24. Chapter 24
I really didn’t want Dalton to watch me work, but he was fucking insistent. Of course, I understood why he wanted to. I would like to see my revenge play out as well, but this could change our dynamic and not in a good way. Regardless, he left me little choice. This man was going to pay one way or another.
“You trying to get answers out of me is useless,” the man said.
I bent down and picked up his glasses, still on the ground. I cleaned them with my T-shirt before putting them back on his face, needing him to see what was coming.
“Oh, we already know who’s funding this operation, who wants Dalton dead, and who’s all involved in covering up the murder of the girl. We also know they killed the woman who’d sent the video to Dalton here. They, no doubt, are also funding a trafficking ring of girls and boys. Men with too much fucking money and power see themselves as gods, immune from prosecution. Sure, some pay the price. Most do not. Even when they do, they’re forgiven or ignored. And people call us monsters.”
The man scoffed. “As if you’re innocent.”
“I never claimed I was innocent, but I certainly don’t fuck children and murder them… or cover up such things. Those are the kinds of men I enjoy killing. Death is usually just a job for me, but there are times I take great pleasure in it. I’m no saint, and I don’t need forgiveness. I don’t pretend to be something I’m not, unlike them, masquerading as good men. They spend millions on charities to help hide who they really are. In the darkness, they have a hunger to hurt and subjugate others because deep down, they know they are weak.”
The man’s black eyes flashed in fear, blink, and you might miss it, but I didn’t. He knew I was going to make him pay. What I planned to do wasn’t about getting answers. It was about revenge.
I pulled out my phone and dialed the number I had memorized. “Hey, it’s me. We’re going to need a clean-up crew tonight.” I recited the address and hung up.
“I’m not afraid to die,” he hissed.
“Maybe, but you’re afraid of what I’m going to do to you before you gasp your last breath. You can’t hide it from me. I’m incredibly skilled at reading people. ”
I glanced at Easton, who stood behind the man, easily forgotten in his silence. “Would you please demonstrate to our new friend here what it feels like to have a tendon in your hand severed?”
Easton didn’t hesitate as he grabbed the man’s hand tied behind his back and dragged his knife slowly over all the tendons in the man’s fingers.
His face turned red as he bit back his scream, sweat glistening on his forehead as he stared me down. Blood quickly pooled around his feet, soaking into the soil and hay scattered around on the ground.
I clasped my hands behind my back and slowly paced back and forth in front of him. “You see, you hurt the man I love, and that’s unforgivable. You also threatened a five-year-old boy—my lover’s son—and drugged him. Then you had to terrify an innocent family. I mean, I get it. You’re just doing your job, and you had no idea the man you harmed belonged to me. But you also understand I cannot let this slide. You would do the same if the roles were reversed.”
“Having loved ones is a liability,” he said.
I nodded. “True, but still, I protect my own with my life. Everyone who crosses paths with me after threatening one of my own will understand the consequences by the time I’m done with them. Their last dying breath will know how far I will go to make them suffer for daring to harm them.”
With a deep breath, I faced Dalton. “I’m begging you to go back with the Duvalls. Please , Boy Scout. I think you’ve seen enough. ”
He looked back and forth between me and his assailant before his body sagged. “Fine, but only because I need to sit and see Owen.”
Thank fucking god. “Okay, baby. Go rest and have Savannah take a look at your head and hand since she’s a doctor. I’m sure you have a concussion.”
I wrapped an arm around him and pressed my lips to his for a much-too-short kiss. “Go on now. I love you.”
Dalton walked off and closed the barn doors behind him. Once I felt enough time had passed, I turned to face the man who was going to die a horribly painful death.
“I haven’t taught you how to torture yet, East. It’s not generally in my job description. We leave that up to our favorite psychopath. Are you ready for this?”
Easton gave me a curt nod. “Them threatening someone you love is no different from them threatening you. He will pay.”
“Wait!” the man suddenly said, his voice growing in panic. “You know how this works. How was I supposed to know he had a thing with you? It’s just a fucking job!”
“And you know how this works as well. If I let this slide, then suddenly, everyone comes after my guy. I’m not only going to send you a message before you die, but I’m showing anyone else who comes near Dalton that they, too, will die horribly if they even look at him wrong.”
He thrashed in his bonds, but Easton had him tied up well. “I can tell you who hired me.”
“We already know who.”
“Dammit! There’s got to be something I can sell you. At least for a fucking quick death. ”
I thought for a moment before nodding. “Okay. If you can name all the organizations currently hunting for him, I’ll consider it.”
“Well, there’s mine, but we’re…” he glanced around the barn. “Mostly dead now. The Bratva tried and failed. The Cryptics failed. Anarchy Slayers failed. Uhm… The Brotherhood and The District are still looking.”
The Brotherhood had been my previous employer. I knew they were still around because I’d kept track of them, making sure they never changed their minds to come after me. But my own organization was a surprise. Not because they were still after Dalton, but why they hadn’t found him by now.
“Other organizations had found Dalton without the video. Why not our family? Were they holding back, waiting to see what I would l do, or did they lose our trail, or…”
My last question trailed off as I looked at Easton, who shrugged, knowing what I was going to ask. “I may have done some misdirecting.”
That pulled a smile out of me. “Thanks, East.”
I looked back at the man. “Is that it?”
“That’s all I know. There may be others, but those are the only ones we’re aware of. It’s been a damn race to get to him.” He looked at me before craning his neck back to see Easton, but he was too far back. “That’s worth something, right?”
I glanced at Easton. “What do you think?” I’d already made up my mind, but because he was a part of this as much as me, I allowed him to have a say.
He just shrugged indifferently. He didn’t care as long as this man died .
I nodded at the man before looking back at Easton, giving him the signal to kill him.
