by Amber Lacie
“I don’t know. A lot can happen in thirty seconds.”
“Wait until I get inside. Thirty seconds. No less.” I wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Leaves crunched under my boots as I slowly stepped out of the car. They would expect me to come armed. Truth is, I knew my father wanted a fight, but I wasn’t going to give it to him. Jim whispered my name harshly as I walked away from the car, leaving the duffle bag I had thrown in the backseat. I wasn’t going to fight. I was going to surrender.
As I stepped out of the trees onto the grass, I was greeted by two armed men, fully dressed in black from head to toe with earpieces for communication. One of them sneered as I stepped closer, the other grinned. I bet he was the one who spotted us. He was probably so proud of himself, hoping to be rewarded. Little did he know, my father was never one to stay true to his word. Whatever deal people think they made with him, they never hold to their foundation. Instead, they crumble as soon as he turns his back. Tate is only out for one person––himself.
“Don’t come any closer. We need to check you for weapons.”
“Be my guest.” They wouldn’t find any. The blades I kept in my boots were lying in the back of the car, still in the bag. Holding my hands out for them, the one with the sneer ran his hands up and down my legs, arms, and torso.
Lifting my shirt, he explained, “Just checking for wires.” Sniffing his nose twice, I watched as he wiped at it quickly. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. It wouldn’t be my father if he weren’t paying his men with blow.
“As you can see, I’m clean. We should get a move on, boys. My father isn’t one to be patient.”
“You got that right.” The man with the grin rammed the butt of his gun into my stomach causing me fold over, gasping for my breath. My fingers spread out in the grass as I dropped to my knees. A moment later, a boot was firmly pressing me into the ground. Dirt kissed my eyelashes as I lay there blinking, waiting for them to get it over with.
“Get up,” one of them shouted behind me.
“Why? So, you can knock me down again? Maybe this time you’ll hit me in my face.”
“Get up.” A kick registered in my side.
A gasp of air rushed from my lungs as I rolled onto my back. “Fuck.”
“Are you going to get up, or are we dragging you in?”
I began to push myself up from the dirt when the butt of a gun landed against the side of my jaw, splitting my lip and cutting the inside of my cheek.
“Knox. That’s enough. Orders were to rough him up. Not kill him.”
Knox. Well, at least one of them has a name.
“Fuck you. He’s fine.” Nudging my thigh with his foot, he spat, “Go on, get up.” The taste of blood lingered on my tongue. Spitting out what I could, I wiped my mouth as I stood. “See? He’s fine. The fucker can stand, which means he’ll be able to walk.”
“Guess we’ll find out. Bring him in. Wipe that shit-eating grin off your face, Knox. This ain’t a game.”
“Fuck you, Margoles.”
Margoles. It looks as though I am just collecting names on my way in. I wonder whom else I’ll get to meet.
“Not so mouthy now, are ya’? Start walking.” Knox pressed the tip of his gun into the side of my shoulder, forcing me to take a step forward. I stumbled for a few steps before gaining my balance. As we approached the house, I got a better visual on where his men were. There were two groups of men on each of the two balconies; one group on the third story and one on the second. The driveway was empty. Tate most likely had his cars parked in his oversized garage. It was a building all of its own, a total waste of money in my mind.
The large French doors in the front of the house were guarded by a man on one side and a woman on the other. Seeing her caught me off guard. Apparently, Tate was becoming progressive in his old age. Interesting. The only time I had ever seen a woman in his presence was my mother or the whores he had lingering around. I wonder what she had to do to become a guard. Whatever it was, I know it wasn’t pleasant.
As we stepped inside, I thought I would have at least a little bit of familiarity or attachment to the house I grew up in. There was none. The house felt cold to me. Even the rounded end of the staircase where I used to race my toys cars seemed strange to me. I wasn’t the same man I was the last time I was there, I had grown into someone completely different. The last time I held Piper in my arms flooded into my mind. She told me I wasn’t a monster. She was right. These people were the monsters––I was something better.
