Chapter 41
WHO ARE YOU?
J.D. Stevens
Despite my efforts to wipe my hands on my jeans as I paced the emergency room waiting area, her blood refused to fade away. But I knew whether or not it was visibly there, it would always stain my hands just like Dani’s.
Rebel was still alive, but it wasn’t looking too good according to the nurse I threatened to get information from since I wasn’t family. However, I was hanging on to the hope that she would make it.
She had too.
By the time we had arrived at the hospital, she had stopped breathing. With her in my arms, I rushed into the emergency room, and an eerie sense of déjà vu filled the air. Once again, it was a very real possibility I might lose the woman I loved, and it would be my fault.
I ran my hands, stained with blood, through my tangled hair. The frustration mounted as I impatiently waited for any news. Being kept in the dark was something I despised.
Even though I knew I should leave because the cops would be descending on the place once they called in the gunshot wound, I couldn’t. I needed to know what was happening. I couldn’t let her go through this alone.
“You! You did this!”
I abruptly halted, turning to face Rumi as she sprinted towards me. I wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation even though I knew it would happen. Her piercing glare made it clear she despised me. She hated I was a part of her sister’s life. For good reason.
“I’m so sorry,” I said even though I didn’t believe my apology would make much difference.
She was hurting and her sister was fighting for her life.
As her hand struck the side of my face, I gritted my teeth, feeling the sharp sting. I closed my eyes and could feel the tension slowly leaving my body with each deep breath. I deserved it because there weren’t enough apologies in the world that could erase what had happened. She had been right about me all along. And now I wished Rebel had listened.
“Save your fucking apology,” Rumi sneered. “I’m going to make sure you pay for this.”
“Hey, hey.” Caesar grabbed her, pulling her away from me. “Calm the fuck down. People are looking.”
Caesar looked around the waiting room and we had garnered some attention. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the argument or the metallic scent of blood that lingered on me.
She wrenched out of his arms. “Calm down! Calm down!” she shouted. “My sister could die because of him, and you want me to calm down! Fuck you, Caesar.” Then her eyes zeroed in on me. “And fuck you. Get out!”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, standing my ground.
I didn’t care how angry Rumi was at me. I wasn’t leaving Rebel. Not when she needed me the most.
“Mimi.” Caesar grabbed her by the arms, and she pulled away from him again, tears pooling her eyes. “I said get out. Both of you. Leave or I’m gonna call the cops.”
She turned away from us and rushed to the receptionist’s desk.
“Come on man.” Caesar pulled me by the arm. “Come on we need to leave.”
“I can’t leave her.”
“Right now, you don’t have any other choice.” He looked at Rumi, who was frantically talking with the receptionist, more than likely accusing me of shooting her sister. “Either you leave and handle what needs to be done or they’ll haul you down to the police station.”
“She might not make it.”
“She’ll be fine, J.D.” He pulled me closer to the entrance of the emergency room. “It’s Rebel. She doesn’t go down without a fight. And there’s nothing you can do here, anyway.”
He was right. There was something I needed to handle, and I couldn’t do what needed to be done if I was at the hospital or in jail. Rebel would want me to finish this. She would want me to find out the truth. So, I followed him outside. I inhaled a deep breath of the cool fresh air and released it. There was nothing I could do here, but I could make Revels pay for the pain he had inflicted on Rebel and Dani.
“Fuck,” Caesar muttered as we watched the black and white pull up to the curb.
I followed Caesar towards the parking lot. I spotted his SUV parked right next to a beat up brown chevy F-150 sitting directly under the light. As I reached the passenger side door, I swiftly turned my head and took in the sight of both officers emerging from the patrol vehicle.
As I slid into the passenger side and closed the door, a sense of relief washed over me, and I let out a long exhale. I knew they’d be searching for me because I brought her in without providing a statement, and Rumi would go to great lengths to spread the word that I was responsible.
However, there was no way anyone would keep me from her. Once things were settled with Revels, I’d come back to make sure she was alright.
“Where’s Revels?” I asked as Caesar pulled out of the hospital parking lot.
“Hannibal called. Said they took him to his dad’s cabin at Lake Wylie. Laura will keep us in the loop about Rebel whenever she can get some information. The only thing you need to worry about right now is getting what you need from Revels, then taking care of him.”
I nodded, laid my head against the headrest of the chair, and tried to calm my anger. I had about forty minutes to calm down, so I didn’t kill him when I saw him. I needed information then I would get revenge for both the women in my life that meant more to me than anything in this world.
***
As soon as I stepped inside Hannibal’s cabin, I was bombarded with questions on Rebel’s condition. There wasn’t much I could tell them.
“She’s in surgery,” I said. “Where’s he at?”
“In the den with Hannibal,” Schizo said. “We didn’t rough him up too bad, but he’s definitely not talking.”
