Chapter 41
Chapter
Forty-One
ABBOTT
The sludge is sucked up into the shop vac and then the pipe is shoved into Clara’s mouth. I shove it so far down that she’s gagging on the pipe, while Lyle plugs her nose so she can’t breathe. I make sure her mouth is forced shut as well, while Easton steps on her bound wrists.
Cassidy and Bellamy both have masks on now because the smell is disgusting, watching in silent witness as we strip the last of Clara’s dignity from her. Lyle releases her nose so her reflexes force her to inhale, and the puke comes out her nose since it can’t go anywhere else.
Yep, that’s exactly as gross as it seems. We continue the treatment until she dies, which takes exactly twenty minutes. It’s a hard death, and only something I’d wish on my worst enemy.
Winchell listens to the sounds and sobs, because he can’t see what’s happening. Losing a sense is scary. It strips away one of the ways you process information, and it’s why it’s used to torture people.
“She’s gone,” Silas mutters. “I’ll have someone bring in a body bag and make sure she’s cremated. I’ll stand guard to see that it’s done.”
“Thank you,” I say, standing up.
The clean up crew is effective and quick, and the sewage pipe is put back where it belongs. It really deserves an MVP award if you ask me.
“Ready for this?” I ask, handing Cassidy the flamethrower.
Cassidy nods, taking it from me to get into position.
See? They have really good toys.
We all stand around her, while Ansel watches from the doorway. Once we’re situated, Winchell trembles on the hook, and Winter surprises me by getting up and removing her mask. I think the Vicks is doing its job, because she doesn’t make a face as she glares at Winchell.
“People aren’t inventory,” Winter says, standing like the royalty Ansel always says she is. “What kinds of businesses does he have, Shiloh?”
Standing next to me, he begins to rattle them off. He’s been researching. “Strip clubs, sex clubs, drug dealing, and I think he also sells people privately. He bought you and Bell from Clara because he wanted to fund a new business. He didn’t want to risk his own people for that.”
“Don’t forget your mask, Winter,” I remind her.
Once the mask is back on Winter’s face, I grin as Cass presses the trigger on the flamethrower. She aims low and moves her way up. The lick of the flames melt his skin, charring it as she gets up to Winchell Rock’s face.
I wonder if the man has an heir, and if we’ll need to go after him next. The nails keep Winchell’s eyes shut, not that they’d be very helpful anyway. The body continues to smolder as Cass releases the trigger, and I decide that my worries will keep for a little while.
I refuse to borrow trouble for ourselves. There is far too much of it out there as it is. Now, it’s time for us to heal.
Four days later
Winter sighs happily as she takes in the art piece in front of her. Today is her and Bellamy’s birthdays. It’s hard to believe that they were born on the same day, in the same year. Soulmates are sometimes like that.
The museum is completely silent outside of our movements. We’ve all scattered to different areas, and I decide to make it a point to choose a different art museum a month to go on a date.
It’s so chill, especially when you’re able to clear the museum for a few hours for a private visit.
“I can tell you love it here,” I say to Winter as we move to the next piece.
“It’s fun to imagine what artists were thinking about when they painted these,” she says, practically bouncing with excitement. “I bet most of them had no idea how famous they’d be.”
Considering so many of these artists were starving, I’m sure they didn’t know. I love experiencing this with her, and by the time we leave, I’m practically floating on air from her happiness.
The six of us walk to the entrance of the museum, and stop to thank the museum director for allowing me to organize this.
“It’s our pleasure,” he says with a smile. “Happy birthday.”
“Thank you,” Winter and Bellamy say, almost at the same time. They seem surprised that he knew it was their birthday, but that’s how I got him to agree.
Well, there was also a very large donation. The director was very excited about that.
Walking out of the museum, we’re met with Henri and Greig. They remain a few steps away, always watching while we walk. I only told Bellamy and Winter about the men behind us, and not the others spaced around us. They seem like normal people, but they’re avidly watching to ensure our safety.
The reality is that we’d gotten too lax in our security before the kidnappings, and I won’t ever allow that to happen again. Someone will always see Winter and Bellamy and want to steal them from us. They’re gorgeous from their unique eye color, to how closely they resemble each other.
It’s a very easy thing to become obsessed with them. The other issue is that none of us can say for sure that Avery is dead, nor do I want to risk it.
I don’t want Bellamy or Winter to be scared to live or leave the house, so this is my work around to keep them safe. We discussed last night that there will always be a guard with them at all times.
It could be argued that we had a guard at the park, but Jake is one of the last people I expected to turn on me. We managed to find his mother, and we’re paying for her care. It was really difficult to explain that Jake had died. I told her it was a fire, which isn’t too far from the truth.
A bomb, a fire, they both go boom sometimes.
“Do we still want tacos for lunch before paintball?” Shi asks.
“Hmmm. That still sounds good,” Winter says with a nod.
“No one else’s opinion matters then,” Cassidy snorts. “Getting you to eat is difficult enough, and we all like tacos.”
“Seconded,” Ansel grunts.
“Motion carried,” Bellamy says with a grin.
“Argh. Thank you,” Winter laughs. “I hope this isn’t going to happen the entire time.”
“If it does, we adjust,” I reassure her.
There’s a taco restaurant not too far from us, and we eat in as we talk.
“Your eyes are droopy,” I observe, raising my brow. It’s still very warm in Savannah. I’ve noticed that walking outside seems to sap Winter’s energy faster than normal.