Margoles led me up the stairs, with Knox following close behind. As we rounded the top, my eyes searched for any clue that she was there. I knew that if she were, it would most likely be on the bottom two floors. The third floor was my father’s private study and master bedroom. As we climbed the next set of stairs, I knew I was headed straight towards him. I tried to conjure up some words in an attempt to give a speech, proclaiming my love for her, that would sway him, but I knew the real him. Anything I said would only egg him on further.
When we arrived at the top of the stairs, the doors to his office were closed with one man on the outside. He spoke softly into his shirt collar before finally opening the door and waving us in. As we stepped into the room, I spotted at my father sitting comfortably at his desk. I stared at him with a loathing scowl plastered upon my face. I was going to kill him for everything he had done.
“You don’t look pleased to see me, son. Please, have a seat.”
Knox pushed me forward as Margoles stepped to the side. When I refused to sit Knox kicked the back of my knees, sending me to the floor.
“Actually, I think I like you better there. Now you look like the dog you are.”
“I’m not a dog. Now the two idiots you had bring me up here, Knox and Margoles, they are fucking dogs, fighting over scraps from you and licking their wounds. But you wouldn’t have it any other way, would you?”
Tate’s eyes narrowed at the mention of his men’s names. “Being that you’re the one on all fours, you don’t have much room to talk. A son is supposed to respect their father, which you have never shown me. First, that whore you decided to breed with, and now with a piece of my property. Do you know what happens to those who steal from me?”
Piper. She was never his property. He was trying to get me to bite back. I knew if I did, he would end her life, so I remained silent and knelt, leaning back onto my legs. My hands were lying on my thighs with my palms facing the ceiling. I was broken. He had won. I had surrendered in hopes it would buy her freedom.
“Pathetic. There’s no fight left in you. It appears I chose the wrong son to raise. If only your brother would have been born first, we could’ve avoided all your fuck ups. Instead, I got stuck with you and your whore of a mother. The only person in this family I ever cared for was your sister. But she was stolen from me. I blame you. If you would’ve done as you were told, taken your place at my side like you were supposed to, she would have never been there.”
A look of confusion spread across my face as I tried to understand what he was saying. Was he responsible for Brooke’s death? I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. “You’re not making any sense.”
“That’s right, you were biding your time behind bars. You wouldn’t know the details, would you? My beautiful daughter, the sister you abandoned when you decided to be reckless with your dick, was making a deal for me when some punk decided to intervene. She fought back and he killed her.”
It didn’t make sense. Jim had told me she had overdosed while I was in prison. Why would he lie? “No, she overdosed.”
His lips curled into an evil grin. “What’s the matter, Benjamin? Did Jim misinform you? I can see the confusion in your eyes. Don’t waste your time trying to figure it out.”
“Jim wouldn’t lie to me.”
“Now, that is true. It’s also why I told him what I wanted you to believe. If you would have found out, you would have gone after her killer. I couldn’t have you messing up my plans. No
ne of that matters now––I’ll end you and your brother will replace you. Would you like to meet him? You can see him here. Although, it looks like he has a friend with him.” Turning to the side, he flipped on a screen hanging up behind him on the wall. A black rage ignited within me when I saw Brendan standing in a room next to Piper, who was lying on a bed. She was still in my t-shirt. Only, instead of looking beautiful like she did the last time I saw her, she looked mangled. It was like she had been tossed into a den of wild wolves. Her shirt was torn, marks covered her face, and splotches of red adorned her shirt, along with the sheets she was laying on.
“Let. Her. Go.” My voice bit back with a fierceness I didn’t know I still had.
“Or what?”
“I’ll fucking kill you!” I sprung up from the floor, lunging for him. He laughed as Knox grabbed me, twisting my arm behind my back, pinning my torso to the desk.
“Looks like you’ve got a spark left in you after all.”
