26. Reaper
26
Reaper
S onny Harris.
Sonny Harris.
Sonny Harris.
No matter how many times I repeat the name, I can’t place it. It sounds familiar, but it’s been too long since I lived in the human world for me to figure it out before I get to the diner.
I hadn’t heard from Kyra in a week, and it was killing me. I guess my brothers were getting tired of hearing me complain, so Viking ordered me to go talk to her. I know her schedule like the back of my hand and knew she’d be at the diner.
The ride on my Harley was helping with my stress, and then my phone vibrated. As soon as I saw her name flash on the screen, I pulled over to answer. It suddenly became too hard to wait the short time I had left before arriving to see her in person.
“I’m coming, Kyra,” I whisper to myself as I push my Harley to her limit. “Just hang on a little longer.”
When Sonny told me I only had ten minutes to get there, I panicked for a moment. And then I reminded myself that the laws of the human world don’t apply to me, not in the long run. If the cops wanna try to pull me over for speeding, I’ll just shoot them. I’ll do anything to get to Kyra in time.
Anything.
The diner comes into view seven minutes later, and sigh with relief. I made it with time to spare, and I didn’t even have to kill anyone to do it.
“Sonny Harris, whoever the fuck you are, you’re a dead man walking,” I vow as I park and get off my bike.
The neon sign isn’t lit up, and the diner is dark. Not bothering to get out the key I still have from when I was working here, I kick the front door open, sending it flying off the hinges and shattering the glass.
“Kyra!” I yell, racing toward the hall where there’s a shaft of light coming from what I assume is her office.
“We’re back here, biker boy,” Sonny calls out.
I grab my gun out of my waistband and flick off the safety. If Sonny isn’t the only one here, if anyone is blocking my path to Kyra, I’ve got a bullet reserved for them.
As soon as I hit the hall, a dark figure steps out of her office, and the knife he’s holding glints in the dim light.
“Never bring a knife to a gun fight,” I snarl as I put two slugs in his chest.
He slumps to the floor, dead as dead can be, and I slowly move forward.
“Kyra, are you okay?” I call.
“She’s fine,” Sonny responds. “But she won’t be if I don’t see your face in two seconds. One,—”
“I’m right here,” I bark, turning to my right so I can see into her office.
A man, Sonny I assume, is holding Kyra up by her throat and has a gun pointed at her head.
“I’d be careful if I were you,” he warns. “I might just get a little twitchy if you take one more step.”
“Let her go,” I demand.
“Why would I do a crazy thing like that?”
The fear in Kyra’s eyes nearly knocks me to my knees. Blinking several times, I remind myself to focus on Sonny, not Kyra. I can’t afford a second of weakness because of my worry for her. I slip, she dies. And that’s not fucking happening on my watch.
“You called me, remember? So, it’s me you want.”
“The gun to her head says otherwise.”
“Just shoot him, Reaper,” Kyra begs. “Shoot him, please.”
“I can’t.” The disappointment in her gaze guts me. “I want to, Kyra. I swear I want to. But not yet. Just trust me, okay?”
“Shut up!” Sonny yells. “I didn’t gather us all here to chit chat. Fuck!”
“Then tell me why you wanted us here,” I suggest, my trigger finger itching to move. “Why did you and your friends come after her that night, and why are you here now? Tell me. I’ll listen.”
“Put your gun down first,” Sonny says.
Every fiber of my being wants to ignore his request, and I’m about to until I hear Odin’s voice in my head.
Do as he says, Reaper.
Ignoring Sonny’s orders is one thing. Ignoring Odin’s is another thing entirely.
You better be right about this.
I am.
Taking my finger off the trigger, I raise my free hand as I lower my gun to the floor. “There,” I say, straightening. “Talk.”
“Sit down,” he says, nodding at one of the chairs.
I don’t take my eyes off of him as I sit. He urges Kyra to sit in the chair behind her desk, forcing us to face each other, and still, he holds the gun to her head.
“We’re going to play a little game of twenty questions,” Sonny says. “I’ll ask the question, and Reaper, if I think you’re lying, she dies.”
“Don’t do this,” Kyra pleads.
“Shut up!” he snarls as he backhands her across the face.
I start to lunge at him, but he shifts his gun and fires. Kyra screams, but I thank Odin that Sonny doesn’t have the best aim. The bullet flies past my head and lodges into the wall behind me.