“I think a birthday nap is going to be necessary,” Cass says. “I’ll join you so I won’t fall asleep during the movies tonight.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Bellamy says. “I’m down for a nap too.”
After we finish eating, we walk back to the house, and say goodbye to our security detail.
“We can go in this way,” I say, unlocking the door from the street level into the basement.
Cassidy smirks as Winter squeals with excitement.
“I’m pretty excited too,” Bellamy admits, walking inside with Ansel. We always make sure one of us walks ahead, just in case.
Locking up and turning off the alarm once we’re all inside, I grin with pride at the sight of the easels set up. There’s newspapers on the ground to protect the floors, paint guns set up on the table, and everything is ready.
Ansel, Shiloh, and I made sure to get this ready last night so we wouldn’t have to scramble today. I can’t help being a planner. The only reason I didn’t set up the backyard for our movie night is because I was a little worried about the rain we had come through this morning.
Now that the weather has passed, we shouldn’t have an issue.
We all pick up our paint guns and make sure to load the paint we want. Bellamy’s smiling so big, he’s sure to be sore later. Winter’s very meticulous with her choice, and not for the first time, I wish that she’d follow her passion to paint.
It doesn’t even have to be for profit. I’ll need to figure out a way for her to be able to do that. The joy on her face makes me dizzy as I watch her.
“Ready?” Shiloh asks. We are all set up in a line, close enough to our easels to ensure that we all hit our target, I mean the canvas.
The first splat onto the canvas makes Cassidy cheer, and we let loose and have fun. There’s no one watching, we aren’t concerned about the societal niceties, we’re just making art in the most ridiculous way possible.
“Oh shit, maybe we can do this with balloons filled with paint next time!” Shiloh exclaims.
“It’s messier, believe it or not, but almost anything can become art,” Bell says happily.
Glancing at Winter, I watch her lip purse as she thinks about that. I hope she takes that to heart, because he’s not wrong. In fact, the back of our house can’t be seen from the street. I bet a pretty mural would brighten our yard right up.
I’ll do anything to enjoy their happiness. An hour later, the first yawn begins, and funny enough, it belongs to Cassidy.
“Oh my god, that’s embarrassing,” she groans.
“I could nap,” Winter says, shrugging.
“Go ahead, we’ll clean up,” I say with a laugh.
“I need some water, so I’ll walk you up,” Ansel says easily. I don’t miss the worry in his eyes, nor the fact that it’s because we haven’t cleared the rest of the house of possible intruders.
Fuck my life, if I could go back and kill Clara again, I would. She definitely didn’t have an easy end though. Death by sewage isn’t for the faint of heart.
Once they’re gone, I sigh.
“When is Patricia supposed to come in? We’ve pretty much rescheduled her indefinitely because of everything happening,” I admit.
“I want to go back over her background with a fine tooth comb,” Shiloh grumbles. “We’ll clean the house ourselves if necessary. Though, I think we may need a new couch. Ansel wrecked it, and Patricia couldn’t get the stain out.”
Stifling a snort of amusement, I wince as I hurt myself. Shiloh can’t help but laugh as we clean up our mess, and I have to admit that the canvases are kind of pretty.
“I wonder if Bellamy can turn this into something,” I muse. “We can leave the canvases here, and ask him about it tomorrow.”
Talking together as we leave the basement and walk through the house, we find Bellamy rooting around in the cabinets in the kitchen.
“What are you looking for?” I ask.
“Saltines,” he grumbles. “Are we out? It’s always better if Winter has some nearby.”
“I hid a stash and haven’t moved it to the cabinets,” Shiloh says, finding them in the pantry and handing him the box.
“That’s smart,” he says with relief.
“I have a question. Do you think you could make our paintball paintings into something we can hang up in the house?” I ask.
“Oh yeah,” he says with a grin. “I’ll have to start tomorrow so it doesn’t dry too much, but I definitely can.”
“Awesome. I think they’d be fun to hang up on our walls once you're done,” I explain.
“For sure. That’s a great idea,” Bellamy says. “Winter has gotten very odd about her art, and I don’t know how to get her out of her funk.”
“I noticed that too,” I admit. “She mentioned not wanting to monetize it, which I respect, but it’s still a part of her.”
“I want to see if she’d be interested in painting sets for a play, but I’m not sure if her energy levels will allow that,” he says. “She’s definitely good enough of an artist to crush it. With all of the different types of plays and performances happening in Savannah, someone has to need the help.”
“You’re not wrong. We just need to get through her first trimester,” Shiloh says. “I’m hoping she’ll feel better then. And if not, we’ll figure it out together.”
Bellamy nods, his crackers in a little bowl now, and he waves two fingers at us as he leaves.
“The weather says we’re good for tonight,” Shiloh says, checking his phone. “Let’s get started outside. Ansel may end up getting into bed with them and never leaving.”
“Lucky bastard,” I sigh, walking to the back door and unlocking it.
Shiloh grabs a towel and a huge white sheet for our movie screen, ensuring we’ll be able to set up together.
Walking outside, I grab a broom and begin to clean up the leaves that have fallen into the courtyard. We paved over the yard so we’d get more use out of it a few years ago, and it was one of the best decisions we’ve made.
While the brick is still shiny with a puddle here and there, it won’t affect our plans. Shi and I carry the couch on the back porch down the steps to the courtyard, fill it with pillows, and then hang up the sheet.
We have a projector that will be set up on a table tonight, to end a perfect day.
Loving someone and showing you appreciate their existence doesn’t have to be difficult. Sometimes, it’s keeping them safe that is the real problem.