Chapter 22
I drummy fingers against the steering wheel, my gaze moving to the rear-view mirror, where I see the bastard is still following me.
I should be at home. I should be in bed with my fucking wife. Instead, I had to meet with Jer. No one knows where Fintan or Thomas is, and now we”re adding Micah to that list of fucking dicks to find. I swear, the moment I have them, I”m going to fucking kill each and every single one of them. Micah chose the wrong person to threaten and stalk. I was the one who killed Jarlath, not Mallory, and for that cunt to sneak into her house while her child was asleep next to her and threaten her, it’s enough to make us hunt that cunt down. But just like his father, the bastard”s in the wind, so we have Mallory under surveillance. We need to make sure she”s okay. We failed Jess when she needed us. We won”t do the same with Mallory.
”Forget something?” Jer asks as he answers the phone.
”No, but that fucking asshole of a garda is following me. I”m getting really pissed off having this fucking asshole at my back, Jer. He”s getting too close to me and that means too fucking close to Jess.”
I hear his deep sigh. ”You know what”s going to happen if I let you do this, don”t you?”
I grin. ”Of course I do, but they don”t call me the Eraser for nothing,” I snarl.
Over the past eighteen years, I”ve killed more people than I can count. I”ve been dubbed the Eraser by Jer”s men. When I”m finished killing, there”s nothing left of my victims, not a fucking thing. The wood chipper crushes everything into tiny specks that end up getting burnt to a crisp at the end. Anything left behind will be taken by the wildlife.
I lost count after my two hundredth kill. While working for Jer, I”ve learnt how to quell my bloodlust. I”ve learned how to tunnel it and focus it into other things. It doesn”t stop the need to kill, though. That”s something that is always there. It’s been present since the very first one—my da. I guess he”s the reason for it all. Had he not been an abusive asshole, I probably wouldn”t have been so fucked in the head and needed an outlet for my anger. Killing him seemed to have re-circuited my brain, and I was able to find something that worked best for me. Although Jer will say that I was always destined to become a killer.
I”m the best there is and it”s why I”m called in the majority of the time. Whether it be torture or just straight up killing, I”m the first one Jer calls. That doesn”t mean I haven”t been working for others. I just keep it very hush-hush if I do. It was only when Denis and Callie got together just over five years ago that Denis realized that I was the Eraser. Before that, it was just speculation as to who the crazy motherfucker that made his victims vanish was.
”Are you listening to me?” Jer snaps.
I grin. ”If you didn”t speak so much, I wouldn”t have to drown you out.”
Once again, he releases an exasperated sigh. ”You marrying my niece has made it a fucking lot harder for me to kill you.”
I laugh. ”You wish you could, Jer. There”s no way in hell you”d ever get the chance. No one will ever know that this fucker was trailing me last. I”m going to lose him.”
”Alright. Call me when it”s done,” he says and ends the call.
I”m not stupid. I know that if he”s tailing me, he”s made a note of it. There”s no way he wouldn’t have let someone know that I”m his target for today. From what Emmanuel and Freddie have uncovered from their sources within the gardai, there are seven people on this case, and this fucker who’s tailing me is the leader of them all. When he disappears, it”ll be fun to see what the others do.
I turn left onto the motorway. I know these streets like the back of my hand. I press my foot to the pedal and floor it, and the speedometer rises as I put some distance between me and the garda. It”s late, and even though darkness has settled over Dublin, there are still a lot of cars on the road. I”m able to over and undertake them as I continue to up the speed. My gaze moves from the road to the rear-view mirror. I”ve managed to lose him. He”s too far behind me to catch up.
I dart off the next slip road and drive away. I know he”ll come looking for me, but he”s lost me for now. It”s time for him to give up for today and go home. When he”s there, that”s when I”ll take him.
* * *
My car door opens but I don”t turn to look. I already know it”s Maverick. I saw him approaching in the darkness.
”So, we”re finally getting rid of this bastard.” He grins. ”Just so you know, both Jer and Freddie are with Jess.”
I nod. ”Thanks,” I say, grateful that he”s updating me.
”You ready to get this shit done?” he asks. ”I know you”ve wanted to do this since the moment Jer announced this prick was looking into us. The best thing about doing it this way is they”ll never know which one of us took him out. Jer likes to call you an evil genius.”
I chuckle. ”He also says we”re little shits, but he”s old as dirt.”
Maverick laughs. ”That”s true, although little isn”t the word to use. We”re all fucking taller than him. But either way, Jer”s right. You did good, Stephen.”
I very rarely lose my mind and kill someone without thinking it through. It”s happened twice. Once with my da and the other not long after that. Since then, I”m meticulous when I plan. I always think through what I”m going to do. And yet everyone always sees me as a reckless child still. Fuckers.
”His light went out an hour ago. He returned home two hours after I lost him on the motorway,” I explain as I slip out of the car. Jason managed to get this to me quickly. The fucker”s gotten better at boosting cars, always managing to get whatever we need. I asked for an inconspicuous dark sedan, one that wouldn”t draw any attention, and he delivered on that. It”s a black Toyota Corolla and fits the description perfectly. I was hidden in the darkness for around thirty minutes before the garda returned home. I”ve been sitting and waiting for the right time to get him. Now that Mav”s here, it”s go time.
