Chapter 43
Once Bella was finally asleep, I wandered down the stairs, feeling more exhausted than I cared admit. It had been a challenging few weeks.
“Yo, A.” Tyler called from the kitchen as I wandered past.
“Don’t you ever sleep?” I narrowed my eyes and grabbed a beer from the fridge.
“You’re one to talk,” he laughed. As I came to sit at the table beside him I saw a static shot of the garage up on his laptop.
“What you doin’?” I frowned, taking a gulp.
“I dunno, it’s just… It’s been bugging me for weeks, you know, what you said about your bike.”
“Ugh, let it go, Ty. I ain’t in the mood.” I started to rise when he gripped my forearm.
“Wait, you don’t understand, I was looking over that footage of the garage from before you and Bella went out, and… something wasn't adding up.” He shuffled in his chair, running a hand through his blue, messy hair.
“Whatcha mean, ‘something wasn’t adding up’?” I asked, putting my bottle down with a frown.
“Well… Part of the footage was missing.” His eyes squinted in discomfort, almost as though he was preemptively wincing.
“What the fuck you mean, part of it were missin’?” I leaned back against my chair, anger quickly rising.
“It was only the tiniest bit, but…” he swallowed, clamping his jaw. “I asked Phoenix to take a look at it.”
“And…?” I seethed.
“He managed to recover the missing part. Took some doing, though. The person who erased it knew exactly what they were doing.”
“Who the fuck tampered with my bike, Ty?” I slammed my fist onto the counter, anger radiating through me like fire.
“Take one lucky guess.”
And then it dawned on me. The one person who knew the access codes to the house. Someone who hadn’t been around for a while…
“ You know, young, annoying. Bit arrogant. Can’t remember his name. But he’s been in before.”
Holy shit… That’s who Jay had seen at the bar.
Mik.
“Sneaky bastard!” My fist slammed against the table, knocking over my beer.
“I know, man, I know,” he sighed. “What d’ya want to do?”
“He’s a fuckin’ goner. I don’t want him anywhere near Bella again.” I spat. “You know where his place is?”
“Far as I know he’s got a place downtown.” Ty said, I stood and paced the kitchen.
Mik was a fucker. An angry, embarrassed tosser. What the fuck was he doing working for Lorenzo anyway?!
As I walked for the door, grabbing my jacket, Tyler stopped cleaning. “Woah! Dude, where ya going?”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
“Cool. Can I kill him then if you don’t want to?” Tyler laughed.
“Let’s see where the night takes us, yeah?” I winked. “You comin’?”
“Yes! Boys night out!” he beamed, his face a fucking picture of excitement.
“Fuck’s sake, don’t do that.” I scoffed with an eye roll. “I ain’t takin’ you if you carry on.”
“Ugh, whatever. Dude you’re such a buzz kill.”
Turned out, Mik was very easy to find, and only too happy to tag along with myself and Tyler; wanting to redeem himself apparently.
“Arturo, sir… I’m real sorry about what happened. I know I fucked up with Miss Ricci, but I swear it won’t happen again.” I frowned as we drove. We’d be driving for a good hour and a half, maybe even two, until we reached a deserted area, one I knew all too well…
I’d buried many secrets here… A body or two as well.
“Uh, sir? No offense but what the fuck are we here doing here?” Mik asked, his face dropping the second he saw nothing but land for miles.
“I don’t know, Mik, you tell me.” I said, getting out the car.
Mik turned to Tyler with wide eyes. “What’s he talking about?!” Tyler shrugged, grinning and following me outside the car. “Tyler, what the fuck?!” he spat, throwing his hands up in the air before shoving the car door open.
Once outside, I lit a cigarette and stared out at the moonlit night.
Without turning back, I spoke up, “You know exactly what I’m talking about you little shit, but let me give you a clue…
” I exhaled a line of smoke, cracking my neck.
“It was you, in the garage, with a pair of fucking wire cutters…”
“Wait… I can explain?—”
“I don’t want to hear it!” I hissed. “Y’see Mik, I don’t give a toss if someone wants to hurt me, fuck, I can even look past you totalling my bike, but Bella? Nah, that’s where I draw the line!” Flicking my finished cigarette into the wet grass, I started circling him, making him swallow in fear.
“Arturo, you have to believe me, I had no idea Bella would ever be out on the bike! I didn’t think?—”
“No, you didn’t think, did ya?” I snarled, gripping the back of his neck.
“Please, Boss,” he whimpered. “Please, I didn’t mean it. It was fucking dumb. I just got mad, you know. Hated the way you talked down to me and shit in front of the boys.”
Tyler scoffed from behind us, making his presence known. “Aw, you didn’t mean it, did you not?” he asked with a sinister smile. “I think you need to be taught a lesson.”
“No, no please. Please don’t kill me… it was a joke.”
“A joke?! A fucking joke?! You could have killed Isabella,” I spat. God this boy was pathetic. The more he opened his mouth, the more he dug his own grave.
“Yeah, a joke.”
“How about a bullet in your head? Would you see that as a joke?” Tyler asked, whipping his gun out from his waistband.
“Ty…” I caught his gaze, making him step back with a groan.
“Please, Boss… I’ll pay for your bike, I’ll apologise to Miss Ricci, I’ll do anything!” he pleaded.
“You shouldn’t have done it in the first place, you motherfucker.” Tyler backhanded his face, his gun opening his brow.
“I know. It was a mistake, a stupid mistake, and I’m sorry…”
“You’re sorry? You could have killed her!” Tyler yelled before kicking him in the stomach. Mik went down like a sack of potatoes. Cursing, Tyler pressed the end of the pistol against Mik’s head. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaking out the sides.
“Open your fucking eyes and look at me,” he demanded. Mik instantly obeyed. Damn, kid was a mean motherfucker. I was actually a little impressed.
He really would do anything for her.
Tyler smiled a sinister smile. “Say goodbye, asshole!” I watched as Mik’s body shook before he urinated all over himself.
I’d already messaged Lorenzo to see what he wanted to do about Mik, apparently it was my decision, he was happy with whatever I chose to do.
“What a lovely way to go, with piss all over ya.” Tyler grimaced at the smell. “So, what will it be, mate?” He glanced over his shoulder, directing his question to me.
“Pull the trigger. Fucker deserves it.” I gave him the go ahead as a gunshot rung in the air, Mike didn’t have another chance to plead for his life before Tyler took it from him.
“Thanks for letting me do that, the thought of him hurting my best friend was killing me.” Tyler sighed, tucking his gun into his waistband.
“You needed it, I get that. Now, let’s bury the bastard, and get home.”
It was just turning five am when we started our drive home. As we reached the highway, Tyler let out a whoop. “Oh, A… That was sick.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fucker deserved the punishment, and I’m proud of ya, Ty.”
“Cheers, man, that means a lot coming from you.” He smiled from the passenger seat, still buzzing from the nights events.
Well… that was one thing we didn’t have to worry about anymore.