The Executioner: A Love Story

by Melissa Silvey

  “I killed him. It didn’t help. I was still confused, still unsure of what was going on in my head. I actually came to like what he did to me, you know? I was just a kid, and I was getting blow jobs and having orgasms. It felt good physically. But he wanted to fuck me in return. I didn’t say no. I was a kid.” Vince began to cry then. He hadn’t cried in years, but he felt he could cry with Jordan, because Jordan understood.

  He sat down beside Vince on the couch, and wrapped his arm around his shoulder as he had with Ari. Vince laid his head on Jordan’s chest and sobbed, just as Ari had. Jordan had never mourned what happened to him. He’d never cried and got it out. He just put it in a box and tucked it away inside him. Maybe he’d mourn when they were all three dead. And he trusted Arianna to do that for him.

  His phone rang, and he saw it was her. He answered it as he rubbed Vince’s hair. It didn’t feel weird, it felt nice. “Hi, Ari,” he said gently. Vince sat up immediately and wiped his eyes.

  “Hi, Jordan,” she whispered. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine. Vince is here with me.” Vince looked hopeful immediately. Jordan left his hand around his shoulder.

  “How is he?” She wondered. She missed them both, of course, but still didn’t feel guilty that she’d left Vince when she did. She was back in her motel room, in her bed. She wished they were both with her, so she could sleep between them.

  “He’s having a bad night,” Jordan said truthfully.

  “Tell him I miss him,” she said gently. “And I miss you too. Scratch the first name off your list.”

  “Thanks,” he said with a sigh of relief. “I love you Ari.”

  “I love you too,” she said with a grin, “both of you.”

  “She loves you and misses you,” Jordan said when he hung up the phone. “Both of us.”

  “Is that okay with you,” Vince asked as he laid his head back on Jordan’s chest.

  “Yes,” Jordan answered honestly, and put his hand back in Vince’s hair.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Vince woke up on Jordan’s couch to the scent of eggs and toast. The only thing that Vince could think of that would make this better would be waking up with Arianna. He sat up quickly, and asked, “Did you sleep?”

  “Yes, I slept well.” Jordan carried two plates full of food toward the table, and poured juice and milk. “How about you?”

  “I slept great,” Vince said with a stretch. Jordan couldn’t help but glance at the bigger man. He was starting to get comfortable having him around. He felt safe for the first time since he went to jail.

  “You still didn’t tell me the plan. When do we contact the Secretary? I’m getting nervous,” Vince stated.

  “I don’t want to do it over the phone,” Jordan stated. “We need to do it in person so she can’t doctor any tapes and make it look like I threatened her.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Vince said as he dug into his eggs. “But I want you to know, I don’t think this is a good idea. Call her and warn her, and get it over with.”

  “Okay,” Jordan said, and grabbed his phone. He called the Secretary’s personal number, and as it rang he thought of what he wanted to say.

  But he faltered, and when she answered with a curt, “Who is this?” Jordan handed the phone off to Vince. He made sure it was on speaker so Jordan could hear also.

  “Hello, Madam Secretary,” Vince said with his raspy, rough voice. “I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Vince Argento.”

  “You have some nerve, you little prick. Didn’t your boss tell you to back off?” Her voice was angry, overconfident; the self-assurance of a powerful person who had people in her pocket.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact he did,” Vince stated. And then he stared at Jordan hard. Jordan took his tablet and touched the screen several times. Then the phone call between the Secretary and White played loud enough for her to hear.

  “You have my phone bugged?” She sounded incredulous, as if the thought was unimaginable, that someone would have the balls to do to her what she did to others.

  “No ma’am, but I do have very, very powerful friends.” He said it without arrogance. “We know everything about you, Madam.”

  She said nothing for several moments. “It’s that kid, Stewart, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, and he’s a genius,” Vince said. “I’ll let him tell you exactly what’s going on.”

  “I have a computer program. If I don’t enter the code three times a day, all of your files from your personal computer will be released to the press.” He started out shaky, but Vince put his hand on his shoulder, and he became stronger. “If Arianna, Vince, or I are killed, your information goes to the press. If you so much as think about hurting Arianna, I’ll know. Your secrets aren’t safe any longer, Secretary.”

