26. Jordan
26
JORDAN
Was it wrong I wanted to rub my hands together and cackle from the joy that rushed through me? In my warehouse, one I’d used many times to interrogate and kill people, was a gift from Barrett. One I hoped was a guard who worked for the Everharts. If it wasn’t, I was sure there was a damn good reason for them being in my warehouse.
Albert pulled up next to Barrett’s car. I wasn’t surprised to see him here. He liked to show me his worth. If the prize was especially juicy, I’d give him a nice sum of money for going above and beyond.
Raiden got out first. I wasn’t about to bring Reghan with me after what happened yesterday with Barrett. Although he was itching to join me. I made him stay back with Hartley again.
Albert stepped out and opened the door for me. “Shall I have one of your spare suits ready, sir? I noticed you wore one of the cheap knock-offs that can’t compare to Mr. Weathers’s suits. ”
“If you wouldn’t mind. If this is as good as I’m hoping, I’ll be getting bloody shortly.”
“Very well.”
Albert stayed with the Maserati while I approached Barrett with Raiden at my side. Barrett was casual in jeans and a T-shirt, no jacket, no badge hanging around his neck, and his vehicle was an older sedan.
“Day off?” I asked.
“That depends on your definition of a day off. I’m here instead of relaxing on my couch.” He jutted his chin toward Raiden. “Where’s your brother?”
“You toyed with him enough yesterday,” Raiden replied. He stayed calm, whereas Reghan would have bit Barrett’s head off.
“Is that what he told you? I can assure you, there was a back-and-forth, not all on my side.”
“Can we get to the reason I’m here?” I bit out. I only had so much fucking patience and I was itchy enough to want to murder someone. There were men around my city who didn’t belong, and my guards had no luck finding them. If Barrett snagged one, I wanted the man’s jugular.
“This is more of a buy one, get one free,” Barrett said. “If you’ll follow me.”
We went inside the warehouse. Years ago, it was used to package and ship goods. There were still tall shelving units inside that I’d been known to occasionally sit body parts on when I severed them from people who crossed me.
Sound carried differently in here. The way my shoes tapped on the concrete. The key ring Barrett swung around on his finger. The way he whistled. It all had an eerie note to it. One I liked .
Barrett stopped in front of a closed door. There were abandoned offices, some still with furniture in them. Others with nothing because no one wanted to scrub blood and DNA evidence out of carpet and upholstery.
“Behind door number one, I give you the prized possession.” He swung the door open, revealing a man bound and gagged with blood crusted on his temple and a face so red with anger I was surprised it didn’t burst. “This is an asshole whose name I don’t give a fuck about. He’s one of the Everhart guards. I picked him up yesterday and locked him in here overnight, just for the fuck of it.” He shut the door and went to the next room. “Behind door number two is a lowlife criminal I found dealing drugs in East Dremest. Technically, he was outside my fucking house and since I can’t put a bullet in him and don’t want to waste the jail space…” He didn’t need to say more.
Pulling my gun from the holster, I lifted it, aimed, and fired. The man was dead, just like that. I didn’t care to spare him. No one came to my city and did that shit. My reputation went far and wide. Fuck this piece of shit. “Let’s go back to door number one.”
Lucky for Barrett I had Lawson tap into the security feed to make sure Barrett didn’t fuck with anything while he was here, like planting a camera or a listening device. While Barrett doing that would assure his death, he was still a cop, someone who didn’t just work for me. I only trusted him so much.
Barrett opened the door and stepped into the room. He crouched in front of the asshole on the floor. “Lucky for you I brought a playmate. You know Jordan Altair, right? He’s going to treat you so nice. I’m even going to remove your gag so we can hear how beautifully you beg. And you’ll need to beg. Jordan just killed your neighbor without thinking twice.” He removed the gag, and the man sucked in big gulps of air.
“I told you; I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know shit about the Everharts.”
“That kind of loyalty must mean they are either paying you well, which I know they aren’t because their asses are pretty fucking broke, or they’re holding something over your head. Either way, I don’t give a shit. You tell Jordan what he needs to know, or you’ll die.” He was going to die either way. What he said would depend on how much mercy I gave him.
The man’s eyes met mine. “Why would I come into your city and start shit? I know who you are. Everyone does.”
“Then why did I catch you scoping out Hartley Weathers’s studio yesterday morning? He wasn’t there yet, and you knew the right angle to stay out of the view of the cameras. I just happened to be driving by on my way into work when I noticed a beat up shitbox idling at the corner. Lo and behold, there you were acting like you weren’t doing a thing wrong.” So that was how Barrett found him. “Not only that but once I searched your vehicle, I found guns, meth, and a hit list. How many people were on it again?” Barrett leaned his ear closer.
