Chapter 40
ICalled Death
Lynn
As I got dressedto sneak out with Jess, something nagged at me to call Rita. I’ve learned that stealth operations are a part of her skills. I want to hand out an ass whipping, not get busted and arrested.
When I made the call, I wasn’t expecting her to send Val instead. I’m taken off guard as she meets us at the back door of the house as Jess unlocked the door.
I’m even more thrown by the way she’s dressed. Val has on a black dress and black red bottoms, looking more like she’s dressed for a business lunch than to help me sneak into a house to kick someone’s ass.
She also has a bag in her hand that looks like she’s making a home visit as a physician. I don’t ask any questions. My focus is on what I came here to do.
“I knew I liked you,” Val says as we step into the house.
“She’s not home yet,” Jess says. “Do you still want me to wait in the car?”
“No, you stay with us,” Val says before I can answer. “We don’t need anyone spotting you.”
“Makes sense,” I murmur.
And this is why I called Rita. I don’t know why she sent Val in her stead, but I get the feeling she knows the ins and outs just as well. I trust Rita wouldn’t steer me wrong.
“When I say I will do something. I mean it,” Val says to Jess.
“Yes, ma’am but she deserves this too.”
“Yes, I was given a copy of the file this evening. Uri and I will have a long conversation about why I’m just learning of these things,” Val replies.
Val looks me over. Then she points to my bag. “And what are you up to?”
“You will see. I’m gonna dog walk her Texas style. She’s gonna learn I’m not playing with her. It’s one thing to try to fuck with my life. It’s another to jeopardize the lives of the people I care about,” I seethe. “If she would have hurt those babies …”
“Yes, this I understand. I wanted to put a bullet in her skull when she stepped her drunk ass out of that car spewing bullshit,” Val hisses.
“I just want to know why? Why lie to my daddy all these years? Why target you and your family? Why is she so cruel and crazy?” Jess sobs.
“Every time he tries to leave her, she pulls more bullshit. She doesn’t love him or any of us. This isn’t about love in the least. It’s about her having control and being the center of everyone’s attention,” she continues.
“Well, she’ll get all the attention she wants now,” Val says in amusement.
I move to the front of the house and start to get ready. Catching on to what I’m trying to do, Val hands me and Jess gloves and helps me to set up. When we’re done, she laughs and lifts a brow.
“I was right, you are one of us,” she muses.
I shrug her words off and go to settle in the seat I left to face the door. We’ve been moving around in the dark, using the light from the streetlights and moon streaming into the window.
“No, Collen, I’m not apologizing to anyone. Do you have those bonds or not? I need them by the morning to cash them in.
“Just do what I told you to do. Stop with all the fucking excuses. If I get jammed up because of your incompetence and sniveling, I’m going to do a whole lot more than stop calling you. Get this shit done,” she slurs into her phone as she walks into the house.
She doesn’t see me sitting in the shadows yet. She tosses her phone down on the table by the front door and shrugs out of her leather jacket. She flips her hair and runs a hand through the front as she stumbles around.
She places the jacket in the closet. Then kicks her shoes off. She begins to grumble to herself as she digs around in her purse for something.
“Where the fuck are you? I don’t need this shit. What a fucked up day.
“Engaged?” She snorts. “Who the fuck does he think he is? Where’s that stupid phone? I need to make a call.
“If I cause her family to lose that fucking ranch, she’ll go away. That’s all I need, I need her to disappear. Oh, wait.
“They could kidnap her. If I’m going to use up my last favor, it better be good. Well, shit, how’d you get over there?” she says drunkenly as she picks up her phone.
I wait patiently. A small smile touches my lips. My fingers flex around the leather handle in my hand.
“What the fuck?” she yelps as she flips into the air and lands on her ass and back.
The thud of her hitting the hardwood floors is so satisfying my smile grows. I remain silent. Listening to the string of profanity that floats from her mouth. I wait. The best part has yet to come.
Watching through the darkened room, I see her sliding around in confusion. She’s up on her hands and knees slipping and sliding like a little baby just learning to crawl.
“Motherfucker,” she hollows, jumping back and falling backyards.
I signal for Jess to turn the lights on from her place next to the wall. I sit up, leaning with my arms dangling between my knees, my eyes squinted at the heap of shit laying on the floor. She looks around wildly.
Her eyes grow huge when she sees the metal jacks surrounding her. She’s trapped, oil slicked, and blocked in from the clean surface by the sharp toys.
“What the—how did you get in here? What is this shit?” she snarls.
She holds her arms up, looking at the liquid dripping off them. Her face clouds over in disgust and rage. She lifts her green eyes to look at me with more hatred than I’ve ever seen from anyone.
Good, the feeling is mutual.
“It’s an olive branch,” I taunt, gesturing my head to the olive oil coating the floor around her. “I wanted to give you a chance to see the error in your ways and repent.”
“How the hell did you get in here, bitch?” she snarls, trying to shake oil from her arms and examining her wounded palms.
