Signs of Innocence (Soul of the Sinner - Book 4)

by Rumer Raines

  “Should I even ask Thomas?” Oliver roars as I close my eyes

  “I had the gun pointed at them and he pissed me off.” I whisper, and Oliver laughs as he rolls his eyes.

  “You had the gun pointed at them and he is the one you shot? AND you brought him here to save his life? Who is he Thomas?”

  “He’s Hannah’s brother.”

  “Of course, he is… Do you need me to do it?” Oliver asks as he walks to me placing his hand on my shoulder

  “Do what?”

  “Do you need me to kill her?” Oliver replies

  “No… I will do it.” I remind him, and he looks at me and lifts his arm to glance at his watch

  “You have one-hour Thomas. She needs to be dead, it was your decision and you can’t shoot her and have Doctor Rogers take out the fucking bullet.”

  Dr. Rogers emerges from the room a few minutes later and tells us that Henry will not make it. I ask him if he told Hannah and he advises that he didn’t, since he works for the mob he knows how to keep his mouth shut. Oliver tells him that he’ll drop him off and reminds me that Hannah needs to be dead in one hour.

  My legs stop moving as I stand in the doorway and watch Hannah cry over her brother. He’s barely breathing, and she is holding his hand. “He’s dying Thomas. You killed him.” she whispers, and I walk into the room and stand over her.

  “Are you going to kill me now?” she retorted in cold sarcasm

  “You left me no choice.” My breath caught in my lungs and she drop her brothers hand and stands in front of me

  “I kept my promise Thomas.” Her voice sounded tired

  “You went to the fucking cops Hannah. You told them everything.” I yell, and she jumps and backs away from me

  “I had no choice but to go the station. Henry blackmailed me! But I didn’t tell them everything.” She says while looking back at Henry

  “What do you mean he blackmailed you?” I ask as Henry’s breathing starts to get louder and he struggles to breath. Hannah turns back to him and puts her hands in his while she cries, and Henry takes his last breath.

  When Henry dies I pull Hannah into my arms and she holds me like her life depends on it. Maybe she realizes her life does depend on it, since she needs to be dead in fifteen minutes. Hannah pulls away and starts to talk about Henry. Apparently, he worked at a bank and was committing bank fraud. Henry was smart enough not to put anything in his own name, so he set up an account with Hannah’s name and funneled money into it. He told Hannah that he had come back to town and had been keeping track of her from afar. He had been following her the night in the alley and the night I killed Stan. What pissed me off is he watched as Stan tried to rape her? Henry was an opportunist little fucker because the night I took Hannah home to her parents, he followed. I left with Hannah and he went in and killed his own father.

  The plan was working out perfect and all Hannah had to do was go to the cops and tell them that I had killed Harry Cofe. Why would the cops question it? I was a known mobster with a bad habit of killing people.

  “He had one of my knives?” I remind Hannah and she nods

  “He broke into your house after he seen you in the alley. He was prepared.” She tells me as she stares back at Henry’s body. I glance at my watch and see that it’s five minutes to twelve. Hannah narrows her eyes on me and asks me if I need to be somewhere. Her eyes widen as I lift the gun.

  Thomas

  I tossed and turned the entire fucking night. Hannah’s beautiful eyes haunted me in my sleep. I went through everything that happened since the night in the alley. My entire life has changed because of one beautiful innocent witness. When I let her walk away, I hunted her down realizing that I had to stop her from talking. I knew that I would be able to scare the shit out of her and keep tabs on her. I had no idea that her innocence would affect me.

  I never knew there was any good in me. I never thought I could have any signs of innocence. Hannah has proven the exact opposite. She proved that a man with a stone-cold heart, still has one. I have never been a man that liked to talk about my feelings or show any kind of emotion, but a fucking tear almost fell when I left the warehouse. What would the Deluca’s or Oliver say if they saw that shit? They would think I was losing it and Alex would probably want to shoot me.