“That wasn’t mine.”
“Sure, it wasn’t. It just so happened to be a list of all of Jordan’s family, guards, any family they had, and so on. So, tell me again how you don’t know the Everharts? There’s no other huge hit out there right now for that many people Jordan knows.”
“Move, Barrett,” I seethed. My guards knew what they were getting into when they agreed to work for me. That didn’t mean I liked hearing their names were on a hit list. But my fucking blood ran cold when I heard my partners and son were on it. I didn’t even want to think about Ava’s name being on it, which was why I didn’t ask.
Barrett could have brought this guy to the station just like the drug dealer, but the reality was, they would eventually get out and do the same shit all over again. I was the justice system in East Dremest.
Gripping the man by the throat, I lifted him from the ground. “Cut his legs free.”
Raiden pulled out a knife and took care of it so the man could stand. I didn’t feel like kneeling to fuck him up.
“Do you work for the Everharts?” I already knew he did, but I wanted to hear him say it.
He didn’t speak but nodded his head ever so slightly like I was wired and would rat him out to his boss. Idiot.
“Where are they staying?”
“They move, jumping from spot to spot so you don’t find them.”
“Last location.”
He rattled off an address, which wasn’t a number just a street. Raiden would get some of my men over there to verify if he was telling the truth or not.
“How many of you are with them?”
His lips were sealed again, which made me think he was telling the truth about the location. He was safe saying it, given they were no longer there.
“Okay, here’s how this is going to work. I ask a question, and you answer. Every time you don’t, I shoot you in an area of my choosing. Raiden will hold you up by the throat so if I shoot your kneecap, you’ll get to balance on one leg and by your throat. Now, how many of you are with the Everharts?” Raiden took over holding him by his throat.
Nothing .
“Fine.” I shot his knee.
He let out a high-pitched scream but said nothing else.
“Next question. You don’t get do-overs. Who’s running the show? Edison or Noel?”
A tear slipped down his cheek, but his tongue didn’t move.
“You understand they have no fucking clue if you’re talking to me or not. You could get away and never look back if you answer me. Not answering my questions ensures your death by bleeding out.”
He shook his head and more tears fell.
I shot his foot on the opposite side. His silent tears turned to quiet sobs as Raiden held him by his neck, Raiden’s knuckles going white now that the man couldn’t stand well. He used both hands to hold him up.
“Where are they planning to strike us?”
“Please,” he whimpered.
Not an answer so he received a bullet to the groin. That had him screaming as blood quickly soaked the crotch of his jeans.
“How are they planning to attack us?” I had men everywhere so if they were able to slip past them to kill us, that would be a fucking miracle.
“I don’t know,” he sobbed. “They didn’t tell me.”
Placing the gun near his face, I fired, shooting off part of his ear. He wouldn’t be able to hear me, but I had no fucks left to give.
I sat the gun on the floor, then I pulled my switchblade from my pocket and opened it. Raiden let go of him a second before I stabbed him in the neck, then followed him to the ground so I was over him, in his face.
“I’m so fucking sick of you assholes thinking you can get to me and the people I love. How many of you do I have to kill before your bosses get the goddamn message that no one comes after me and mine?”
Withdrawing the knife, I brought it down and stabbed him in his abdomen, twisting it once it was in there before removing it. Blood had hit me multiple times at this point.
“You’re fucking useless and disposable,” I seethed. “You claim loyalty and lose your life. For what? You were going to die anyway. I could have done it quickly. Now I get to watch you bleed to death for being too fucking stupid.”
I stepped back and switched the knife to my left hand so I could grab my gun again. Another bullet flew as I shot him in the mouth from the side, so it didn’t travel into his brain. That was particularly gory between the blood from the tongue and the teeth. At least I sated my need to murder.
The room was silent except for him trying to scream, which eventually quieted as he died like I said he would.
“Jesus, Jordan, you can’t go gently like you did with the guy next door, can you?” Barrett asked.
“No.”
I holstered my gun and handed Raiden my knife. He’d take care of cleaning it and would arrange for the rooms and bodies to be handled.
I peered at Barrett over my shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re complaining about. You didn’t get a drop of blood on you. I’m fucking filthy. Albert!” My voice would carry through the warehouse. With no other businesses around, there was no one to hear us. No homes, no residents. The land, the warehouse, the adjoining buildings, were all mine.
Albert appeared in the doorway. “When you’re ready, sir.”
He took my holster and gun so I could quickly change. My bloody clothes landed on the cement floor. The clothes would be burned .
“Did you find anything out?” Albert asked.
“Nothing of use.”
“At least you were able to use your gun and knife in the same session.”
“There’s always a silver lining with you, isn’t there?”
“One of us has to be optimistic.”