Life Begins

by Taki James

  His underling perked up. “Can I shoot her? I’m the one that has been tortured from the moment I met her.” He pulled out his own gun and silencer.

  “He’s the one that shot the boy,” Srecko said, even though he had to know that Žarko didn’t care about the details.

  “Then I suppose it’s only fair that you finish the job.” Žarko put his own equipment away and stepped aside for Danijel to precede him. The three men climbed the stairs, not bothering to hide their heavy steps. Even the girl must have noticed because she stopped throwing things about and began to yell.

  “You are so dead when I get out of here. Do you know who I run with? Real thugs, not you wannabe mafia idiots.” She kept yelling nonsensical things about her boyfriends and their guns. It was all so trivial, the thoughts of these small minded criminals. Just because a boy had a gun did not make him a man. You didn’t use a weapon to gain respect. Fear made people retaliate.

  No, this girl would have to die just for her stupidity alone. Danijel threw open the bedroom door, scaring the chick, no matter her words. This girl, Žarko had to sneer, may have had the appearance of Josie, considering her skin was just as dark, and her figure was luscious and perfect for handling. But, this girl would never turn his eye like his wife did in her daily life. For one thing, he didn’t do false hair, or glittery tight clothing. Those were things for whores, not respectable women.

  “Get the fuck out of my room,” she said on a snarl. “You’re going to have to shell out some real money if you want to get a piece of this.”

  Žarko looked the girl up and down, clearly not impressed by anything he saw. “She is not pretty at all,” he said in Serbian. He didn’t get it. “Why would any man have to pay money for that?”

  Srecko shrugged. “Why does any many want a low quality hooker?”

  “Just tell me that I can do away with her, please,” Danijel practically begged.

  Žarko held off for just a moment. In English, he asked. “What will it take for you not to run to the police about what you saw in little hood boy’s death?”

  She buffed up her chest. “You can’t afford this. I only protect real niggahs.”

  Žarko nodded. “Fine.” He turned to leave the room. “Finish her.” The body had dropped before his foot touched the first stair. Calmly, he made his way down the staircase and outside where he lit up a cigarette.

  “What do you want us to do with the body?”Srecko asked.

  Žarko allowed the taste of nicotine to soothe him as he thought. “Cremate her. Then bury the ashes. I don’t want the slightest chance of anyone finding her.” Danijel had joined them outside to hear this last bit.

  “I can take her to my cousin. He owns a funeral place.”

  Srecko was already shaking his head. “That’s not discrete enough. We need something that doesn’t require taking the body back to the city.”

  A regular fire wasn’t going to work, not even with an accelerant. They would need to really be creative. “Take out the bullet so as to leave no evidence. Build an old fashioned kiln and make sure the body is inside it. There’s probably going to be bones and stuff left, but just make sure that you bury them very well away from anything owned by the organization.”

  “You got it, boss.” And Danijel returned to the building to complete Žarko’s orders. Srecko went with, leaving him to enjoy his cigarette and the lovely view of country land. He wanted to raise his family in a place like this. Not in a city with only buildings for comfort.

  “I’m going to have to work on Josie,” he determined. Maybe by the next year, they could relocate somewhere that suited the whole family. Srecko and Nenad could handle the Chicago branch of the organization. He was starting to really want something else.

  He pulled out his phone and began doing an internet search. All he needed was a home with a view, and he was pretty sure that he could sell Josie on it. If he could get her out of the country before the birth of the new baby, that would be much better. He kind of wanted all of his children to have Serbian citizenship.

  “Do you want me to take you back to the house now?” Srecko asked on his way out the door.

  Žarko responded in the negative. “We need to make sure that this is done correctly. Josie will be fine with Nenad at the house.” It would also help a bit with his plan of making Gary think that his plan was working. He tossed his phone back into his pocket. “Call Djordje. I know that he has the right kind of equipment for this.”

  “You don’t think it’s going to take too long? I heard that he moved to Evanston.”

  Žarko shrugged. “We’ve got time.” Especially as he wanted it done right. Srecko did as he requested. It took the whole night, from the moment Djordje arrived, to the moment the last of the girl’s bones turned into ash and were finally buried deep into the earth. He was exhausted on the ride home and so were his people, making it almost necessary for them to stay at a motel overnight. But, no one really wanted that, preferring to spend the night in their own beds, with their own wives and girls.

  Srecko managed to drop Žarko off at his house just as the sun was coming up. Nenad was already awake and opening the door for him. The younger man took one look at his face and determined, “I’ll just stick around until you’re fully awake.”

  Žarko simply nodded before heading off to his bed, but not before checking on all of his children. Baby Juljiana, naturally was awake and staring at her hanging mobile, so he picked her up to take into the room with him. It was close to time for Josie to awaken anyway. He stayed awake just long enough for Josie to roll over and notice him at her side.

  She sat up, reaching for the baby at the same time. “You’re just getting back?”

  “Da,” he answered as he got dressed to lay down. “The situation was a little complicated.”

  He felt her eyes on him, but did not allow that to bother him. He climbed into bed, rolling so that his back was to the window against the back wall of the room. Having Josie and the baby there relaxed him enough that he fell asleep quickly.

