Chapter 29 Badger
TWENTY-NINE
BADGER
Early the next morning, I walked into the interrogation room behind Phantom. I could feel the anger coming off her in waves. It was time to get the answers we wanted from this fucker.
“Well, good morning, daughter,” Ricci sneered, giving Phantom a blood-filled smile.
I leaned on the far wall near the glass, twirling a knife. I needed to do something with my hands before I pummeled Ricci.
“Where is Sarah?” Phantom asked, devoid of any emotion.
“Ha! How the fuck should I know?” Ricci smiled and dipped his chin slightly to motion toward his bound body. “Kinda tied up at the moment.”
“Don’t play dumb. You know exactly where she is.” Phantom paused and tapped her pointer finger on her chin. “I do believe the last time we spoke, you were grooming her to take over your ‘empire.’”
Ricci let out a humorless laugh. “I have no idea where Sarah is, but I can tell you that you and your team better watch out.” He swiped his tongue out onto his lip to wipe off some blood. “I taught my girl well.”
That seemed to get under Phantom’s skin. She lurched forward, grabbing the front of Ricci’s blood-stained shirt.
“You fucking brainwashed her! Does she know what you did to our real father?!”
Ricci cackled. “Face it, Evelyn, you will never get rid of me. You can torture me or kill me, but at the end of the day, you have no idea what the magnitude of my power is.” He emphasized the last few words.
“But Sarah will show you... All in good time.” He leaned back into his chair as Phantom let go of his shirt.
“Now, this was a lovely chat, but I’d like to speak to the traitor. ”
As if on cue, Kade stalked into the room with a tense jaw and stiff posture. He didn’t want to deal with Ricci any more than we did.
Ricci let out a dry laugh. “Ha! There he is! The man of the hour!”
Evelyn stepped out of the way as he took her place in front of him.
“What the fuck do you want, Butcher?” Kade demanded.
Ricci gave me a sinister smile. “I just wanted to look you in the eye when I told you to watch your back. My friends will be looking for me and my shipments.”
And here it was. We were now dealing with the Mafia side of things. I knew that Kade was the Don of the Mafia, but now it felt real.
“And this has to do with me because?” Kade growled back.
Ricci tilted his head. “Who do you think they are going to come after when they learn of your involvement in interfering with the Cartel?”
I tried to keep my cool as I took in this information. Kade was in bed with the Cartel as well. This wasn’t good.
“And how do you think they are going to find out? Huh?” Kade bit out. He wrapped his hand around Ricci’s throat. “Your protégé is in hiding. But don’t worry, I plan on finding her and terminating anyone who had a vested interest in your shipments.”
A flicker of worry crossed Ricci’s features before he reverted to his cool demeanor. He coughed, wheezing for breath, as Kade released his throat.
“Your father would be ashamed of you,” Ricci choked out.
Kade let out a laugh. “Here’s the thing, I don’t give a flying fuck what my old man would think. He was a fool for getting into bed with you. I am just cleaning up his mess.”
Kade turned to Evelyn. “Let me know when it’s time to take out the trash.”
A small smirk crossed her lips before Kade walked out of the room.
“I’ll see you in Hell, Ghost!” Ricci shouted.
The door slammed behind Kade, leaving Evelyn and me alone with Ricci once more.
Evelyn stood back in front of Ricci and glanced over at me before grabbing the handgun out of its holster at the waistband of her cargo pants.
She aimed the gun at Ricci. I moved closer; I needed to be as close as possible when Ricci took his last breath.
“Oh, this is comical.” Ricci laughed. “There’s no way you have the stomach to shoot me. What was it your mother always said?” He paused and looked up as if he were deep in thought. “Oh, that’s right, ‘stay in the shadows.’ So why don’t you go and do that? Eh?”
Before he could continue, Phantom pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot echoed in the small room as the bullet pierced through his trachea. His body jerked from the impact. Ricci began choking as blood flooded the bullet wound.
“I’m done listening to you run your mouth. That’s for my mother!” Phantom screamed.
Phantom unsheathed her knife and stabbed him in the stomach.
“And this,” she pushed the knife further into Ricci’s abdomen, “is for Aaron.”
My heart sank at hearing my best friend’s name. Ricci gasped from the impact, more blood spilling from his neck and his mouth. Phantom removed the knife and wiped the blood-covered blade on her pants. She stepped aside. I took the handgun from my side and shot Ricci three times in the heart.
“And that is for Lily. And anyone who has been hurt by or because of you.” Smoke filtered out of the barrel of the gun as I slowly lowered my arm to my side.
Ricci slumped over in his seat as blood began to pool around him.
Just like that, Anthony Ricci was dead, and I was no closer to finding Lily.
I felt empty, but could sense rage simmering somewhere deeper inside me.
I thought I would feel satisfaction with Ricci dead, but instead, I only felt more frustrated and had more questions.
I walked out of the interrogation room feeling queasy. As if sensing my distress, Machine walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“You okay?” he asked quietly, squeezing gently.
I nodded my head, not wanting to give away the truth; I was a mess. He leaned in closer, his hazel eyes seeming to see into my soul.
“I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just lie straight to my face.” He looked over my shoulder and then back down to me. “I need to take care of the rest of this. I’ll meet you at home, okay?”
I nodded and watched as he walked away. Tears stung my eyes. Buddha walked over and embraced me in one of his signature hugs.
“It’s okay, B. It’s over now,” he said.
But I knew he was wrong. This fight was just beginning.