Chapter 30 Raven
I pull up two houses down from Nancy Filby’s place and kill the engine.
The instant silence inside the car feels wrong after the roar of nerves in my head the entire drive over.
My fingers tighten around the steering wheel as I stare at the small single-story house with peeling white paint and dead grass.
Mia is in there.
“She’s home,” Caitlin says quietly from the back seat.
I nod once. My pulse pounds so hard it makes my ribs ache.
Behind me, Min opens her door first. Ashlyn follows her out without hesitation. Both women move with the kind of confidence that comes from knowing exactly how dangerous things can get. Tanya slides over, but stops and leans forward to study me.
“You good?” she asks.
No.
But I force myself to nod anyway.
Across the street and further down, Jackson’s truck sits tucked beneath a tree where it can’t easily be seen from the house. Marcus is beside him. Both of them are tense silhouettes watching the front door like they’re ready to explode out of the vehicle.
Min and Ashlyn walk up the cracked pathway toward the porch.
The rest of us stay back and watch.
My stomach twists tighter with every step they take.
Min knocks firmly.
Nothing happens for several seconds.
Then the door jerks open.
Nancy Filby stands there wearing leggings and an oversized shirt, irritation written all over her face.
“Well, it’s about damn ti—”
She never finishes the sentence.
Min moves so fast I barely process it.
One second Nancy is standing in the doorway. The next, Min has pushed her inside so the rest of us can follow. Nancy’s trying to scream, but Min has her face smashed into the worn carpet.
“I’ve got the bitch, find Mia!” Min barks.
“Mia!” Jackson bellows from behind us as he and Marcus storm through the front door.
As they search, Min keeps Nancy pressed to the ground even though the bitch isn’t going anywhere. We’ve surrounded her.
When Marcus calls out that they found her, my knees go weak.
We reached her in time. Min lifts Nancy from the floor and drags her into the kitchen so she’s out of sight.
We don’t want Mia to have to see her. All of us women stand guard as we watch Marcus emerge from one of the bedrooms carrying Mia against his chest. The little girl is crying hysterically, clutching his shirt.
Jackson follows with a grim expression. “She’s not hurt. She was just scared. We’ll take her home and spoil her. Are you guys going to be okay?”
“We’ll be fine,” Caitlin assures him. “We’ll take care of Nancy.”
Jackson looks torn, but he knows he needs to be with Mia. He jerks his head and leaves us to take care of the bitch.
Behind me, Nancy is screeching and threatening all of us with death. She suddenly bucks, catching Min off guard. Nancy grabs a knife from the counter.
“Min!”
Min dodges out of the way as Nancy swings wildly.
Min catches her wrist, but the knife flashes dangerously between them as they struggle. They slam into the kitchen counter hard enough to make the walls shake.
“Drop it!” Tanya yells.
Nancy snarls like a feral animal.
“You’re not taking her!”
Min twists Nancy’s wrist, trying to disarm her, but Nancy fights with desperate strength. The blade jerks violently between them.
Then suddenly—
A wet choking sound fills the room.
Everyone freezes as Nancy stumbles backward. The knife protrudes from her stomach. Her eyes widen in shock as the blood spreads across her shirt.
“Oh my God,” Caitlin whispers.
Nancy collapses to the kitchen floor as we all go silent.
Nobody moves or breathes as Nancy Filby dies on the kitchen floor. Her eyes stare blankly toward the ceiling.
Caitlin has both her hands over her mouth as if trying to keep from screaming.
“Oh God,” Ashlyn whispers.
Min stands frozen near the counter, chest rising hard from the struggle. There’s blood on her hands. On her shirt. Her expression is cold shock wrapped around pure adrenaline.
Tanya slowly backs away from the body. “She came at you with the knife,” she says quickly, almost desperately. “Everybody saw it.”
But her voice shakes.
Mine does too when I speak. “Should we leave? Or call the cops?”
Nobody answers.
Jackson already took Mia. They should be in his truck by now, driving away.
This nightmare should already be over.
Then the front door opens. We all jerk our attention toward the sound.
“Well, damn,” a familiar male voice drawls, causing my blood to turn to ice. Tony Martin steps into the house with a smug grin already spreading across his face when his eyes land on me. “Nancy said she had something for me. I didn’t realize she had two somethings. Where is the little bitch?”
For one horrible second, nobody moves as his words wash over us. Nancy has something? Little bitch? Could he mean, Mia?
We all glance at each other just as Tony sees the blood on Min’s clothes. He peers over the counter into the kitchen and spots Nancy on the floor.
For a second, I expect shock, panic, or fear. But instead he smiles—a sick and cocky smile.
“Well,” he says softly. “Would you look at that?”
Caitlin makes a horrified sound.
Ashlyn mutters, “What the hell?”
Tony steps farther into the kitchen, completely calm, completely at ease. His eyes roam over all of us like he’s already calculating exactly how this ends.
“You ladies look like you’ve had a rough night.”
Min moves subtly between him and the rest of us.
Amusement flickers across his face when he notices her stance.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he says lazily.
“You should leave,” Min replies coldly.
Tony ignores her completely.
Instead, he crouches beside Nancy’s body and studies her for a moment before shaking his head.
“Shame,” he says. “Nancy was useful.”
“How was she useful?” I ask him.
“Doesn’t matter,” he replies as he stands while brushing imaginary dust from his jeans.
“Looks like you ladies could use some help. Luckily, I know how to dispose of bodies. But you’re going to owe me. Big.”
Nobody says a word.
The confidence in his voice makes my skin crawl. He acts as if he already owns us, like he’s in control.
“You’re a sick son of a bitch if you think we need you,” Tanya snaps.
Tony chuckles.
“Oh, don’t look so offended. We can help each other.”
“You were here for Mia,” I snap.
The words crack through the room like a gunshot. Every woman snaps to attention as reality settles in.
Tony’s eyes slide to slowly mine. The eyes of a predator. “Smart girl. Where is she?”
The fury around me detonates instantly.
“You were here to buy Mia, weren’t you?” Ashlyn spits.
“You monster,” Caitlin breathes.
Min’s expression becomes murderous.
Tony lifts both hands slightly like we’re all overreacting.
“Relax. The kid would have been fine. We just wanted to have a little fun. It isn’t like we would have killed her. Not like what you bitches did to her mother.”
Something inside me snaps.
Before he can react, I yank the taser from my waistband and jam it against his chest.
The crack of electricity explodes through the room. Tony convulses violently before he slams backward against the wall. He then crashes to the floor with a strangled yell.
“Yes!” Tanya shouts.
I move instantly.
Pure fury drives me forward as I drop beside him and yank the vial of Calabera bean poison from my pocket.
Tony’s eyes widen when he sees it.
For the first time since entering the house, real fear flashes across his face.
“What the fuck is that?” he rasps, muscles twitching from the taser hit.
“You like hurting women?” I hiss.
I uncork the vial.
Min grabs Tony’s shoulders, pinning him down as he struggles weakly.
“Raven,” Caitlin says sharply.
But I barely hear her. All I can see is Mia’s tear-stained face. This monster came here to buy her from another monster. Has he hurt other children? I know he’s hurt women.
Tony bucks beneath Min. “You crazy bitch—”
I grab his jaw and force open his mouth.
Then a deep voice roars from the front of the house.
“Raven!”
I whip my head around and lock eyes with Carver. Shield is right behind him. Both men stop dead at the sight before them. From their position, they can see me holding a vial over Tony’s mouth.
“Raven? What the hell?”
But it’s too late. I shift the bottle to let the poison flow into Tony’s mouth.