  “You wouldn’t release anything to hurt your girlfriend,” she stated. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Arianna isn’t on your computer. All of your correspondence with her was hard copy.” Jordan nodded at Vince.

  “So that’s it, Ms. Tremblay. The game’s over. Arianna isn’t prosecuted, you’re not prosecuted, everyone’s happy, got it?” Vince finished up the conversation, and before she could say anything, he hung up.

  “I don’t feel right,” Jordan shook his head. “It’s just too easy.”

  “There was nothing easy about that,” Vince said, and patted his shoulder. “We just have to hope she holds up her end of the bargain.”

  “I guess,” Jordan frowned. “So I’ve already showered. You can go now.”

  “Okay. Are you leaving now or,” Vince wondered as gathered his clothes.

  “No, I’ll wait, we can walk out together.” Jordan didn’t want to admit it, but he still expected the Secretary to try something.

  He cleaned up the kitchen and gathered his books. He had class that afternoon, and then church that evening. Church, he thought as he listened to Vince in the shower. He thought of Vince’s big body naked. Having a photographic memory, he could picture it precisely. Vince really was beautiful, an unimaginably perfect specimen of the male form. Jordan wondered if Vince could show him how to get a body like that.

  And then his memory took him back to Vince having sex with Arianna, and how he climaxed as he watched them. Arianna’s bright blue gaze didn’t leave his, and he could remember every bit of pleasure she expressed with them.

  Church, he thought again. God would forgive him for what he did, because he did it out of love. Love was what God wanted for us, above everything else. And he loved Arianna and Vince more than he ever thought possible.

  He stood at the table as Vince walked out of the shower in just his towel. The door was open to the bedroom and he had a great view of his hulking body. Vince dropped the towel and turned slightly, so that Jordan could see all of him. His manhood was hard and standing straight out. He arched his back and put his hands in his dark, wavy hair and made droplets of water fly.

  He smiled at Jordan, a loving, honest smile that didn’t judge him or find him inferior. And Jordan saw that same thing that he saw in Ari’s eyes when he first met her. He saw something inside Jordan that he wanted, that he was attracted to. Mr. Universe found insecure, gangly, self-conscious Jordan Stewart attractive. He smiled back, and watched as he dressed. It wasn’t weird at all, Jordan thought as he gathered his books.

  “Do you want to go to church with me this evening,” he asked as Vince walked toward him in his navy slacks and light blue shirt unbuttoned at the neck. Jordan approached him, slowly, and buttoned the remaining buttons and tied his tie. Vince’s heart swelled as he watched Jordan through heavy eyelids. God it was going to be torture wanting him this much and not being able to do anything about it. But Vince would accept that torture just to be around him.

  “I’d love to go to church with you tonight,” Vince said huskily.

  “Good,” Jordan said as he pulled on his coat and his gloves, then put his bag over his shoulder. “Dinner at 5:30?”

  “Wouldn’t m
iss it,” Vince agreed. He wrapped his arm around Jordan and gave him a manly hug. Jordan didn’t pull away.

  Arianna set her alarm on her phone for 5:30 am. She wanted to get an early start. She woke up happy, knowing that Jordan could begin to heal. She wasn’t tired as she went to bed early. Her entire attitude was changing. Her life was changing. She felt whole in a way that she’d never thought possible. She was one lucky woman, she realized as she packed up her clothing and headed for her new car. Then she realized that Jordan had left his bagful of money with her as well. She had nearly a million dollars at her disposal. How long did he expect her to be on the run? She hoped it wouldn’t be that long. She couldn’t wait to get back to her guys.

  “Wait,” Vince said as he walked down the steps in front of Jordan. Something was wrong, he just didn’t know what. He pulled the fob out of his pocket and started the SUV. It came on without incident. “Hand me yours,” Vince ordered, and repeated the act. He got the same reaction. “I just felt a little antsy, that’s all.”

