Killer Rayne

by Alanna J Faison

  Zara begins to pace back and forth. “Hmm, it could work. When I worked as an assassin, I used to use other criminals like rapists and murderers to do my job for me. I’d glamour them, have them kill my mark and then they’d be caught at the scene of the crime and dealt with by the human courts, case closed.”

  “Brilliant,” Jaxson states.

  We’re all equally impressed at Zara’s scheming. She kept her hands absolutely clean of it and rid the world of scum too. No trace back to the client either. I work it out in my head as Selene speaks again.

  “So, we’ll find a big time trafficker, make him take the fall. Glamour him into a confession. They have to say that you were in witness protection this whole time if they want this bust. We’ll figure it out.” Selene sounds desperate.

  “Pierce is a half demon with powers of suggestion. He can get them to write up a plausible statement. This could work, especially if you have something to offer that will be worth their while. I can get a name of a trafficker no problem. We can shut down a whole slave operation as well,” Zara agrees.

  Jaxson grunts in agreement, as his phone rings. “Work it out,” he demands as he takes the call out of the room.

  “What will we say about Jason? Why would this trafficker target him and the family?” Damien asks.

  “We’ll work it out,” I snap. It’s too risky to give the government these defenses. At least not at this time, not when Namen may start a war sooner because of a threat that he sees.

  I’m not going to jail and nobody’s reputation is getting destroyed either.

  “D, I love you like a brother. I appreciate what you tried to do for me, but you aren’t up to date with the situation. I had wanted to keep you out of this, but now I know that you’re not going to have any of that. Still, I need you to work behind the scenes. I need you and Tamara to figure out what other humans are in league with Namen. I don’t know how, but if the police are in his pocket, then surely there are other influential people riding on his team. I need names and occupations. They will need to be taught a lesson too. Tamara, have you ever killed anyone?”

  “No,” she responds suspiciously, squinting her brown eyes.

  “Well, if you’re on our side, that day will come,” Selene finishes for me.

  “Why don’t you take the night to sleep on it. Decide if you’re really about that life,” I suggest with a raised eyebrow.

  She gives me a look that says that she’s not used to other women ordering her around, especially not younger women. “Understood,” she replies.

  “Good. Now, I look forward to our sparring session in the future,” I tell her honestly.

  That is, if any of us are still alive.

  ◊◊◊

  Zara leaves the room just as Jaxson re-enters. She’s getting ready to touch base with Pierce to see if he thinks that he can pull off this ambitious move.

  Jaxson tells us that his wolves found a stray lamia tonight on the streets that they killed. He also says that Phillip and Chris have come up with the beginnings of a plan. We will discuss that after I meet with Zara’s grandmother of doom.

  Finally, Tamara switches on the news. CNN has plenty of speculation, analysts going over my case, psychologists weighing in on my mental state, and replays of me getting out of the police car in cuffs and me leaving covered in Pierce’s jacket.

  Pierce did make a statement after I left. He kept it vague while sounding extremely confident that this case will come to a conclusion sooner rather than later and that all questions will be answered. After I watch again as I get pulled out of the police car, Damien goes out to see what the word with Zara is. He’ll be making a call one way or the other tonight too. I’m just ready to crash now.

  This is all utter bullshit. Namen is a scheming, conniving bastard and he’ll pay for this. Now, the news will be flooded all over again with my family’s murders and I will be forced to continue to relive that pain. There will be questions every time I’m in public, old friends will try to get in touch. Without thinking I punch the wall and my hand goes through it. I blink back a tear before it falls from my frustration.

  Warm, soft arms envelope me. The scent of citrus fills my nose as a loving kiss is planted on my cheek. “You’re not going through this alone, Rayne. It’s going to be okay meu amor,” Selene whispers softly.

  She tickles my ear with her breath as she chants a calming spell. I turn around so that I’m facing her. Her soft breasts rub against mine and I embrace her. “I know. I don’t deserve it, but thank you.”

  “Yes, you have been an ass lately, but with all the problems we’re facing, I’m ready to let it go to the back burner. We’re going to figure this thing out with my brother and I’m going to forgive you and Zara for trying to kill him. Besides, Namen is the focus of my rage as well. He’s manipulating my family too. He’s trying to gain me like a prize. Who knows what else he’s been involved in. It frightens me to think about it, merda.”

  “I know. He’s not going to take anyone else away from me and he’s not going to tear any of us apart.”

  “We will get him out of your head,” Selene promises, placing a kiss on my forehead.

  “Okay, I believe you. And I know that even though you are going to try to forgive me, it’s going to take time to build again. I have faith in us because you’re where I wanna be.”

  “Oh, I am still mad, but I don’t want to even think about life without you. I’m invested in us,” she responds. “But, it’ll have to wait. There are much bigger things to worry about.”

  “Okay.” I smile.

  “Let’s get the official story in order and then we’ll go visit your family’s graves. I’m sure there will be reporters there and it’ll help your image. I also think that it’s time for you to reconsider looking into your father’s company.”

