“These people are animals.” He taps his finger on the documents.
“No you are dad, and frankly I could never be more disappointed and disgusted with you as I am now. You said you went after organized crime because they were untouchable and you wanted to prove them wrong, well I guess it was pretty damn hard, seeing you stooped so low that you became a criminal you’re damn self!”
“You watch yourself young lady, I am still your father!”
“Well dad for the first time in my life, I am ashamed to be your daughter.”
I turn my back on my father and head out his office. “Claudia!” I keep walking fighting the tears in me. My father was a fraud. A criminal himself.
As I head towards the elevator I bump into someone. I almost lose my balance until he grabs me holding me steady.
“I’m so sorry.” I look up to see Anderson Raines. This guy is such a creep. He’s a detective and has been working with my father for years. Once I turned sixteen, he started looking at me in a way that made me very uncomfortable. I move away from him a little. His touch is weird. “Hi, Detective Raines.”
“Hello, Claudia. You look very pretty today.” He sounds like a pedophile. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I answer.
“I was just going to see your father.”
“Well, he’s free.”
I start to walk off.
“Claudia.” I turn around to see him bending over picking up my purse. Great, I'm so creeped out by him I almost forgot my purse.
“You dropped this.”
I grab my purse from his hand and that’s when I see it.
The ring.
It’s silver, with a red ruby in it, like a championship ring and the more he opens his hand the more I see them. Three scars on the palm of his hand. They look like scars from bullet wounds.
“You like my ring?” He says.
“Yeah, State Champs.”
“What about the scars?”
“Oh, I was shot in the hand on the job.” I watch him as he looks at his hand. He looks back up at me and the look on his face. I can tell. His gray eyes say everything. I immediately flash to the things Donovan said. How they didn’t think it was the mob that killed his brother. “Are you okay?”
I feel myself shaking. Get a grip Claudia! Come on!
“Yeah. You have a good day.” I walk off slowly. I feel his eyes piercing on my back. Once I turn the corner I start running to the elevator.
I reach the elevator and frantically press the down button waiting for it to arrive. The elevator doors slide open and I get in. As the doors close they are stopped by an arm reaching through the opening. A very tall and built man with dark brown hair steps in. Thank God I got my phone back. I get it so I can text Donovan. I have to text him. I type in I think I know who killed your brother. I mean, what else is there to say? I can’t believe this shit.
I’m about to hit send when my phone is yanked from me. It’s the man in the elevator. I look at his belt and see he has a badge. He’s a cop too.
He slams my phone down and steps on it. He looks back at me.
“I think you should probably come back up with me.” He says calmly.
I look past him as he corners me in the elevator. I see the number 1 on the elevator highlighted. At the sound of the ding, I kick him in the nuts.
He falls down to his knees. I pull a Donovan move and punch him in the nose. I hit him with the hand that is bandaged from breaking the mirror, so it hurts like hell. As the doors open I jump over him grabbing my phone and running for my car.
Once I speed off in my car I look at my IPhone to see it completely cracked. The only apps I can touch are my phone and Twitter. I touch the phone app and I go to my recent calls and call Jade.
“Hey.”
“Jade!”
“Hey, I can barely hear you.”
“Jade, tell Donovan that the police killed his brother!!”
“What?!
“Can you hear me?!”
“Yeah, a little.”
“Tell Donovan that I’m being chased by the people who killed his brother!”
“Claudia I can’t understand!”
“I’m in trouble!”
Chapter
16
“A Killer and A Lover”
Donovan
After talking to my father he decided to figure out other alternatives and let me deal with my situation with Claudia without his interference. I’m about to go find Claudia. Ella told me she knows now. As much as I hate her father, I’m sorry for her.
“Okay, I’m about to go.” I say to my sister and Emile.
Emile’s phone rings.
“Donovan, this is Jade.” He answers the phone. “Hey.” I watch him as his face turns into confusion. “What? Slow down. Hold on.”
He hands me the phone.
“Jade, what’s wrong?” I ask.
“Okay, Claudia is in trouble. She called me and her phone was going in and out and I could barely hear anything.”
