Chapter Twenty-Two
Bhodi
The vibrating of a phone pulls me from a troubled sleep. I shouldn’t be too surprised. It’s rare I have a good night’s sleep from the age of fourteen or so, but these days it’s even less. As the vibrating continues, Summer slowly moves onto her side and I lean over to feel the pockets of my discarded jeans. Hitting the answer button, I hold the phone to my ear, swiping my hair from my face.
“Yeah,”
I grumble, my eyes adjusting to the morning sunlight gently poking through the crack in the curtains.
“You at the neighbours?”
Axe’s familiar voice comes through the phone.
“Yeah, go round the back.”
“Be there in twenty.”
The call abruptly ends and my head falls back onto the pillow.
Glancing to the right, Summer lies on her side, her beautiful back exposed as the duvet lays across her hips, her body gently curled into a ball and her cool-blonde waves fan across the pillow. I watch for a moment as she gently breathes, her body subtly twitching as she sleeps peacefully. Even though it’s washed away, I can still see the blood on her skin, the question staring back at me, but the answer remains hopeful. Her words last night broke my heart and cracked my soul, the one she’s been helping to mend. I know she’s scared, hell, I am too, but we can’t carry on like this. Someone has to die and it sure as hell won’t be one of us.
Stealing a few more seconds of peace, I finally rise to my feet and reach for the closet door. Pulling out some clean shorts and a T-shirt, I lay a jumper across the bed for Summer. Hitting every creaking floorboard on the way down the stairs, I make a mental note about my next project in the house, before my eyes fall on the faded wallpaper of the hallway. The only safe memories I have of my childhood are in this house, and there’s barely a handful. It doesn’t stop the fact that each time I arrive in the street, I feel sick to my stomach. Parked up outside it takes a good twenty minutes or so before I can leave the car and enter the house, avoiding looking towards next door.
Striding into the kitchen, Eva almost drops the coffee pot and her hand flies to her heart, a wide-eyed look of shock on her face before she realises it’s me and relaxes slightly.
“Shit…Sorry, Bhodi..I….”
“Don’t worry, found the coffee alright?”
I gesture to the pot, offering a small sympathetic smile.
“Yeah.”
She begins to turn red. “That’s the only thing in the fridge.”
She offers a nervous smile, looking away as she slides a cup towards me.
Taking a sip of the coffee, I study her nervousness, how she avoids my eye contact and her hands slightly tremble. It soon makes sense, Summer was the same when we initially met and her abuse from Harry had already taken a toll on her, however she remained confident enough to fight back and flee when she had the opportunity to. Eva is different though, she looks as though she’s spent most of her young life beaten down and told to submit, she can’t be much older than Summer but her eyes hold a lifetime of sadness.
“He’ll never be able to hurt you again, Eva.”
My voice is clear.
When her eyes snap towards mine, the tears begin to fill immediately and her bottom lip quivers.
“He always finds a way,”
she mumbles, wiping her eyes.
“Not from hell he wont.”
Her jaw falls open, and the mug slams onto the kitchen side. Eva stares at me dumbfounded, tears trickle down her cheeks, a relief washing over her face.
“He’s really dead?”
An almost smile crosses her face.
I nod, and her hand flies to her mouth. A sob escapes her throat and she nods slowly, understanding what I am telling her. The tension visibly leaves her body, as though a crippling black cloud has been lifted and she mouths the words ‘thank you’ to me. When Summer enters the room she looks between the two of us, confused, before Eva pulls her into a tight hug. I mouth the word ‘Daly’ to her before heading into the living room, spotting Jimmy, Axe and Rob all heading towards the back door.
My shoulders sag. Without a few minutes of peace, I head back into the kitchen as the backdoor swings open, revealing all three men carrying takeout bags and coffee in their hands, a welcome sight I guess. Rob immediately moves to Eva, placing his arms around his sister in a protective manner. He whispers something and she holds him tighter, I look to Jimmy whose concern for Eva’s wellbeing lingers a little longer than expected and when he finally looks to me, I quirk a brow, but he immediately turns away, busying himself with unwrapping the food.
Jimmy, you sly dog.
We all take a seat at the kitchen table, slightly cramped. It’s a different sight to the one I had as a kid, where there would only ever be three of us sitting here, before eventually it left just one lonely soul to eat alone. This is the first time the home has seen anyone new in years. Something about it awakens something inside me. It’s a nice feeling even if it is only transient for now.
“So, is anyone going to say anything?”
Rob glances towards us and Eva begins to shrink into herself.
“What do you want us to say?”
I shrug, taking a bite into my bacon roll.
“You had me dispose of a body!” he snaps.
“Yeah, and?”
I reply, still not understanding what he wants us to say.
“How do you know I won’t just go to the police?”
Axe turns to me, a shit-eating grin on his face and Jimmy merely shakes his head and smirks. Both Eva and Summer look to Rob and frown, before sharing a knowing look with each other.
“Because you won’t, you hated that piece of shit as much as the rest of us. With him being gone, Eva won’t be abused anymore and you can rest easy knowing she’s safe.”
I answer almost sarcastically.
“So, you’re fucking killers?”
“I prefer unsung heroes,”
Axe interjects.
“Aren’t you meant to be a cop?”
Rob looks to me, his face contorting with confusion.
“Yeah, so was Daly. Look what a piece of shit he was.”
I raise a brow.
Rob immediately sinks into his chair, his jaw tics slightly but I think I’ve finally gotten through to him. Hell, I’m not justifying what I do, but having a badge and a gun doesn’t make you a fucking saint.
