by Amber Lacie
The kid held his hands up in front of him, almost as if he were going to beg. “Please, you gotta believe me. All I know is it that it makes you go numb faster. It’s cheap. He’s got a hook-up in town, but that’s all I know. Honest.”
“So let me get this straight––instead of running what he’s supposed to, he’s cutting it with something he’s having brought in and then sending it out with the bikers?”
“I guess. I don’t know, man. I told you everything I know.” His eyes quickly dropped to the floor. He isn’t being completely honest. I’ll deal with that later. If Saint was really raking a second profit, I wanted in on it. Not for the cash, but for the game.
“All right. If that’s all you know, that’s all you know. Now, come with me. You’re going to tell Saint everything you just told me.”
“What? No! You said you wouldn’t kill me.”
“That I did, but I can only speak for myself. Now get up and start walking, we’ve got things to do.”
I followed him out of my room, toward the door Saint pointed out as his. As we stepped inside, I took notice of the blank walls and stark floors. It was completely empty. Making our way to the other side of the room, we walked through another door in the left corner of the room into another room. Immediately, a large fireplace caught my attention. Two oversized red leather armchairs sat facing one another. Everything about this room was dramatic––from the placement of the chairs, to the massive canvas paintings hanging on the walls, to the oversized cherry desk in the corner. Who the fuck does he think he is? God?
A small television with a split screens was turned on, displaying a view of the house. At least he has surveillance, I thought to myself. Peering at the screen, I could see that one camera was blacked out. Though, based on the different contours of the black screen, I could tell that it wasn’t broken. Someone had tried to cover it, hiding something from my view, and I didn’t like it. As I glanced around the opulent room, I found the only thing missing was Saint.
“Where is he?” I asked in irritation.
“Sorry. He said when you woke up to bring you in here, but then you started asking all these questions and I don’t know what happened. Maybe he changed his mind?”
“For your sake, I hope not. It’s not your blood I want spilled.”
“Oh? And whose blood are you looking for?” Saint’s voice rippled around the room.
Turning, I found him standing in the doorway we had just walked through. “Your hearing must be impeccable. I speak your name and here you are.”
“Should we sit?” Saint walked over to the one of the red chairs, motioning me to join him.
“You can, but I choose to stand.” His jaw tightened at my response and I took what little joy I could from it. He needed to understand I was on top. “Looks as though you have a problem, Saint. Either you have no control over the men here, and they’re easily swayed, or you’ve fed this kid a story to tell me. Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out?” The kid looked at me, eyes wide as he took a step away from me. Wise decision. “No one turns that quickly, and if they do, you should never have had them around in the first place.
“I see, and what has Kyle told you,” Saint asked, feigning ignorance.
“You’re not running all the assets off the water. I know you’re cutting it and bringing down the quality. What I want to know is, how much are you skimming?”
“And that’s where you’re wrong. I only told him what I wanted him to know.”
“Enlighten me.”
“That’s a discussion we should sit for, don’t you agree?”
“No, I don’t. I want in.” Saint took a startling breath as he looked up at me. I just threw a rift into his plans. “And I don’t give a fuck how you’re doing it. Fuck Roscoe. Fuck Ox. I’m in or I’ll send you upstream with your head in a separate box from your body.”
He sat, still contemplating my words. My poised exterior was far from what I was feeling inside. This is rushed. It’ll never work. Somehow, I’ve missed something, and it’s going to blow up in my face. I had put my faith in the kid and therein laid my mistake. I could feel it.
“And the blood you want?”
“It’s not yours and is of no concern to you. I want half of what you’re raking.”
Saint jumped to his feet with a shout. “Have you lost your fucking mind? I don’t give a fuck who you are, I run this house.” He stepped towards me with a threat in his stance.
The pulse in my veins sped. As desperate as I was to reach for my gun, I steadied my hand. I needed to control him with fear of my words and fear of me, not of bullets. “Tell me, Saint, where’s your other man? The one in the blue flannel? Did you even notice he was missing?”