  He awoke in the afternoon, to the feel of Josif bouncing on his back. His little boy flopped against him, allowing his small head to rest on top of his father’s. Žarko couldn’t move without harming the boy and so had to wait for his son to decide that he was ready to get off him.

  Slight footsteps, ones he assumed were from his wife entered just as he was deciding to risk waking Josif from his chosen napping spot. “Good grief,” he heard Josie muttered. He felt the weight lifting from him, finally allowing him to roll over.

  Josie sent him a quick smile as she left to settle her son in his own bed. While he was alone, Žarko left his bed to finish his waking process by taking a shower. The cooler water soothed the last of the sleep from him and gave him the sense of being rejuvenated.

  Even better was the feel of his wife slipping her naked body against his back. “You were gone all night,” she said.

  “We talked about this when I came in.”

  He felt her kiss against the middle of his back. “I know, but now we are both awake to be able to talk about it.” He turned to watch her pull a wash cloth from the top of the stall and putting soap into it so that she could wash his back. She applied pressure that helped to relieve a little bit of the tension that he felt left over from the previous day. “I’m not going to ask what you did, but I just want to tell you that I felt very uncomfortable with you gone. I’m really starting not to like that feeling.”

  He didn’t blame her. “I know. Is not something that can be fixed right now, but is something that I am working on.”

  He felt and heard the sound of her deep sigh. “I’m not giving you criticism. I’ve been dealing with it and I appreciate that you’re making sure that this doesn’t affect me negatively. All I ask is that you tell me if there’s a reason for me to be so afraid and warn me when you aren’t coming home at night. It would just be nice to know.”

  He turned so that he could wrap her in his arms. His little sweet wife really d
id make his life better. “I will always make sure that you are safe.”

  She watched his eyes for a moment, before finally nodding. “Okay. I will continue to trust you. And I will try my best not to worry. I still don’t like the idea of you being gone the whole night, but I’ll accept that you’ll have to send me a text if you aren’t going to come back.” She poked him in the chest. “And I mean it. You don’t come back during the night, I expect you to send me a text. I like Nenad and all, but he doesn’t give me the same feeling of safety that you do.”

  He had to kiss his wife for that one. He moved her until her back pressed against the cold wall and commenced to awaken her body to his desire. It was a much better way to celebrate the children taking a nap.

  Chapter 26

  Gary hadn’t heard a word from his friendly neighborhood thug and could only assume that the man was too chicken shit to do something. That’s what he got for trying to trust a lowlife in the first place. He should have just gone with his first mind and had done the job himself.

  All he needed was the address. He couldn’t ask Josie’s mother because the bitch was upset after everything that happened during the court case. He could have told the stupid tramp in the first place that Josie wouldn’t have been happy to have her own mother turn on her. But, what did Josie expect when she wasn’t thinking rationally in all of this?

  His cell phone rang, the song letting him know that it was his lawyer calling. Gary almost did not answer, but changed his mind shortly thereafter. “Hello.”

  “You’ll never believe what just arrived on my desk?” his lawyer said in answer.

  “What?”

  There was the sound of papers rustling. “Information on your girl’s new man. Apparently, someone wants to make sure that this man doesn’t live a happy life.”

  Gary perked up at that. “What kind of information are we talking about?” Was there an address? Something he desperately needed if he were going to make sure that he had Josie back in his arms. Hell, he if just had the man’s job information that would be more than enough for him to make sure that he had everything go as he planned.

  His lawyer didn’t seem to share the same level of excitement. “It looks like there’s an address. When I looked it up, it appeared to be a home address. There are also a few things on him that are business related. I have to tell you, Gary. No wonder your girl isn’t leaving him. This guy is loaded, like seriously loaded.” Which is why he had no problems paying for Josie’s hospital bills or even for the lawyer that he had been required to pay for.

  Fuck. A rich guy just couldn’t go missing without the whole world asking questions. On the other hand, a rich guy would most likely give his wife access to all of his cash. Done correctly, Gary figured he could make it work for him and come out on top of the money game.

  As soon as he got rid of the children. He was not sharing a dime with anyone other than himself. “I’ll be right there to pick up the papers. If someone wants my help taking this guy down, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

  His lawyer made a strange sound before he finally said, “I would just leave it alone if I were you. Something about this man gives me the chills. He has the eyes of a killer.”

  Gary laughed. “Are you high? He has the eyes of a killer,” he mimicked the tone of his lawyer’s voice. “He’s just a regular man with more money than he knows what to do with. Besides, I’m only interested in getting Josie to understand what she’s been missing.”

  There was a long pause, and Gary could feel the waves of discontent from his lawyer. It didn’t matter anyway, because he was going to do things his way. Once he killed Josie’s new man and made sure that she paid for even trying to leave him, he was going to use the guy’s money to get out of town. Maybe head to the Bahamas or something where the weather was always nice. Josie would look really good in a bikini.

  “Have the documents ready for me when I get there. I want to make sure that I don’t waste my time more than necessary.”

  “Fine, but if something happens, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “I’m telling you. Nothing is going to happen.”

