by Holly Hood
Her foot shook out of nervous habit. Don’t worry. It’s all taken care of. You just bring him to me.
Twenty minutes, if I can convince him.
“So how about that drink,” Dylan asked again. “Maybe you can share some more stories with me.”
Frankie smiled. “What the hell. I got the feeling it will be worth my time.”
***
He did it. Left Delaney abandoned on the side of the road. He did an amazing job at blocking out the guilt. And now he packed in a rush to leave. Throwing all he could fit in his duffel bags.
Sam pushed his dresser away from the wall. A small scarcely noticeable square showed in the floor boards. He popped his finger into the small furrow carefully removing the artificial cover. He removed a large envelope. A place he housed passports, credit cards, and very important information he needed to make a fresh start.
He placed the envelope on top of his clothes and zipped the bags. There was nothing left for him to do but leave. Get in his car and leave yet another disastrous life behind. A life he hoped would pan out for once. But they never did time and time again.
***
Delaney stopped walking. She dropped down on the side of the road. Her feet were aching. She walked for an hour straight. Knowing it didn’t matter how long she walked, she would never get near a phone or gas station. He had left her in the middle of nowhere, literally. Sunshine had been vacant for over ten years. The only residents were the large black birds swarming above her in the sky, their miserable squawking swirling around her time and time again.
The sun was ready to ditch her for the day. And quite frankly she was terrified. She told herself she had to keep moving. That this nightmare would end sooner or later. Everything ended, nothing was for an eternity.
Another ten minutes passed. Delaney turned off her thoughts and just pushed on, her feet blistered and probably bleeding at this point, the darkness providing her with no clues on where she was on the side of the road. The road held nothing but a very faint glow, enough to guide her past cactus or large rocks. But soon she knew her vision would be a stranger. And then she didn’t know what she would do. Right before she was about to burst into tears an angel in the form of headlights showed in the distance. She pushed her hair from her perspiring forehead and stayed where she was. Prepared to flag down the only car she had seen the entire trek to god knows where.
It was a black suburban. Dark tinted windows provided her with no view into the person or persons staring back at her as they came to a stop. She pulled it together, waiting readily for someone to offer her a ride. Why else would they stop?
The door came open. And two black boots dropped to the sandy road, men’s boots. Delaney’s heart sped up. She looked up, hesitant to lay eyes on the man who possibly could be her rescuer. She felt a bit stupid for being stranded on the side of the road, even if it wasn’t her fault.
Phinn took a couple steps toward Delaney careful not to frighten her. She looked frightened enough as it was already. Alone on the side of the road where so many awful people frequented when they wanted to get rid of their misdeeds. The girl was up against ungodly things alone in the dark.
“Hi,” he said his tone slack and flowing almost melodic. He looked her over, her feet were dirty and her clothes were untidy. “I couldn’t help myself. I saw you and I had to lend a hand.”
Delaney nodded grateful he was such a man. “Can you take me back to town?” She moved closer. His blue eyes and strong jaw line striking even in the soft illumination provided by his headlights.
“Of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He gestured to the passenger side. “I’m Phinn.”
Delaney graciously climbed in. The cranked tunes of some magnificent singer she didn’t recognize flowed from his sound system. She wasn’t afraid anymore.
“Delaney,” she said, watching him climb in on his side. He tugged his door shut.
“I can’t imagine the hell you went through.” Phinn looked sideways at her. Even in her disorderly state she was a looker he could tell.
“Blame it on my ex fiancé. He left me on the side of the road after he told me he was part demon.” She couldn’t help herself. The secret just came spilling out before she had a chance to regret it. But now she was. Phinn’s eyes grew large and interest quickly filled them.
“Oh really, what’s this guy’s name?” His interest was more than just that.
Delaney sighed. “Vance. But he prefers Sam.”
Phinn braked. The car jerked forward, Delaney threw a hand out to stop herself from hitting the dashboard. “What are you doing!”
Phinn pressed a single button on his cell phone. Delaney went for the door, but was to slow for the likes of Phinn, with one elbow to the temple she was out cold, slumped against the door she tried to escape.
“You’ll never guess what I just found on the side of the road,” Phinn started. He smirked, staring at Delaney’s unconscious body. “Samuel Petrakis’ ex fiancé, think this could be of some use to you?”
He nodded, pleased. Tossing his phone on the dashboard and gunning it down the road in a hurry to show his findings to someone very important.
***
Frankie shut his car door, giving his legs a quick stretch. “Time for that drink.” He looked around the parking lot of Solo, nothing to out of the ordinary.
“Yeah, come on,” Dylan said, hurrying in before he could get a look at her and see the guilt plastered all over her expression. As soon as they entered she spied Mitchell’s men in the back corner of the bar, Mitchell nowhere to be found, of course not, he didn’t do his own dirty work.
