“Dead.” I point to the phone. “That’s how I got that. Souvenir.”
“I’M GOING TO FUCKING DESTROY YOU,” Taylor lunges at me.
I grab him by the throat and squeeze, just shy of killing him. “What do you want me to do with him?” I ask Frank.
“Hold him, and give me a knife,” he gets up from his chair. “You thought you could steal from me?” Coming round to stand next to us, he holds out his hand. I place a clean blade in his hand. Then step back.
“Frank, it wasn’t like that,” Taylor stammers.
I move to the door.
“After everything I did for you,” Castillo plunges the knife into the guys’ stomach.
Taylor lets out a blood curdling wail.
I open the door. “Get everyone out. Leave, get the guys out. Things are gonna get bad.” His eyes dart from mine, to the crack in the door trying to see what’s happening inside. I quirk an eyebrow at him. “You want some of this?”
“No, man,” he runs out the door.
I close the door with a soft click, and turn back to the horror show behind me. Frank’s gutted Taylor, and is still slicing, ripping the man to shreds.
“FUCKING TRAITOR, YOU AND YOUR FILTHY SON.”
I lean against the door with my arms crossed in front of my chest watching Castillo mutilate Taylor. “He’s dead, Castillo.”
“Hijo de gran puta!” he yells as he shoves the blade into the corpse one more time.
“There’s one more thing,” I don’t even know if he can hear me, the rage coursing through his body might be the only sound he hears.
I know how he feels. It’s been all I could do wait for this moment.
“Frank!” I raise my voice. He pauses with his hand poised above what remains of the man’s chest. “I’ve got a question for you.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he’s breathing heavily, his entire front is covered in blood, there’s a crazed look in his eyes. It’s who he really is, the sick monster he covers beneath his expensive suits and impeccable hair.
“A question,” I push off the door, but don’t step closer. “Why this place?”
The question has been nagging me, it’s the one thing I couldn’t figure out an answer to.
He turns his body sideways so he can see me better. “Money, of course,” he shrugs flippantly. It’s worth millions.” Some sense of clarity has returned to his eyes. I’ve never seen anyone as crazy as Castillo, how he can so unaffectedly go from bludgeoning a man to death one second, then talk business in the same breath.
I try to keep calm; I hold on to the whisper bare vestiges of control just barely keeping me in control. The rage that’s roaring inside me is demanding I destroy this man slowly, make him suffer for all the agony he’s caused in his miserable life.
He almost ruined an innocent woman, he killed a man and his son, murdered so many other innocent people, for what? Filthy money.
I reach behind my back inside my jacket. Frank stands to his full height at the same moment, the knife I gave him still clutched in his hand.
“Jo told me about the loan,” he starts to rush at me, that demon back in his eyes.
Clutching the machete strapped to my back, the same one I butchered Cesar with, I let it fly across the room. It makes contact with the hand Castillo is holding the knife with. They both fall to the ground at the same time, his dismembered hand thumps on the floor as the machete bounces. He screams and pulls the stump to his chest, blood shooting from the end in thick squirts as he falls to his knees.
“YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD.”
He scrambles to grab the knife from his dismembered fist. I take two strides and kick him in the face, knocking him backward, but not before he plunges it into my leg. I crush a foot onto his forearm, the pressure making the red flow like a river over him. “You killed him, Jo’s father. Because he wouldn’t give up the place.” I’m seething, rage emanating from me
He laughs, it’s deranged and psychotic. “The whore’s been paying a loan off that was paid before her piece of shit father died!”
Fury like I’ve never known before floods every single cell of my body. The images of Jo’s expression flash through my mind every time I pushed her about him, the initials he carved into skin, the pain and fear I saw in her eyes because of this monster all crash down on me.
I grab the knife. “I’ve got to get a souvenir for Jo, I’m sure you understand.”
