by Ryan Stygar
Adam’s heart slammed to a halt in his chest. The floor beneath his feet seemed to heave up and drop back down like a boat at sea, causing his knees to tremble. “Viktoriya?” he stuttered.
The manager looked to Nancy and mouthed What’s wrong with him? Nancy shrugged and looked at Adam, who was steadying himself against her desk.
“Yes, your fiancée,” she answered. “I have the release forms naming her as a guardian right here,” she handed Adam a piece of paper. “That’s your signature authorizing the release at the bottom… is something wrong?”
Adam took the document from here and stared at it in bewilderment. “Release? I never signed…” his voice trailed off when he saw his signature inexplicably inked across the dotted line at the bottom.
He dropped the paper and pushed through the women. “Where is she? Lily? Lily!”
“Mister Friend!” Nancy shouted after him. She hurried down the hall to catch him, but Adam was running too fast. When he arrived at Lily’s room he threw the door open so hard that it punched a hole in the drywall.
“Lily!”
Her bed was empty. All her things were gone. It was as though she’d never lived there.
Nancy and the manager were just catching up when Adam exploded out of the room with rage in his eyes. “How could you just let someone take her?!” he bellowed. Nancy scurried away, the billing manager froze in her tracks. Adam looked like a man possessed.
“She… she had all her paperwork in order…” the manager sputtered. “She was so convincing! I’m sorry–
“SORRY?!” Adam roared over her. “Sorry doesn’t help a damn bit! Where did she take her?” he grabbed the manger by the shoulders and shook her like a doll. “Where’s my daughter?”
“Oh my God!” she wailed through her tears. “Oh my God I am so sorry! She had all her paperwork. I’m so sorry, Adam!”
Adam cried out in an unholy, agony-fueled scream whose sound only a parent could possibly fathom. His wails echoed through the halls and terrified the rest of the children, who soon began crying behind their doors. He didn’t know where to start or how to find Lily – but he was going to destroy anything got in his way. All the St. Judith’s staff retreated away from him like fish from a shark as he charged out of the building.
“Viktoriya… Viktoriya…” he repeated over and over as he fumbled with his phone to find her number.
Viktoriya’s voice answered after a single ring. “Ah, Mister Friend. I assume you are now aware of my little gift?”
“Where is she?”
“A simple ‘thank-you’ would suffice,” Viktoriya said. “I just paid off all your debt, now where is your sense of gratitude?”
“Fuck you.” Adam growled. “Where is my daughter?”
“So rude,” Viktoriya chimed. “Lily is safe with me. Such a lovely young girl you have here… so pretty, so well mannered…”
“Don’t you dare hurt her.”
“Oh please!” Viktoriya moaned. “If I wanted her dead I would have grabbed her by the hair and plunged her little head into a full bath by now. Since I haven’t drowned her yet, perhaps you should be more polite?”
A little girl’s voice squeaked in the background. Adam instantly recognized it was Lily’s.
“You evil bitch…” Adam whispered. “Just tell me what you want and give her back to me.”
Viktoriya hardened her tone. “You were instructed to kill Watson Lafayette last night – yet the man still breathes! I want to be sure that you will be more cooperative this time.”
“Fine! I’ll kill him with my bare hands if that’s what it takes, just let Lily go first.”
“You won’t be getting out of this so easily, Adam,” she replied icily. “You see, I had the most unfortunate evening last night. Last night I found my father’s head in a box, so I am sure you will understand that I am quite furious. Here is your new deal: if you want to see Lily again then you will kill Watson Lafayette and Dimitri Jordan by midnight tonight.”
“I’m not doing shit for you unless you give me back my child!”
“You will get Lily back when Dimitri Jordan and Watson Lafayette are dead,” Viktoriya said. “When both the Emperor and his heir are gone, the entire Sumatra Empire will collapse into chaos. When this happens you will be reunited with your little angel, not a moment before.”
“Put her on the phone.” Adam demanded, “I want to talk to her.”