Frankie took a seat at a table by the door. “Here. Why don’t you get the drinks.” He watched her walk off. And he straight away zoned in on the two goons in the corner of the room in cheap leather and steel toed shoes. He wasn’t shocked at how easily he read Dylan. Some might wonder why he even agreed to be set up.
Dylan sat his whiskey in front of him, taking her seat. “That was a long drive.”
Frankie downed his drink, ignoring her useless small talk. “I don’t put up with idiots. And the fact I put up with you tells me a lot.”
Dylan’s eyes went wide. She brought her drink to her lips.
“You brought me here for a reason, I’m not stupid. And I see two of those reasons sitting over in that corner.” Frankie wagged two fingers at the bartender. “You’re going to regret this.”
Dylan sat up straight. “I had no choice.”
“You like playing with dangerous men. Little did you know I’m just as dangerous and I am going to show you that right now.” Frankie accepted his drink, downing it and slamming it back down on the table. He stood.
“Let’s just go. I don’t care what happens to me.” She looked away humiliated “I was just thinking about myself.”
Frankie looked her over, a twinge of interest bringing him back to his seat. “What did you get yourself into?”
Dylan shook her head refusing to own up to all her stupid mistakes. But Frankie wasn’t letting it go. He grabbed her by the wrist hard enough to break it if he wanted. “Ok, ok. That guy I was in here with is a dealer. He scored me a lot of freebies” she said, wincing in pain. Afraid he was crazy enough to break it if he she didn’t admit to what she knew.
“Free drugs you mean. What kind of bullshit are you into?”
She pushed her hair from her eyes. “Pills, but this guy… he is capable of things I never seen before. He’s just as intoxicating without the pills.”
Frankie leaned in. “Oh, you mean like this?” He concentrated on Dylan until her eyes were glazed over. And her breathing was slow. “Yeah, see, I’m not only good in the sack.”
Dylan pulled away disturbed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You just proved the many things that I have already known about people. They all suck. They all lie. And they all are selfish.” This time he got up and headed right over to the men in the corner.
The men quickly pul
led it together as Frankie approached. He shoved a chair out of the way. “Well fellows I’m here. Let’s get the beat down out of the way for me pissing Mitchell off so I can get home.” He pulled his jacket off. “Did you want to do it in here or outside?”
The men’s expressions stayed blank. “Outside would be perfect.”
Frankie shrugged, moving past the customers of the bar. He pushed the door open, his feet hitting the asphalt. He spun around, watching the other man toss Dylan into the parking lot. Serves her right Frankie thought.
“My only request is you avoid the face. I tend to be partial to my good looks.” Frankie rolled his sleeves, preparing for battle.
“Cocky. Just like your father,” The taller one said with a titter.
Frankie shook his head in bewilderment, all the blood in his body going cold at the mention of his father. “Excuse me?”
“We aren’t here for a debt to Mitchell. We are here for Amarus Petrakis. Now you can get in the car the easy way or the hard way.” The shorter of the two told Frankie. He opened the door to the four door sedan, shoving Dylan inside. When she tried to get away he used even more violent tactics. Ones that made Frankie’s blood go from ice to lava. He gritted his teeth as Dylan cried out in pain.
“What makes you think I care what you do to that girl?”
“You showed up to a setup. One we all know you were aware of. I’m a lot smarter than you think. If you want me to desist from ending the broad’s wretched life you’ll get in the car.”
“If you know my father then you know what I’m capable of. Are you sure you want to mess with me?” Frankie asked.
“I come from a family just as impressive. So what will it be?”
Frankie looked around, out of a way out at the moment. He climbed in the back seat.
***
Just as Sam was about to pull out of his driveway, his phone rang. He stared at the unrecognizable number before answering it. “Hello?”
“It’s been a long time,” Phinn said.
“Apparently to long because I have no idea who this is,” Sam said back.
Phinn stared at Delaney stroking her hair, her eyes showing the fear escaping her body. He patted her bound hands, a disturbing grin on his face. “I got your number from a friend. You might know her. Delaney.”
Sam silently panicked, not letting Phinn know he had surprised him.
“The poor girl was walking all alone on the side of the road in Sunshine, such an awful place to ditch someone. You could imagine the characters out there.” Phinn tugged at his black trucker cap, enjoying the taunting. “She’s such a pretty girl. Who wouldn’t want to marry her?”
“What do you want with her? She’s just a girl,” Sam said, playing it cool. “It’s obvious she means nothing. I left her in Sunshine. If that’s all you want then I’ll be going now.”
Phinn’s eyes flashed with a fiery rage. “That’s all very noble of you. And I figured you would say something like that. So I found someone else who might be interested in her. Amarus Petrakis.”
Sam balled his fist furiously. He stopped short before punching his steering wheel. His father was the last person he wanted anywhere near Delaney. “What do you want me to do?”