  The Deluca’s and Oliver are my family. We are so close we are thicker than blood. Most families have something buried in the backyard. If there is something buried in the backyard we each a job in placing, it there. We never keep secrets in the family, and I have never kept anything from them until Hannah.

  When the alarm clock goes off, I reach over and shut it off. I think back to Oliver telling me that I had no choice but to kill Hannah. There was no other option at that point. Hannah was a fucking liability. The names of my casualties kept increasing and she knew where the bodies were hidden. Henry was just the latest and the one that she wouldn’t be able to forget. Killing her brother was crossing the line, she wouldn’t let that one slide. At midnight I stared into Hannah’s eyes as she stared at the gun being pointed at her. I am startled out of my thoughts when someone starts pounding on my door. I climb out of bed and head to the door, knowing already who it is.

  Frank and I are staring at each other as he sits across from me on the edge of my chaise.

  “Is there anything you want to tell me Thomas?” he questions, and I shake my head. His eyebrows lift so high they nearly touch his hairline.

  “Are you sure about that? I think there should be.” Frank challenges and again I shake my head.

  “Thomas… we have known each other for a long time. We need to trust each other, and you know I have been exactly where you are now.”

  “Where exactly would that be Frank?” I snapped at him and he pinches the bridge of his nose

  “I was told I had to kill the woman that I was in love with. You know how that ended, I married her instead. It was the only way I could keep her safe from the family and it offered marital privilege.” Frank hinted as he stood and walked towards me

  “I would never encourage anyone to do something like that unless they were in love with that person. I knew I was in love with Lola, I knew that any woman that I would even consider going against my family for was the woman I had to be with.” Frank continues as I narrow my eyes on him

  “Did you need something Frank or are you just here to share your love story?” I hissed and Frank chuckles as he turns to leave.

  “Thomas… there is another reason that I am here. Doctor Rogers was expecting two bodies at the warehouse and as you know there was only one. You might want to come up with an explanation before you show up at the club later.” Frank hints and I lock the door behind him.

  I lay my head against the door and walk back to the bedroom. I lean against the wall watching Hannah sleep, knowing that I need to come up with a good reason for her still being alive. Hannah moans and turns over to lay on her back as she stretches, and her eyes meet mine. I walk over and lay down next to her as she snuggles up against me and I wrap my arm around her.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Do you know your wanted by the cops?” I reply, and she starts to laugh. Hannah thinks I am lying to her, but little does she know I was offered a deal if I helped put her ass away

  “I’m serious” the laughter quickly stops. I explain to Hannah that Henry did such a bang-up job at committing bank fraud that he was able to set her up for it. He funneled the money back to Hannah making it look like she was the one in charge.

  “This means that we both have enough information on each other that we could put the other one away?” she whispers

  “No… you’re in more danger than I am Hannah. I can avoid the cops, but the mob is a different story.”

  “You’re the mob. You were going to kill me last night, weren’t you?” she asks, and I nod and explain to her that she was supposed to be dead by midnight. What Hannah doesn’t understand is there is a trust issue that won’t go away. The
Deluca’s and Oliver won’t forget that she witnessed too much. They will never trust her and the one time she went to the cops painted a fucking target on her back. Anytime anyone talks, they will think it’s her.

  “They want me dead.” She whispers, and I flip her over so that I am leaning over her.

  “I am not sure if they all do. Frank was here earlier, and I think he was giving us a way out.” I advise and she puts her hand on my face

  “What is it?”

  “Marry me” … Hannah eyes widen before she starts to laugh as she pushes me off, so she can get out of bed

  Have you ever seen someone laugh so hard they started to cry? I watch as she starts to wipe away tears and she can hardly catch her breath when she starts to talk. I just asked this woman to marry me, so I can protect her, and she thinks this is funny? I have never asked anyone to marry me before, but I can assume this isn’t the reaction someone should get.

  I roll out of bed and grab a t-shirt before walking out of the room. Hannah is still laughing as she follows me and the more she laughs the angrier I am getting.

