by Tabatha Kiss
He swallows, his face blank and cold.
I look away from him only to see the other agents carrying Fox’s unconscious body outside. My chest twitches with a sob I try to hold back.
This… this was over. We had them but then…
My father led them in.
“Casey,” Marilyn starts toward the doors, “I’ll give the two of you a moment alone.”
“Thank you,” he says, bowing his head like an obedient dog.
The doors close, trapping the two of us in the chapel together. We stare at each other, father and daughter. A filthy lie.
“Caleb,” he says, “I—”
“Fuck you,” I spit.
His lips twitch. “I deserve that.”
“No…” I seethe, tugging at my cuffs until the metal digs into my skin. “You deserve far worse.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” he says. “You know as well as anyone how this organization works.”
I bite my trembling lip. “And this?” I gesture around. “Wasn’t this a choice?”
“Peanut—”
“Don’t you dare call me that.”
He exhales. “Caleb, I was recruited at a time when I didn’t have anything.”
“You had us!” I argue. “Me and Mom.”
“Your mother left me,” he says. “Told me the next time I got deployed to not come back at all. So, I didn’t.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Well… me, then!” I shout, my tears spilling over again. “You had me.”
He looks down as my voice echoes throughout the chapel.
“You could have told me,” I say. “You could have let me know—”
“It doesn’t work like that,” he says.
“What about Fox?” I ask. “He cared enough to get out. To fight them.”
“And look where that got him.”
“No thanks to you.”
He shakes his head. “Caleb, you’re never going to get the explanation you want here. You’re not going to hear about how tortured I felt or how I was forced into this because that didn’t happen. That man in your head doesn’t exist.”
“Yeah, that’s becoming pretty fucking clear now,” I say.
“They offered this life to me and I took it. Now, you need to start thinking ahead like I did,” he says. “Start worrying about your baby, Cal.”
A chill takes my spine.
He reaches behind him and withdraws a revolver from his belt. His revolver. My special occasion gun. But I gave it to—
Boxcar.
I grit my teeth. “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing,” he says.
“Where is he?”
“He’s alive — last I saw.”
I deflate, my chest twisting into knots.
“Think about him,” he says. “There’s only one way you’re gonna get out of this. Your friends — Fitzpatrick and the rest of them — they’re done. The two of you still have a chance.”
“No,” I say. “I told her already and I’m telling you now. The answer is no.”
“Caleb—”
“You’re a coward.” I step toward him. “You want me to feel sorry for you? To show empathy and understanding because you couldn’t handle your shit during a fucking break-up? Do you really think blaming her for all the pain you’ve caused gives you an out? Screw you.”
He rolls his shoulders back.
“I’m not like you,” I say. “I will never be like you. And I would rather die next to my friends than make the same choices you did.”
The double doors open and Marilyn steps inside again.
“We’re ready for her,” she says.
My father looks at me for a long moment before he takes a step behind me and places a hand on my back.
“Don’t touch me,” I say, stepping forward to get away from him.
Marilyn leads me through the house, escorted by two agents ahead and my father behind us. We walk out the front door and they stick me in the backseat of a car. Marilyn climbs in behind me and my father takes the front seat.
I catch him looking at me in the rearview mirror as we travel down the road along the beach. I try to ignore him but it’s difficult to turn away from the man I’ve so badly longed to see just one more time.
I turn my head down. This man isn’t my father.
My father is dead.
The car stops. I look out the window at the dormant Zappia casino.
Marilyn exits the car and waits for me to slide out. She leads me toward the front entrance, which appears to have been blown open with great force. I walk over the threshold slowly, avoiding the debris.
I look inside the casino and my heart lurches.
Fox, Dante, and a third man sit hunched over a card table in the center of the room, each with one arm secured to their chair behind their backs. Two agents stand behind the table with their backs against the wall, watching them closely.
And Gio hovers beside them, his face filled with impatient anger.
“Caleb—”
I hear my name, pained and muffled. My eyes drop to the line of people on their knees by the bar, their hands bound and mouths gagged. Dani and Lucy kneel in dirty, white dresses. Lilah lies unconscious on the floor next to them and a fourth woman with big, brown eyes brimming with tears and blood on her forehead.
Marilyn turns to my father. “Put her with the others,” she tells him. “Make sure her cuffs are nice and tight.”
He grabs my arm and pulls me forward. As we walk toward the bar, another unconscious body comes into view on the floor.
Boxcar.
I jerk out of my father’s grasp and rush toward Boxcar, dropping to my knees beside him.
“Box?” I ask, cupping his face. “Boxcar, wake up—”
An agent steps forward a little too eager but my father raises a hand and they step back into their place. He bends down and grabs my hands, purposefully tugging my wrists and forcing me to turn forward. He adjusts the cuffs, clicking them even tighter around my wrists as he stares into my eyes. I refuse to look away or even blink. I’m not going to show an ounce of weakness to this fucking coward.
His hands slip from mine but he leaves something behind in my palm. He walks away and I make a fist, covertly running my fingertip along the metal object hidden inside. It’s tiny and triangular. A sharp point sticking off one side…
I look up as he walks over to the card table and lays the revolver down in front of Marilyn.