  “Mommy, Julji stinks,” Josif yelled out from the family den.

  Josie sighed, but left the kitchen to get her daughter. With the pregnancy, she was tired, actually beyond tired. She just wanted to rest, but with little Mr. early detection, she had no choice but to be on her game. She found her son, almost in the baby’s face while she played in her “office” seat. Baby Juljiana, loved the attention, and spent her time vacillating between grabbing at her stationary rattles and reaching for her brother’s face.

  Nenad, unfortunately for him, was nowhere in sight. Josie bit back a curse, before reaching down for her daughter. Josif was right. Baby Juljiana had made a huge stink bomb in her diaper. “Oh, baby girl,” Josie said on a groan. The response she got was a cute smile and a giggle. She couldn’t help but to kiss her daughter’s cheek before looking down at her son. “Come on, you. Let’s go change your sister’s diaper.

  Her son pouted, but one strong look from her, and he followed her up the stairs and into the nursery. The change came quick, for the sake of Josie’s sensitive stomach. Josif passed her the wipes, more than she needed, but she would never stop him from being helpful. She had just finished redressing Juljiana when the doorbell rang.

  Josie waited, thinking that Nenad would get the door, but when the bell rang twice more, she got annoyed. “Where in the world is that boy?” she asked quietly.

  “What boy?”

  Josie shook her head. “None of your business, baby boy.” She guided him back to the stairs, really upset with the person that had turned into an asshole. Did they have to lean on the bell because poor Josif had to hold his hands over his ears and she did the same to her daughter?

  She wanted to throw open the door and begin cursing out the “guest,” but she wasn’t going to do that with her kids with her. Instead, she peered out of the side window, finding Gary standing there with a shotgun in his hand. Josie didn’t bother to figure out anything else. She grabbed hold of her son, tightened the one that she had on her daughter, and bolted back up the stairs and into her bedroom, making sure that she closed and locked it behind her. She rushed her son into the bathroom, setting Juljiana in the tub with her son.

  In the bedroom, she grabbed her charging cellphone and then felt under the bed for where she remembered Žarko putting his gun. Her hands touched empty space. “No. Oh, God, no. Where the hell did he put it?” She tried sliding under the bed as much as possible, but finding nothing, was forced to run back into the bathroom with her kids. Good thing she did, because she began hearing the sound of banging coming from below, causing Juljiana to begin crying.

  She locked that door as well, climbing into the tub with the children. She gathered her daughter into her lap, hoping to shush her, even as she tried quieting Josif’s voice. In between all of this, her mind raced as to what she needed to do next.

  She could call the police. Most likely she should have, but something kept telling her that she needed to call her husband. So that’s what she did. Crying as soon as his voice reached her.

  “Josie. What is wrong?”

  “It’s Gary,” she said. “He’s trying to break into the house with a gun.”

  The pure menace that seemed to float through the airwaves of the phone surprised even her. It made her question whether she had actually made the right decision. Maybe it would be better to call the police and get them involved.

  “Where are you?”

  “In the bathroom, she whispered. “In our bedroom. Please tell me you’re close.” The sound of banging came closer, letting her know that he’d made it to the bedroom. “He’s at the bedroom door.”

  “I’m pulling up to the house now,” he said, and she could have almost passed out at the relief of knowing that he was here. The banging at the bedroom paused, as if Gary had either heard something, or had changed his mind about what he was going
to do.

  Josie waited, both children pressed against her sides. The only thing she heard was a gunshot. She screamed, not even noticing how scared her children were in their tears. She climbed out the tub, searching for a weapon of some kind, hoping and praying like hell that Gary hadn’t shot her husband. She didn’t know what she would do if something happened to him.

  She eased her way to the door, leaning against it to try to hear something. Her phone rang, scaring the hell out of her, before she answered, hearing her husband’s ring tone. “Open the door, Josie.”

  She scrabbled for the first lock, not being able to calm her shaking enough to get the door to open. Renewed banging came from the bedroom door, louder than that what Gary had done, so she knew that Žarko, at least, planned to obliterate the door if he had to.

  Finally, her door opened and Žarko was there to hold her tight. Josif climbed out of the tub himself to wrap his little arms around his father. Then, because Juljiana made a noise in the kitchen, her husband let her go long enough to pick him up and then moved to retrieve Juljiana before she hurt herself in the hard tub trying to get out.

  Josie stood there, watching him, more like assessing him to make sure that there was absolutely no damage done to him. “You’re okay?” she asked him.

  He guided his family to the bed, where they could all rest comfortably. Josie couldn’t help reaching for him when it looked as if he were about to leave them. Žarko allowed it, perhaps knowing that she needed the extra comfort. With his free hand, he picked her the nearest phone and dialed 911, reporting the events as they happened.

  It didn’t take the police and ambulance long to arrive on the scene. Josie worried about Žarko being arrested for murder, especially when she was separated from him to be questioned. Someone tried to take her children, which caused her a massive amount of panic.

  Jason refused to be separated from his father, so she had no idea how that questioning went. She only knew that she wanted the eyes of people that she trusted to be on her children at all times. And at the moment, the only people she trusted were herself and her husband.