by H. R. Owen
Harmony and Bates bring in two bags and empty out the contents. Packets of crisps, donuts, and bottles of wine sit in a messy pile on the living room floor.
“Where the hell did all that come from?” I ask.
“Car food. I had Bates stock it up for me. Fuck going without food,” Harmony replies, already opening the crisps.
It might not usually be a good thing that Harmony goes without food, but I want her angry tomorrow, so I might just try and eat a bit of her stash. She kicks ass when she’s hungry. We spend the next hour all talking about different plans for tomorrow, and by the time we finish, my eyes start feeling really heavy.
“Come on, darlin’, let’s try out the floor bed. We should all try and get some sleep. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long fucking day tomorrow,” Callen says on a yawn.
Pulling my hand, he leads me into his old bedroom, the one he’d shared with his brother. Callen tenses as soon as we hit the doorway, so I pull back on his hand.
“We don’t have to sleep in here, I can take the sheets into the living room,” I explain.
“No, it’s fine. I want you to see something in here. Come lay down,” he demands.
Callen joins me as I lay on top of the makeshift bed.
“Look up,” is all he says.
There’s a clear patch in the ceiling that I never noticed before, and through it, the moon shines brightly with stars flickering all around it.
“Wow… it’s beautiful, Callen,” I say.
“So are you, darlin’… and when this fight’s over… you and me… we’re getting married. Right under that moon,” Callen proposes.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
dahlia
Did Callen seriously just demand that I marry him? I’m on the floor, in the house his whole family died in, and he’s telling me he wants to marry me. I guess it’s fitting, him being a murderer and me, well… I guess I’m back on the job now too.
“Is that supposed to be a proposal?” I ask.
“No. It’s more like a statement. You’re mine, and I want it to be in writing. Forever,” Callen states.
“Really? You want to get married?” He nods at my reply. I can’t seem to find any words, so I just kiss him and lay back watching the moon.
The rest of the night, all I can think about is getting Callen naked and riding him, but there’s no doors in this house, and I don’t want anyone walking in on us. Callen’s big, tattooed arm is laying over my chest, rising and falling with each of my breaths. I can’t sleep but Callen’s been out cold for a while now, and I don’t want to wake him up by moving. It takes probably a good two hours until my eyes start feeling heavy, and sleep finally takes over.
“Dahlia. Wake up. It’s time,” I hear Callen’s voice as I’m woken up.
“What do you mean? What time is it?” I ask.
“It’s three-thirty. We need to get ready to meet with Ricky. You were sleeping pretty soundly. Tried waking you a couple of times,” Callen tells me.
How the hell did I sleep that long?
We’re meeting Ricky in an hour and a half, and I still feel groggy.
Callen holds his hand out and helps me off the floor, and we head out to the living room where Harmony and Bates are waiting.
“Jesus, Dahlia, I didn’t hear you guys screw last night, but that would sure explain the sleep,” Harmony spits out.
“No screwing, Harmony, just took me a long time to get to sleep is all,” I reply.
“Cars are all packed, let’s get going,” Callen demands.
Harmony seems hungry, so that’s a good sign, and Bates looks a bit on edge too. I wonder what’s going on with the two of them. I know they hooked up the other night, and Harmony’s still pissed off about the other woman that was at Bates’ place, but sometimes they seem to feel content being around each other. Other times they look as though they want to kill each other. I don’t blame her. If I saw another woman around Callen, I’d be fucked off too.
We all walk outside, and I stop to look at the view.
“I love this place, Callen. I don’t know if it’s just the view, but I don’t ever want to leave. I wish I could sit in front of this lake for the rest of my life,” I explain. His expression is hard when I tell him this, but it’s just so peaceful here. Even though I know the story of what happened here.
We get into the car and start our drive to the corner store to meet Ricky. He better have some good information, or I’ll kill him on the spot. Callen’s looking at ease again, maybe even a little excited. I know how he feels. It’s been such a long time since I’ve felt the rush that comes with taking a person’s life.
“Were you being serious last night?” I ask Callen.
“About what, darlin’?” he replies.
I shake my head feeling a little embarrassed to ask the question. I’m not sure why, but I suddenly find myself feeling a little bit shy.
“About marrying you? I was dead serious, and there’s no way you’re getting out of it either. I love you, darlin’, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.” Callen smiles a cheeky grin with his answer.
“Okay, good. Me, too, Callen,” I reply.
We arrive at the store and meet Harmony and Bates at the back entrance. Callen opens the door and leads us through to a small room where Ricky’s standing at the door waiting.
“Come in, quick,” he snaps.
We all enter the room, and Ricky closes and locks the door behind us, limping over to a seat at the back of the room.
“Okay, Ricky, tell us what you know,” I demand.
He nods over at Harmony and tells her to have a seat in the chair in front of his desk.
“Okay, first… Harmony, your mother’s alive, and I know her location, but I’m not going to tell you where that is until Vince is dead, and I know you’re not going to turn on me. I’ll be getting on a plane and leaving the country when the job’s done, so you won’t have to worry about me after that,” Ricky explains to Harmony.
