57. Hades
Hades
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
"I know you're going after him, Hades," Kennedy says, a few days after we arrive in New York when I warn her that I will need to go away.
"I'm not going to talk to you about that, wife."
She doesn't need to know that I'm going in order to attain closure. Now that she's pregnant again, more than ever, I need to conclude this part of my life.
"Just promise me you’ll be careful."
"I will. And you also have my word that I will grant your wish to look that bastard in the eye when he is brought to justice."
"I wish I could remember what's still missing before then."
"I'm sure your memory will return completely. Now, don't be anxious. It won't do either of you any good."
"Promise me you won't be gone for long."
"No longer than a day, Kennedy. And soon after I return, one of the people responsible for what you went through will be brought to justice. Unfortunately, Pam was a victim of her own madness and won't be there to pay her dues."
"If she was alive, would you demand her punishment?"
"You can bet on that. Now, tell me how you convinced Ernest to consult with Athanasios today?"
"Actually, he was the one who said he would do it, as soon as he found out I was pregnant."
The same day we returned from Greece, Kennedy had an appointment scheduled with the obstetrician who had handled all the births in our family. Even though it was still too early to do an ultrasound, I wanted to make sure everything was okay with her.
That same night, we gathered the family for dinner to share the news, and I'm wondering what my grandfather would have said if he’d seen that his four male grandchildren, who swore they would never get married, with the exception of Zeus, not only did so but are now producing more Kostanidou.
I try not to think of him with disappointment. I never imagined that he had been Vina's lover, and I would be lying if I didn't say that the idea bothers me.
Not the relationship between the two of them per se, but the fact that he never committed to or released her. He should have made a decision, because the woman found herself in a situation where, it seems, she depended on him emotionally and financially, which ended up leading to resentment.
Not that this is a justification for her immeasurable ambition, for the way she influenced Pam, convincing her that she had a chance with me or pushing Kennedy towards Ares, but was he aware that he had an enemy inside his own house?
"He didn't agree to have surgery if Athanasios says there is hope in his case," she continues, "but it's progress that he at least agreed to go to the consult."
"Yes. Send me a message as soon as you leave the doctor’s office. I might be unreachable for a few hours, but not all day," I say and see the concern on her face. I pull her towards me and kiss her forehead. "I won't take long, but I need to do this."
"What?"
"Make him pay. My way."
SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
The full moon lights up the outside of the warehouse. The night would be perfect for sleeping with my wife outside, on the yacht, as we did several times in Greece, except that my mission today has nothing to do with love or happiness but with the purest hatred.
Beau is standing in the shadows next to Roman at the warehouse entrance, but I can't see his face. It blends in with the darkness. Maybe he's part of it, just like me.
There is a trait my brothers and I share. We all take after our paternal grandfather in that way. We do not pity the enemy. However, I think the three of them have a limit to what they would do to someone they hate. That imaginary line that separates man from animal. At this moment, mine is completely blurred; the demarcations have disappeared.
After I quickly greet Beau and Roman, I open the warehouse door.
I see Ryan as soon as I enter. The light isn't strong, but I can make out the bastard's bloody silhouette on a metal table, like the one butchers use to cut up pieces of cattle.
I realize that Beau, or his men, haven’t treated him well in the month since he was captured, which I appreciate. As soon as I get closer, I see that he is blindfolded.
It is a shame that it has to be this way, but it is necessary because unfortunately we will have to hand him over to the justice system alive. After the trial, Beau gave me his word that he would get him out of prison so I could have my final reckoning.
There are cuts and a lot of blood on his naked body.
His blood reminds me of Kennedy's. There was so much on the bathroom sink counter at the beach house that they had no problem taking several samples.
I haven’t talked to her about the video again. I don't want to bring that night back, even though I know it will happen sooner or later when she regains her memory. I wasn't there, but what I watched on the recording was enough to keep my hatred for Ryan burning.
Memories flood my mind, stirring up the anger I carry.
"Whose plan was it?" I ask.
"Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter. The only thing you need to know for now is that I don't have much time for you today. We can do this quickly or slowly, but just so you know, I'm not the patient type. The more time you waste, the more painful it will be for you. Now, show that you have at least one functioning neuron and answer my fucking question.”
“Pam,” he says after several seconds of silence. "She wanted me to play with the girl, Juliet, so that the Greek would see that she was nothing more than a slut."
The Greek.
He has no idea that I'm the one who’s here? He's much more stupid than I imagined.
"A slut," I repeat, feeling my blood bubbling.
"Look, man, tell your boss that I had nothing against the girl. I just wanted to have fun."
I walk over to where there are several knives laid out. After picking one up, I approach him again. "You call drugging and raping a nineteen-year-old girl ‘fun?’ There's no need to answer. It doesn't make any difference." In one precise movement, I cut off his dick.
His scream sounds like the beginning of my healing. Like a balm for my wife's pain.
I work on him for about half an hour. Every time he faints, I throw water on his face. I want him awake and experiencing the same terror that Kennedy, who at that time was already pregnant with my son, even though she didn't know it, experienced.
Ryan tells me what happened in detail. From Pam's plan for me to be disappointed in Kennedy to the idea of drugging her and even the moment when, tired of chasing my wife around the house without finding her, he decided to vent his frustration on Pam, who kept teasing him, saying he was an incompetent incapable of fulfilling an agreement.
However, he doesn't reveal the final part, when he killed her, and I wonder why. No matter how much I torture him, Ryan doesn't confess to the murder.
“If you don't stop, you're going to kill him,” Beau says behind me, but I still can't let go of the knife.
"One last thing and I'll be leaving."
I stay for about five minutes taking care of his face, and only when I am satisfied do I stop. "Now we're talking."
"It was a beautiful job, I have to admit," Roman says, laughing.
"Yes, a true work of art," I agree. "The other prisoners will love the 'tattoo' of the new prison guest."
Kennedy
"I didn't want to force you to do something you didn't want to do," I say to Ernest as I leave Brooklyn's husband's office, "but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm glad we came."
"Do you really think there is hope?"
"He didn't give you hope —he gave you certainty . To echo Hades' words, he is not considered the best neurosurgeon in the world for nothing."
Even before we got married, I went to an appointment with Athanasios at Hades’ insistence, because he thought he could help me with the amnesia, but as the doctors had said before and Athanasios confirmed, my case is not neurological but rather, emotional.
It's not that I can't remember; my mind apparently refuses to remember.
"Well, if he thinks there's a chance I can get rid of this bastard," he says, referring to the aneurysm, "I can't wait for us to do it."
"I love you, Ernest. I will stay by your side, and I'm sure everything will work out."