She grins as she settles into her chair at the head of the table.
“Now, wake them up,” she says.
Sixty-Two
Fox
I jerk awake, roused by a sudden burn in my nostrils. I try to move my arms but one stays latched behind me in the chair. A firm hand slams down on my shoulder, a silent warning to remain still.
I raise my head to look around, spotting Dante in the chair on my right and Luka in the one across from me, his broken nose dripping with dark blood.
A Model 60 revolver sits in front of us. I’d recognize it anywhere. Caleb’s good luck charm.
Marilyn Black smiles from the dealer’s spot to my left. “Good evening, gentlemen,” she says. “It’s been… an interesting night, hasn’t it?”
We don’t answer. I glance between Dante and Luka, trying to silently gage exactly how fucked we are.
Two agents stand behind Marilyn, their fingers curled around the triggers of their rifles. Gio stands beside them, practically bouncing on his toes as he smirks with delight.
And Casey Fawn. Caleb’s father leans against the wall, his face void of expression. He must have alerted the Boss that we were coming. He wasn’t really running for the hills like he said he was. Lied to Boxcar and Lilah right through his teeth.
A soft whimper echoes from across the room, making my heart twitch in my chest.
I look toward the bar, instantly locking eyes with Dani’s as tears fall down her cheeks. Two more agents stan
d behind the girls by the bar. Caleb sits on her knees with Boxcar’s head resting in her lap. Lilah’s as unconscious as he is, so we can’t count on her right now—
“I’ve waited a long time for this moment,” Marilyn says.
I turn back to the table to find her staring at me, amused at the gears working in my head to get us out of this. But there is no way out of this and she knows it.
“I’ve thought long and hard about what I wanted to do with you.” Her eyes scan the table. “All of you…”
She picks up the revolver and opens the cylinder, pouring the six loaded bullets out into her palm. Dani’s diamond ring shimmers on her finger and my eye twitches with rage.
“You’re going to play a game,” she says.
Marilyn slides two bullets back in and violently spins the cylinder before snapping it closed.
“I think a little Russian roulette would be appropriate, given the circumstances,” she says.
A rock settles in my gut as Marilyn slides the gun toward me.
“You first.”
Dani weeps, wrecked by an uncontrollable sob.
I look at her, my heart breaking. I don’t want her to see this.
“Dani, close your eyes,” I say.
“No, Dani…” Marilyn grins. “Keep your eyes peeled.” She leans in toward me. “I want her to watch as I finally kill you.”
I exhale the air from my lungs, feeling them burn.
Dante and Luka stare at me, their heads nodding with respect, just in case this is goodbye for us.
It’s been a hell of a ride.
I reach for the gun with my free hand and Marilyn slams her hand down on mine.
“No cheating,” she says. “Point that thing at me and I’ll blow your lover’s brains out.” She smiles at Luka and Dante. “Same goes for the two of you, of course.”
She leans back, sliding her hand away. I grip the revolver and the agents behind her shift to point their rifles at me.
I raise the gun and point it at the side of my head.
I love you, Dani.
I pull the trigger and the gun clicks, prompting several gasps by the bar. I hear Dani sobbing again. I look over as she collapses against Lucy’s comforting shoulder.
Marilyn sighs with disappointment as I lay the gun back down on the table.
“It’s your turn, Mr. Lutrova.” She pushes the gun toward him across the table. “The killer of snakes,” she adds mockingly.
Luka glares at her. I look over his shoulder at Sofia on the floor. She sits with her head bowed in prayer but her entire body shakes with silent tremors.
“Ci rincontreremo, Sofia,” he says.
Marilyn smirks.
Luka grabs the revolver and rests the barrel against his temple. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, hesitating with shaking hands.
“Do it, Lutrova,” Gio sneers from the wall.
Luka opens his eyes and stares Gio down as he pulls the trigger.
The cylinder turns and clicks again, firing nothing. Gio lets out an angry grunt as Luka drops the gun back down and pushes it toward Marilyn.
“Dante,” she says, sliding it toward him. “Now, you.”
Dante does as I did, taking one last glance at his girl. Lucy’s lip trembles with rage but she purses them, forming a final kiss meant only for him. His eyes linger a little longer on Lilah before he turns back to the table.
He picks up the gun and brings it to his head, pulling the trigger quickly to get it over with.
It clicks again and the girls let out another tortured sound.
Marilyn chews on her lip as Dante defiantly sets the gun back down in front of her but her face lightens as she slowly slides the gun in my direction again.
I bite down hard. Six chambers. Two bullets. Three misses.
Marilyn chuckles and rolls her eyes. “Go on, Fox.”
I put the gun to my head a second time and my life flashes before my eyes. Dani at that Christmas party in that silly scarf my mother gave her. Her walking down the hallways at school. Practicing monologues in her room. That first, secret kiss.
My lips tingle as I pull the trigger.
Click.
I open my eyes, looking to Luka and Dante. Only two chambers left. Two bullets remaining.
I slowly set the gun back down.
Marilyn clenches her jaw in disappointment as she glares at me before her eyes shift toward Luka. She folds her hands over the gun and tilts her head.
