  She takes his face in her hands, “Yes, Gabriel. I’m here. I missed you so much.”