by VR Baucke
“You the police?” The old man barked. His bushy eyebrows drew together as he looked the three of us over. “If you’re here to raid my place, I ain’t got shit. So, do us all a favour and fuck off.”
He moved his arm out from behind the door to discreetly show us a shotgun. “Loaded,” he added and drew himself up to full height; which came level with my chin.
In my impatience, I took a step forward and laid a hand on the doorframe. “Goddammit, we’re not here to plunder the place. You called in about suspicious activity on your neighbour’s property. We need more info.”
His faded blue eyes narrowed at me.
“Please,” I added quickly.
“Come,” he commanded and stepped into my space.
I moved aside to let him shuffle past us, and he gestured around the side of his house before disappearing into the darkness. Acutely aware that he had taken his shotgun with him, I threw a hesitant glance at Mace and Mickey. Mace tilted his head in the unknown direction in silent question while Mickey scowled into the night.
“You boys coming or not?” Old man Jones barked, his voice gritty with age. “I ain’t gonna shoot you, but your dilly-dallying is pissing me off.”
Mace snorted as he made his way around the corner first, thus becoming our sacrificial lamb. Shrugging at Mickey, we both followed and came to stand beside Jones again. The silence drew out as we waited for him to explain what we were doing around the back of his house, at four-thirty in the morning.
“This is where my bathroom is…” Jones indicated behind him then pointed over our shoulders, “...and that is the helicopter hangar that should be dark as the night. Harry is away at an air show, and I know for sure he ain’t back yet.”
Looking in the direction he indicated, I squinted to make out the smallest light in the distance. It wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary unless you knew what to look for.
Mickey turned back to the old man. “That hardly looks like a hangar, Mr Jones. Maybe it’s a security light of a house?”
“Not a chance, lad. Not if I can see it from here. There’s someone up there who shouldn’t be. I would’ve gone up there myself but I’m not as quick as I used to be.” He chuckled to himself and lifted his shotgun to communicate his usual method of self-defence.
Mickey took the lead. “Thank you, Mr Jones. Go back inside and stay there,” he called over his shoulder, already making his way back to the vehicles.
“Wait, you guys ain’t cops, are you?”
“Not directly,” Mace informed him. “They’ll be in contact during the day to tie up loose ends.”
“Fucking cowboys,” Jones mumbled before he slammed the door shut and flicked the lock.
THIRTY-SIX
GAGE
THE GRAVEL ROAD was surprisingly long. It snaked deeper into the countryside as it wove up a large hill, cutting back and forth on itself frequently, taking us higher and higher. At the top of the ascent, the land flattened into a large grassed terrace before the road disappeared again behind another smaller rise. The drive was rough, precarious at times, and stretched on for longer than expected.
I was on the verge of another outburst about how bullshit the hill was when the curved roof of a building became visible.
Mickey glanced at me, his eyes wide and round. “She can hear us,” he whispered.
Adrenaline speared through my veins. My pulse spiked and my hands itched to find her, to make sure she was okay. Then reality hit. We were heading into the unknown. We didn’t know what was waiting for us, and that scared the shit out of me.
Bright, incandescent ceiling lights shone into the early morning light through the high windows. Those must have been the ones we saw from Old Man Jones’ place and he was right; no security light would ever be that bright.
Driving slowly and parking a short distance from the main doors was our only option if we were going to keep the element of surprise. However, if Lil had already heard us, chances are that Jono had as well.
Mickey leaned over to rummage through the glove box, muttering something to himself as he pulled out his nunchucks.
“Just in case.”
“You’ll poke an eye out with those.”
“Trust me, mate, I intend to. Here take this.” He shoved a pistol into my lap. “You know how to use one?”
“Yes,” I snapped, not liking his condescending tone.
With a wry backwards glance at me, he slid from the vehicle and headed towards the tailgate. I joined Mace and Mickey and crouched to talk strategy.
Mace pointed at the two of us. “You two go back, I’ve got front.”