“Tell me, Luka,” she says. “Does your family still punish those who spill Lutrova blood?”
Luka exhales, his eyes on the table. “Yes,” he answers.
She smiles with respect. “I knew your grandfather. Once upon a time. Viktor.”
He looks up at her and blinks.
“I always admired his dedication to his family. His bloodline,” she says, her eyes softening. “There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect it.
“When I first met him, I was just a child. He was a business friend of my father, Marlow. He’d come over, few times a week. They’d go into his study for hours on end. I’d greet him at the door in the morning, I’d bid him farewell at dusk. Soon after, my brother and I were sent to boarding school and there we stayed for the next several years until...”
Marilyn pauses, smiling at the memory.
“I came home a blushing girl of eighteen,” she says. “One day, I answered the door and Viktor, who’d always looked upon me as nothing but a simple child, suddenly looked at me as a woman.”
Luka turns his head, piqued with interest. I discreetly glance toward the bar, finding Sofia’s grief-stricken face turned up. I look to the others as well. Dani and Lucy lean against each other. Caleb with Boxcar, still knocked out in her lap.
And Lilah on the floor with one eye open.
“It began as these things often do,” Marilyn says. “A lingering glance here. An absent-minded brush of the hand there.” Her smile fades. “Until one night, I answered the door. I was alone in the house. My father and brother were away on business. I thought Viktor had gone with them but there he was, rain pouring down his face. I told him he shouldn’t have been there. My father would kill him. He said he knew that, but... he didn’t care.”
Marilyn raises her head and exhales as she looks at Luka again.
“When my body began to change, my father demanded to know who did it to me,” she says. “I refused to tell him but Viktor wanted to come clean. He said there’s nothing a man like Marlow could do. He would protect me. And his child.”
I look at Luka across the table as his brow furrows.
“It didn’t matter, in the end,” Marilyn says. “The night I gave birth, the midwife swaddled my son and walked out of the room with him before I even got the chance to hold him.” She smiles at Luka. “It was the eyes, you see. Those deep, icy blue-gray eyes. Just like yours, Luka. My father took one look at the child and he knew...” She takes an aching breath. “Viktor was dead the next morning. Two bullets through his eyes. And my father... he told me he drowned my boy, too.”
Luka flexes his jaw.
“I ran,” she continues. “What else could I do? My father killed my lover. He killed my child. Where would he stop?” She shakes her head. “I ran... but I didn’t go far. I waited. I watched. I’d heard... that my brother and his new wife had a child of their own. A beautiful boy with dark hair and icy blue eyes.” Her lashes glisten with unfallen tears. “They thought they could take my child from me. You know how that feels, don’t you, Luka?”
He looks down.
Marilyn nods. “I came back home. I walked right in the front door. I climbed the stairs... and I slit my brother’s throat in his sleep. I stabbed his young wife in the heart. And my father...” She smiles. “I took my time. He begged me for his life. He offered me everything he had. I laughed. I laughed until I could no longer breathe.
“Afterward, I followed the sound of my baby crying to his crib. He had gotten so big...” A tear falls down her cheek. “I
picked him up and he went quiet. He looked at me, my baby boy, and he knew who I was. I told him no one would hurt us ever again.
“I turned to leave... and I saw a man standing at the front door. Spencer, he said his name was. He worked with my father. He saw what I had done and he admired it. That’s when he told me of what I’d just inherited.” Her smile returns as she touches the snake pendant around her neck. “I died that day… but I became so much more. I raised my son to follow in my footsteps. He was the best agent a mother could have asked for, but then...”
She looks at me and squints.
“You happened.”
I shrug a shoulder.
Marilyn sneers at me with contempt. “My son adored you.”
“He wasn’t my type,” I joke.
“And you killed him.” She turns toward Luka again. “Mercer, my baby boy. He was a Lutrova. Fox Fitzpatrick has spilled Lutrova blood.”
I look at Luka to find him glaring at me across the table. “Luka, she’s lying,” I say.
“Which part?” she asks. “The story of his grandfather’s demise or how you murdered his uncle for your own selfish pleasures?”
I lean forward as Luka’s expression goes dark. “Don’t listen to her, Luka,” I say. “She kidnapped some random baby from a crib and called it hers. She’s insane.”
“I can prove it, of course,” she says. “Though, I do think I won’t need to. The Lutrovas are extraordinary lie detectors. Tell us, Luka. Am I lying?”
“No,” he answers, defeat in his eyes. “She’s not.”
I exhale hard. “Luka— ”
Marilyn slides the gun toward Luka. “The next bullet is yours,” she says. “But if you kill Fox Fitzpatrick now… I’ll let you and your wife go free.”
Gio pushes off the wall. “Wait—”
Casey shoves him back into his place with one hand.
“Marilyn,” Gio seethes.
“Sit down, Giovani,” she says, her eyes still on Luka. “The adults are talking.”
Luka stares at the gun, his face heavy and cold.
“Luka,” I say.
He looks up at me with a flash of anger in his eyes. Before I can say anything else, he grabs the revolver off the table and points it at me. His finger slowly grips the trigger as he ignores Sofia’s muffled voice.