I gritted my teeth as Knox pressed me harder into the desk, his hand pressing against my skull, smashing my face into the wood. Pain radiated from my already injured jaw, but it did nothing to dull the anger inside me. “He is not my brother. Let. Her. Go.” Tate walked around his desk, narrowing his eyes at me. “Oh, but he is. His mother was only good for one thing––she gave me a son. She was a lousy fucking lay and too clingy for my liking. However, Brendan, he’s everything I wanted in a son. He even killed his own mother for me. He slipped into her room in the middle of the night and slit her throat, all because I asked him to. Not demanded, asked—” A knock on the door behind me interrupted him. “What the fuck? See who that is.”
I could hear the door open and a soft-spoken disagreement was soon followed by footsteps. “What the fuck is this?” my father’s voice squeaked with confusion. Whatever or whomever had entered the room had thrown him completely off guard.
“We have a problem.” The man’s voice was so familiar. I closed my eyes trying to envision whom it belonged to.
“Whatever it is, deal with it. I’m busy.”
“Yes, I see that. You’re wasting your fucking time, though. He tipped them off. Whatever you need to do, do it now. I won’t go down because of you.” A pair of black shoes stepped closer to the desk just inside my line of vision.
“I run this operation. Not you,” my father spat.
“And that, old man, is where you are wrong. Everything I have done was for the sole purpose of taking your throne. The little piss-ants you have tucked in your back pocket are nothing compared to the connections I have within the bureau.”
Beckett. The pieces were suddenly coming together. Brendan wasn’t linked to Beckett. He was linked to my father. And my father was the only thing that tied them all together.
“Margoles.” Tate’s voice was loud as he called out his man’s name. It didn’t play in his favor. Three things happened all at once, sending the room into complete chaos. First, Margoles turned to aim his gun at Beckett. At the same time, Knox released his hold on me, only to send a round of bullets spraying towards Margoles. I was the third. With Margoles and Knox both firing weapons, I was able to pull myself across the desk, landing on the floor where I rolled underneath the desk. I blindly reached with my hands, feeling for the gun my father had always kept hidden when I was younger. The benefit of my father being stuck in his ways was his predictability.
More people entered the room by the second. Through the yelling and screaming I was able to decipher enough of the situation to realize my father was losing. Once I found the gun, I pulled it from its anchored position in the corner, tucked it in the back of my pants, and pulled my shirt down to cover it.
“Benjamin? Could you join us please?”
I clenched my jaw at Beckett using my full name. Slowly, I crawled out from underneath the desk with my hands raised.
“Smart man.” He motioned to Knox who began walking towards me with his gun aimed directly at my chest. Walking around me, he wrenched my arm behind my back. It seemed to be his go to move. Kicking at my feet, he walked me around the desk to face Beckett. “Drop him to his knees. Check him.”
“We already did, Boss.”
“Did I fucking stutter? Check him again.”
With one swift kick, Knox had me on my hands and knees. I was getting really tired of being kicked around. He ran his hands quickly over my torso and legs. Defeat fell over me as he pulled the gun from the band of my jeans and tossed it behind him. My heart sank as I heard the metal slide across the wooden floor.
“I’ve never trusted you,” Beckett growled. “You’ve been a thorn in my side since––well, for too long. It doesn’t matter anymore. If I can end him, I can just as easily end you.”
I leaned back on my knees as I glanced over at my father who was kneeling only a few feet away from me with a rag in his mouth. A look of pure terror had taken over his face. In my entire life I had never seen my father afraid of anything. I so desperately wanted to be the one to end him but sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.
Beckett walked towards him slowly, each move calculated. Once he was closed enough, he leaned down towards Tate’s ear and whispered just loud enough for me to hear him. “I was there the night your daughter died. In fact, I was the one that took her life. The bureau was tipped off, so I went in to cover for your ass. I was so tired of cleaning up your mistakes. I decided you needed to learn a lesson. I paid that kid to rob that joint. He was already gone when I took her life. Now, you get to die knowing— I killed her.”
Blood rushed through my head thrumming so loudly I could barely hear him speak. Brooke. He killed her. What color was left drained from Tate’s face as Beckett pulled the trigger. Blood splattered onto me as I jerked back, watching my father’s lifeless body fall to the floor. Just then, a loud screeching filled the room. Somewhere an alarm had been trigged.