“Bullshit you’ve got front. I’ve got front, you two go back,” I whisper-yelled, jabbing two fingers in the air between them.
“Fine, whatever. But this ain’t Gotham city, shit’s about to get real,” Mace hissed. “Also, I reckon Jono expects you two to turn up, right?” His eyes cut to me. “I’m taking a punt by saying that he’s already sussed out that you and Lil are a thing so that leaves me as a floater, the third wheel he won’t expect.”
Seeing the logic in Mace’s explanation, Mickey nodded then made a move to stand. “Sounds good, but I’m taking front.”
“Like fuck you are,” I growled. “Let’s go.”
I didn’t stick around for more pointless arguing. There was no vegetation to provide shadows to hide in, so I took the straight up approach by jogging for the front doors. Mickey and Mace veered towards the corner of the building. There, after a brief wordless conversation, they disappeared around the side in search of a back door.
I wasn’t surprised to find the large double doors to the hangar locked, so I rounded the corner to continue my search for an entry point along the far wall. There wasn’t a door, but the office window was definitely large enough to fit through. However, the noise of breaking the glass would draw attention to our presence. I deliberated for a few seconds until I heard two male voices yelling inside.
Shielding my face in the crook of my elbow, I smashed out the glass pane with the butt of the pistol Mickey shoved at me. Creating a big enough hole and knocking off the sharp edges, I hauled ass up and over the edge and fell unceremoniously onto the floor.
That was when I heard the worry in Lil’s voice. “Oh my God, Mickey! Jono, please, let him go!”
I was at the doorway in a heartbeat and my blood turned to lead in that same instant.
Lil was taped to a chair near the back corner of the building. My chest ached as I took in her ashen complexion and blood coating her arms, face and perhaps even hair. Her jaw was set strong, yet, she appeared so goddamn broken. Love and hate welled within me as I flicked my eyes between Lil and Jono. Seeing her completely at the mercy of the man brought back all the memories I longed to forget. It also lit a fire within me, and I knew I would die trying to stop history repeating.
My eyes snapped to Mickey, standing stiff with a gun pressed against his temple.
“Oh, I don’t think so, not when I’ve caught the pigeon pair,” Jono snarled and viciously kicked out Mickey’s knees so he had no choice but to land heavily on the concrete floor.
There was no way Mickey would have stood for being easily pushed around without it being a ploy. His nunchucks were hidden somewhere on his body where he could quickly access them. There was no doubt in my mind that he was acting as the decoy to give Mace and I time to get into position. Regardless, I was not okay with him being held at gunpoint to do so.
Jono approached Lil, awkwardly dragging Mickey with him. Picking up a knife from the floor, he casually placed the tip against Lil’s throat while keeping the gun trained on her brother.
“One move and I’ll make a cut there’s no coming back from,” Jono spat.
Where he stood, Jono had his back to me and it made sense to make my move now. After a quick check of the pistol’s safety catch, I was about to slip from the office when I heard, “psst,” from behind me.
Mace’s frame filled the broken window space. I savagely gestured
for him to get in here right-the-fuck-now and follow my lead. Once he had his big ass squeezed through the shattered hole and stopped glaring at me when his shirt got ripped, I made a few frantic hand gestures then slipped into the open expanse of the hangar.
The unmistakable trace of stale cigarette smoke hung in the air—just like I noticed at Lil and Mickey’s house yesterday. Fuck, yesterday seemed like a lifetime ago. It wasn’t that smell that made my stomach curdle though; it was the iron tang of fresh blood mixed with old blood hanging in the air that hit me the hardest. Flashbacks of blood covering my hands, dried and caked into the fibres of my clothes, the smell I couldn’t rid from my nostrils for weeks, tore through my memory before I could halt them.
Forcefully shaking off the unwanted recollection of Lotte’s death, I inched closer to where Jono held the knife to Lil’s throat. I wasn’t going to let her die in my arms like the last love of my life did.