“Oh I don’t think so; she is quite content watching cartoons with me right now and I’m afraid your tone will only upset her. So innocent… she has no idea what horrible things will happen to her if you fail to cooperate.”
“If you lay a finger on her…”
Viktoriya cackled like a witch. “There is no need for threats; we both know you are powerless to protect her. Do as I say by the deadline and I promise she won’t be harmed.”
Adam started to call her an exceptionally vulgar name when Viktoriya interrupted him.
“Dimitri Jordan dies by midnight, or she does,” she hung up.
Adam felt his blood boiling with fury. He was more than willing to kill for his child – he’d already done so. Now that some psychopath had kidnapped her, he was prepared to go on a full-blown rampage. He was driving thirty miles over the speed limit as he dialed Vince’s number.
Vince could hardly keep up as Adam rapidly told him the awful news over the phone. Vince was shocked into silence at first; Adam’s fury was hotter and bloodier than he’d ever heard.
“If Dimitri Jordan and his Lieutenant aren’t dead by midnight then she’s going to kill my daughter!” Adam shouted. “I’m going to the Sumatra right now.”
“Adam, you’re no good to her if you’re dead. You can’t just run up and shoot this guy in the face, you need a plan!”
“Well I have to do something!”
Vince almost suggested that Adam call the police, then quickly swallowed the thought when he realized Adam’s name was probably sitting at the top of Las Vegas’s most wanted list by now.
“Shit,” Vince spat as he tried to think. After a few seconds an idea was forming in his head. “Wait… just a second.”
“She has my child!”
“I said just one sec, okay?” Vince reacted as he formulated a plan. Moments later, his voice returned on the other end of the line. “I think I have an idea. Adam, if we’re gonna get Lily back then we have to be sneaky, anything else is just gonna get you killed. How soon can meet me at Chad’s house?”
“Chad the steroid dealer? I don’t know maybe fifteen minutes, why?”
“Do you still have that little vial of poison? I’ll explain more when you get there, but I think I know how to take Jordan out without putting you in harm’s way.”
“My God...” Adam gasped as he put the pieces together.
“When I was buying my stuff yesterday I saw Dimitri Jordan’s girlfriend pay a butt-load of cash for his juice. She’s supposed to pick up the stuff tonight.”
“Do we have time to get to those steroids?”
“We have to try!”
Adam quickly replied that he agreed. “You’re a genius Vince – I’m on my way.”
45
D usk was throwing red and orange light over Chad’s house when Vince and Adam roared into his driveway. Adam shot out from the passenger seat and stormed to the door.
“Adam!” Vince called after him. He put his little Miata into park and hurried to catch up. “We’re about to ask for a major favor, maybe try to cool it for a sec.”
“Cool it?” Adam gawked. “That bitch is gonna kill Lily unless Jordan dies by midnight!”
“Neither of us is gonna let that happen,” Vince assured him. “How much money do you have?”
Adam tried to push past him, but Vince caught his arm. “I’m going to take the vial and the money and I’ll talk to Chad. You’re obviously too close to this. Wait outside and I’ll convince him to help us.”
“Vince…”
“I’m not asking, I’m tel
ling. Let me handle this, you’re too emotional right now.”
Adam gave up and handed over the money and the poison. “Try to be fast – we don’t have much time.”
Vince left him and hit the doorbell. Chad was wearing a pair of long gym shorts and a tight white tank top when he answered the door.
“Vince? What are you doing here?” he said. He was somewhere between surprised and annoyed to have an unannounced customer at his door.
“Sorry to roll up on you like this, but it’s an emergency,” Vince said quietly “Can we talk inside?”
Chad shook his head. “My biggest customer is coming by any minute; I don’t have time for –
Adam screamed at him from across the yard. “Then make time you son of a bitch! She has my kid!”
“Dammit, Adam, I told you to wait in the car!” Vince yelled. Adam fumed while Vince turned to face Chad again. “Look, that’s my best friend over there. Someone just kidnapped his daughter, I need to talk with you.”