I nodded and made my way to the back of the cabin where the den was located. This wasn’t one of those small one-room cabins down by the lake. This was an enormous three bedroom, two bath cabin that had to cost a pretty penny. I’d only been here a few times when Hannibal offered it to me and Dani for a quick getaway when we first started dating but as far as I knew he never came here.
It was left to him when his dad died. I wasn’t sure of the story between the two men, but I knew Hannibal had absolutely nothing to do with his family and he was shocked when he got the call his dad had died. And was even more surprised that this house was left to him.
I heard the groans and the laughter the closer I got to the den. Anger surged through every fiber of my being. All I could think about was his audacity to laugh while Rebel was battling for her life. Dani and Luca where cold in their graves and he was laughing.
I walked into the room and Revels’ gaze landed on me. It was like an oppressive force weighed down on me as I stood feet from the man who destroyed my world and continued to try to kill everything that I loved.
“Stevens.” A glob of bloody spit landed on the floor at his feet. “How’s that pretty bitch you’re fucking?”
He laughed, and all I saw was red as I tried to pull out of the grasps of my brothers. “I’m going to fucking kill you!”
He shrugged. “Probably, but not before I destroy your life. I’m fine with dying.”
“J.D. calm the fuck down,” Caesar shouted in my face. “He’s trying to get you to kill him before you get answers. Don’t let him win.”
I closed my eyes took a deep breath in and let it out. I needed answers. He would die anyway. Whether I got what I needed from him was solely in my hands. I was the one in control, not him.
“Are you good?” Caesar asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
My gaze shifted back to Agent Alan Revels, and I was taken aback by the intensity of the hatred in his eyes. I couldn’t understand why this man held such a strong grudge against me. I had taunted him about something personal, but I really didn’t think it was that.
“Who are you?” I asked taking a step closer to him.
The boys had bound him to a chair with duct tape, ensuring he couldn’t come near me.
He smiled, revealing a gruesome sight—a mouth full of bloody teeth. “Wouldn’t you like to know? I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet.”
My brows pulled together in confusion. “I’ve never met you.”
I would have remembered him especially him being a federal agent.
He laughed again. “Are you sure?”
I glared at him, my eyes filled with anger. He wanted to sit here and play games, but I wasn’t in the mood for it. He had answers I needed, and I would get them out of him. “Schizo hand me that screwdriver.”
“Sure thing, Prez.”
He hopped down off the pool table he was sitting on and grabbed the screwdriver that was sitting on a shelf near the sliding door. He walked over to me and placed it in my hand.
Agent Revels tilted his head and glared at me. “There’s nothing you can do to me, that will get me to talk, Stevens. I guess you’ll have to go to your grave knowing you couldn’t save any of your bitches.”
He laughed, his laughter growing louder and louder until it transformed into a piercing scream when I drove the screwdriver into his hand, and then swiftly removed it. I didn’t give him any relief. I slammed it down into the other hand and ripped it out.
After he finally stopped screaming, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “You messed with the wrong motherfucker, Revels. You will tell me what I want to know. Who are you and why did you kill my wife?”
“Fuck you.” He spat in my face. “Fuck you and that dead cunt and the bastard she was carrying.”
I wiped my face then grabbed him by his neck and squeezed. I squeezed tightly, watching his lips turn blue. I squeezed until the blood vessels in his eyes started to burst until someone yanked me away.
“You’re going to kill him,” Hannibal said. “Then all this shit will be for nothing.”
Revels gasped for air. His eyes watered and he coughed as he tried to pull air into his lungs. I needed to calm down because I couldn’t get those answers if he was dead.
I crouched in front of him, then pulled off his polished dress shoes. Then without any warning, I forcefully plunged the screwdriver into his left foot, piercing through flesh and bone. Then I did the same to the right.
His screams were like music to my ears. If my father-in-law was here right now, I believe I would see a proud smile on his face.
In the chair, Revels convulsed as he let out a piercing scream, desperately calling for help. We were so deep in the woods that his pleas for help would be swallowed by the silence. Laughter filled the room as we witnessed the transformation of the confident Agent into the whiny bastard before me.
I stood and gripped him by the chin, forcing him to look at me. “Are you ready to talk yet?”
“Fuck...you...”
I dropped his chin and shook my head. “Well, Revels. I didn’t want to bring your wife into this because I don’t like bringing women into shit.”
His eyes widen. “Leave her the fuck alone!”
I punched him in the face. “Like you left my wife alone!”
I hit him square in the jaw again and again.
“Tell me what I want to know, or your wife dies along with you! Who are you!”
“Leave my wife alone and I’ll tell you.”
I laughed. “Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll think about it.”
He thought for a minute about what he needed to do. I didn’t want to kill her but if it got me answers, I’d slit her throat right in front of him and not think twice about it.
“Tell me.”
“Fergus MacDaniel is my father. I’m your brother.”