I kick him back and tower over his flailing frame, then lower myself. He’s writhing wildly beneath me like a snake with its head cut off, spewing his blood all over me and covering my front. It doesn’t matter. When I touch the tip of the knife to his chest, my eyes locked with his, for the first time, and maybe the only time in his life, there’s fear in them. Staring into their black depths, I place both my hands on the top of the hilt, and press with my entire weight down on the blade. Slowly, so perfectly slowly, the knife pushes through skin, muscle, tendons, and bone. I watch every single thing he’s feeling in his eyes as his screams feed the demon inside me. He’s howling with dark satisfaction, the sweet taste of revenge easing his lust for vengeance. Sitting back, I grab the handle, and saw a circle in his chest until I can reach in and pull out Castillo’s evil heart. He’s still alive when I rip it from his body, the thing still beating in my hand. When I stand over him, I watch as he takes his last breath.
I walk out of that office for the last time with the devil’s heart in my hands.
The bar is empty. There isn’t a soul in sight when I walk through, it’s eerily quiet except for the hum of the speakers where they were left on with no music playing. Out in the parking lot, the only vehicle that remains is the white van. As I step across the dry dirt parking lot leaving a trail of blood as I go, three doors open on the van. Dave steps out, then Niles, and finally Jo. My steps feel heavy, my breathing labored. None of them move, their eyes wide filled with all kinds of emotions. I don’t blame them, I’m sure I look like Castillo had when he was mutilating Taylor. A heinous murder scene covered in its aftermath.
The Reaper has gotten what he came for.
Stopping in front of Jo, I drop Castillo’s heart at her feet. “It’s finished.” Her eyes slowly lower to the macabre gift I brought her.
A sliver of apprehension flashes through the haze in my head, the need for destruction and revenge, the need to make things right. For her.
She doesn’t move. She doesn’t utter a sound. Her body is transfixed, frozen and staring at the gruesome evidence of what it is I am.
A killer.
CHAPTER 28
Jo
I can’t stop the tremors that rack my body.
There’s a human heart laying on the ground at my feet.
Hawk carved out Frank’s heart and brought it to me. He’s covered in his blood from head to foot.
I watched him kill a man.
I was almost sold as a sex slave.
I shot Bo.
Oh my God!
I can’t stop shaking, my teeth are clattering so hard, but I can’t stop.
A hand lands on my shoulder.
“Jo, are you okay?” It’s Niles.
I don’t answer. I can’t stop staring at the bloodied body part on the ground.
No one moves or says anything else.
“What did he say?” My question is barely audible.
A moment of silence passes. Maybe he didn’t hear me.
“What?” Hawk asks me quietly.
I slowly raise my face so I’m looking into his. His expression would seem hard and cold to anyone else, but I see something else.
“What did he say? When you killed him, what did he tell you?” I ask again.
I see the muscle in his jaw clench. He doesn’t want to answer. “Jo…he’s dead. It’s over.”
“TELL ME. I have a right to know!”
His lips tighten as he fights with himself. It’s bad, it’s got to bad, worse than I could have imagined. But what could be worse than what he p
ut me through when he was alive?
He’s dead, he can’t hurt me anymore.
“Goddammit!” Hawk shakes his head. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But it doesn’t matter, do you understand? None of it matters anymore.”
I know what I saw in his eyes. He’s pleading with me to believe him, to not allow Frank to control me any longer. He’s gone, this whole thing is finished. Hawk ended the hell I’ve been living in.
“Tell me.”
My body is strung tight, there’s a ringing in my ears, and I can almost feel the ground rumbling beneath my feet, the first tremors of the earthquake Hawk’s words are sure to set off. The sirens and chaos are off in the distance, but it feels like it’s all clamoring inside my chest.
“Fuck,” Hawk rasps as he raises his eyes to look upward. Like he’s looking for strength, seeking absolution, praying for salvation. He takes a deep inhale of breath, then lets it out slowly. Then his unforgiving eyes meet mine. “He killed your father.”
There’s a loud crack somewhere in the recesses of my psyche, and it splinters straight through my heart. A choking sound escapes me, but I remain standing.
Hawk’s eyes never leave mine, like their holding me steady, demanding that I stay strong. There’s more, I can see it in his expression, in the hard line of his mouth holding it in.
