Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
NEVIO
I t feels as though the snow is against us as it coats the roads and makes the drive treacherous.
The forest looms on either side of the road, thick cold mist dancing through the trunks of those tall pines - it makes the place look ominous.
On any other day, it might have been beautiful.
But my mind is in dark places.
I turn my face away from the line of trees, back towards the road. The driver is going along the slippery tar at a reasonable speed, but I am still annoyed.
“Can’t we go any faster?” I snarl.
“Not if you want to get there. If we go any faster, we will slide and roll, and Dalila will be on her own.”
I shut my mouth. I know he’s right, but it still pisses me off.
“How long until we get there?”
“At this speed, less than twenty minutes.”
Ok. That’s not so bad. Less than twenty minutes and then I can take this frustration and anger out on someone. I hate keeping it bottled inside like this.
I will turn on the man who has taken from me the thing I love most in this world.
In the back of the car, I hear my other security guard checking his weapon.
We all feel tense.
Lenny Malone is a dangerous man. A savage.
We might very well lose our lives this afternoon.
I dial Mas.
The phone rings a few times before he answers. I can hear his car. They are already on their way.
“We’ll be there in the next fifteen minutes.”
“Alright. Then we will be about fifteen or thirty minutes behind you, depending on this snow.”
“You left sooner than I expected.” I say with relief. I am grateful to have the backup so close.
“You should wait for us to get there. It’ll be better if we all go in at the same time.” He suggests.
“I can’t. That’s fifteen or twenty minutes in which anything could happen to her. I can’t take that risk.”
“We’ll see you there then. As soon as we can.”
For the last stretch of the drive, I hardly notice the scenery. My mind is chaos.
I’ve never done a job that I was so emotionally invested in. Every time I’ve gone after someone, it was just a paid project. A simple mission. There was no piece of my heart or soul in it. This is so different.
This means everything to me, and I’m stressed.
I take a deep breath. I have to focus. I can’t be so dis-shelved. The more emotionless I am, the more successful I will be.
But it’s impossible. I can’t switch off my worry, or my fears, or the hatred I have for the man who took her. I can’t stop how much I love her.
It’s impossible.
I’ll just have to use that chaos to my advantage.
“We’re coming up on the building now, sir.”
I squint ahead of us and see the dark shape of a massive black house silhouetted against the misty trees behind it.
Fuck. It’s cold.
That place looks like the entrance to hell.
“Park just to the edge there. Don’t go all the way. We’ll walk the rest on foot. Hopefully, they are too arrogant to be expecting us this soon.”
“Yes, sir.” The driver confirms, pulling off the road into the dirt.
“Our mission is simple. Find Dalila. Kill whoever gets in the way.”
I see fear in the driver’s eyes when he glances at me.
“Reinforcements are only fifteen minutes behind us. Do as much as you can until they get here. And stay alive.”
He nods, looking uncertain.
I know I’m asking a lot for them to follow me into the house of the most monstrous man in the city -
I sigh.
“I understand if this is not something you are willing to do. I can go in by myself.”
“Not a fuck.” Comes the unison reply from both of them. “Sir, I might be shitting myself, but I’m going in with you.”
“Same for me.” From the backseat.
I smile.
“Thank you.”
We walk along the edge of the forest, feeling the damp air against our skin, staying low in the misty coverage.
At the corner of the black house, we climb the iron fencing. Silently moving like water over rocks.
My feet touch the earth on the inside of his property. Next to me, a soft thud as two security guards drop to the ground as well.
I gesture for them to follow me. It’s better if we stay together.
Before we even look for a way in, we move around the outside perimeter.
Our knives slicing into the flesh of anyone we come across. Bodies lay in our wake, bleeding, lifeless and without even a call for help from one of them.
No one was expecting us.
“Are you ready?” I ask in a whisper.
They nod.
I push on the front door, and it swings open.
Moving like the shadow I am, I am inside the house before they can even blink. One guard, down on his knees, clutching at his throat. Another hears the wet gurgle and comes running, but he’s taken down by my security before he can even reach me.
I motion either direction of the giant staircase and we move through the house until finally I find Malone.
In the bath, soaking in steaming water. A naked woman sitting on his lap.
At first I think it’s her.
But that’s just fear - because this girl has dark hair.
My gun clicks as I cock it and Malone spins around in shock.
The girl screams, and water splashes over the edge of the tub as she scoots off him.
Malone laughs.
I fire and a bullet pierces right through his arm, shattering a hole in the wall behind him.
“What the fuck?” He screams in pain. Clutch at his arm as blood oozes through his fingers into the tub.
