Chapter 50
C assie
I launched at Moniqua, throwing my fist into the wacko woman’s face with a crack of knuckles meeting cheekbone. Moniqua screamed and whirled around, her knife arm extended.
I tossed a savage grin at Riordan to tell him I had her, no trouble.
I wanted this kill all to myself.
She slashed out at me, her snarl all the funnier from the blood oozing from her split lip, like her lipstick was melting off. Moments ago, I’d listened in to their conversation, out of sight, and texted updates to my brothers and to Arran and Shade.
I’d told Arran to stand down the hunt. We had the killer. The mayor, too.
He’d replied to say they were close by and would join us. Which meant I needed to wrap this up quickly or risk someone else stepping in on my fun.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” she spat.
“Yeah, well, call me the messiah, come to hand ye your arse.” I roundhouse kicked her.
The knife flew from her hands and clattered from the road into scrubby undergrowth.
Moniqua started after it, but I snatched a handful of her hair and swung her around.
“Ye trampled on other women on your climb to the top. Ye killed good people. The world needs more of them, not less, ye miserable fucking cunt.”
With a shove, I tackled her off the path and onto the short patch of wasteland. She swung for me, but I kicked her in the gut, leaving a muddy boot print on her wraparound dress.
“Bitch,” she snapped.
“I’ve been called worse.”
I swiped out her leg. Moniqua crumpled like a house of cards.
She stumbled down the bank that led to the river path. There was no barrier. Nothing between us and the raging river that boiled on its rush back out to sea, the tide having turned.
Shite. I didn’t want her to fall in and drown. Not without me getting to her first.
Luckily, she found her balance and righted herself. “I’ll kill you.”
I let my crazy show. “Good luck with that.”
From its sheath, I extracted my new favourite weapon. Moniqua stared at the bejewelled dagger, the pretty stone flashing in the light.
I held it up. “Like it? My boyfriend bought it as a birthday present. Oh, wait. It’s not my birthday anymore. It’s Halloween. Bye, ghoul.”
Launching at her, I brought the blade down in an arc, embedding it in the centre of her chest, right at the opening of her dress. She dropped to the muddy ground, her hands fluttering at the site of her injury, and her eyes so wide the whites looked obscene.
I wasn’t done yet. “Ye never had anyone fight back, did ye? Cherry was a gentle soul, from what Genevieve told me. Alisha was, too. Ye either drugged or surprised Amelia and Natasha. Yet one on one with me, and you’re scrabbling on the ground in your death throes.”
Moniqua let out a hysterical sob. “Get it out. Get it out!”
I rolled my eyes and stood over her. “Don’t make this awkward. You’re dead anyway. But fuck am I letting ye take my present with ye. So just this once, I’ll oblige.”
Like with Lonnie, a boot to her torso freed my blade, and I examined it to make sure it wasn’t damaged. On the path, Deadwater’s murderer curled up around herself, shaking, bleeding, and making some fucking weird sounds.
A handful of her hair yanked her face back to me. I took my blade to her throat. “As vengeance for the four women you killed and for Dixie who survived your bullshit, I claim your life.”
Confusion marred her face, but it changed to horror when I opened her throat.
Her body jerked. Blood ebbed into the mud. At last, she went still, and I breathed out then kicked her into the river.
It took her. Rushed to accept her then rolled her down deep with her curled fingers the last thing I saw as she disappeared in the turmoil.
Kneeling, I rinsed my blade of her blood.
It was done. After everything, we’d unmasked the killer and delivered justice. I could tell Dixie that I’d avenged her. I’d made sure to reference each woman so she met her end with their names in her head.
All of that because she wanted a job.
The shite people pulled to get ahead.
My brain got stuck in processing all that happened, and in a numb state, I trudged back up the short slope that had kept us out of sight, expecting to see Riordan waiting at the top. He wasn’t there.
I discovered him face-on with a fresh hell.
The mayor was awake and pointing a gun directly at the man I loved.
“What the fucking Christ is going on here?” his voice boomed.
I froze, horror stealing my thoughts. The mayor had his back to me, so I sank to my haunches, keeping out of sight under the ridge of the slope. How could Moniqua not have searched him? Fucking amateur hour.
“I know you,” the older man uttered.
Riordan’s voice was low and sure. “You should.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
He didn’t know that Morgue-Minded Moniqua had been the one to capture him. In the distance, sirens sounded, and a curtain twitched in the nearest house, a side window giving them a view down to the end of the road and the wasteland. They couldn’t have seen Moniqua’s end, but they were witnessing everything between Riordan and the mayor. Shite. They’d called the cops. Probably recognised the high-profile man whose face was everywhere on billboards and on leaflets through doors. Or maybe scared of the gun he held.
No way was he hurting Riordan or allowing him to be arrested for the ghoul’s crime.