“What else,” I barely choke out.
“Jo…,” his expression falters as all the pain he’s trying to save me from shows itself.
“TELL ME.”
Hawk takes another heavy breath, but he doesn’t reach out to hold me, he doesn’t take my hand to try and soothe me, he doesn’t give me gentle words to lessen the blow. That’s not what I need, and he knows it. This isn’t a fairy tale, and I’m not some princess he saved. This is hell and the devil is dead. All of his crimes are being revealed. I’ve survived this long, I have to get through this.
“Your father paid off the loan before he died, Jo.” Hawk’s words are soft, but the meaning couldn’t be any more devastating.
“Noooo,” I sob as my knees buckle beneath me. My body gives way to the weight of Hawk’s crushing words, threatening to destroy me and annihilate my resolve. I can practically hear Frank’s psychotic laughter even in death. I gasp for breath, my vision swims in front of me, and it seems like Frank is clutching me and dragging me to hell with him. “NO, NO, NO,” I sob as I crumble from Frank’s final blow.
Strong arms catch me before I land on the ground with the devil’s heart, as if beckoning me to the grave with him. “Jo, no, do not give him that power over you!” Hawk pulls me to him. His arms are coated in blood, covering me in the thick red.
I grip Hawk’s forearms, and my hands glide along the hard muscles. Gathering myself up, I stand and separate myself from him, his hands still holding my waist. I lift my hands to look at my palms. Red.
Frank’s blood…
Hawk doesn’t move, but he’s watching me intently, waiting for me to do something.
“He’s dead,” I whisper as I turn my hands over, studying them, letting the reality of everything that has happened sink in.
“Yeah, baby, he’s dead. It’s over. You’re free.”
The slight catch in Hawk’s voice captures my attention, it was almost nonexistent, but it was there.
Clutching Hawk’s arms again, “You did this…for me.” I know I’m going to cry, I can feel my throat tightening and the tears beginning to pool clouding my vision.
His grip tightens on my waist, wanting to pull me closer, or keep me from running away. “I did. I’d do it a million times, Jo.”
I fall against him, and he wraps his arms around me, so tight, I don’t think he’s ever going to let me go.
I don’t ever want him to.
He kisses me with desperation, with a ferocity he’s never shown me before. It’s demanding and possessive. It’s filled with so much need and longing, the same need I have for him.
I need him. I’ve always needed him. I never allowed myself to admit it because I’ve been surviving for so long, fighting for five long years, afraid to trust anyone, afraid that the only person I’ve ever trusted had betrayed me and sold me to the devil.
Hawk did free me, but from so much more than I ever knew. He not only gave me back my life, but my family as well. He gave me power, and trust, and truth. He killed the devil for me, and I love him so much more for it.
“Darling,” I hear Niles clear his throat, “I hate to break up the party, but we’ve got company.”
Headlights get closer and are coming straight toward us.
Oh my God, we’re covered in blood, and there’s a human heart on the ground!
Panic floods me as I push Hawk away. “We’ve got to get out of here! And throw that,” I point to Frank’s body part, “in the Gulf.”
Hawk grips my hand as the car comes to a stop directly in front of us. We can’t hide, the parking lot is empty, except for my car, but it’s around the corner of the building. There’s nowhere for us to go.
“I love y’all, but I’m not going to prison for you, baby cakes,” Niles mumbles behind me.
Dave snorts a laugh.
I’m almost in full blown freak out mode, caught like a deer in headlights staring at the car like it’s a torpedo about to blow us to smithereens. I tug frantically on Hawk’s hand, but I can’t get him to budge. His grip is so tight, even with the slickness coating our skin, I can’t break free.
“Hawk,” I gasp.
“I love y’all, but we need to go,” I can hear the building apprehension in Nile’s voice.
“It’s okay. It’s my boss,” there’s a hint of humor in his voice.
That gets my attention. “Your…boss?”
A man is approaching us, backlit by the headlights of the car. I can’t make him out, but I can tell he’s wearing a suit, he’s tall, and his strides are confident.