“Jade, what happened?”
“I don’t know for sure but, I think she said she knows who killed your brother Donovan.”
What? She knows? How?
Either way the number one thing is that she is in trouble.
I drop Emile’s phone and run out of the house to my car. I hear Ella scream for mom and dad, but I don’t look back. I just need to get to Claudia.
She needs me.
Claudia
I need Donovan.
I can’t even go to the freaking cops.
I just came straight home and grabbed a kitchen knife like an idiot. I don’t know what to do? Who to trust? The cops are the bad guys.
I’ve been home for about ten minutes and I’m going out of my mind. I should have just gone to Jade’s, but I freaked out. I don’t know what to do?
My pacing back and forth is interrupted by a door bell. I slowly walk out the kitchen and peek out the living room window.
It’s them.
It’s Raines and the other guy from the elevator.
“Claudia!” Raines sings out my name smiling. “Open up!” I watch them as the elevator guy slips on black leather gloves.
Oh My God there going to kill me. They’re going to kill me!
I run upstairs with the kitchen knife in hand. I lock my bedroom door and lean against the wall. I hear gun shots. I hear footsteps as they walk in. I slowly look out the window to see Raines going around back. I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I clench my knife against my chest while shaking.
I’m so scared right now. I feel the tears starting, but I have to hold them in. I have to stay strong if I’m going to get out of here alive. I see the door jerk open in an instant. The tall man from the elevator looks around. I’m standing right behind him. It’s now or never Claudia.
I push the knife deep into his shoulder. He lets out a huge scream as I move away from him falling to the floor. I get up and race towards the exit. Suddenly he grabs my leg bringing me down. He moves on top of me. His face is completely red. He is panting and grunting hard. His face is full of agony and pain from the knife in his back I’m guessing. I’m trying to push him off, but he’s freaking heavy. He grabs my wild arms with one hand and slaps me with the other.
God that hurt.
He wraps his hands around my neck gripping it tighter and tighter. I smell the leather from his gloves as he grips harder. I start hitting his face and scratching him, but he doesn’t budge. He has nothing but determination in his dark brown eyes as he chokes me. He’s determined to kill me. I feel myself turning red as I can’t breathe anymore.
Please stop it! Stop! Stop! This can’t be it. It can’t!
I feel my eyes go rolling in the back of my head when suddenly his grip loosens. I start coughing and open my eyes to see him. It’s Donovan.
He has his arms around the man’s neck tying to choke him. The man pushes him back into the wall. The man comes charging back at me, but Donovan immediately gets
back up and takes the knife in the man’s back pushing it deeper. He screams, but I swear he must be the Hulk or something because he is still strong enough to elbow Donovan in the face. He towers over him and starts kicking him. I get up and push the knife harder into his back. He screams again moving ferociously slamming me against my night stand. I look back to see Donovan grab the man and slam his back into the wall. Donovan keeps slamming him and slamming him with pure hatred in his eyes while the detective’s eyes are lifeless.
He’s dead. I think he was dead after the first impact.
Donovan finally stops and drops him on the floor. Donovan continues standing there breathing excessively looking at the dead body.
“Donovan.” I say.
He saved my life.
He turns to me and kneels down and grabs my face checking my face and lip that has a cut on it.
“You okay?”
“Yes. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” That’s all I can tell him.
He embraces me in a hug as I grip onto his shirt. I never want to let him go.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. I know everything. You’re going be okay.” He releases his grip and wipes the hair from my face. “We’re going to be okay.”
I suddenly remember Raines.
He’s still here.
“Donovan there’s another guy here.”
“Okay come on.”
He helps me up and holds my hand tightly leading me out of my room.
“Not so fast.” We are stopped in the hallway by Raines. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Donovan moves me behind him.
“I’ve been waiting for this.” Raines says.
“The ring.” Donovan realizes what I saw. The ring on Raines finger. “You’re the cop from the police station….. You’re the one that killed my brother.”
“Yeah, pretty much.” He says with a smile. “You shouldn’t have told your girlfriend kid.”