He stared back at me, a questioning look forming in his brow. “Hallock? He’s running errands for me. What do you know of him?”
“It doesn’t matter what his name was, your man is gone. And he won’t be back. Is that how this is going to work––me, eliminating men one-by-one? How will you rake in payments then?”
“You can’t just walk in here like you own this place, damn it. It’s mine.” His voice roared through the room at the same time I noticed the split screens on the desk change scenery. Every view changed, except one. What are you hiding?
“That’s where you fucked up in your thinking. I own this place, and now I fucking own you. Your man was released before I even stepped into this room. It’s done. And due to your ignorance, I just upped the numbers––sixty percent, or your life. Choose wisely.” My fists clenched at my sides.
“What? We were just at half.”
“Saint. Decide.” My voice was laced with the promise of my words.
He paced the floor in front of me. “You leave me with no choice…it’s either you or your father. No matter what I do, an Oxley runs the show.”
“Now you’re getting it. Better me than him. One call from me and you’d be dead before you could even blink. He’d end your life from thousands of miles away. You’re nothing to him, nor will you ever be. With me, at least you have a chance. Those who do right by me are rewarded.”
“And what reward should I expect?”
“Simple. I let you live. Now, there’s a man here by the name of Brendan. Though, from what I’m told, he goes by Bull now. He belongs to me,” I said, my voice threatening. “He owes a very serious debt, and I’ve come to collect.”
“First my money, and now my men?”
“Not men, man. Just him. Consider him the down payment to a promising future. You have one hour to have him in my room. No tricks. No weapons. Just him.”
From the corner of my eye, I watched as the dark screen flickered for a minute, revealing a dimly lit room before quickly being covered once again. I wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for Saint. His eyes quickly caught the movement, drawing my attention to it. I made a mental note to deal with that later. For now, Brendan was on the menu, and I was going to enjoy every bit of his pain.
It was almost an hour later before Jim returned with dirt under his nails. What he had done with the man, I wasn’t sure, but the way the corner of his mouth curled into a crooked grin let me know it was better that way. One less death for me to worry about. Jim had always had a knack for making people disappear, so he kept things sorted. Me, on the other hand, I didn’t care how it was done, as long as it was handled.
The kid was standing outside the front door as I greeted Jim with a beer. “It’s been a while since you made someone bleed. Tell me, how do you feel?”
“You know me.”
Nodding my head in agreement, I followed him inside. “That I do. I’m collecting a debt tonight, but something is not right. Come with me.” Leading him down the hallway towards my room, I stopped for a brief second in front of the door at the very end. I was on the edge of something, I just didn’t know what. My hand rested on the knob of the door to the room I was staying in for a moment. “This was too easy, Jim. I don’t trust any of it. Saint has surveillance in his room, and one of the
screens is blocked. Do you know why?”
“What do you mean blocked?”
“It’s fucking blacked out. I’m pretty sure it’s the same reason that door is locked,” I said, motioning to the door at the end of the hallway. “Tell me now––what is he hiding?”
Jim shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, boss. Want me to find out?”
“Yeah, you do that.” I slowly turned the knob and stepped into my room. Inside, Brendan was waiting for me. Seeing him tied to wooden chair, which was chained to the frame of the metal bed, brought a smile to my face. The fresh cut above his eye and across his nose showed his defiance. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight. I licked my lips with anticipation. Never in my life had I wanted to fillet someone’s skin, leaving them with only their screams to comfort them, but that’s exactly what I had in mind at that moment. The knife I had collected earlier was resting in my pocket, just waiting to dig into his skin.
Night had fallen across the house. I felt powerful. Taking in a deep a breath, I stepped towards him. The clink of his cuffs against the metal rang beautifully my ears. “Hello, Brendan.”
“I have no regrets for what I’ve done. It’s not me you want.”
“Ssh,” I whispered. “Nothing you say will prevent this.” I took another step. Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the house, distracting me from my task. What the fuck was that? Brendan grinned at the falter in my step. Another scream, followed by another. I couldn’t concentrate. Whatever it was, it needed to be ended.