“Is it done?” he asks when he’s a few feet away.
“Yeah, Castillo and the chief of police are inside.” Hawk answers without skipping a beat, like this is normal.
My body tenses, every nerve ending electrified as if I were just hit with a thousand bolts of electricity. Is he crazy? He just told him there are two dead men in there!
“Good.” The stranger comments casually. Like this is fucking normal!
I shake my head, not believing what I’m hearing. “Excuse me, but who are you?”
The man takes a step toward me. I take one back, this is all too incomprehensible for me to grasp. “I’m Dominic Fellini. You must Joe’s daughter, JoEllen.”
Dumbstruck, that is the only way to describe what I’m feeling. “Yes,” I mumble automatically.
“Jo, this is my boss. He’s the reason I’m down here.”
I turn to look at Hawk with what must be utter confusion etched on my face.
“Somebody needs to tell us what is going on here, because I am not going to jail,” Niles repeats, cutting through the bizarre bullshit happening here.
Hawk slides an arm around my waist, instantly grounding me. “No one is going to jail. This is Dominic Fellini, director of the organization I work for. I came to find out what was going on in Gulfport.”
I can see the smirk lift the corner of Fellini’s mouth. He’s a handsome man, impeccably dressed, with an air about him, something that warns you, very similar to Hawk, he’s polished but dangerous where Hawk is raw and deadly. I narrow my eyes at him trying to get a better look at him. Something about him seems familiar.
“I was a friend of your fathers, we served together in the military,” Dominic answers my unasked question. “I asked Hawk to come here as a favor to me, off the record. The organization would have…frowned on my involvement.” He gives me a smirk. “I knew your mother, too, you look just like her.”
My heart seizes in my chest. I knew I recognized him. “You were at their wedding; I saw the pictures.”
“Yes, I was.” He takes a long breath. “It’s time for you to go,” he reaches inside his jacket
pocket and pulls out some envelopes, then holds them out for Hawk. “There are two hotel keys, the address is in the packet. Your plane leaves tomorrow evening, itineraries and necessary documents are included.”
“Thanks. And, you might want to get rid of that,” Hawk thumbs over his shoulder to the organ on the ground. “Unless you want it, baby. I can have it prepared, if you’d like,” Hawk grins with a wicked smirk.
My eyes bounce from Dominic to Hawk.
“Jesus, am I going to have to torch the place, Hawk?” Dominic shakes his head.
“NO!” I plead.
Dominic eyes me intently. I can’t bear the thought of my bar, my father’s legacy, being reduced to a pile of ash, despite everything that has happened. I can’t allow that. After a moment, he replies. “I’ll have it cleaned up. It’ll be better than new when you get back in a month.”
Wait.
What?!
“Excuse me?”
“All of you have to leave. I suppose Hawk hasn’t had a chance to explain. You’ll be gone for a month. Fiji, I hope you don’t mind. I’ve arranged accommodations for all of you in a village that is tourist friendly, but has all the amenities of a five-star hotel. I’ll let Hawk know when things have calmed down, and all of the loose ends have been tied up. He’ll fill you in.”
My head is spinning with all the information that has just been thrust upon me, I’m trying to catch up. The night has been a two-hundred mile an hour rollercoaster ride, and I can’t seem to slow down.
“Girl, Fiji!” Niles exclaims excitedly behind me. “Your man can cut shit up anytime he wants if it means we get to go to Fiji.”
Good God, no more.
Another vehicle pulls in beside Dominic’s. “Here’s your transport. You have to leave now.” Dominic turns to Hawk. “Thanks. I owe you one.”
Hawk shakes his head. “No you don’t. This one’s on me.”
Dominic’s eyes shift to meet mine and studies me a moment. Then he nods in understanding.
I smile at him. It feels good, I feel…better. “Thank you,” I whisper. Because I know he sent Hawk here for my parents. To save me.
“Your father was a good man, Jo. I was lucky to call him a friend.” I can feel the tears streaming down my face unchecked. “Now get out of here, or you’ll be here all night, and all day tomorrow. You’ll miss your flight.”
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