Chad looked at the furious man pacing up and down by his driveway and then looked at Vince. “Kidnapped?” he asked. “How on Earth can I help with that?”
“Give me ten minutes.”
“Okay… ten minutes. But your friend stays outside, okay?”
“Not a problem,” Vince said. He told Adam to wait by the car while he and Chad disappeared behind the door.
Inside, Chad was livid. “What the hell man? You can’t just show up at my door without a heads up. Now I’ve got a hysterical stranger stomping around on my driveway. What’s the matter with you?”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Vince said. “Look, we don’t have a lot of time so I’m just gonna tell you how it is. Someone kidnapped Adam’s daughter and is threatening to kill her. Unless we find a way to poison Dimitri Jordan then Adam’s little girl is gonna die tonight.”
“You’re messing with me… this is a joke right?”
Vince shook his head. “We brought money with us… and some poison. I know it’s a lot to ask so I’m offering you almost twenty grand to help me save an innocent kid’s life.”
“Are you insane? I’m not gonna let you poison my stuff! Do you have any idea what would happen to me if word got out that someone died using my juice?”
“Dimitri Jordan is a gangster!” Vince pleaded. “He’s got all kinds of enemies; no one will ever know how he died. Please Chad, there’s a little girl’s life at stake here.”
Chad started pushing Vince toward the door. “I’m sorry about your friend’s kid, I really am. But you’re asking me to do something that’s gonna put my life at risk. At the very least it will put me out of business. I wish I could help but what you’re asking is just too much.” Chad reached for the door handle, “You should go now–
His words were cut short when Adam kicked in the door from the outside. Chad’s stout body flew back like a cannonball, shattering the mirror in his foyer before landing flat on his back. Adam blew right past Vince and jumped on Chad before he could react.
“You coward!” Adam screamed. “You’re just gonna let my daughter die?!”
“Adam please!” Vince pleaded.
“I heard what he said – this asshole is too worried about his own skin to help Lily!”
“Adam!” Vince shouted again, but he was ignored. Unarmed and unsure how his old friend might react to being pulled away from his prey, Vince inched away.
Chad tried to struggle to his feet but Adam whipped out the Bersa Thunder and pressed the gun against Chad’s skull. “Do you have kids?” he asked.
The steroid dealer just whimpered and shook his head.
“That’s what I thought… so let me explain something to you; I love that little girl with all my heart. I will do anything to protect her, anything. I’ve already killed for her and I’ll do it again without a thought, do you hear me? I don’t know you and I don’t give a flying-fuck about your little problems. You’re going to help me save my kid or I swear to God I’m gonna kill you.”
“Vince! Get this maniac off me!”
“Diplomacy’s failed, brother,” Vince said as he retreated away from them. “You’re on your own now.” He’d never seen Adam like this before; he wasn’t about to get in his way.
Adam cocked the gun. “You heard him; it’s just you and me, Chad. Now, are you going to help or am I about to add another name to my hit list?”
Chad gawked at him from the floor, mortified. With tears in his eyes he promised to help. “Just get off me, please!”
Adam huffed and stood with his gun still pointed at him. “Go get Dimitri Jordan’s steroids.”
Defeated, Chad slumped toward his living room where he kept Jordan’s order ready for pickup. The Emperor of Vegas always ordered the good stuff; it was hard to get and it was expensive. Jordan’s business alone financed about ninety percent of Chad’s livelihood, and here he was about to throw it away for some lunatic with a gun.
“Hurry up!” Adam shouted, making Chad jump as he rifled through his inventory.
“Just give me a second!” he shouted back. “The guy buys a lot of stuff.”
Chad looked back at Vince for help, but the muscular blonde seemed almost as wary of Adam as he was. Chad retrieved the bag of Jordan’s steroids from his living room and walked slowly toward Adam. He couldn’t just let someone torpedo ninety percent of his livelihood like this; he had to do something.
“Hand it over,” Adam commanded as he reached for the bag. Chad held up the bag just beyond arm’s length, which forced Adam to lean forward awkwardly. That’s when he made his move.
