26. Adam
Adam
"You so owe me big time for this," Max grumbled as he struggled to balance the two toddlers in his arms.
"I'll make sure to make it extra messy and painful when I do get to the good part," I joked with a chuckle as I zipped my jacket up. "I won't be long, though, just a quick jog to startle the bastard."
If my calculations were correct, then by the time I made it across the river to where the girls were, then I'd catch James just in time.
My sources just informed me of Eliza's ex entering the city, and there was no doubt in my mind he'd have no problems tracking her down.
Well, he shouldn't have any problems with the trail of breadcrumbs I left him.
Fortunately for me, James was stupid as he was determined. So, luring him here to Seaside was a breeze, especially after the shit I stirred up for him in Idaho.
The good ol' cop wasn't so good, not with all the bodies he had buried in his backyard—courtesy of me.
Let me tell you, though, it was a fucking bitch in the ass to track down his victims and uncover their bodies to relocate them to his backyard over the past few months.
The number of bodies he's dropped over the past ten years didn't make that task any easier.
After shifting things into place, all that I needed to do was turn in a nice little—big—tip to the police, and Lieutenant James Stone was placed on immediate administrative leave. Then, since his home was a crime scene, he had to go hunker down elsewhere until everything was done.
Of course, that was merely the beginning of his planned downfall. His job and reputation as a good lawman were good as gone, but it wasn't enough. No, he had to be completely ruined before things could progress. So, I did what I do best—fuck shit up.
Some drugs here and there, a snap of a picture or two—okay, maybe more like a few pictures—and James's reputation continued to tank once the images were released all over the web.
Of course, the explicit and inappropriate pictures that followed aided in dragging him down to the same level as a druggie pimp.
After a few months of the whole city turning their backs on him and despising him, I finally threw out the line.
An anonymous tip about his wife's whereabouts hooked him good.
According to my source, the one I paid to be the tipper and stalker, James practically made a straight shoot to Seaside.
The eager man only stopped for gas over the thirteen or so-hour drive.
I'd expected him to take a bit of a break or something once he got to Seaside, but guess I was wrong. I wouldn't have sent the girls out for the day if I thought James would go after Eliza right off the bat like this. I might've used my girlfriend as bait for her piece-of-shit ex, but not directly.
No way in hell did I want James to find Eliza.
Well, maybe I should reword that a little.
I didn't want James to show his ugly face to Eliza's eyes.
Me luring him here to get rid of him did not include Eliza finding out about his presence in Seaside at all.
Things would get kind of messy if Eliza found out about my plans or James's appearance.
Poor thing might have a damn heart attack if she knew James was in the town.
I darted off after giving Asher and Adelaide a kiss on their tiny foreheads.
No idle dawdling for me; I needed to make this visit with James fast. A little scare for him to keep his distance from Eliza was all I needed to do.
I'd have my men pick him up tonight, hold him in the yacht, then take an impromptu trip after the birthday party this weekend.
I had so many plans for Eliza's pathetic ex, and I couldn't wait.
For every scar he placed on my darling Eliza's body, I'd double on him. The only thing that won't be feasible is torturing him for ten years straight. If I was determined enough, then maybe I could drag shit out for that long, but it was way too risky. So, a week on the yacht would have to do.
Thankfully, tracking him down wasn't hard. Granted, I got lucky because he happened to be very close by. The diner Hailee and Eliza decided to sit down at for lunch was literally right across the river, so James quite literally appeared in front of me in a sense.
Slowly, I stalked up to him, keeping a distance as I hung back to watch him. I half expected him to march right into the place and drag Eliza out, but I guess I overthought things a little. It would seem like James here had more control than I wanted to credit him for.
No matter. As long as he stayed put and made things easier for all of us, then I didn't care.
The only issue now was snatching him up.
I had to lure him into a less crowded area, preferably down an alleyway, but I needed to wait for the girls to leave first. I wasn't supposed to be out, so running the risk of being caught by Eliza was something I wanted to avoid.
So, without much choice, I waited around rather begrudgingly. My sister and Eliza probably didn't take long to eat their lunch, but it damn well felt like forever until they finally paid their bill and got up.
Unfortunately, James decided to move his ass the moment the girls made their way to the exit.
Calm and collected, I got up and closed the distance between him and me with a few long strides. As I approached his backside, I carefully pulled out my handgun, being mindful to keep it hidden under my jacket.
Before he could get a chance to call out for Eliza or make much of a move toward her, I stopped him by digging the muzzle of the gun into his back. "Go ahead, buddy, fucking try it," I said smugly in a low voice, pressing my weapon harder against him until he visibly winced. "I dare you."
"You have three seconds to remove that gun from me, or I will have you arrested." His head twitched with the intention to look back at me, but a firm poke from my gun made him change his mind. "Do you know who I am?" It was laughable at how empty and shaky his supposedly threatening words were.
Chuckling darkly, I grabbed the back of his shirt with my free hand to direct him elsewhere. "Funny, it should be me asking you that," I replied in a low voice, jerking him a bit toward the other street. "Walk," I demanded, jabbing him a bit with the gun for encouragement.
