Aftermath (Dividing Line #6)

by Heather Atkinson

  He didn’t reply, concentrating on steering the car around the tight bends, climbing higher and higher, the bright blue water below spreading out in welcome.

  They’re going to throw me off the bloody cliff. No one will know, they’ll think I’m a suicide. Lexie studied the area as they continued up the cliff, hoping to spot a house, a building, anything to indicate there were other people up here, but there was absolutely nothing except grass and birds and the water below.

  “It’s alright Lexie. Take it easy,” Jules told her, patting her hand.

  “Get off me,” she exclaimed, pushing her away.

  Jules’s eyes narrowed. “If you start freaking out I’m going to knock you out.”

  “Behave Jules,” Dane told her, turning in his seat.

  “We’re here,” said Ryan as they turned the last bend and the ground evened out.

  He rolled the car to a halt too close to the edge of the cliff for Lexie’s liking and the others jumped out while she remained sat there, frozen with fear. When the door opened Jules unclipped Lexie’s seatbelt for her then Ryan took her arm and pulled her out.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded. “Just tell me.”

  “You’ll see,” was all he replied, leading her from the car.

  Lexie fully expected to be taken to the edge of the cliff so when he led her onto firmer ground instead her knees weakened with relief and she almost fell. His fingers dug into her skin, getting a better hold so he could drag her across the grass.

  “Will you just answer me?” she screamed at him.

  “Why don’t you ask him?” said Ryan, coming to a halt.

  Lexie thought she might throw up when she saw the blue BMW waiting for them. The door opened and, just as she’d expected, Cole got out. He was a good looking man, slender with short black hair, pointed cheekbones and blue eyes that smiled, but he was also short, no taller than Lexie herself, which made Jules snigger.

  “No, no, please, you can’t give me to him,” she cried, turning pleading eyes on Ryan.

  He looked down at her, his expression cold and pitiless. “You brought this shit to our door. Rachel was almost kidnapped and they got into our home. You knew trouble would follow you here and you didn’t even have the decency to warn us. This is what you get for betraying us.”

  “Betrayal, me? You’re the betrayer, you bastard.”

  “Here you go Cole,” he said, dragging her forwards. “I’m sick of her.” She tripped and fell, landing on all fours at his feet.

  “Darling,” Cole smiled down at her. “There you are. I’ve been so worried.” He looked back over his shoulder at his three stooges. “Search them.”

  Jules grinned broadly when she saw his henchmen all sported cuts and bruises from their last encounter, the one she’d stabbed in the knees limping badly and leaning on a cane. “That looks nasty boys. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before picking on women.”

  “How’s the shoulder?” Stevie retorted. “That must have hurt.”

  “It did and it really turned me on.”

  While Stevie looked puzzled Ryan rolled his eyes. “Enough Jules. This is serious.” He turned his attention back to Cole and held up his arms. “We’ve nothing to hide.”

  The skinny guy and goatee checked Dane and Ryan while Stevie took Jules. She continued to smile at him sweetly as he ran his hands down her sides and over her waist, following the curves of her body.

  “Oy Hitler, you missed the best bit,” she said, thrusting her breasts into his face.

  “You’re a fucking nutcase,” grumbled the man, rubbing a finger across his moustache. “Take off the jacket. I remember what you had strapped to your arms last time we met.”

  She shrugged out of it, letting it slip to the ground and stood before him in black vest and jeans. “See, nothing,” she said, indicating her bare arms.

  His eyes settled on the dressing taped to her shoulder and smiled viciously. “That’s got to hurt,” he said, before pressing his thumb into the wound.

  To his surprise her head fell back and she released a loud, sexual moan. Shocked, he retreated a few steps. Jules raised her head and laughed, the sound low and wicked.

  “Stevie, no,” called Cole when he drew back his fist to punch her, annoyed at being made to look a fool.

  “Go on boy. Heel,” she smirked.

  The look he gave her was murderous but he did as he was told.