She moves to get to her hands and knees again, slipping flat onto her face. I throw my head back and laugh. I’m enjoying this way more than I should be.
“Oh,” I croon out, hiding my laugh behind my free hand. “You should be careful there. You know, you’ve made more enemies than you know. Getting to you was too easy.”
“Hey, Mama,” Jess sings as she comes into view.
“I want those fucking keys and I want you out of my house. Now,” she snaps.
“She’ll leave them for you on the way out. First, you and I need to make some things clear.” I stand and move to the perimeter of the oil-covered surface.
“What do you want?” she growls.
“That’s my question. What do you want?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she mumbles while rolling around to her back and lifting to sit up again.
“I know everything you’re behind. The attempted rape, the sabotage of my family’s ranch, and the letter that tore me and Trevor apart,” I hiss.
“I did you a favor. Because of me, you went off to become a star. Why the hell couldn’t you stay away? When you called, I knew I had to do something to break you and keep you from him.”
“By having me raped? Are you crazy?”
“You already thought he didn’t want you. I needed you to lose all trust in men, then you wouldn’t dare come back looking for him. If Walter had gotten the job done, it would have worked,” she growls.
I flick my wrist, cracking the bullwhip in my hand. It snaps across her skin with such a satisfying sound, I run my tongue across my teeth. Donna yelps and jumps away, landing on a few jacks.
“You see. Your problem is you know nothing about me. You could never break me. You fucked up from day one. Trevor’s heart always belonged to me,” I growl.
“Your black ass never deserved him. He belonged to me first. If it weren’t for you, we could have had something. He loves Jess, I gave him what he wanted. I gave him a family to raise,” she rants.
I flick my wrist again. This time the whips cracks across her face, slapping the taste out her racist mouth. I grin in satisfaction from the precision of the strike.
“I have your black ass. You’re straight delusional, honey. He wrote that letter to you. How on earth do you believe he belonged to you ever?” I growl.
I crack the whip at her again. She screams with her crazy ass, slipping when she tries to get away, and cracks her head on the floor. Donna cups the back of her head, rolling onto her side. She curses repeatedly, groaning. When she pulls it together, she looks at me, shooting venom with her eyes.
“You ruined my life. You’ve haunted him like a fucking plague. He used to call your name in his sleep.
“That wasn’t love. That was an unhealthy obsession with a disgusting fetish. Well, I made sure he didn’t leave me for you. Paige and Toby put an end to that. I loved him while you were off running around the world,” she says with sinister grin on her face.
“That wasn’t love. I don’t think you know how to love. You have four beautiful babies who can’t stand you. You don’t know the meaning of love.”
I crack the whip for each of the children she’s weaponized against the man I love and then again for that man. When I think of my sister and Cliff, I flick my wrist twice more.
She tries not to cry out. Her lips are trembling as she fights to hold in her tears. I have no sympathy for her.
I squat down to get eye level with her, glaring into those cold green eyes. I don’t know what Trev ever saw in her. My lip curls back over my teeth.
“Let me explain something to you. Trevor is off limits. I wasn’t playing with you when I said stay away from him. Now, you’re to stay away from him and those babies.
“If you wanted to come for me, you should have done so with guns blazing. With the knowledge that I’m no one’s bitch. I don’t play about my family or my man. This is only a taste of what I’m capable of.
“You can get touched, Donna, and if you fuck with me again, I will touch you. Whoever you were trying to call, make sure you tell them to do their research first. People come up missing fucking with me,” I hiss.
“I know people too. You’re not going to get away with this. I always get what I want,” she says in that whiny voice.
“Stop thinking you’re God. You’re not. Don’t play with me, my family, or my man. Do yourself a favor and forget all about us. Walk away, last time I’m going to tell you,” I say in a calm I don’t feel.
I stand and wield the whip, beating her ass while she flails around in the oil. When not yelping from the jacks puncturing her from the floor, I have her hollering from the crack of the whip. I keep going until I know I’ve made my point.
“We good, Donna?” I ask through a heavy breath.
“Oh, you’re good. Good and fucked,” she spits.
“Wrong answer. Val, I’m done. You said you wanted to have a chat,” I call. “You fucked up, Donna.”
“Oh, sweetheart. Your arrogance has caught up with that ass,” Val purrs as she steps into view. “Unlike you, I don’t fail an assignment. I’ve come to collect like I promised.”
All the blood drains from Donna’s face. She starts to crawl back crying out as her hands are punctured as she tries to get away.
“No, no. Not her. Please, don’t leave me here with her. I’m sorry, Jess. Help me.”
I hold my hand out for Jess’s. She moves to my side and places hers in mine. I give her fingers a gentle squeeze.
“My daddy is all I have ever had. You tried to hurt him, now you will reap what you’ve sewn. When you get to hell, know that it was me who call death to your door,” Jess says with her head lifted.
“What?” Donna gasps.
“You ladies do everything Sim says. I’ll cheek in on you in a few days,” Val says.