“Grab him. I’m not done with him yet. Get the girl.”
I closed my eyes, praying Piper had escaped. My eyes shot toward the screen hoping to see an empty room but instead, there was only shattered black glass. It had been destroyed amongst the chaos. God, save her.
The pounding in my head hadn’t eased any. If anything, it had grown more intense. With the tips of my fingers, I gingerly pressed against the cuts on my face. Slowly opening my eyes, I gained a grasp of my surroundings. Once again, I was chained to the bed. My shirt had been torn and there were bruises, which resembled fingerprints, forming on the inside of my thighs. Bile rose in my throat. Only this time, I couldn’t keep it down. I jolted my body to the side of the bed and threw up what little contents were left in my stomach.
“You really are a nasty bitch,” Bull sneered at me from his position in the wooden chair. He had moved it from beside me, to the end of the bed. Had I known, I would have aimed my vomit a little better.
“Heard your man is here for you.”
Ben. Tears filled my eyes just knowing he was close. In my mind, I pictured him breaking down the door and carrying me away. I’d rest my head on his chest and just breathe him in, knowing I was safe in his arms. My mind was full of fantasies. What I was actually living was within the seven depths of Hell.
“I like you being silent.”
The room swayed as I tried to right myself into a sitting position against the headboard. I could barely move my arms around my legs.
“It’s going to be a bit before that wears off, ya’ know.” Bull pointed towards my arm where Alton had given me the shot. My arm was red and swollen, no doubt angry with rage at what had happened to it.
Just then, something shuffled above us, catching Bull’s attention. “I bet that’s him now. How long do ya’ think they’ll let him live before they kill him?”
Hot tears slipped down my cheeks, stinging the cuts below my eyes.
“No sense in crying. You’ll join him soon enough.”
I glared at Bull as he sat with his cocky attitude, looking down at me. Everything in me wanted him to die in that moment.
&nb
sp; Suddenly, someone banged on the door. Bull jumped to answer it. Above me, I could hear yelling. None of it was clear enough for me to understand though. Looking back towards me with hesitation in his eyes, Bull turned around and took off down the hallway. The other man followed him, leaving me alone in the room.
I wasn’t wasting any time. There was no telling when someone would come rushing back in. Glancing around the room I looked for something to break the chain on my ankle. When I decided there was nothing there, I started to improvise. Sliding my broken body off the bed and onto the floor, I followed the chain. It was anchored to the pad lock, which was screwed into the bottom post of the bed. I desperately pulled at it with my fingers, trying to loosen the screws.
Muffled sobs fell from my lips as I pulled at both ends of the chain. Nothing worked. Instead, I was left with a bloody ankle from the chain digging into my skin. As I sat crying, I suddenly felt a hand touch my shoulder. Having not heard anyone enter, a bloodcurdling scream echoed around me. My scream.
“Ssh, girl. Ssh.” I looked up to see a woman in a blue flowered dress kneeling beside me. Her hair was pulled back into a twist and faint bruises marked her ruby red lips. She moved quickly, pulling a key from the inside of her dress. “They always forget to check my bra. He gets mad if they touch me like that.”
I wasn’t sure what to do with the information she gave me. But I also didn’t care. She had a fucking key.
“Listen to me, we can’t just go running out the front door. There will be men at the door. I don’t know what’s happening, but it can’t be good. We need to try and sneak you out through the staff entrance in the kitchen. Be swift. Be smart.”
The woman stood, holding her hand out for me. Willingly, I accepted her help and began to follow her out of the room. She was quicker than me, as my injuries had left me worse for wear. I was having a hard time keeping up with her as she quickly slinked around the corners. I could tell from the view outside the windows that we weren’t on the ground floor. She was pressed up against a wall just at the top of the stairs when I finally caught up to her. Without warning, a loud alarm rang out around us. It was a continuous blaring, as if a tornado siren had been triggered.