  They walked down the steps and toward their separate cars. “See you tonight?” Vince asked with happiness twinkling in his eyes.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” Jordan grinned. As Jordan watched Vince screamed and fell to the ground. He held his left shoulder, and Jordan saw blood soaking his light blue shirt. He ran to Vince and put his hand on his shoulder to stop the bleeding. Then he heard a car start, and rev its engine.

  He took Vince’s gun out of his shoulder holster and took two steps out into the lot. The car drove right at him. Jordan lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. The first bullet hit the driver right between the eyes. The next two bullets hit the engine through the grill, and the car veered to the right. It hit the bumper of the car parked in the last space, then drove into a tree.

  “How in the hell did you learn to shoot like that,” Vince wondered when Jordan walked back toward him.

  “I didn’t graduate top of my class at Quantico for nothing,” he grinned proudly. “Shooting a gun is all about math: geometry, trajectory, velocity.”

  “I get it boy wonder,” Vince said as he struggled to stand up. Jordan took his hand and tried to hold him still, but Vince refused. “I’ve been shot before, this is nothing.” He was lying through his teeth. It hurt like hell but he wouldn’t tell Jordan that. He needed to keep up his appearance of the protector of his loved ones.

  “Where are you going? Sit still and I’ll call an ambulance,” Jordan insisted.

  “Not yet,” Vince said as he stumbled toward the shooter’s car. “Get his phone.”

  Jordan wondered why he didn’t think of that. He searched in the man’s pockets, took out his phone, and found the Secretary’s phone number. He pushed redial, and waited for her to answer.

  “Is the job done?” She sounded almost giddy.

  “Yes, it’s done,” Jordan said somberly. “I killed your trigger man. That wasn’t a smart move, shooting my friend.”

  She remained quiet for several moments. This wasn’t the outcome she was expecting. She gasped for breath several times, and then said airily, “That was my shot across the bow. That was my warning not to fuck with me anymore, you puny little punk.”

  “Big mistake,” Jordan said, his voice heaving with anger. “When Vince said I know everything about you, he wasn’t lying. That includes your husband’s dirty little secrets. It’s ironic that a woman who pays young girls to kill sex offenders lives with one herself. And the sad thing is you’ve known about it all along. You hurt my friend when I warned you not to. Watch the news this afternoon.”

  “You didn’t say not to hurt…” The Secretary’s voice was panic stricken as she tried to explain, but it was too late. Jordan closed the line, threw the phone down on the ground, and stomped on it. Then he kicked it under the tire of the car.

  “What was that for,” Vince wondered as Jordan pulled out his own phone and dialed 911.

  “So they don’t know he called the Secretary,” Jordan responded icily.

  “They’ll be able to track his…” Vince started.

  “You underestimate me,” Jordan’s hard eyes met Vince’s as the 911 operator answered. “There’s been a shooting,” he said, and gave the operator his address. He led Vince to the steps and ran up to his apartment to get some towels. By the time the ambulance got there Jordan had nearly stopped the bleeding.

  Arianna drove through Stewart, Ohio. She found it odd that a town had the same name as Jordan, but she dismissed it as coincidence. She found a hotel in the next town over, Martinsburg, and got a room. She carried her bags inside and settled in quickly. She had another animal to hunt, another name and address, and it wasn’t two miles from the hotel. She thought it would be too much to ask that Morton Hendrix might work at the hotel.

  She pulled out her phone and called Jordan, and when he answered he sounded weird. “What’s wrong,” she asked immediately.

  “Vince has been shot. It’s not that bad, as far as bullet wounds go. It missed all the organs and arteries.” She almost wished that he could manage his clinical voice. But he sounded panicked, which made Arianna want to panic as well.

  “Vince has been what?” Her voice raised several octaves, and was much louder than she meant it to be.

  “Hand me the phone,” she heard in the background. And then Vince was on the line sounding as strong and gruff as normal. “I’m fine, Ari. They’ll dig the bullet out of me, stitch me up, and I’ll be back to work in no time.”

  “You’re not fine, you’ve been shot!” She hated being so far from them even more.