“I know you’re here. Come out, come out wherever you are,” Jono taunted, his sinister voice echoing around the empty hangar.
There was no point in trying to hide, yet I continued my silent approach from behind him. He didn’t flinch, both knowing I was there and expecting me to come at him from this angle.
I jammed the gun into the base of his skull where his spine disappeared into his deranged head. “Don’t move, motherfucker.”
“Well, well, well, I was wondering when you’d show up. You must be the new play thing that my darling Lilianne has acquired. I regret to inform you that your services are no longer needed,” he chuckled like he was loving every fucking minute of his power trip.
In amongst all the ranging emotions coursing through me, it was his use of her full name that sickened me most. I hadn’t heard anyone ever call her that apart from Mickey, once, and she lost her shit at him. Now, I completely understood why.
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up! You don’t know anything about me. And Lil sure as fuck is not your darling.” The words seared over my tongue. “She never deserved a piece of shit like you in the first place.”
Jono’s shoulders stiffened and I caught Lil wince as the knife pressed a little harder against her throat.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Mace’s movement silently inching in our direction. He made sure to remain behind me where Jono wouldn’t spot him. I kept Jono talking to ensure Mace could approach undetected.
“What do you truly want from this? I mean, either way you lose. You won’t walk out of here, and you sure as fuck won’t have the girl at the end of all this,” I growled.
“Like you’ll want her again now that she’s partly butchered. No amount of beauty can hide the fact that she’s damaged goods,” he spat.
The gun trained on Mickey wavered slightly as Jono’s temper heightened. I heard Lil gasp and her fingers squeezed the arm of the chair as the blade breached the skin on her neck. Nausea rolled in my gut again and my nostrils flared as I sucked in deep breaths after I saw the tiniest hint of blood well around the tip.
Mace’s fingertips landed on my left shoulder and broke my thoughts. His touch swept across my shoulder blades to the right, covertly informing me of his position.
“You’ve got two options,” I levelled into Jono’s ear. “The easy way, or the hard way.”
“Fuck you,” he yelled venomously.
Mace tapped a count on my shoulder.
One tap.
Two taps.
I grinned devilishly. “Hard way it is then.”
Three taps.
All hell broke loose.
Mace slammed his elbow into Jono’s extended arm with the gun. From pure reflex, Jono’s finger squeezed on the trigger and the loud crack of a round leaving the chamber was momentarily deafening. As soon as the pistol clattered to the ground Mace kicked the gun across the hangar floor.
Simultaneously, I rammed the butt of my pistol into the back of Jono’s skull and wrenched his arm backwards to break the knife’s connection on Lil’s throat.
Mickey launched himself from kneeling into a barrel roll, drawing the nunchucks from his waistband. I caught the look of pure vengeance in his eyes as he drew them back and slammed the chucks across Jono’s thighs with all his might.
Jono crumpled pitifully to the ground, landing heavily.
Mace’s eyes locked with mine for the briefest of moments before I thrust my pistol at him and snatched the knife off the floor, already standing over Lil, using my body to shield her from the scene behind me.
Mace dragged Jono to his feet then Mickey helped drag his dazed body across the hangar.
Despite working fast to release Lil from her bindings, it wasn’t fucking fast enough for my liking.
The moment she became free, Lil launched herself into my arms. I gathered her against my chest and pulled her tight, hardly giving her space to breathe out of fear she would be ripped from my arms again. Burying my nose in her hair as my hands ran over her body, I became desperate to touch every single part of her all at once to make sure she was okay—all except for her arms. Those needed medical attention right fucking now.
The relief, oh God, the relief of holding her again, and her being alive, consumed my heart and hurt so goddamn bad. The alleviation of my greatest fear made my knees weak. I stumbled and hugged Lil to my body impossibly further, muffling her sobs in my shirt, utterly overwhelmed with gratitude that I hadn’t lost her when I had only just found her.