“Fine… but if you don’t give me her location when we’re done, I will track you down and tear your fucking cock straight from your body,” she threatens.
Ricky’s face goes a little pale on that last bit. “Deal. Now, Vince and his men will be in town doing a few deals in the slaughterhouse tonight. Get all your guys down there, and we’ll take them all out together. Everyone that’s in that place tonight doesn’t deserve to live, so we have to make sure they all go. I’ll be there at nine o’clock, and I expect you all there on time. If any of you screw me over, I will make sure Vince knows where he can find Dahlia. He’d give anything to get his hands on you.” Ricky eyes me with those last words.
“Okay, now hurry up and leave before anyone catches you here. I don’t fucking feel like being shot again either,” he demands.
Well, that’s another thing we have in common.
We head back out of the store and slide into the car, taking off as fast as we can.
When we arrive back at the lake house, Hunter and his club are waiting for us, bikes lined up in front of the house. There’s only about twenty of them, which I don’t think will be enough men. From what I know about Vince, he has a least sixty men working for him, so I hope to God they didn’t all follow him here.
Harmony jumps out of the car and greets her brother with a huge hug, and Bates follows suit.
“Bates… fucking good to see you alive, brother,” Hunter says.
“Good to be alive,” Bates replies.
“When were you going to tell me about you fucking my sister?” Hunter grills Bates.
“Well, if I’d have known she was your sister, then maybe I would have told you,” Bates replies.
“Shut up and come inside. We need to go over the plans for tonight,” Callen chimes in.
Once we go through what’s going to happen tonight, Hunter heads outside and starts his bike, taking off out of the driveway with a trail of men behind him.
The factory is the only light around in
the dark night. Everyone has parked their cars and bikes a couple of miles away, with most of them hidden behind trees. We broke up the group a bit and had five people walk to the factory at a time. A big group would have made way too much noise and drawn way too much attention.
When we arrive, we split up to clear out the men guarding the outside of the building. We can’t make any noise while we off them, so everyone’s armed with knives, except for me, of course.
My first target is a tall, dark-skinned man who looks like he works out all day. Perfect. I love taking down the big ones. It makes me feel strong. My wires are in my hands ready to go. So I sneak up behind the man and quickly wrap the garrotte around his neck, tightening it in between my hands so no noise can escape his lips. His hands come up to try and remove the wires from his neck, but he fails miserably, clawing at his throat. It only takes a few minutes, and he drops to his knees, running out of breath. Once I feel the life drain from his body, I lower him quietly to the ground and remove my wires from around his neck.
Looking down at his lifeless body, I notice the big open wounds around his throat, and it brings back memories of my father. I almost took his head off his body that day. The anger that surged through me made me incredibly strong. Well, it looks like I might have gotten a bit carried away again with this one.
Slowly, I scope out where any more men might be located which are easy to sneak up on, but by the time I do a lap around the building, all the men are on the ground, all dead with their throats slit. I spot Callen waving me over to him, so I sneak over and look through the window where he’s pointing. Ricky’s kneeling in front of Vince with his head hanging low. I can’t make out everything that’s being said, but I hear my name and something about helping me.
Fuck! Of course, Vince knows.
His men are everywhere.
Callen gently grabs my arm and pulls me back, but I can’t take my eyes off what’s playing out in front of me. Vince pulls a gun out of his back pocket and holds it against Ricky’s head.
“Come on in, Garrotte. Unless you want to see a hole in this guy’s head,” Vince yells out.
Callen grips me tighter and tries to get me away from the window, but I pull my arm from his grip.
“Darlin’… you can’t just run in there blind. Please?” he begs.
“I’ll be fine. Let me go in alone. We need Ricky alive so we can find Harmony’s mother. I’m not letting Vince take that away from her… again,” I tell him.
“No fucking…” Callen starts, but I run off before he can convince me to stay.
“Stay close,” I demand as I head inside the factory’s doors.
“Ahhh… Garrotte. Nice to see you again,” Vince says in a cheery voice.
“Fuck you, Vince. What do you want from me?” I ask.
“Well. You owe me that punk Bates’ life, so we can start there. And once you kill him, I want your boyfriend’s head on a plate.”
“That’s not going to happen. So whatever you need to do, do it now,” I demand.
“Oh, no, sweetheart, it’s not going to be that fucking easy,” Vince spits.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Gunshots ring out, and the sound of a body hits the ground.
CALLEN
Dahlia just ran inside to get herself killed. I run inside the building just in time to see Ricky’s bloodied body fall to the ground. Rage runs through me, my blood boiling so hot I can’t think straight.
“Dahlia. Get the fuck out now,” I yell.
She starts to run toward me but is held back by Vince pulling on her hair.
Without hesitation, I stalk over to where Vince is hurting my girl, and I pull my gun out about to fire.
One loud shot fires out, and a burning pain runs through my chest.
“Callen… no,” I hear Dahlia scream as my body falls to the ground.
I can feel her hand on my face, but I can’t see her. “I… love… you,” I croak out.
I can hear Dahlia screaming, but then everything goes blank.
“Callen…” I hear.