“Chad no!” Vince screamed, but it was too late. Chad dropped the bag and latched on to Adam’s wrist with one hand and then tried to snatch the gun with the other. True to his threat, Adam didn’t hesitate.
Vince squeezed his eyes shut when the blasts ripped through the house. When he opened them, Chad was lying dead on the ground.
“Adam! What the fuck man?!”
“He went for the gun! What else was I supposed to do?”
“You weren’t supposed to kill him! Jesus Christ this is murder!” Vince gaped at the bloodied corpse on the floor. “Chad was innocent, he didn’t deserve this!”
“Lily’s life is on the line and he refused to help,” Adam snapped defensively. “That makes him as guilty as anyone else in my book.”
“So you’re the judge, jury and executioner now?”
Adam flicked on the safety and tucked the Bersa into his waistband. “No… just the executioner; Chad made his choice.” He reached down to grab the dead man by the ankles. “Come on, help me hide the body; we have to make sure Jordan’s girlfriend doesn’t think anything is up.”
Vince was pale as a ghost. “This crosses some serious lines.”
Adam dropped Chad’s ankles with a thud and looked up at his childhood friend. “Will it help if I say I’m sorry?”
“No… not really.” Vince answered. “Dammit Adam… Look, I’m gonna help you through this, but you’d better do some soul-searching once we get out of Vegas. I don’t like this side of you.”
“Fine by me,” Adam said. He stooped down to pick up Chad’s ankles. “You helping or what?”
Vince reached down and grabbed Chad’s wrists without another word.
Together the friends hoisted the body down Chad’s hallway and into his garage. Vince refused to look as Adam found a tarp to wrap up the corpse. Whether he liked it or not, he’d already made the choice to tie his fate to Adam’s; it was too late to start backpedaling now.
“We’ll put him in your trunk and find a dumpster somewhere – one that’s a little full so we can conceal the body under the garbage, okay?”
“Okay,” Vince muttered. He hoped that the monster he was looking at wasn’t here to stay; that Lily’s kidnapping had unleashed it for only as long as she was in danger. A little voice in his head asked if Adam ought to be the one caring for Lily, considering recent events, but Vince shoved the thought from his mind.
It to
ok a little searching before they found a dumpster with enough debris to hide Chad’s body. Vince sulked in the car as Adam did the dirty work of covering up the corpse. On the way back to Chad’s house, Adam outlined his plan.
“You’ll have to stand in as the dealer, since you look the part,” he said, glancing at Vince’s bulging muscles. “I still have to take out one of Jordan’s Lieutenants.”
“This is a rampage,” Vince murmured, a little more harshly than he intended. Adam shot him an angry look.
“Are you with me or not? Call this what you want but I am doing all this for a child who depends on me for everything. If that’s wrong then fuck it – let me be wrong.”
“Alright, alright. I’m with you. It’s just… it’s hard to watch you like this.”
“Sorry you have to see it, but I’m not letting anyone stop me from getting her back.”
Vince only nodded. A voice in his head asked if the best thing for Lily was really to be reunited with Adam, considering all the killing he’d done in the past few days. At best she was going to have a father constantly on the run from the police. At worst… he didn’t want to think about the worst. He tried to ignore the little voice.
“Okay?” Adam asked.
“Okay.” Vince answered.
46
Sumatra Hotel, Dimitri Jordan’s Gym, 55th Floor, 6:35pm
W atson Lafayette could feel the ground beneath his feet trembling like an earthquake. When he walked through the double glass doors and into the massive two-story gym, he could hear the heavy clang of iron being hoisted up and dropped back down to the floor.
Up on the mezzanine, the Emperor of Vegas was doing reps of his favorite exercise; deadlifts. The three-hundred pound bodybuilder was swatting white clouds of chalk onto his hands and preparing to grasp the heavy bar for another set when Watson reached the second level.
“Mr. Jordan–
Jordan held up a powdered white finger to silence him.