Clicking his tongue, James relented, letting me steer him down the smaller street and into an alleyway.
"You know J-Boy, I gotta say, luring you here was so much easier than I expected.
I mean, I knew it'd be a piece of cake, but damn, You took the bait like a moth to a flame.
" I rubbed it in his face with a haughty chuckle before shoving him face-first into a dirty brick wall.
Whirling around, James cocked his arm back, ready to swing. Only, it never came. In an instant, his face dropped and paled as if I was some demon standing before him. "Y-you…" His stunned eyes blinked slowly a few times as he stared at me in disbelief.
"Not so tough, are ya?" I taunted with a dark laugh, holding my arms out. "Too bad for you, I'm not some girl half your size." A familiar ache pulled my face taut, causing my lips to curl into a crazed grin. "Come on, I'm giving you a free swing."
Lowering his clenched fist to his side, he took a step back. "I'll have your ass thrown in jail!" He stammered out his threat in a trembling voice.
My voice became a little unhinged with my head tilt. "Jail? For what? Tell me, what laws have I broken?" Okay, that was a rather sardonic question, given my mafia profession.
Dodging the question, he narrowed his eyes at me accusingly. "Was it you? The bodies in my backyard, was that your doing?!" He jabbed a weak finger at me with a daring step forward.
Laughing him off, I feigned innocence. "Well, it's not nice to litter, so I was merely gathering it all up for you and giving it back." There might have been an extra body or two in the pile, but not like it mattered.
His shoulders shook with his deepening scowl. "What do you even want with my bitch Eliza? How do you know her? What does she have to do with you?" he spat with a sharp tongue.
Softly clicking my tongue, I lunged at him in a blink of an eye.
My arm shot out, laying across his neck.
With some forceful steps, I shoved him back up against the wall, choking him with my forearm until he went red in the face with rolling eyes.
If I didn't have torturous plans for him, then I would've pressed on until his body was lifeless at my feet.
Fortunately for him, I needed him alive.
"Tsk." Releasing him with a scowl, I watched as he slumped to the ground with a coughing fit. "Say one more thing that's remotely bad about my Eliza, and I will cut your tongue out and feed it to you." Now, that was a promise, not a threat.
Jerking my leg, I land a quick kick into his stomach before taking a deep breath to keep myself collected.
"You are going to regret every lash of your tongue against her, and you are definitely going to regret every time you laid a finger on her sweet body.
" Unable to help myself, I lashed out at him with another hard kick to the stomach.
Flipping my wrist, I checked the time with an irritated scowl. I had to head back to the house before the kids tore it down with Max, but my men weren't here yet to pick up this sack of shit.
"Eliza's not going to stay with you once she knows the truth," James strained through his dying coughs. "You better enjoy your last seconds with her before I take her back with me."
I tried to stifle my amused laugh, but it slipped out completely.
"Oh, she's never going to find out, and she's never going back with you.
" Giving him a sorry look, I shook my head with a few tuts of my tongue.
"She won't even be going to your execution.
" I don't think she'd appreciate me murdering her ex, no matter how much she hated him and wanted him gone.
In the blink of an eye, James lunged for my legs, hooking his arms around the back of my knees and buckling them.
Caught off guard, all I could do was brace myself properly for the tumble to the ground.
Landing flat on my ass, I threw my arms back to try and recover fast, but him scrambling atop of me sent me to the ground completely.
He wasn't a small man by any means; height-wise, he was a few inches shorter than me, but he beat me in the muscle department by being built like a solid chunk of meat.
Anticipating a few blows to the face, I instinctively threw my arms up to guard my face.
It was a good call on my end because the blows did come for a moment before I struggled back.
I waited until there was an opening between his punches to strike back with my own punch to his face, causing him to reel back with a groan.
Grabbing the front of his shirt, I threw him off with a grunt of effort before scrambling at him to try and get on top to pin him down. Unfortunately, he was a tad bit faster, narrowly escaping me as he got onto his feet.
A quick scuff and James kicked a puff of dirt and gravel right into my face.
"Fuck!" I seethed through gritted teeth, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to clear them.
"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath when the sounds of retreating footsteps echoed through the air, along with the sight of a fading figure from my line of vision.
Scurrying to my feet, I took off after James with two left feet. Stupid fucking grit in my eyes burned like hell! What made things more frustrating was that I lost James after a few turns. Damn asshole blended into a crowd of people crossing the street, and I lost him after that.
The defeated trip home was filled with nothing but me grumbling to myself while trying to clear my stinging and aching eyes. Hopefully, one of my men could snag him before he went around and caused too much trouble.
Letting out an angry cry, I kicked at a boulder along the river, knocking it into the water with a huge splash.
I have to find him before he goes to Eliza.
Eliza can't know. She can never know the truth about me.
If James cracked open my vault of skeletons, then I'd be done for with Eliza. She was much too sweet to understand my lifestyle. I really didn't want to resort to forcing my hand with Eliza, but if James spilled my secrets, then I'd have no other choice.