“Callen…” There it is again.
“Wake the fuck up. Vince took your girl… you need to get up now,” Bates’ voice comes across clearer now.
Trying to get up is hard, but the thought of losing Dahlia gives me strength like nothing before. Holding my chest, Bates helps me stand to my feet.
Vince shot me, but by the feel of it the bullet hasn’t hit anywhere too serious. I know I need to go to the hospital, but it will have to wait until I find Dahlia and kill that fucker.
“Callen, we need to get you to the hospital. Hunter and a few of the other guys are following Vince, so we’ll know where Dahlia is. You can’t fight in the state you’re in. Hunter promised he won’t let anything happen to Dahlia,” Bates assures me.
“Fuck off, Bates. Get the car, I’m going to get my girl,” I demand.
“Look, I know you’re worried about her, but you’re fucking bleeding out, and you’ll never see her again if you die. I’m sorry, Callen, this is all my fault. Vince was after me, and now you’re all in danger,” Bates hangs his head low.
“Are you sure Hunter’s men are onto her? Because if she gets hurt, I’ll fucking kill everyone,” I yell.
“I promise,” is all Bates says.
“Then hurry up and get me to the fucking hospital.”
The emergency room is quiet when we arrive, and a doctor sees to me immediately. The damage isn’t too bad, but they have to stop the bleeding and observe me for a few days.
Fuck staying a few days, though, not when my future wife is out there in the hands of that pig.
The nurse wheels me back to my room after the bullet is removed, the wound is inspected and sewn up. The surgeon told me that if the bullet hit an inch lower, I would have been dead on the spot.
Harmony’s sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, tapping her feet and biting her nails impatiently.
“Hey, Harmony. Everything okay?” I ask her.
“Are you okay? Jesus, poor Dahlia thinks you’re dead,” she replies.
“Well, she won’t for long. Where’s Bates? That fucker needs to get me out of here,” I demand.
“Just gone to get coffee. Don’t worry about getting out of here just yet. When Vince left the slaughterhouse, I figured it all out. ‘When the time is right, dig.’ I thought about it and pieced the whole thing together. Right. Dig. Time. There’s a huge old clock on the right side of that building, and I figured that’s where I was supposed to dig. Anyway, it took only half an hour of digging, and I found this.” Harmony passes me a carved wooden box. The carving on the top of it looks like an apple with a snake wrapping around it.
“I feel like I’ve seen this carving before. I’m not sure where though,” I tell her.
“Open it, and then I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Harmony gestures to the box.
The lid folds back and inside sits a small pile of photos. I lift them out and look them over noting the pretty red-haired woman who looks exactly like an older version of Harmony. The woman has her arms around a small child who only slightly resembles her. On the bottom of the box lies a pile of folded-up paper.
Opening up the first one that sits on top, I read the words written on the page.
Dear Harmony,
I miss you, your father, and brother every day. This will hopefully be the first of many letters you find in this box, but if this is the only one here, then I need to tell you everything.
Vince has raped and tortured me, but he says he loves me. I hate him, the very thought of him touching me makes me sick. There was one good thing that has come out of all of it, though, and that’s your little sister, Belle.
She’s a lot like you in many ways, strong, loving, and eats more food than a man. I found out I was pregnant after being raped and beaten by Vince so badly that he had to get one of his men to take me to the hospital.
I got to know the man who drove me to t
he hospital and stayed with me the entire four days I spent there. His name is Ricky, and although he works for Vince, he actually seems like a good man. He told me that Vince had his girl killed and he wanted his revenge as much as I did. He has agreed to bring me to the factory as much as possible, so I can write to you and share my life with you.
I hate my life, and so does Belle. She’s terrified of the man she is made to call father. Vince loves her more than anything in this world, and she just wants to get away from him.
Hopefully one day we can leave this place and never look back.
I love you, my beautiful girl.
Please look after yourself.
Love always, Mom.
I look over to Harmony, who now has tears flowing down her cheeks. I look back into the box and pick up the second and last piece of paper and unfold it.
Harmony,
Please help us. Bring every man you can.
Tell your father and your brother everything.
Vince needs to die before we do.
626 Redberry Avenue
Do whatever you need do to get us out of here safe.
Love always, Mom.
“Harmony, we need to go now,” I spit.
“No. Callen, we have an idea, and as much as I hate doing it, we need to use my mother and Belle as leverage. We have to go to that address and take Belle hostage. Get the message out to Vince that we have his beloved daughter, and he’ll never see her again unless he brings Dahlia. Offer him a trade-off, then have all our men there to take that motherfucker to hell,” Harmony states in an angry tone.
It’s a great idea, but I just hope Vince loves his daughter as much as the letter stated.
“Okay, let’s do it. Go and get Bates. We leave now,” I demand.
Harmony has the Impala running out the front of the hospital before Bates manages to get me outside. I can barely walk, but I need to be there for when Dahlia shows up. I don’t plan on killing Vince myself, as much as I would like to. I think this one is up to Harmony. Bates helps me slide into the back seat, then runs over to the passenger side opening the door and hopping onto the seat.