“Sit. Down.”
Again, I sit. “Fine. I’ll play your game.”
“Why do you think we came the first night and ransacked this place?”
“That’s your question?” I ask, not understanding.
“It is.”
I shrug. “My assumption is that it had something to do with her ex, Jason. But I honestly don’t know.”
“Huh. Well, your assumption was right.”
Kyra whips her head to the side and looks up at him. “Jason is behind this?” she snaps, her anger surging to the surface.
Good. Get mad, babe. Get mad and stay mad. Block out the pain I know you’re feeling in your leg.
“Correction,” Sonny begins. “He was. Sort of. Jason isn’t really the best person to have in your life, ya know?”
“No shit,” Kyra mutters.
“You said sort of,” I interject. “How was he sort of behind it?”
“Didn’t I tell you that I’d ask the questions?”
“You did.”
“Exactly. Fortunately, for her, I’m feeling generous so I’ll give you this one free pass. And to answer your question, Jason owed money to some really bad people. When he didn’t pay up, the boss hired another bad person—the guy you killed that night—to get it one way or another. He hired us,” he says, nodding toward his buddy in the hall. “After doing our homework, we realized that the only way we were gonna get any money from Jason was this place. It wasn’t anything personal. It was a business transaction.”
“Wow,” Kyra breathes. “That’s… I don’t even know.”
“It is what it is, bitch. The world is an ugly place. Might as well get used to it.”
“Okay, fine, so that wasn’t personal. Back to our game.”
“Does the name Sonny Harris really mean nothing to you?”
I wrack my brain again to place the name, but I come up empty. “It sounds familiar,” I say, settling on half of the truth.
“And your name is Craig Binder?”
“Yes,” I snarl, annoyed that he seems to be backtracking.
“Well, Craig Binder…” Without lowering his gun from Kyra’s head, he reaches into his pocket. He tosses a folded-up piece of newspaper at me. “Tell me, how are you sitting in front of me when that report says you’re dead?”
I unfold the newspaper, and my face stares back at me from the image. I read the headline, and it all comes rushing back.
Woman Alive and Harris Jailed Because of Local Hero
“Answer me,” Sonny seethes.
There’s nothing I can say or do that he’ll believe. My hands are tied. I might have saved that woman all those years ago, but I’m not going to be able to save Kyra.
Fuck you, Odin! Fuck you for sending me here and letting me hope.
He doesn’t reply. Shocker.
“I am dead,” I tell Sonny. “I know it doesn’t seem possible, but I lost my life that night.”
“See, that’s what the article says. And that’s what the lawyers and that woman said on the stand during my dad’s trial. He was sentenced to life in prison for killing you. And more time was added for the attempted murder charge.” Sonny’s eyes are wild. “I was only a baby when he was thrown in a cell. He’s rotting in that prison for your death, yet, here you are.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I admit. “Your father killed me, took me away from my own babies.”
“He’s telling you the truth,” Kyra says, and I level my gaze with hers. One corner of her lips tip up. “I’m sorry, Reaper. I’m sorry that I freaked out. But I know you’re a good man, alive or dead.”
“You’re both insane,” Sonny scoffs. “What you’re saying isn’t possible.”
“It doesn’t matter what we tell you,” I say, resigning myself to the fact that this is likely going to go horribly wrong.
“Tell me the truth!” he screams, spittle flying from his mouth. “Tell me you set my father up!”
Lying to him risks Kyra. He made that clear. But maybe he won’t think I’m lying because he believes it’s the truth.
“It’s okay, Reaper,” Kyra says calmly. Too calmly. “You can tell him. Tell him the truth.”
Is she giving me permission to lie, damn the consequences? She has to know that we’re in a lose-lose situation.
She’s giving you permission, Reaper.
It’s Skuld’s voice this time, serene and sweet as usual.
“Please, Reaper,” Kyra says. “Tell Sonny the truth about his father.”
“Yeah, Reaper,” Sonny mocks. “Tell me the truth!”
If it had a beat, my heart would be pounding its way out of my chest. I close my eyes and take several deep breaths before opening them and looking straight at Sonny.
“Take the gun away from her head, and I’ll tell you.”
“That’s not how this works.”
Without looking away from Sonny, I say, “I love you, Kyra.” Another deep breath. “I set your father up that night. I’m not dead. He’s rotting in prison because of a conspiracy against him.”
Bang!