7. Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Sylvie
“I need to tell you something,” Luna muttered as she plunked her backpack down on the kitchen bar a few weeks later. She often came home spitting mad since she’d started her internship, but so far no one had harmed her.
I grabbed two bottles of cold root beer from the fridge, popped the caps off, and slid one over to her. “Okay, what’s going on? Did the asshole finally push you too far, and you need help getting rid of the body? Because I can go heat up the cremator.” Roman was a bastard, but I grudgingly admitted that the other attorneys in his office seemed decent enough, and even helped Luna study for exams.
She grimaced. “No, it’s not that. It’s one of Roman’s partners.”
My heart rate spiked but I casually took a sip. “Yeah? Which partner?”
She hesitated, biting her lip. "Drakos Creed asked about you, and he told me to give you a message.”
Anticipation and anxiety rolled through me. “What’s the message?”
“That he’s coming for you.”
A shiver ran through me, and I couldn’t tell if it was from fear or excitement. What the hell did he mean by that, and why would he tell Luna? Drakos was a frustrating, fascinating enigma wrapped in a custom-tailored suit, and he’d taken up way too much space in my head since that night at Titties. I’d blocked his number when I left his loft that night, but I’d be unblocking him long enough to rip him a new one for dragging Luna into our mess.
“Weird. Why would he be coming for me?”
“I don’t know, but I think you do.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “You two know each other somehow.”
Rolling my shoulders back, I took another sip. “A little. Declan and Callum are opening a grow facility in his neighborhood, and he’s upset about it.” It was a partial truth. In high school, the twins were funny, low-level potheads with little ambition. However, they’d surprised us all and predicted that marijuana would be legalized in Nevada, then learned the trade in time for the Spade family to capitalize on the new law. They’d made us a lot of money in the process.
The cold liquid didn't calm my nerves. Drakos Creed dropping a threat on my doorstep could only mean trouble.
Luna eyed me carefully. “That’s not what I think his warning was about. Should we be worried?”
Shrugging, I leaned against the counter. “No. Let him come. It’ll take more than some rich, well-dressed, sleazy lawyer to get under my skin.”
“Your bravado is both misplaced and inspiring. Drakos is rich and well-dressed, but he’s also brilliant and cunning, and based on the glint in his eye, I doubt he’s looking to get under your skin. It’s more like he wants to get inside your vagina—and have dirty, naughty sex with you. Tell me how you met.”
I choked on my root beer. “You’re wrong,” I coughed. She was absolutely right. “And we met at a bar.”
Luna took a swig and pointed the bottleneck at me. “You don’t go to bars.”
“Yeah, well, I went to a bar that night.”
“This has something to do with those missing bikers, doesn’t it? Did you and Drakos know each other before they went missing?”
Sometimes I forgot that for all her sweetness and humor, Luna’s sharp mind was like a Venus flytrap. Setting my bottle down on the counter, I stared at her. “Stop fishing. It’s dangerous for all of us.”
Worry crept into her eyes. “Whatever you did to that child rapist wasn’t enough, and I’m glad he’s gone. I know you won’t let Drakos’s threat go unanswered, even though that would be the intelligent, rational decision. So what are you going to do?”
Luna was trying to shame me into dropping Drakos’s threat, but there was no way I could let his challenge go unanswered. It just wasn’t in my DNA. “I’m thinking about it.”
We migrated to the living room, and she flopped down on the couch. “I tried to talk him out of it, but he only smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. Maybe you should keep a low profile for a while.”
I snorted. “No.”
“How about if I tell him you said he needs to leave you alone? That would be an acceptable reply.”
“No, that would be a perfectly boring reply. I have another idea.”
Luna shook her head and mumbled, “The chaos theory unleashes.”
“What does that mean?” I asked absently as I played through and discarded several ideas in my head—then it came to me and I sat up. “I know exactly how to respond.”
"Please tell me no one will lose a toe or end up in the hospital this time.”
I scowled at her, and my shoulders hunched. “I apologized to Callum a million times, and they sewed it back on.” When I was a young teen and Callum had been mercilessly teasing me about a boy, I’d “accidentally” dropped a kitchen knife on his foot and almost cut off his small toe. The episode had turned into a bloody, screaming mess, but the cousins quit teasing me about boys. Callum also stopped wearing flip-flops around me.
Luna gave a resigned sigh. “Let me know if you need help. Just remember, no animals get hurt, and I’d rather not kill or maim anyone. Otherwise, I’m your ride or die.”
I grinned and patted her leg. “And I’m yours.”
Her eyes drifted down to the faint scars on my forearms, and her voice got soft. “I know you are, Syl. Now tell me what you’re thinking?”