Phinn’s smile returned. He lifted a lock of Delaney’s hair. “Come visit your old man. I’d hate to see something awful happen to such a pretty girl.”
“I don’t even know where he is,” Sam said with a sigh. “Nobody does.”
“The old estate, you can find him there.” Phinn ended the call. “Well, that wasn’t hard at all,” he said with a pleased smile.
Dysfunctional Family
Tiny drops of rainwater beat against the window, leaving clear trails of liquid reminder behind them of just how miserable of a night it was. The outside matched how Frankie felt on the inside. He was pissed. There were a lot of other words to describe him at the moment too. He was kicking himself for being so confident for once. For once he wished he would have backed down.
The gravel crunched beneath the car’s tires as the low-priced sedan slowly pulled into the driveway of his old home. The place he grew up. But it wasn’t a place with many memories of happy times. It was a place of utter misery. A place Frankie never recalled because he had pushed it deep down into the depressed recesses of his mind, where everything messed up that every occurred in his life was wiped out and forgotten.
Frankie wasn’t an unintelligent man. He was far from it. He knew not to try anything foolish. Instead he busily watched every movement of the men transporting him to his father. The more he knew about them physically the better the odds he could overpower them or just simply outsmart them later on.
They weren’t your typical men. They were just as evil as the majority of his family, demons. Like his father. And all demons wanted one thing, power. They never felt they had enough, and they were all searching for the way to get more of it. Someone was always higher up in their dark world.
The men quickly climbed out. Frankie did the same. He took in the old house. At one time it was magnificent. Now it was just a run down version of what once was. He hadn’t laid eyes on it since he was maybe fifteen.
The men yanked Dylan out the other side of the car. She pulled it together and made it around to Frankie’s side. He refused to look at her. He was standing outside of the one place he never wanted to see again because of her.
“What are they going to do with us?” She whispered to Frankie in fear for her life.
Frankie shrugged. “I would have no idea. This is the part of my life I tried to stay far away from.”
The men motioned them to follow up the porch steps.
Mitchell opened the front door. Frankie was a bit relieved it wasn’t his father already. He needed a few minutes to stomach the idea of seeing him again.
“Well hello again,” Mitchell said to the two of them, thrilled to see Frankie standing on the porch as he had hoped for. He patted Frankie on the arm. As if Frankie was okay with being there. Frankie did not speak. He watched Mitchell fondle Dylan’s hair, doing nothing more than making her queasy from the looks of it. “And you. You made me very happy.” He tickled her chin with his fingertips, giving Frankie a cold expression before he drifted back to the matter at hand.
“If I would have known what kind of person you were I wouldn’t have,” Dylan insisted.
Frankie winced. He knew she was treading on shaky ground talking back to these men. They weren’t upstanding citizens. They would destroy her and think nothing of it. But he bit his tongue once more and said nothing.
“What are we waiting for boss?” One of the men asked.
Mitchell took Dylan by the elbow. “We have one more visitor.”
Frankie scanned the grounds of the old home. He didn’t see anyone else. Just before he ran out of ideas on who could be joining them, Sam’s car pulled up. Frankie held back his shock. It was written all over Sam’s face just how furious he was to be there, as much as Frankie. Sam approached, climbing the stairs, all eyes on him.
“Let me guess. You’re here for the cookies,” Frankie said, leaning in the direction of his brother.
“Phinn, I’m here because that idiot got a hold of Delaney.” He looked at Dylan. “And let me guess you’re here for that one?”
Frankie shrugged. “I’m just here for the cookies.”
Sam gritted his teeth. Not in the mood for his brother’s sarcasm.
***
The room was dark. And the fireplace roared in front of her, the heat licking her skin and making her uncomfortable. Its orange light cast sinister shadows across the walls as she waited for something to happen. Her arms ached from their position around the back of the chair, bound with rope. She lifted her feet, pressing her toes into the old wooden floorboards, dropping her head in misery.
“What is your name?” A voice asked at last. Delaney lifted her head, whoever it was stood behind her. She swallowed, trying to endure the scorching inferno roaring in front of her, she could fe
el the sweat saturating her skin. Her shirt clung to her body.
“Delaney,” she said. The man circled around her. His hands behind his back locked in place.
“They tell me at one time you were going to marry my son.” Amarus slowly paced, taking in the beautiful girl’s rich chocolate brown hair, her dewy skin. He could see what his son saw in her. He had many a girl like her in his day. Beautiful she was, a work of art.
“At one time yes,” Delaney answered, she stared into his eyes as he sauntered by her, dark and mysterious. She couldn’t see Vance in his features. But she for sure saw Frankie. The eyes, the mouth, the curious way he carried himself, even the insignificant haughtiness that seemed to be fading.