“You hear that?” Brendan asked with a knowing smile. “You’d like our toy. Tell me, have you been downstairs to meet her yet?”
My eyes followed his gaze to the door behind me as another scream ripped through the house. Irritated, I took a step back. Yelling out into the hallway behind me, I shouted, “Jim, shut whatever the fuck that is up.” Silence. Beautiful silence. I refocused on Brendan, still anchored to the chair and metal frame in front of me. “Now, where were we?”
He laughed as another scream was heard. Only this time it was fainter, almost strained. “Looks like you’re going downstairs, Benny. Go, enjoy yourself.”
I was torn between ending the screams and ending him. I had waited years for him, and I wanted to enjoy his pain. Sadly, that wasn’t going to happen as long as the screaming continued. Approaching his chair carefully, I inspected the cuffs, making sure they were they were secure.
“I’m all locked up, Benny. They made sure of that.”
“I bet they did.” A glimmer of joy ran through my body as my fist ricocheted across his jaw. His tongue jetted out, lightly pressing against the fresh cut in his lip. My eyes darkened as another blow landed squarely on his jaw. Blood sprinkled my knuckles, but I was relentless. As his body drooped forward in the chair, I gripped his hair, yanking his head up. I watched as his eyes rolled back in his head when I laid one last blow to his face.
The locked door, the secrets they so easily spilled, the screaming––it was all a set up. It had to be. The realization that I had been set up pissed me off to no end. Knocking him unconscious while he was restrained made me feel better about the choice I was about to make. I wasn’t going to end his life, at least not right then. First, I needed to find out what the screaming was and deal with it.
Quickly pulling my gun from the band of my jeans, I held it firmly in my hands and stepped back into the hallway. The house was silent. Too silent. The door to the basement remained locked, but it was no longer a deterrent. Three solid kicks against the door had it breaking free of its hold, revealing a narrow staircase.
I cautiously took one step at time, checking both in front of me and behind me. As my foot hit the cement of the bottom of the step, I found Jim standing in front of me. The door was locked. Why would Jim lock me out? His face was worn with concern and I could see there was a warning in his eyes. My mind swirled with confusion as I looked at a small table behind him, tucked squarely into the corner. The chair was pushed back and turned slightly, as though someone had just been sitting in it. On the table sat a laptop with a video playing on it. I stepped towards it, but Jim quickly countered my moves.
“What the fuck is that?” I shouted.
“Calm down. You need to wait a minute.”
“Fuck you.” Stepping around him, he grabbed my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. “God damn it, Jim, if you want to live, I suggest you fucking let go.” The tone of my voice left no room for argument. Immediately, his hand dropped to his side as my eyes focused on the laptop.
As I watched the video, I could clearly see someone curled up underneath a dirty sheet, lying on top of a ripped mattress. A metal tray was thrown to the floor, with what appeared to be food scattered everywhere. Just then, a familiar man stepped into the room and pulled the sheet down, revealing a girl. I watched as his hand brushed against her face, tucking her hair behind her ears before trailing it down her stomach, stopping between her thighs. She turned away from him in disgust. He must have said something because her head quickly snapped back towards him. I watched as the man turned to the camera and smiled before it went black. Brendan. He knew I’d come down here. That’s why he taunted me.
Just as I was about to ask Jim what was going on in the video, it began to play again. That’s when I realized there was a counter in the corner of the screen. It never stopped playing. Someone had intentionally blacked out the camera. Fucking Saint. The video is the one blacked out on his television upstairs. He had to have control of it somehow. My jaw tightened as the gun in my hands felt heavier by the second. My mind was working too slowly for me to process what was happening. There were so many pieces, and nothing was fitting together.
The dryness in my mouth captured my tongue. Swallowing, I took a deep breath, locking my gaze on the screen. I watched as Jim walked into the room and proceeded to sit on the bed beside her. She didn’t even flinch when he moved to touch her. She knows him.
“You fucking knew? You knew they had some bitch locked up down here and you didn’t say a fucking thing to me? A warning would’ve been nice. Fuck! Fuck!” The loud thunder of my voice shook my chest. I should’ve scoped the place out better. The mess I’d found myself in, surrounded me. I was sinking with no life-raft to save me.