  “Jules, settle down,” said Ryan. He turned back to face Cole. “Are we good?”

  He looked to his three henchmen, who all nodded.

  “They’re clean,” said Stevie.

  “Yes we are Mr Law. Now don’t cry my darling,” said Cole, helping Lexie to her feet. “You know I love you. Why are you so frightened of me?”

  She just stared back at him with horror-filled eyes.

  “You took something from me Lexie. Where is it?”

  “What did she take?” said Ryan.

  “Four hundred thousand pounds.”

  Ryan glared at her. “You kept that to yourself too. No wonder he’s been chasing you.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just about the cash. She’s my snuggle bunny, aren’t you Lexie?” he said, nuzzling her cheek with his nose, making her cringe. His hand went around her throat, shaking with the effort of restraining himself from strangling her. “And what am I?”

  “My cuddly bear,” she whispered, a single fat tear dropping from her long eyelashes and rolling down her cheek.

  “That’s right. Don’t forget it again.” He looked back at Ryan. “Why are you giving her up so freely?”

  “Because I want you and your men to fuck off and leave us alone.”

  “I’ve done some digging, I know who you are. I’d expected more of a fight.”

  “I’m not interested in fighting anymore, especially not for her. She is nothing to me.”

  “Heartless. I respect that,” he smiled. “Come along dear, I’ve got us booked on the next flight back to Spain. First class of course. Only the best for my snuggle bunny.”

  Lexie looked back over her shoulder at Ryan as she was gently encouraged towards the car. “You can’t do this to me, please. What will Riley say?”

  “He won’t even know. You were never here. Get her out of here will you Cole?” he said before walking away, Jules and Dane following.

  “Certainly. Come on my dear, let’s go home. It’s fortunate you like our villa so much because you’re never leaving it again.”

  She screamed, fighting in his arms. “Ryan, don’t do this, I’m begging you. Think of our dad.” Her eyes widened with hope when he hesitated and turned to look back at her over his shoulder.

  “He’s dead,” he told her before continuing on his way.

  “No,” she screamed when Cole tried to force her into the car. “Please.”

  Her cries were silenced when something warm and sticky splattered across her face. In his surprise Cole released her and she sank to the ground, frantically wiping the mess off her face, panicking when she realised it was blood. A knife stuck out of the side of Stevie’s neck, who was gurgling, tongue lolling from his mouth, eyes wide, fingers attempting to pull out the weapon but unable to function properly, the digits snapping open and closed uselessly. From behind Cole she could see something glittering in Jules’s hand then a second knife embedded itself in Stevie’s right carotid artery with perfect precision and he finally fell.

  Before the other two could react, Dane threw himself at the skinny man, who was knocked over like a twig in a hurricane. A punch to the throat followed by a rock in the temple quickly finished him off. Ryan wrestled with the man with the goatee. He snaked his arm around the man’s neck and Lexie’s mouth filled with vomit when Ryan gave a sharp tug and she heard Goatee’s neck snap. He turned to look at her, still gripping goatee man’s head, his glare almost feral, as though he was deciding whether to break her neck too. She held her breath, able only to hear the frantic pounding of her heart as she swallowed the vom
it back down, unable to tear her eyes from Ryan’s, which contained all the fury of a wild beast. When she released a small whimper and scurried back from him he shook himself out of it and got to his feet.

  Finally Lexie could appreciate what was happening. They weren’t giving her back to Cole, this was all a set-up. It was an empowering realisation. She kicked Cole’s legs out from under him as he tried to jump into the car and he fell, landing face down in the driver’s seat, legs sticking out. Lexie leapt up, took a firm grip of the door and slammed it shut repeatedly on his head as hard as she could. “I hate you, you silly short arsed little bastard,” she screamed.

  “Alright, take it easy,” Ryan told her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back. “We’ll sort him out.”

  He took a firm hold of her shoulders and steered her back to the car. As she passed Dane she saw him grip Cole’s head and twist. For the second time she heard someone’s neck snap. She didn’t look back.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, going weak, falling sideways into Ryan.