The girl looks horrified and tries to climb out as red stains the water, drifting towards her. “Don’t you dare move.” I warn her. “Malone. If you would kindly get out.”
I hear gunshots from somewhere in the house as my men continue to work their way through the space.
“I wasn’t expecting anyone.” Malone says, slipping and grabbing the edge of the bath as he climbs out.
“I noticed. Your security was — lacking, to say the least.”
“My security is never lacking. There were over twenty men out there.” He says, sounding bitter.
“Twenty three and counting.”
“Hmph.” He grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist. I watch every movement he makes like a hawk - I don’t want any surprises.
“Where is she?” I ask calmly.
The woman in the tub, still staring in shock at the blood in the water, looks up at Malone. “She? What does he mean - she ?” She spits at him. “Are you fucking around again?” She screams bitterly.
“Shut up, Melissa. For fuck sakes.” He snarls at her.
“If there is another woman, I swear to - “
He lifts his hand towards her, and she flinches, ducking low in the water.
“Enough.” I say.
I point the gun at Melissa, but don’t take my eyes off Malone. “Where does he keep prisoners, sweetheart?” I ask, with darkness on the edge of my voice.
“Oh fuck, don’t shoot me, oh fuck—”
“You have five seconds.”
“The basement.” She blurts out.
Malone shakes his head. “Fucking bitch.”
“Walk.” I command and Malone pads his way down the stairs towards the basement. I follow with my gun aimed at his head.
We are halfway down the stairs when the front door opens, and men pour inside. At first I am ready to shoot, but then I see the familiar faces.
Mas, Rufino, Celso, Toum0, and Vincent. Their guards all armed to the tea.
“You didn’t even leave any for us,” Mas says, looking around.
Malone grumbles. “Can I put on some clothes? I didn’t know I was going to have guests today.”
“Shut the fuck up and keep walking.” I shove him.
The guards stay behind, and her father and brothers follow me down the steep flight of stone steps into the dark, musty smelling basement.
My eyes struggle to adjust to the darkness.
But is that her? It can’t be?
It looks like a pile of skin and bones laying in the center of the floor.
“Lights.” I shout in anger as my eyes adjust and I see the definite curve of her hip. Her body is so familiar to me now.
I’m running towards her, dropping to my knees, pain clutching at my heart as I pull her into my arms.
She is freezing cold, her body feels lifeless, blood is coating her skin and the ground beneath her. The sticky familiarity of it making me feel ill at this moment.
“Dalila.” I shout, touching her face, shaking her gently. “Dalila.”
The lights flicker to life above me and they light the genuine horror of what she looks like.
Thick dark bruises are coating her skin, deep cuts, swollen eyes, blood - so much blood.
She is practically blue. She is so cold.
“Is she breathing?” Celso is on his knees next to me, tears in his eyes. “Is she fucking breathing?”
Mas has Malone on his knees, begging for his life at the sight of her brother’s rage directed at him. “What the fuck did you do to her?” He screams into Malone’s face.
She jolts awake, and instantly her face is flooded with pain. She winces in my arms and I drag her against my chest, rocking her. “Dalila, it’s me. It’s Nev. I found you. It’s going to be ok.” She is shaking uncontrollably.
I stand up, lifting her with me, gripping her. Celso pulls his jacket off and helps me wrap it over her shoulders. He looks distraught.
Her father is peering at her, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“I didn’t know. I didn’t know.” He keeps repeating, over and over again.
“I didn’t know.”
I stare at him with hatred. “You knew.” I snarl.
I walk over to where Masaccio has Malone groveling.
Cradling Dalila in one arm, I pull my gun from my belt and aim it at his head.
I want to pull the trigger, but it seems too easy. Too quick.
I want him to suffer.
“Handcuff him to the bolt on the floor. It’s there where Dalila was lying.”
Was drags Malone over to the bolt and cuffs him to it. He grabs the man’s towel and yanks it off his body, leaving him naked, his skin against the cold cement, already coated in Dalila’s blood from the floor.
“Leave him there.”
“Wait, no - please - “ he begs. “It’s freezing in here. I’ll be dead in thirty minutes.”
Mas nods at me. “I’ll stay. I want to make sure he’s dead before I leave.”
“Message me. When it’s over.”
Malone screams. “You can’t do this. I’ll kill you all. It’s too fucking cold. I’m going to die, you fucking animals.”
I turn my back on his panic.
I carry Lila up at the stairs, out of the house that looks like the gates to hell.
I climb into the back seat of the car with her still wrapped in my arms, holding her in my lap.
“The doctor is waiting for you at home, baby girl.” I whisper against her hair.