  “Wait a minute… your mad… you weren’t serious, were you?” she asks in between giggles and I ignore her as I walk over to start the coffee pot

  “Thomas…you weren’t serious right?” She asks, and I take out a coffee mug slamming it so hard on the counter I think a piece of it chipped off.

  “Thomas…” Hannah stops laughing and she walks over to me and grabs my arm before I snatch it away

  “Oh my God… you were serious. Thomas, we can’t get married.” She comments, and I keep my hands behind me holding onto the edge of the counter. It’s either holding on to the counter or wrapping them around Hannah’s neck.

  “It would never last Thomas. I am from the wrong side of town and you’re from here.” She waves her arm around the room

  “I mean I know you’re not perfect either, but that is another reason we wouldn’t last. I believe in making an honest living and you’re a…” she stops before finishing and tilts her head taking a deep breath

  “You’re a killer Thomas. I can’t marry someone knowing they are burying bodies before coming home. You’re in the fucking mob.” She stresses, and I walk past her leaving the room. Hannah follows, and I force myself to smile before turning to look at her.

  “You are really something Hannah. You didn’t mind who I was when you spread your legs open for me.” I remind Hannah as she slowly inches closer to me.

  “Don’t get any closer Hannah. There is a target on your back. You might want to come up with a plan to keep yourself safe. I’m going to take a shower and go out for a little while. Be gone when I get back and I don’t want to see you again.” I whisper as I turn away from her and head to the bathroom to take my cold shower. Once I am dressed, I walk past Hannah as she is crawled up on my chaise. I don’t say anything to her as I walk out slamming the door.

  Hannah

  When I was a little girl I thought of Prince Charming taking me away and proposing. He was handsome, rich and he took me away to live in a mansion. I think every girl dreams of this happening one day? I especially wanted the prince charming because of how I grew up. I grew up in hell, isn’t it only fair that I would dream of one day living in a fairytale? My parents were alcoholics and made my home unstable. I never knew where my next meal was coming from or if it was coming. I also never knew if my parents would go out one day and never come back.

  Thomas is handsome, rich and his house could be considered a mansion compared to where I live. Thomas Is no prince charming, he’s a ruthless cold-blooded killer who is in the mob. I hate to call him this because the truth is Thomas has saved me and protected me more than my own family has. When he asked me to marry him, I laughed? It was either laugh or cry and my instincts kicked in and I laughed. How can I marry a man not knowing if he would come home every night to me? It will only take one time for Thomas to get caught by the cops, one time for the cops to show up and pull their guns and kill Thomas, my husband, the man that I love. One time for the person he’s trying to kill to pull their own gun. Not to mention he is in the mob, I read about mob families going to war all the time. How can I jump from one world of uncertainty to a bigger world of uncertainty?

  What if I get pregnant? Do I want our kids worrying about their daddy not coming home every night? Thomas was so angry when I gave the reasons for not marrying him. I knew I was being brutal by reminding him he’s in the mob, I just didn’t have a choice. I just didn’t expect for him to be as brutal “You didn’t mind who I was when you spread your legs open for me.” He spits at me in anger. It felt like he just punched me in the stomach and his eyes went cold. I wanted to pull him into my arms and apologize, but he warned me not to get any closer. There was something different in his eyes, so I knew to listen. Thomas told me that he was taking a shower and leaving, and I was to be gone when he got back, he doesn’t want to see me again. The moment the words came out of his mouth, I knew I had fucked up.

  Thomas warned that I should think of a way to keep myself safe. I don’t think I care at this point. Thomas hates me and wants nothing to do with me. If I don’t have Thomas I have nothing else to lose. After I get dressed, I walk through the entire house. I try to remember every inch so that I will never forget. I walk into the bedroom and stare at the rumpled sheets. I close my eyes and remember every moment that I spent in this bed with Thomas.