“Ben, calm down, man. You weren’t ready.”
“For fucking what, Jim? Tell me what I wasn’t fucking ready for?” Fuck this. I wasn’t getting caught up in whatever bullshit this was. I needed to end it. Three people were responsible for me being here. One was standing beside me, pale as a fucking ghost. I will deal with him later, I mentally told myself. The other two were upstairs. I was done waiting. Pushing Jim out of my way, I took the stairs two at a time.
Someone had set me up. I should never have come here. Quickly turning the corner at the top of the stairs, I kicked in the door where I had left Brendan. An empty wooden chair and broken cuffs were lying on the floor. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Everything I had wanted, everything I had worked for, was once again taken from me.
From across the hall, I heard the laughter of a male voice. Silently, I crept toward Saint’s room, slowly stepping inside. Upon entering, I found Saint laughing with his back to me, as he sat in a red chair, facing the fireplace. I didn’t think. I just reacted. With a quick flip of my thumb, I flicked the safety off my gun and aimed it at the back of his head. The pop that followed wasn’t as satisfying as I thought it would be. Maybe that was because my ears were still ringing from the sound, or maybe it was because the sound would be heard well beyond the thin walls of the house. Everything was going to shit, and we needed to get the fuck out of dodge.
Running back into the hallway, I made my way back down the stairs to find Jim. The desk against the wall was now empty. No laptop in sight. All I could hear was his soft voice. “He’s coming.”
Damn right, I am, I thought, staring down at the gun in my hands.
Behind the door was a girl, tortured by men. God knows what they had done to her. Her only salvation was
Jim’s presence. I’m not a hero. I don’t rescue damsels in distress. Everything I touch shatters but, in that moment,, I needed in there.
Pressing the palm of my left hand against the bridge of my nose, I took a deep breath. I needed a plan. Where am I going to take her? I can’t go to the FBI with her. Not until I have a chance to see what she knows. If they get their hands on her, they’ll never let me talk to her.
It was at that moment, my brain clicked, and a plan snapped in place. She’s mine now. The agents will never know she even existed. I’ll make sure Jim takes care of it all. He’ll stay behind, while I take her back to Chicago with me.
My knuckles turned white as I gripped the knob to the thin, hollow brown door.
The horrendous smell burnt the inside of my nostrils as I stepped into the cold, dank room. A skinny mess of matted hair sat beside Jim, looking up at me. She looked so tiny, so frail. Taking another step, I watched as she shrank into his side. Does she think I’m here to hurt her? My gaze met Jim’s. I was hoping there would be some hint on what to say or do, but his eyes were glassed over with pain. The sudden realization of why he hadn’t told me about her, hit me like a freight train. He was protecting her.
“Don’t be scared. He’s the one I told you about,” Jim whispered softly. “Remember? I said he’d come for you.” I had only heard Jim speak that way to one other person. My heart sank a little further in my chest as I thought back to Arlo and what I had done to her. Had I not taken the blame for my father, it could’ve been her sitting across from me on that bed. My father was relentless, he would have destroyed me no matter what choice I made. I may have hurt her by leaving the way I did, but at least I saved her from this, I tried to convince myself.
“Jesus, Jim, can’t you see she’s broken.”
“No, she is not. Not yet, at least.” Big hazel eyes stared back at me. The girl straightened her shoulders as her eyes raked over my form, stopping on the gun still in my hand. She swallowed, but she didn’t back down. Instead, she slowly lowered her bare feet to the dirty cement floor and stood, facing me. There was still quite a distance between us, but it felt as if I were to reach out, I would be able to grasp her. “Do you like what you see?” She spun around, waving her hand in front of her thin frame. “I’m only given to those they deem worthy. The big guy says I need to trust you,” she said, motioning toward Jim. “So, either you’re here to have your way with me or to hurt me. Whatever it is just get it over with and kill me when you’re done. At least then I’ll be broken for good.”