We enter the house, quickly disabling the security alarm. Our footsteps are practically non-existent as we sneak through the house. I know where his bedroom is. The last time Freddie and I were here, we went through the entire home and I saw the only bedroom in use and knew it was his.
Opening the door, I”m not surprised to find the fucker fast asleep. I am shocked that he”s a fucking cop. How can you be tasked with people”s safety when you”re not even aware of danger around you? I nod to Maverick and he moves to the end of the bed. I grin as I loom over the fucker sleeping.
I press my hand down over his mouth, cutting off his ability to speak, and within seconds, he”s writhing around on the bed. His eyes open and widen as he realizes what”s happening.
”You fucked up,” I snarl thickly. ”You should have never taken this job.” I bring my hand back, ball it into a fist, and let it fly. My knuckles, covered in leather gloves, smash into his temple and it’s lights out. The fucker”s knocked out.
”Let”s go,” Maverick says, grabbing the fucker and throwing him over his shoulder.
I remake the bed, making sure it looks as though no one is here. I reach for his cell and a bag, shoving clothes into it. I”m going to make sure it looks as though the fucker took off in the dead of the night. When the cops start investigating, there”s no doubt in my mind they”ll also come to the same conclusion we have: he”s working with the O”Learys. A cop working with a crime family never? Not fucking ever does it works out well. There”s never any trust.
Maverick throws the cop into the trunk of the car and I slide into the driver”s side, starting the engine. It’s time to get the fuck out of here.
”You good?” I ask him once we’re far enough away from the cop’s house that I don’t need to be as on edge.
”Yeah, all good,” he says and I raise a brow. He”s full of shit. “What?” he questions.
”Try again. What”s going on?”
He glances out the window and I think he’s not going to answer, but he does. ”You know how Denis” daughter-in-law owns the Agency—well, her family do?” he asks.
The Agency is a site where you can go and order hits, and you”ll be told when and where so you”ll know to have an alibi. It”s a website for the elite. Not just anyone can stumble upon it. You have to be given a card and that card has a code, one that”s only good for you. I have done many jobs for the Agency, and I have been paid well for them. From what Denis has said, his son Danny”s wife, Melissa, runs it, or did while her brother and dad were in prison. I”m pretty sure she never gave up the reins for that.
”Yeah. What about it?” I ask, wondering what the fuck is going on with him.
”I work for them too, and lately, whenever I turn up to get the mark, they”re already gone or dead. It”s fucking annoying as fuck. Someone”s doing it on purpose.”
”How many?” I ask as I drive toward my farmhouse. It”s going to take a while, probably another thirty minutes or so.
”Fifteen, maybe more,” he sighs. ”Most of them, I turn up and they”re dead, like they”ve been displayed for me.”
”What do you mean displayed?”
He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. ”I mean they”re hanging from something, whether it”s a beam, bridge, or something else. Each and every single fucking one of them is hanging. All deaths have been ruled a suicide. It”s not just in Ireland, but all over Europe as well.”
I”m impressed. That”s a great way to kill someone. It”s hard to rule a suicide a murder. Most cops won”t investigate further than seeing someone hanging and rule it instantly. Whoever”s killing these people is doing a fucking great job.
”So they”re playing with you? Taunting you?” I ask, wondering what they could be getting out of it.
”I don”t know, but the fucked up thing is, I”m still getting paid for the jobs. Whoever”s doing it isn”t taking credit.”
I let out a low whistle. ”Damn, that”s fucking weird, but I”ve got to admit, cool as fuck. You get paid and don”t need to lift a finger.”
He flips me off. ”Fuck you,” he says without heat. ”What the fuck do I do?”
I shake my head. ”I dunno, man. Is there any way you could speak with Denis, maybe get him to help you find out who the fuck is toying with you?”
”I haven”t really spoken to Denis or Callie in a while. Whenever I do, they”re asking where I”ve been and what we”re up to. They know we”re hiding something, but I won”t tell them.”
I grit my teeth. ”Yeah, your ma”s the same.”
”You”re going to have to tell them about you and Jess eventually, Stephen. Better get it out sooner rather than later.”
He”s right, but things have been busy. With the shit about Thomas wanting to sell Jess, it”s made me even more protective of her, and that”s something I didn”t think could happen. I hate being away from her, and while I trust Maverick, Freddie, and Jer with my life, and I know they”ll do whatever it takes to protect my wife, I still fucking hate that I”m not there to do it myself.
”Let”s get through tonight first,” I tell him. ”Then when I decide it”s time to speak with your ma—because let”s face it, if anyone”s going to have a problem with it, it”s your ma—I”ll have them all over and tell them together. You can then ask Denis to find out about your admirer.”
”You”re an asshole,” he snaps. ”Why the fuck would you say it was an admirer?”
I laugh. ”That”s what it sounds like. Someone”s trying to impress you.”
”Fucking prick,” he snaps.
He thinks I’m joking, but I’m not. It really does seem as though someone is trying to impress Maverick, and if he doesn’t find out who it is soon, he could end up in a situation where he’s on the receiving end of that person’s rope.