Chapter 41
SAINT
We knew he was involved in some way, shape, or form. However, we were not prepared to hear that Frankie was the mastermind in trying to kill Sage and Saxon. Once we get Charles to talk, he sings like a canary. Charles never stood a chance. We all know damn well that this man’s going to die in our basement. However, he doesn’t need to know that. We promise multiple times he’ll be released if he gives us all the information we need. After a few fingers are removed with Finn’s bolt cutters, he gives us one more shocking piece of information that ultimately ties this whole mess together.
Charles informs us that Mayor Harrison, Tim Blanchett, and Frankie have been conspiring against Luther since before his murder. He also informs us that Frankie has been harboring hate for his older brother for some time. When asked why Frankie hated Luther so much, all he says is Frankie was jealous of Luther for the life he had. Which is strange because, although Frankie was not the leader of The Kings’ Aces, Luther never asserted dominance or power over his brother. Luther always treated Frankie as his equal. The men’s relationship started when Frankie got the suspicion that Luther was sneaking around with someone. So, he decided to tail Luther one day, and, to his surprise, he discovered the secret affair Luther and Gloria were having. He snapped a few photos and took them to the mayor, who showed his head of security, Tim. With help from Frankie, they plotted to eliminate Luther, but Frankie was adamant that he wanted Saxon and Sage in the house when it burned as well.
“Take his body to the hole and dispose of him,” Saxon informs Finn and Brooks, to which they gladly oblige.
“It doesn’t make sense, man. Why does Frankie want you and Sage dead too? There has to be something, right? We have to be missing something,” I say to Saxon as I clean up my hands with a cloth, meticulously removing all of Charles’s blood.
“Fuck, man. I don’t know. Why agree to raise us after Luther died, but then conspire to kill us later?” The look on Saxon’s face as he speaks is twisted in pain and hurt at the thought of his uncle planning to not only kill your father, but you and your sister too. What the hell would he gain by doing such a horrific act, and against his family, no less?
“I have a fucking headache.” Saxon brushes his hair back with his hand while removing his cell from his pocket. “Let’s check on Sage and see if she can be discharged yet. I don’t trust leaving her alone right now.” I agree, we need to all stay close, especially knowing what we know now.
“Owen, how’s Sage doing? Is she awake yet?” Saxon speaks into his phone as we ascend the stairs from the basement. There’s a long pause. When we finally reach the top of the stairs, and I successfully closed the hidden door behind us, I turn to face Saxon, who’s now looking as though the vale to his darkness has swept over his whole being again.I furrow my eyebrows in confusion as to why he’s suddenly enraged. I motion for him to put the call on speaker phone, which he does.
“Yeah, man. Frankie showed up about thirty minutes after you left. He said he would take her home when they discharged her and set her up with the home care nurse that will be changing her bandages every other day.” Owen speaks so nonchalantly, and it occurs to me that he doesn’t know what we know now about Frankie. We are both silent, the realization of the danger Sage is now in, hitting us like a ton of bricks.
“Sax, man, are you okay? How did the base?—”
“Where did Frankie take her?” Saxon’s voice is lethal, dripping with so much murderous intent I know tonight is about to turn into even more of a blood bath.
“Uh, he said he was going to take her home. I assume your house. Sax, is everything okay?”
“Get to my house now. We’re on our way. Frankie’s not safe. We’ll fill you in when we get there.” Saxon hangs up the phone, and we take off to the house. We are far into the woods behind his property, so it takes some time for us to finally see the glowing lights of the house shine through the trees.
“Text the twins and tell them to get here ASAP,” Saxon tells me, but I’m already sending the message. When we finally reach the house, we storm in, calling to Sage in the hope she’s here, but there’s no answer. I knew deep down she wouldn’t be here. That would have been too easy.
Five minutes later, Owen comes running in through the front door.
“I’m so sorry, man! I didn’t know. I?—”
“It’s fine. We learned some things from Charles. The biggest being that Frankie wants Sage and I dead. Did he say anything else that would indicate where he was taking her?” Owen runs his fingers through his hair, guilt plastered all over his face.
“Nah, he came to the hospital. Asked how she was doing. Sage finally woke up about ten minutes after you all left, said she was in pain and the nurse gave her more pain meds. Frankie then left and spoke with the nurse about discharge. The nurse said she wouldn’t be discharged for another couple days, but Frankie was insistent that it be tonight. I remember he looked flustered and in a rush of some kind.” Owen takes a deep breath before continuing. “Then he demanded that he take her home. He wanted her comfortable in her own space and had to fill out a form that stated he was going against hospital recommendations. But then the doctor came in and said she is legally an adult, and she has to make the decision herself.”
“What did Sage say?” I ask.
“Well, at first, she was hesitant and wanted to stay in the hospital due to her pain level, but then Frankie sat on her bed beside her and whispered something in her ear. After that, she agreed and said she wanted to go home. Ophelia and I tried to talk her out of it due to her state, but she was adamant that she needed to go home. Fifteen minutes later she was wheeled down to Frankie’s car, and they left.”
“That motherfucker.” The backdoor suddenly bursts open and the twins rush in, looking like they just played around in the mud. Technically, they did, while disposing of Charles.
“What the fuck is going on?” Finn yells, both twins breathing heavily as they just ran from even deeper in the woods than Saxon and me. Saxon quickly gives Owen a rundown of what happened in the basement, while I inform Finn and Brooks about what happened at the hospital. The longer we take explaining this shit show, the more danger Sage is going to be in.
“Right, let’s check Frankie’s house first. See if he’s dumb enough to go there,” Saxon says and starts for the front door. However, I have something that no one knows about: I had placed a tracker on Sage’s phone a while back in case she found herself in danger. I knew it was wrong and an invasion of her privacy, but right now, I’m pretty fucking thankful I had.
“I put a tracker on Sage’s phone.” The room falls silent as Saxon gives me a hard look.
“In any other situation, I would beat the fuck out of you. For now, I have to say, smart move.” I pull out my phone and click to my tracker app. Sage’s icon pings almost immediately. I look at the location and see that she’s currently moving. It looks like she is heading towards the hills. “She’s headed towards Ruhn Canyon on the outskirts of town.” I say, lifting my head from my phone.
“Fuck, and guess who lives by Ruhn Canyon? Fucking Mayor Harrison,” Saxon says as we make our way to the front door. I grab the knob and swing open the door, and freeze. The last person on earth I’d expect to be standing on the porch is now standing face to face with me, hand raised as if he was about to knock on the door. The rest of the guys also freeze behind me. Five sets of eyes trained on the person we thought had died, now alive and well, staring back at us.
“Dante?” I ask in utter bewilderment.
“Yeah… we need to talk.”