  I head home jumping at any noise and staring at everyone that walks past me. I keep thinking about Thomas telling me that there is a target on my back. I can’t expect him to protect me anymore, he is so mad at me he might just do it himself the next time. When I finally get to my apartment I toss a few clothes into a tote bag for a few days. I don’t have many friends, but hopefully I have one that will let me stay with her for a few days. It’s four blocks to Nikki’s apartment and I pray most of the way that she’ll let me stay. After a few knocks the door swings open and Nikki stares at me in shock. When she finally lets me in, I swallow my pride and ask if I can stay with her for a few days.

  “What happened to that hot man of yours? Wouldn’t you rather be staying with him?” Nikki teases and I choke back the tears as I explain to her that Thomas and I are no longer together. I look away when I see Nikki having to fight back her smile. Nikki agrees to let me stay with her and shows me the spare bedroom that I can sleep in. I can’t complain, it’s nicer than my bedroom at my apartment. I smile at her and thank her before giving her a hug. I promise Nikki that I will be out on my own in one week and she tells me I can stay for as long as I need. I wonder if she would say that if she knew I was hiding from the mob?

  It’s been two weeks since I moved in with Nikki and she is starting to get suspicious. I haven’t left the apartment and I have been insistent that she not tell anyone that I am staying with or that she has heard from me. I wasn’t always this paranoid, but Nikki gets the newspaper. Most of the news has been about the spike in Mob crimes and the vicious ways they have murdered people. The last few nights I have dreamed of being caught and the awful ways they have tortured and killed me. The worst part is the person that kills me always has Thomas’ eyes.

  While Nikki and I are watching tv, I feel her eyes on me.

  “Have you started looking for a job yet?” she asks, and I turn to look at her

  “You know the diner isn’t going to reopen and I don’t mind you staying with me, but I can’t afford to take care of you Hannah. You need to start applying for a job. I started working at a new place, do you want me to get you an application?” she advises. Nikki is right it’s time to move on and I can’t expect her to take care of me. A few days later, Nikki has a surprise for me.

  “I have good news for you!” Nikki yells as I take leftovers out of the fridge. When I turn to look at Nikki I noticed that she is dressed for work.

  “Ok…what is it?”

  “You are coming with me. You have an interview today!” she replies

  “WHAT!”

 
“I said you have an interview today. Just get dressed, trust me the job will be yours.” Nikki tells me as she pushes me out of the room and swats my butt

  “I don’t even know what the job is Nikki!”

  “What do you think it is Hannah? Brain Surgery? You will be doing the same job that you did before, you’ll work with me as a waitress. The only difference is we have a better class of customer, with better tips. We just increased our value because instead of working in diner we’ll be serving drinks in a bar.” Nikki announces, and I hesitate to think I need to ask more questions, but I don’t. My mother always told me that beggars can’t be choosers and I do need a job.

  Nikki pays our bus fair and I sigh realizing how pathetic I am not even having bus money. When I question Nikki about the job, she just reassures me that the job is already mine. She explained to her boss that we both were left jobless after Stan’s death and that I was still searching for one. He took pity on me and asked that she bring me in and that he’ll hire me right away.

  “Ok…what is this bosses’ name?” I ask her as she smiles and tells me how I will love working at the bar, which is more of a high-class night club

  “His name is Alex and before you ask he is happily married, so don’t even try anything with him.” Nikki teases and I roll my eyes because the last thing I am thinking about is men. I still can’t get over the last one.

  When were finally off the bus, Nikki explains that the club is another block over. I notice the sign is blocked and the building is being worked on. I stop walking and glance at Nikki.

  “Don’t worry…they are making improvements. They wanted a larger sign, so the old one is being taken down and the new one should be up in a few days.” Nikki tells me as I sigh, and I follow her in. I suck in a breath the minute we are inside. This can’t be…. I have been here before, with Thomas. I didn’t recognize the place because Thomas came in the back way from the alley, but this is the club that the mob owns. I must get out of here before any of them notice me. What if Thomas is here? I am seconds away from escaping when a girl walks over and holds her hand out to me.