  I nod. We’re going to need access to these weapons and I might need to step up to shut down some things that may hinder us in the upcoming battles as necessary. The company was supposed to be mine to begin with. I will have to make my way to the top, even if I have to have Zara glamour people to do it. Just as I’m thinking, Jaxson comes inside.

  “Believe it or not, I actually still have a job, so I have to handle that. You let me know if anything changes. I’ll send someone if you need them. You are my second, you are pack.”

  “Thanks Jaxson,” I say as I hug him, smelling the scent of rain and grass.

  When I start, I’m going to put him on the payroll, at least until this is all sorted out. He needs to be able to focus without worrying about clocking in. He can be my personal body guard on paper.

  Next, Zara and Damien both come back into the room and get my attention.

  “What’s up?”

  “Tonight, Selene and I will be hunting down Julio Escobar. He’s a drug kingpin that also sells young boys and girls to the highest bidder. One of my contacts told me that he is leaving Chicago right now and is traveling on the road. We are going to meet him. Apparently, he never really leaves Mexico, but there was a special sale that he was required to oversee, the rape of his ex-girlfriend was sold to the highest bidder as well as the subsequent execution. I thought you’d approve of this one.”

  “Damn right. Too bad you and Selene will get to have all the fun with him. Please make him hurt for me. What will I be doing?”

  “Pierce is coming here and you will prep for your four p.m. press conference. The U.S. Marshalls agreed to my terms. They’ve been looking for this son of a bitch for twenty years. He’s gotten off twice already from mistrial and missing witnesses, but I assured my contact there that they’d have all they need as long as they pull some strings with the other agencies. They even promised to make the police force here look like a joke. As for your whereabouts this past year, every Marshall will be getting a Christmas bonus to overlook it. I have a hacker on the inside that is creating a paper trail to say that your fake death was authorized as well as placement in witness protection,” Zara smirks. She obviously had to call i
n favors that she’s been sitting on. I’m sure this was not how she wanted to cash in.

  Damien hands me a coffee that I didn’t even know he was holding. “Looks like you’re in for a long night.”

  I grab it and pull it to my chest, like a lover, inhaling the rich fumes. It tingles my nose as it provides just a sliver of comfort. “So it seems.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Carefully, I replay the scenario in my head, hoping this all adds up, yet there are still pieces missing and I’m not comfortable with all the issues just yet. There are too many holes to be filled and I curse Namen’s name once again for slowing us down in this way. He’s fighting a psychological battle and he wants me to break. But why? That question will have to wait.

  “Zara, how did you get all that done? This all seems too easy. I don’t know what to think right now because you just seem to happen to know all the right people at the right time,” I say hoping I don’t come off as sounding suspicious.

  “Well, first, my wealth exceeds your own simply because I’ve had hundreds of years to accumulate it. When you’ve been in the business of killing, you tend to make large sums of money, especially when you’re good at it. That’s something you should know. Your father’s company specializes in weapons and weapons are used to kill. It is the primary reason why you father got so rich so fast. Second, the clients that you take tend to do two things: predict how much you will make and tell a friend.”

  “What does that mean?” Selene asks.

  Zara smiles devilishly. It’s the look of a sadist that enjoys delivering pain. “Politicians, famous people, those hoping to climb the social ladder tend to need extra help in doing so, in winning, in grasping the spotlight. Many times, they can’t do it on their own. Shady deals go down, people flex their muscles. I get called. They pay. They pay for discretion. They pay to make things look accidental. They pay for me to not take a hit out on them later on down the line. And ‘sometimes,’ I tend to remember things that I’ve done, ‘sometimes’ I keep records just in case, ‘sometimes’ I can make people’s lives a living hell just for the fuck of it.”

  “You’re a bitch,” Damien says as he shakes his head.

  “Of course I am,” she responds, flashing fang. “Now, as for this particular individual in the agency, let’s just say that he accidently leaked government secrets to a woman that was posing as an escort. She was actually selling those secrets to another government. Because he didn’t want her traced back to him or the fact that he was dumb enough to fuck up on a national security issue, he needed me to handle it. That’s all you need to know.”

  “Wow. I don’t even know what to say. I’m sorry if you enjoyed having him under your thumb. Now I’ve ruined it.”

  “Oh, no worries. Secrets are as valuable as jewels and trust me, I have more than a treasure chest of them.”

  “What did you mean about my father making money off of killing?”

  “Damien, would you like to handle this one or shall I?”

  “No, you go ahead. I like how you tell stories.”

  Selene rolls her eyes.

  “Now. Your father’s name had come up several times for potential hits when he was younger and inexperienced in the business. Oh, he was ruthless in his dealings, but he didn’t know how to play the game the way the big boys liked to play. By the way, I do my research thoroughly on all my potential marks, part of the reason why I was the best, being able to glamour information out of people doesn’t hurt either,” she brags.

  “Would you just get on with it?”

  “Okay, okay. Now, your father had already had a nice sum of money when he started the business thanks to-,”

  “Dealing drugs when he was a teenager. I know that, everybody knows that. A true rags to riches story and the reason why he had to join the military. Grandma and grandpa put all his clothes and stuff outside and told him to do something better with his life or never see them again. The media loved that about him.”