  “Don’t worry about me, princess. Jordan’s taking excellent care of me. You do your job and I’ll see you soon.” His voice became weaker toward the end. Arianna was about to hyperventilate.

  “I’ll keep you up to date, I promise.” Jordan stated. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Vince shouted. Arianna grinned.

  “I have to go,” Jordan said.

  “Wait,” Arianna yelled into the phone. “Where does Morton Hendrix work?”

  “He doesn’t,” Jordan’s voice was low. “Unless you consider meth a job.” He paused for a moment, then said, “I’ll call you when I have some privacy.”

  “Okay, I love you both,” Arianna said quickly. Jordan ended the call.

  He sat in the waiting room with his phone and his tablet. He’d erased any record of the calls between the Secretary and the shooter, who turned out to be a cop from a small suburb in Virginia. Jordan felt bad shooting a police officer, but not all that bad. He sent a clear message to the Secretary: he wasn’t screwing around.

  He watched the television set closely at noon, to find the story about Margo Tremblay’s husband, Jean-Claude, on the local news. Apparently he emailed pictures of himself with several underage looking females to every one of his contacts, including several FBI agents, lawyers, ranking members of Congress, and the president’s sitting cabinet. Also included in the emails were specific dates and amounts of payoffs for other young girls. The FBI was investigating, as was local police. Secretary Tremblay had not commented as of the time of the newscast.

  A doctor approached Jordan, and he didn’t look happy. Jordan hadn’t worried much about the surgery; it was supposed to be routine. At least that’s what the doctor who saw him in triage told them.

  “Is something wrong?” Jordan wondered as he stared at the doctor.

  “He’s lost more blood than we’d like. His blood type is B-, and we didn’t have enough of it on hand. We had to give him O-. He should be fine, but we want him to stay in the hospital overnight just to be sure.” The doctor shook his hand, and continued. “Who is Arianna? Agent Argento has been asking for you and her. He’s in room 246, right down the hall.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” Jordan said as he hurried toward the room.

  “Shouldn’t you be at work,” Vince asked when he saw Jordan in the doorway.

  “I have a lot of vacation time saved up,” Jordan smiled at him as he walked tow
ard his bed.

  “Did you do what you said you’d do,” Vince wondered as Jordan pulled a chair close to the right side of the bed. Vince’s left shoulder was covered in bandages and wrapped in a sling.

  “Yes, Jean-Claude Tremblay is all over the news.” Jordan stated in his non-emotional voice. “I did warn her, after all.”

  “What exactly did he do,” Vince asked around a yawn. “I think they gave me enough pain medication to put down an elephant.”

  “You’re not a small man,” Jordan shrugged.

  “Thanks for noticing,” Vince’s voice was light when he said it. He sounded like he was flirting. Jordan’s cheeks turned pink. Vince took it all in silently. Don’t rush it, he reminded himself. Go slowly.

  “Do you think you would have, you know…” Jordan started, and his face turned blood red.

  “What?” Vince wondered what was going through the other man’s head. When he didn’t answer, Vince prodded him. “Tell me.”

  “Had sex with men… if not for…” He couldn’t finish the sentence. It was painful, yet he needed to know.

  “I have no idea, and there’s no way I could possibly know. It happened. I can’t change it. But I’m not ashamed of my sexuality; and I won’t apologize to anyone for who I am.” Vince had played the “what if” game way too much on his own for years. But he finally stopped when he realized it didn’t matter anymore. He was who he was.

  “Do you think I’ll ever find that place?” Jordan stared into Vince’s eyes. He still had that sparkle, that realization of something precious. Jordan blushed again but didn’t turn away.

  “I think that’s up to you,” Vince said wistfully. “I’m never going to judge you, and neither is Arianna. And we’re the only people who should matter. Eventually you’ll find yourself, whatever that turns out to be, and you’ll always have two people who love you and care about you.” He punctuated his speech with another long yawn. He leaned his head back on his pillow and continued to watch Jordan until he fell asleep. Jordan reached out, slowly, by inches, and placed his hand over Vince’s.