As a child, when Luna’s father locked her in a closet, I broke a window to get her out, and sliced the hell out of my arms. She would’ve done the same for me.
Sliding off the couch, I started pacing. “I'm thinking something symbolic but with a mortician’s flair. A creepy little gift that has a big shock value.”
“What little gift?” Luna asked cautiously.
“A middle finger.”
She stared at me. “Tell me it’ll be fake.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not going to be fake, is it?”
“Nope.”
“Where are you going to get a middle finger?” she asked cautiously. “On the black market or the dark web?”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re so dramatic. No, I’m going to do what any normal, law-abiding citizen would. Order it online.”
She tilted her head and stared at me. “You can get body parts online?”
“Yes, which is kind of messed up. There’s a company in Portland, Oregon that brokers bodies and body parts all over the world. I’ve packaged a few for delivery, which is no small feat in this Vegas heat.” Luna's mouth hung open, and she stared at me. “What?” I asked.
“Only you would know where to buy body parts and think a severed middle finger is an acceptable form of communication.”
A few days later, Alexa and Luna stood behind me as I opened the insulated package on my workstation in the embalming room. Fog wafted from the box, and I waved it away, peering down at the bubble-wrapped hand nestled in dry ice.
“Turns out, single phalanges cost more than buying a whole hand, and the middle finger is the most expensive. Go figure.” I pulled on a latex glove with a satisfying snap. “It’s a bargain if you think about it—five digits for the price of one." I snickered at my own joke.
“Way to go, saving money by buying bulk body parts,” Alexa shook her head. “ Estás loca. ”
Ignoring her insult, I studied all the items I’d lined up to prepare the finger. A small box, the scalpel Drakos had gifted me, and clear plastic wrap sat on my desk.
Pulling the stiff digits away from the middle one, I positioned the hand so I could cut the middle finger off.
Alexa held up her hand. “Wait. I can’t believe I’m encouraging your juvenile behavior, but what if you sent the whole hand to him, and positioned it so the middle finger is extended?”
Luna tilted her head. “Like it’s flipping the bird. Huh, that’s a good idea. I mean, without the finger being attached to the whole hand, it looks a little like a Jimmy Dean sausage link. Are you sure you want to do this?” Luna asked again. “It’s going to stir the pot.”
“Hell, yes, and I like Alexa’s idea, but I need flesh-colored thread and a bigger box.” Luna found a fancy perfume box and I worked on curling the other fingers down and stitching them in place. Then I leaned back and examined my work. It looked almost cheerfully ghoulish.
Alexa shook her head as she watched me assemble the package. “Ignoring him would be your smartest move.” Alexa was whip-smart and gave solid advice, but I couldn’t let his challenge go.
“Doing nothing goes against every fiber of my being.” Carefully, I wrapped the hand and placed it in the box, then put the box in a black silk bag. I also scribbled a note on a small linen card that read, “I believe this speaks for itself. S.”
“Subtle,” Luna commented dryly, peeking over my shoulder.
“Alright. I want to deliver it tonight. That way it will be on his desk first thing in the morning.”
“Shoot. I have class tomorrow morning, so I won’t be there when he opens it. I really wanted to see his face,” Luna muttered.
“Who’s going to help me figure out how to deliver it?” I asked, studying the benign-looking package.
Alexa sighed. “Against my better judgment, I can help with that. The building’s security system is tight, but if you get the package to the outer door of their office with Drakos’s name clearly on it, the receptionist will bring it in and set it on his desk.”
I stared at her. “How do you know that?”
She hunched her shoulders and looked sheepish. “When Luna started interning there, I studied their weaknesses.”
“Lex, sometimes you scare me a little, but I’m glad to have you on our side.” Based on the way we met, truer words were never spoken.
Later that evening, I walked into the commercial building dressed in a brown delivery uniform. The guard at the front desk sat watching a movie on his laptop. He glanced up and eyed me. “Kinda late, isn’t it?”
I gave him a harried smile, and bobbled the package along with my iPad. “Yeah, but I’m filling in and don’t know this route very well. Do I give this to you or set it at their office door? Tim said that’s what he usually does.” Alexa dug around and got the name of the building’s usual delivery person.
When the guard heard Tim’s name, his shoulders relaxed. “Either is fine.”
“Okay. I’ll set it outside their door then. Tenth floor, right?”
“Yep,” he answered absently, unlocking the elevator for me, then going back to his movie.
I rode up to the tenth floor. When I stood in front of their outer door, I took off my cap, shook out my hair, and looked directly up at their camera. Then I gave an obnoxious smoochy kiss and a big wink.
Setting the box down, I wiped my middle finger across my forehead and turned back to the elevator, laughing.