  “Right. So, he had already been a business man and like any true entrepreneur, he invested. He saved a lot and hid the money with people he could trust. His boys he ran with did their jobs well and flipped that money three times over. Isn’t that right Damien?”

  “Yes. We ran the neighborhood. We pushed weight, and we did so very well. Catering to those rich white boys up the way too. They were our biggest clients and they liked to talk. Jason learned a lot about their family’s businesses, how to manipulate them, so when he came back, money was already stacked. He took care of me and we took care of them. He now had discipline, the brains to get things done, and was a war vet.”

  “Your father was well versed in the ways of the streets and he took that with him when he went into business. He knew about weapons and he knew that the illusion of security was something that people clung to. In the very beginning, he wasn’t selective on who he sold to, he just wanted to make enough profit so he could push other people out of the way. Damien, you should tell her how he did it.”

  “Alright, fine,” he sighs. “First, you should know that he got all of us off the streets and gave us jobs. Think about it. A group of young black men that people only saw as thugs were turning businesses upside down. We did what we did, but after, we were able to clean those same streets up. We gave security systems and cameras to all the stores and houses around where we grew up. We did a lot of good there. We went to college and we paid for many kids from the neighborhood to go too.”

  “I know, D, you don’t have to explain, just tell me what I need to know,” I say.

  “Alright, so, there was another company that we were competing against. They pretty much had the monopoly on security systems at the time. Jason employed some really intelligent boys that were in trouble for hacking. He paid their bail, for their lawyers, and hired them. Slowly, we installed bugs and viruses into their security systems causing them to malfunction. It was a slow process, but after five years, they went bankrupt. There was no trace. More brilliant people began to become employed and we repeated the process. People lost their jobs, their livelihoods, and some of them committed suicide.”

  “Wow,” says Selene. “There’s plenty blood on all of our hands it seems.”

  “Yeah, well, we justified it by saying that they would do the same if they were in our position. We hired some of their people, made them sign confidentiality statements. We hired misfits, people who never would have had the chance to succeed otherwise, and if we stepped on a few to get to the top, oh well.”

  “So, plenty of people had already wanted daddy dead. He played the game his own way, and more often than not, did things that were against the law.”

  “He had his own code. There was a method for everything he did. Your father was a good man,” Damien says passionately.

  Zara ignores him and continues, “Then, there was the second side to the business, the supernatural research side. The experiments-,”

  “Those didn’t last long! It was a mistake,” Damien growls.

  We all turn to Damien, waiting for him to continue.

  “For about six months, we attempted to kidnap and experiment on awakeneds. We needed their blood for research, needed to study them in a controlled setting. Zara put an end to that.”

  She crosses her arms and I look at their exchange.

  “Explain. Now,” I demand.

  “Oh, I took that hit. That’s when I did my research and I even pretended to be a kidnap victim. Damien came in and talked to me, asked me if I considered myself a bad person. There was no file on me that they could find and all of the other prisoners were guilty of some type of human offense that they felt justified their capture.”

  “Always judging by human standards,” Selene says, surprising me.

  I’ve never heard her separate herself from us like that. I can tell that she’s still pissed about the weapons. My father is not really being cast in a favorable light and I can see now why it would be believable that a drug kingpin wanted revenge on my family. I can�
�t believe how oblivious my parents kept us.

  “So, I know that you have somewhere to be, just tell me why you didn’t kill them then,” I say.

  “Because Damien and Jason both knew what they doing were doing was wrong and they both were finding a way to make it up to all the people they kidnapped. Even if they didn’t agree with the things they had done, they knew treating anyone like a lab rat was not moral. When I escaped, I followed them and listened to their conversation. Because of that, I let them live. I felt that if they were willing to give them a second chance, they earned one too. I destroyed all the equipment and left a warning for them, but I left them in one piece,” Zara says matter-of-factly.

  “I get it. My father was not an honest man. Story done. Go get the bastard that is going down for all of this so that we can get on with our lives. It’s what my dad would approve of, it’s what he’d do,” I laugh.

  My daddy had been my hero for so long that I’m not too enthused about the destruction of his character, the way I’ve imagined him since I can remember. I walk out of the room to go to the bathroom so that I can splash water on my face. They don’t follow me as I search the hallways until I find it.

  My eyes look tired, hollow. I search them for the innocent Rayne that I was lifetimes ago. Nope, not home.

  Fuck this.

  I’m not throwing myself any more pity parties. I know what I know and now it’s time to move on. I have a job to do.

  Kill the man that changed my life forever.

  That is, after we pull off the scam of the decade. Blackmail, lies, secrets, and more. Cable t.v. drama at its finest.

  Chapter Twenty

  My witch and my vampire take their leave once again going on a mission to save my ass. I really hope that this time together brings them just a little bit closer to an understanding. I owe both of them more than I can repay and all I want for now is for them to be able to be friends. It’s my fault that Selene really doesn’t trust Zara now, but we all need each other.