Mace was beside us, his presence instantly reassuring as always. He murmured to her, telling her it was okay now, as he checked her over.
“Turn her around for me, bro. I need to check her front.”
Without a word from either of us, I gently handled Lil until her back was to my front where Mace could resume his assessment. The hasty movements after Lil became released from the chair caused her arm wounds to re-open and start bleeding again. The ruby trickle made contact with my arms where they wrapped around her waist and chest, and the feel of the thick liquid staining my skin made my world faint. I fought against the light-headedness, yet it became increasingly harder to ignore. I grunted as I sought clarity, choosing to focus on Mace instead of his actions.
Mace met my eyes once he was satisfied Lil had no other obvious injuries. He knew what I had been through with Lotte. Though, he didn’t know the finer details; those I kept locked to myself.
I followed his line of sight when he flicked his eyes downwards. Bile rose in my throat when I realised just how messy Lil and I we were. I turned her in my arms again so she couldn’t see my exchange with Mace. His eyes instantly intensified as I forced myself to swallow down the wave of vomit creeping higher in my throat. He reached for my shoulder, tacitly offering his help. Barely shaking my head, Mace interpreted my meaning and stepped back a pace. Lil needed me. She needed me to be present for her. And, she needed us, collectively.
Occasional grunts were heard from Jono as Mickey dished out his comeuppance. Lil whimpered and clung to my shirt each time a blow landed. I flicked my head towards the main doors and Mace jogged ahead to open one for us. Lil didn’t need to be here—I intended to take her outside and away from the scene. We had almost reached daylight when Jono started running his mouth.
“You bitch! I’ll come back for you and then you’ll wish I’d finished the job I started!”
That was the final straw that broke my last sliver of restraint. Passing Lil into Mace’s awaiting arms, I strode across the hangar and grabbed his scrawny neck.
“You piece of shit. You’ll never touch her again!”
Mickey gave me space as I cocked my arm back and punched Jono in the face as hard as I could. That single punch unleashed everything that was held pent up inside of me. I roared in anger and didn’t stop punching until my entire arm ached from the countless blows I landed on Jono. It was at that point Mickey stepped beside me and murmured three words that immediately melted away my need for revenge.
“She needs you.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
GAGE
MY BA
CK ACHED as I stood upright, tearing my eyes away from the scumbag at my feet and searching out Lil.
One look at her broke my heart all over again.
She sat on the concrete floor, hunched between Mace’s open legs as he assessed her arms. Mickey followed me and stayed standing when I slid to my knees in front of Lil, desperately wanting to touch her, but fearful to lay a hand on her in case it caused her more hurt. She looked too fragile, so depleted, as if one touch might make her disintegrate before my eyes.
Mace eased from behind her and indicated for me to take up his position.
“I’ll get the med kit and ring Dad,” Mickey muttered and strode to where the vehicles were parked with Mace following.
With my legs either side of Lil’s and her weight against my chest, all I wanted to do was protect her and take away her pain. The broken vision of the once vivacious woman repetitively stabbed at my heart. Now that we had found Lil, it was clear that the shock from her ordeal was catching up on her.
Her eyes were reddened and puffy. Her pale face was bruised and swollen, marred with wet tears running down her cheeks. The blood in her hair had become matted and crusty. Her arms—her gorgeous, slender, smooth arms—were now marked with the Devil’s own handy work. The right one was in better condition than the left, though the blood smeared everywhere made it hard to determine the extent of the damage. The amount of lacerations on her left arm made me dizzy. My heart ached for the amount of agony she must be in.
I carefully tilted her face with my palm, wiping away her tears with gentle swipes of my thumb. I wanted nothing more than to kiss her pain away and take it as my own burden so she didn’t have to carry it any longer. Lil’s eyes met mine, and the light that normally shone in them was barely recognisable. I recognised that she was sore and beaten, yet above all else, I saw relief.
“You came for me,” she whispered and closed her eyes to my touch.
“Always. There’s nothing in the world that would have stopped me.”