Easton drove one dagger into the man’s ear before slicing his jugular with the other. It took a few minutes before the man bled out and died.
“He needed some pain, even if it was quick,” Easton said.
“As long as the fucker is dead. The remaining members of his organization will back off now.”
“The Brotherhood is after Dalton,” he reminded me.
Easton was very much aware of my story and what had happened in my past. “I know. My hope is they’ll learn I’m involved and back off.”
“Or we can go home and end this thing. Hit them at the top. No one can pay if they’re all dead. We can also protect you better if The Brotherhood decides to fulfill their contract, anyway. You’re not as safe as you believe with them. They will kill you, too, if it means completing the contract.”
It was certainly a possibility. “We definitely need the family’s help. Now, to make them listen and not kill me. That would be swell.”
I turned around and walked out of the barn with Easton close behind me before I turned to stop him. “Stay outside. You’re covered in blood.”
He looked down at himself and shrugged. “I have things to clean me up and fresh clothes in my car.”
“Okay, do it.”
Easton slinked away into the darkness and headed to his car as I made my way into the house .
I found the kids huddled on the couch together, quietly watching TV but not seemingly focused on it, except for Owen, who was sleeping off the rest of the drugs in his system. They were all still scared. A pang of guilt coursed through me as I passed them and stepped into the kitchen, where I found Dalton sitting at the table with a couple of ice packs on his head and a splint on his finger.
Savannah was bundled up in a thick sweater, staring at the table before looking up at me with fear and sadness. I swallowed thickly as I glanced at Mason, who looked like he was about to explode in a rage before I sat down with them.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked.
Mason gave me a hard stare. “You’re not FBI, are you? I just assumed…”
“I’m not,” I said, but I didn’t elaborate.
“We aren’t safe here,” Savannah whispered as a tear slipped out.
“You are safe.”
“You both said we were,” Mason snapped, pointing a finger at me. “But we weren’t!” He winced and rubbed his temples, no doubt suffering from a headache like Dalton was.
Dalton couldn’t look at them as the guilt consumed him. I knew this had to be killing him.
“Dalton and I did our best to mitigate the risks. But we couldn’t go on the run with a five-year-old. The fact is some bad people want Dalton dead. We’ve been trying to gather all the evidence and details to get this under control while keeping everyone alive. This is huge. It’s explosive. But bringing Owen here had been a good plan. At the end of the day, this case took too long, increasing our risk of exposure. I’m truly sorry it came to this and that you all were threatened, but it’s over now.”
I stood, looked around their cabinets, and found a glass. I filled it with water from the faucet and chugged it down.
“After my… interrogation, there are two organizations left who are hunting us down. By organizations, I mean hired killers. I belong to one of them, and I’m about to put an end to it. I left them to protect Dalton, even though he was on our hit list, and I’ll make sure they stop hunting him and keep you out of it. I used to belong to the other organization, so I’m going to do my best to put a stop to them, as well.”
“How?” Mason asked, unbothered by what I’d just told him, probably because he’d already figured it out. Savannah, on the other hand, inched her way closer to her husband with even more fear on her face. I couldn’t blame her.
“It doesn’t matter how. All you need to know is that everyone else who’s been hired to take out Dalton is done. I will make sure of it. Regardless, you will have my protection for as long as I live. No one will harm you again.”
They didn’t say anything, processing my words and all that had happened.
“Why didn’t the police come?” I asked.
“Th-they made us call them off. Th-they had a gun pointed at…” Savannah glanced at Dalton before looking back at me, assuming she meant Owen. “We had no choice but to say it was a false alarm.”
I stepped up to Dalton and squatted in front of him, pressing my hand to his cheek. “Let’s get Owen and head back to the hotel. Tomorrow, I’m going home to end this once and for all. ”
He looked up wide-eyed and shook his head. “No… they’ll kill you.”
“They won’t.”
“You don’t know that!” He said before wincing from his head injuries.
“There are no guarantees in life, Boy Scout. The only certain thing is how I feel about you.”
Dalton sagged in his chair. “God, why do you say things like that? It feels… so final.”
I pressed my lips to his forehead. The bruises and swelling on his face made me nearly ballistic again, but I had no one left to kill for now. I wanted to go over to those corpses in the garage and fucking mutilate them until they were unrecognizable. I swallowed the rage and pressed my hand to his face. “Go get Owen’s things. I’ll grab him, then we need to go.”
I stood and looked at the Duvalls. “I realize I’m not your favorite person right now, but I’ve got people on the way to… clean up the barn, so you don’t have to. Please don’t go in there or shoot them. They’ll be in and out. By the time they’re done, it’ll be like nothing had happened in there.”
Savannah stood and smoothed out her sweater. “We’ll always know. That’s not something one forgets,” she said to me before stepping up to her friend. “I’ll help you pack up, Dalt.”
When they left, I stood straight, but before I could go off to grab Owen, Mason pulled me aside.
“I have a better grasp of who and what you are. While that’s… disturbing, you saved our lives. Yes, we’re angry you both put us in this position in the first place, risking our children’s lives, but you came through, and for that, I’m grateful. ”
I simply nodded before heading toward the living room. I lifted a sleeping Owen and held him against me. His head rested on my shoulder, barely stirring awake. He was so small and light, a reminder of how vulnerable children could be… how vulnerable I used to be.
Fuck, I had a lot to think about, and Dalton and I had a lot to talk about.
Dalton slowly walked down the stairs, holding Danny the Dino and Owen’s bag. When he reached the last step, he stopped to look at me, holding his son. His dark eyes were filled with worry and stress, but they held something else… love? Perhaps I was projecting because it was something I desperately wanted from him.
Regardless, things were about to change, and I may never get to have that love.