  He caught her and held her firm as he guided her back to the car, placing her in the front passenger seat.

  “I thought…I thought…you….I…” She couldn’t talk, the words choking her as she started to sob violently and shake.

  “It’s okay, take it easy. The adrenaline’s wearing off and shock’s setting in.”

  His gentle, sympathetic tone made her cry harder.

  “Sorry to scare you like that but we couldn’t tell you, it had to be convincing or Cole would have known it was a set-up,” he explained.

  “I…I understand. Thank you, thank you.”

  He straightened up. “Jules will take you back to the house. Me and Dane will sort everything out.”

  “Okay,” she said, wiping her eyes, determined not to disintegrate completely, at least not until she was alone.

  Ryan shut her door while Jules jumped into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

  “Alright baby girl?” she said cheerfully, lighting up a cigarette before turning the car around and heading back down the cliff.

  “I…I don’t know,” she gasped through her tears.

  “Here, clean yourself up,” said Jules, tossing her a tissue.

  “How did you…the knives…where…” she said as she scrubbed at her face with the tissue, desperate to get the still warm blood off her but not wanting to look at it.

  “I’d taped them to the soles of my boots. All that messing around with Stevie distracted him from doing a really thorough search. Fucking amateur,” she said contemptuously, the cigarette bobbing up and down between her lips as she talked.

  “You killed him,” she hiccoughed.

  “I did. Or would you rather we let them take you back to Spain? There was no in between.”

  “I know…I’m not saying I’m not grateful…” It was difficult for her to speak. Her heart raced and she couldn’t catch her breath.

  “Put your head between your legs and take deep breaths,” Jules told her, stroking her back with her free hand. “You’re obviously not used to scenes like that.”

  “No, I’m not,” she groaned, resting her head in her hands, wondering why she was feeling like this. She should be delighted. Cole was dead and he could never hurt her again, but the tears wouldn’t stop. They streamed down her face, she could taste them on her lips, the saltiness making her gag. Her hands shook and her stomach rolled over.

  “Take it easy. We’ll be back at the house soon.”

  Lexie wondered how Jules could be so calm when she’d just killed someone. There was only one explamation. It wasn’t her first time.

  “He’s dead…he’s dead,” she whispered over and over, rocking in her seat.

  “It’s okay baby girl,” said Jules in a curiously sensitive way Lexie hadn’t thought her capable of. Too shocked and exhausted to protest, she let her use the nickname she so loathed.

  CHAPTER 27

  “I take it everything went according to plan?” said Rachel when Jules entered the kitchen via the garage, supporting a tearful Lexie.

  “It went like clockwork but she’s a bit shocked.”

  “Sit down,” said Rachel, steering Lexie into a chair. “I brought this just in case, I thought you might need it.”

  Rachel produced a bottle of brandy and poured out a glass for her and Jules. “Ryan and Dane?” she asked Jules as she poured.

  “Mopping up the leftovers.”

  “Leftovers,” murmured Lexie. The smell of the brandy Rachel put before her was the final straw for her churning stomach. “I’m going to throw up,” she said, racing upstairs, a hand clamped to her mouth.

  “She’s a newbie to all this,” said Jules, plonking herself down at the table and taking a swig of brandy.

  “Thanks for doing that for us. We appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome. It was easy. Fucking amateurs.”

  “Yes, well, I’ll check on Lexie,” said Rachel, leaving Jules under Battler and Bruiser’s watchful eyes. She headed upstairs and followed the sound of sobbing to the bathroom. The door swung open beneath her touch to reveal Lexie crumpled in a heap at the base of the toilet, her head resting on the seat.

  Rachel crouched beside her and placed a reassuring hand on her arm. “That must have been a shock for you. I’m sorry but there was no other way. Cole wouldn’t have stopped until he had you.”

  Lexie raised her tear-streaked face, lower lip trembling. “They killed four people right in front of me.”