Cursing the dead fucker for not disarming him, I scanned the area. I couldn’t see either of my brothers, though one had gone on a fool’s errand of finding Don, but at the far end of the road, two dark SUVs were parked up. Arran and Shade were here.
My mind raced.
Riordan said something to the mayor that I couldn’t make out, but the reply was loud and clear.
He held the gun up. “Move a muscle and I’ll kill you.”
My boyfriend didn’t flinch. “You know, I thought you’d recognised me in the past. Maybe even kept tabs on me. Piers Roache made a jibe about you not having a son you could be proud of, and I assumed you’d talked about me. I almost wanted it. But not now.”
“Piers? Where is he? What have you done with him? I need him.”
My phone buzzed, and I grabbed it out, reading the message under the cover of the slope.
Shade: Piers is in the boot of my car. Trade?
They were watching, then. Stealthy as fuck because I couldn’t see them. It was a good solution to get Riordan out of the crosshairs. Not that we’d give him up for real.
The distant sirens grew louder, and the mayor cocked his head. “Hear that? The police are coming for me. I assume this is a culmination of all the pranks you people have been pulling? My house is ruined. I have people breaking in or calling me at all hours. My workplace is a shambles. Sex toys are being brought to me by my admin team. Why? I demand answers. Rest assured you won’t get away with this.”
He was right. We needed the bastard dead, which would be harder to bribe our way out of if a dozen cops witnessed it as well as the nearby residents. My heart thumped, another thought piercing my panic. If they’d reported the weapon the mayor held, gun cops might arrive. Shots could be fired.
For Riordan’s sake, I needed to think smarter. Quickly, I tapped out a message to Arran.
Cassie: Do you still carry cash in your car?
He answered with the affirmative, and I arranged for him and Shade to meet me at the vehicles. Then I sent another to my brothers.
Cassie: Sin, keep eyes on Rio. Struan, meet me up the road at Arran’s car.
With a final look at Riordan, and a silent promise to return, I jogged down the riverbank to climb up out of sight,
Rounding the building, I emerged out the back of the short street that ran to the river. At this angle, I could only just see the mayor, pacing, and with his focus fully on Riordan.
Struan, Shade, and Arran waited for me.
Shade’s eyes darkened. “Where’s the killer?”
“I ended her. The river has her now.”
“Moniqua? Ye killed her without me?”
Heh. Now he knew what it felt like. At my smug nod, he continued.
“What’s your plan? Those fucking cops are coming in fast. If any are carrying, we could risk Riot’s neck in the crossfire.”
I shuddered. He wouldn’t die. I’d take a bullet for him. “No guns. Don’t rush him. So far, they’re only talking. The only way the cops know this is happening is because one of the residents called it in, which means witnesses.” I made move-it hands at Arran. “Give me the cash. As much as you have.”
He opened the boot of his car where I knew he had a safe under the boards. “What are you going to do?”
“Un-witness them.”
I faced Shade. “Carry Piers down. Arran, offer him as a trade.”
Shade wrinkled his nose at his ride. “He’s not looking so healthy.”
I shrugged. “The mayor wants him badly. There’s a reason for that. So long as he’s breathing, we have to trust that it will stand.”
They took off to do my bidding. With the bundles of cash in my hands, and my brother playing bodyguard, I strode out into the middle of the run-down street. The front doors opened directly onto the pavement without front gardens, and a quick glance gave up no CCTV cameras or doorbell cams. Unsurprising in a neighbourhood where few had anything worth stealing or funds free for anything not vital. I slipped down to the end house and waved the money at the living room window, trying to keep out of sight in case the mayor turned.
“Whatever ye think you saw, no ye didn’t,” I hissed through the glass.
Voices came from inside. A hushed argument. Then a figure appeared behind the window.
“What’s the offer?”
I bit my lip to stop from smiling then peeled off a chunk of notes. “Open up and I’ll tell ye.”
The window slid out. I made the deal. “The mayor arrived for what looked like a drug deal or maybe a hookup with a prostitute. It went wrong. Ye saw him with a gun or maybe a knife. You’re not sure. Then they all left. Keep to the truth and I’ll pay again in three months. Let the cops through and that won’t happen.”
Across the road, another window eased open.
Quickly and quietly, I made my deal with half a dozen residents, none of them blinking at the body being carried past by Shade.
I fell in behind the skeleton crew, coming into earshot of the conversation again. Struan slipped into the shadows.
The mayor was still holding court, waving his gun and loving the sound of his own voice. “One thing I need to know is what happened to my family tree? Why take something of no value to you but great personal value to me?”
Arran and Shade strolled into view. The man stopped talking.
I slowed, needing to stay out of his sightline. But then an arm hooked me and a hand clamped over my mouth, cutting off my air completely.