57. Daisy
“Ihave a bad feeling about this,” I said as the Beasts loaded Benji with a couple of duffel bags.
The sun was setting behind the trees, the heat of the July day giving way to the only slightly cooler evening air. It felt ominous, like an omen of things to come, which was dumb. The sun was just setting, like it did every day of the week.
“Don’t,” Wolf said, dropping a kiss on my forehead and slamming Benji’s hatch.
“Maybe we should wait— ”
“We’re not waiting.” Jace’s voice was firm. “Monday is the day he plays racquetball.”
Otis rubbed my arms. “It’s the only standing appointment on his schedule.”
“We’re not waiting another week, princess. We’re just not.”
I knew they were right. Another week meant seven more days for Calvin to come after us. Seven more chances for someone to snatch one of us or run us off the road.
Or worse.
My dad would find another lackey eventually, someone else to do his dirty work, but it would take time. Calvin had been his right-hand man since I’d been a kid. He trusted Calvin, as evidenced by the fact that he’d gotten Calvin to commit kidnapping and attempted murder for him.
“How will you do it?” I asked.
Jace stared at me. “You sure you want to know?”
“It’s not something you can un-know,” Wolf said.
He was right. Once I knew how they were going to kill Calvin, I’d know forever.
But I didn’t want to be like my dad, having someone else do all my dirty work. I wasn’t experienced enough at this… whatever this was, to grab and kill Calvin myself, but purposefully avoiding the details would be cowardly.
It would also give the Beasts another secret to keep, and they’d done enough of that. I didn’t want secrets between us anymore, and I didn’t want them to feel like they had to protect me from everything that wasn’t rainbows and unicorns.
“I want to know,” I said.
“First we’ll play with him a little,” Otis said. “Try to get him to tell us who Mr. X is, explain some of the shit we’ve found in his data. Wolf will probably do that with his knife.”
It was hard to imagine Wolf, gentle Wolf who touched me so tenderly, who always made sure I had what I needed, torturing somebody.
But I’d said I wanted to know. “And then?”
“Then we’ll kill him,” Wolf said. “It’ll be either fast or slow, depending on what he tells us.”
“After that, we’ll split him up,” Jace said.
My stomach turned. “What does that mean?”
“It’s not smart to bury a body whole,” Wolf said. “Too big, too many identifying markers in one place.”
I felt like I might be sick, but I forced myself to hold it down. “You’ll… cut him up?”
“Into a hundred pieces.” Jace sounded like he was going to enjoy it. “Give or take.”
“We’ll bury him around the county,” Otis said matter-of-factly. “That way it’ll be less likely he’ll ever be found.”
“Then we’ll wipe his car, leave his keys, make it look like he walked off,” Wolf said. “People disappear like that all the time.”
I forced myself to inhale, exhale, repeat.
I was going to be an accessory to a murder.
I wasn’t worried about the Beasts getting caught. They were smarter than that. I was the one who’d fucked up their plan with Blake by picking up the knife they’d used to kill him.
If not for that, Blake’s murder would probably have gone unsolved.
But Wolf was right, I couldn’t un-know this.
At the same time, the facts hadn’t changed: Calvin had kidnapped me, and he’d been involved in the kidnapping of other girls too. The messages on his phone were cryptic enough to keep him from being convicted if it was ever submitted as evidence, but not so cryptic that the Beasts couldn’t identify the topic of conversation.
Even Aloha — who they’d mostly kept in the dark — had seen it. That was why he’d alerted the Beasts to the mentions of the Velvet Rope.
“You okay, doll?” Otis’ voice shook me from my panic attack.
I nodded. “I’m fine. Just… be careful.”
It said a lot about how twisted I’d become — about how far I’d fallen into the topsy-turvy world of the men who’d killed my brother — that I was more worried about something happening to them than what they were about to do to someone else.
“It’s all good,” Otis said, opening the door to climb in Benji’s back seat.
“Don’t worry.” Wolf bent down to kiss me. “We’ll be back by morning. Keep the doors locked and the security system armed.”
“I will.”
He pulled away reluctantly, then walked to Benji’s driver’s side, leaving me standing alone with Jace.
“Text or call if you see any fucking thing on the camera,” Jace said.
“I will.” I’d be safe at the house while they were gone. Calvin had been the biggest threat against me, and it wasn’t like he was coming for me tonight. I was still worried about my dad’s veiled threat to commit me to Oak Hill, but he wasn’t going to break into the house and fuck with me.
That was why he’d had Calvin.
Jace stepped closer and slid his hands into my hair. He tilted my face up and lowered his forehead to mine. His green eyes burned.
We were connected by a million things — a million moments — and none of them needed to be spoken.
I see you.
He didn’t have to say it. I knew it was true.
He stepped away. “See you in the morning, princess.”
I walked backwards as Wolf started the car and turned it around in the driveway. I watched as they drove away, suddenly feeling like my whole life was in the car driven by Wolf.
Then I closed myself in the house, armed the alarm, and prepared to wait.