  “It’s a shock, isn’t it? You’ll never forget it, it will always be with you.”

  “I want to pull it out of my brain.”

  “I understand that urge but it’s impossible. You’ll think about it, brood over it, even have nightmares but one day you will learn to cope and it will start to fade. It’ll never go completely but at least you’ll be able to live with it. They were bad men Lexie, they would have mown down all of us to get to you. They were the ones who put themselves in that position, we were only defending ourselves.”

  “You’re preaching to the converted but I’m not used to all this. When I was younger I saw Dad attack someone in his office at home, beat him so badly there was blood everywhere but it wasn’t as bad as that. Even Cole executing that man in our own home wasn’t as horrible. A big bang, a spray of blood and it was over. It was Jules with her knives that was the worst. And I let her touch me.” She closed her eyes and shuddered. “She threw knives into Stevie’s neck. He tried to take one of them out but he couldn’t move his hand properly and the noise he made…” She blanched and retched into the toilet, but nothing came up. Releasing a sigh she leaned back against the cool tiles. “I’m sad Cole’s gone. Why? He was evil and I hated him.”

  Rachel thought of Alex, as usual experiencing both heartache and a violent hatred. “At the end of the day you had a relationship, you used to be close, before he turned psycho. You miss the good days.” As she spoke her fingers unconsciously strayed to the black lace choker around her neck.

  “You sound like you’re talking from experience.”

  “I am. Don’t ask me for any details because I won’t tell you but that’s why you feel so sad. You’re mourning the good times.”

  “When I can think straight I’ll probably realise you’re right. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

  “It’s over now.”

  “Cole had business acquaintances. What if they come looking for him?”

  “Then we’ll bury them too.”

  The determination and coldness in Rachel’s black eyes scared Lexie and she pressed herself back against the wall, drawing her knees into her chest to make herself as small as possible.

  “You might not like it but this is what we do to stay alive,” Rachel told her. Ryan had spent a long time convincing her this was the right thing to do. When she’d overheard him on the phone to Cole she’d assumed he was going to hand Lexie over to him. Even when he’d calmed her down and explained his plan sh
e’d still thought keeping Lexie in the dark cruel, but as usual he’d been right. They were safe. She would not be so weak again. “Them or us Lexie. What would you do?” she snarled. Rachel shook herself out of it, forcing her expression to soften. “Come on, you can’t sit here all day. Have a lie down, you’ll feel much better.”

  Lexie allowed Rachel to help her to her feet although the feel of her hands touching her made her sick. Those hands had done terrible things, just like Ryan’s, Jules’s, all of them. What a fucking family. “I wish Riley was here,” she croaked.

  “Do you think things would have turned out any differently if he had been? Do you think he would have reasoned with Cole and they would have shaken hands and Cole would have happily gone back to Spain alone?”

  “No,” she pouted, sinking onto the bed.

  “It would still have ended the same way.” Rachel was starting to get annoyed with her. They’d risked everything to help her and it still wasn’t good enough. What did the dizzy cow want?

  “Yes, you’re probably right,” Lexie hastily replied, sensing her irritation. “I just need some sleep, I’m sure I’ll feel much better.”

  Rachel’s frown smoothed itself out into a smile. “Course you will. Call me if you need anything,” she said before getting up and leaving.

  Lexie curled into the foetal position, her arms locked around her knees, shivering. She didn’t think she’d ever sleep again.

  “How is she?” said Jules when Rachel returned downstairs.

  “Not good.”

  “Want me to go upstairs and comfort her?” she said with a wiggle of the eyebrows.

  “I think it’s best if she’s left alone for a while.”

  “Shame. I suppose you’re wondering about us two…”

  “It’s none of my business and I really don’t want to know.”

  “They know all about it, don’t you boys?” she grinned, leaning back in her chair, clasping her hands behind her head and nodding at Battler and Bruiser. “They walked in on us. I think they enjoyed the show.”

  “Will you please give it a rest?” sighed Bruiser. “You’re getting on my tits.”