I start to close my eyes, before I see Emile behind Raines with a baseball bat in his hand.
Raines must have felt it because he immediately turns around and shoots Emile. Emile screams and goes down holding onto his arm. Donovan releases me and charges Raines once he turns back around. They fall back over Emile who is still holding his arm. Donovan starts punching Raines in rage over and over again.
“You son of a bitch!” He screams with anger. “I’m gona kill you!”
Raines grabs his gun on the side of him. He hits Donovan in the head with it. Emile tries to get up. Raines drops his gun and grabs the bat. He swings at Emile’s head knocking him out cold.
“Little shit.” He throws the bat on the floor.
I quickly reach and grab the bat. I step back getting into swinging position. He tilts his head to the side and grins. He thinks it’s funny that asshole. I swing with all my might. He jumps back after every swing laughing at me. He is really pissing me off. Next thing I know he blocks a swing with his hand grabbing the bat with his right hand and punching me in the face with his left.
Well, I see I’m no help.
I’m a little light headed from the hit. I slide down the wall, reveling in the pain in my head from his fist.
Raines grabs me by the hair and bangs my head twice against the wall. He lifts my head up.
“You know Claudia. We could have had so much fun together.” I’m so dizzy and light headed. I feel myself fainting away.
Everything is slowly blurring out and going black.
Donovan
I wake up.
I finally shake my head, getting the ringing sound from the blow. I look up to see Raines over Claudia.
Raines is the guy that bumped into me at the police station. I remember when I told him sorry; he said I bet you are. Well I am sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t kill him that night. That son of a bitch killed my brother. Took everything from me and my family and now he is trying hurt her. I will never let that happen. I will never let anyone take anything from me again.
I stand up and charge with all my might at Raines. He looks to me and stands up as I tackle him against the balcony wooden rails. We flip over the second story balcony.
Shit.
************
I feel nothing but pain as I gain conscience. My side feels like there sharp blades trying to cut into me. Fuck! I think I might have sprained my ribs or something. I really hope there not broken. I slowly turn over a little and next thing I know Raines kicks me in the face. Then he kicks me in the stomach. I can’t help but let out a small cry because of the pressure on my side. I must of landed first on the floor because Raines is walking around me grinning like he’s a new man. Motherfucker.
“You know Donovan. It all would have been okay if your brother hadn’t ease dropped that night.” He ends it with a kick in the back. The pain is excruciating.
“I mean here I am, having a meeting with Judge Winthrop at his daughter’s party and your brother just so happens to be there.” He ends it with another kick to the leg.
“I mean yeah we were talking about how we were going to frame your father and all these other things like murder, money laundering, you know the usual. But your brother, I guess, he accidently came to the wrong room and heard it all. I guess we shouldn’t have had the meeting in the study where anyone could hear huh? So yeah, I just couldn’t let him live and risk him telling daddy. So I took care of him. I would have taken care of you too, but you, you little shit.”
He punches me in the face.
“You fucking shot me! You know I had to go through physical therapy. I mean Christ; you almost ruined my career man.” Obviously this guy is a huge psychopath.
He walks over to the living room and grabs a Greek statue that looks like it weighs a ton. He takes it in both of his hands and walks back towards me grinning.
“Sorry but you’ll probably have to have a closed casket kid.” He raises the statue over his head as I look up. I figure I should kick him in the leg to stop him, but my plan is interrupted by a gun shot.
I look back up and see Raines standing over me with his gray eyes widened. He lets go of the statue and falls to the ground next to me. He holds on to his chest that starts to bleed from the inside soaking up his white shirt. He breathes heavily still with his eyes wide open. I look up to see her, Claudia with the gun in her hand shaking on the stairway.
I carefully sit up glancing back at Raines as his breathing slows. His chest goes up and down as he pants. He makes a raspy sound as he exhales.
I want him to die. I want him to suffer. I want him to feel everything my brother felt.
So he does.
I know he does because his eyes are the same as Christians, except Raines looks scared to die. That is just the icing on the cake for me.
Love and Hate (The Pierce Family Trilogy) Page 23