“What did Strode say about Eric?”
Jimmy looks to me.
“Looks like a robbery gone wrong, someone stepped up to the driver’s side of the car and shot him.”
“But we don’t believe that?”
“Nope. It was either Luca, Harry or both.”
“What did he do?”
Eva asks, looking between the four of us.
“When I said the ex was arrested, well Eric helped put him there.”
“But he’s not dead, the ex I mean.”
Eva looks to me, disappointed.
“No, he’s still alive.”
My hand tightens around the coffee mug, my back teeth clenching as the idea of Harry being free roams my mind. “None of us are safe, if they’re both still alive.”
I look between the group and then to Rob and Eva. “I can’t thank you both enough for helping Summer, I know it’s caused you more trouble than good, but you aren’t safe, especially if Daly told Luca you helped her. Summer isn’t safe, and neither are the three of us now other cops have seen us together back at the precinct.”
“The three of us, along with Michael, came together to help a friend. In that time, we helped more and more people, with the help of a few good cops who will remain nameless for their own and their family’s safety. Daly framed Michael when he got too close, tried to frame Luca in the process but it failed, and Michael was killed because of it. My friend died trying to do the right thing and I’ll be damned if we don’t finish what he started.”
Axe looks between the group, his jaw tightens as the emotions fill the room. “We can’t live the rest of our lives scared, wondering which one of us is next, all because some corrupt cops got greedy and made a deal with the devil.”
“You don’t have to like what we do, hell, I don’t fucking care but a lot of people have slept better and felt safer once their victimisers were taken off the streets for good,”
I say, looking at Rob, making my point clear.
Jimmy’s phone begins to ring, breaking the silence. His brow furrows slightly whilst he stares at the screen. Looking between Axe and I, he taps the answer button before putting it on speaker.
“James Kressler,”
he answers calmly, placing the phone in front of him.
“James, it’s Captain Dean here.”
I feel my blood begin to boil, at the mention of his name.
“What do you want?”
Jimmy replies coldly.
“It’s about the Eric Stanton murder, are you aware of it?”
Jimmy looks to me for a second, his eyes then travelling along the table. “I heard, yes.”
“I need to speak with Bhodi.”
“That’s not wise captain, I think I made my point clear in the precinct.”
“Nate Jordan called me a couple days ago.”
I stiffen in my chair. I feel myself leaning closer towards the phone, listening intently.
“The medical examiner?”
“He was murdered last night, a few hours after Eric. He said he spoke to you and Bhodi, and that you both know the truth. He told me Daly set Bhodi up and that Summer isn’t dead and neither is Harry. Look I’m the last person you want to speak to, but I need to speak with you both.”
I feel all eyes on me, everyone is looking to me for an answer but I just don’t have one, not right now anyway. I can’t trust anyone apart from the ones sitting around this table, but still something is niggling at the back of my mind that won’t go away and I can’t ignore it. Nodding my head towards James, he mirrors the response before ending the call.
“I’ll see what I can do, give me a couple hours.”
Ending the call, he slides the phone back into his pocket.
“It doesn’t feel right,”
Axe mumbles.
I nod in agreement. “Nate was terrified, he wouldn’t have called anyone.”
“Think he’s lying?”
Jimmy asks.
“Through his fucking teeth.”
Pushing away from the table, the chair screeches across the floor. I move from the kitchen, pushing open the kitchen door and stepping outside. The early morning breeze is cool against my skin, the anger subsiding ever so slightly but the rage is still there. Maybe I feel a small amount of guilt towards Nate, but his safety was never promised, he was offered a second chance but that wasn’t guaranteed especially if he was so fucking stupid to speak with someone who is likely involved. I feel myself beginning to pace, but I can’t seem to focus and the only person I can trust within the NYPD is Strode.
The door opens and closes behind me and soon I feel the arms snake around my waist as Summer places her head against my back. My body instantly relaxes when I feel her lips press against me. Lacing her fingers with mine, I pull her around to face me. Her eyes shine with concern. Gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, I search her eyes for an answer.
“They’ll try and pin Eric’s murder on me.”
“They can’t, you weren’t there.”
“I can hardly tell them I was killing Daly instead can I?”
Her bottom lip sits between her teeth, and she nods. Placing her head onto my chest, I hold her close, savouring the moment whilst the sun shines overhead. I can feel it all coming to a head very soon, but if this in fact going to be it, they all need to fucking die. Stroking the back of her head, I allow my mind to begin working through a plan but I can’t involve Summer, I don’t want her beauty tainted with my darkness any further. She didn’t ask for this, this all happened because of me and I’ll do anything I can to protect her.
When the back door opens again, Axe fills the doorway before stepping outside, the steam billowing from his coffee. She relaxes slightly before looking up towards me.
“I’ll give you a second.”
She smiles, pressing her lips to mine before heading back inside.
I can’t help but watch the way her hips sway, how her hair cascades down her back begging for me to wrap my fist around it, grabbing great fistfuls whilst her cries of pleasure flood my ears. Even in the darkest, scariest moments, she’s what I think about. I know her warm light will always guide me back home, if my plan goes well, I’ll never leave her again.
Jimmy soon follows us out into the backyard. Running my hand over my face, I begin to lay out the plan. Their eyes only widen momentarily in shock, before the shocks morph into sinister smiles. Pulling Rob into the felt, I initially sense his trepidation but he’s not good at hiding his intrigue, lawfully he believes we are wrong, but morally he can’t deny the good we do.