Epilogue
Dominic
“Good morning. How did last night go?”
“He’s still not talking today, Dr. Edwards,” the prison guard informed me.
I gave him a cool smile. “He doesn’t have to speak if he doesn’t want to. However, this visit is court ordered.”
The guard nodded, sighing. “I just feel bad for you wasting your time. Let me get you a temp badge.”
“Thank you,” I said, clipping it to my suit.
He grabbed his radio and held it to his mouth. “Open visitor door C, please.”
A beep filled the room, the red light above the steel door turning green. With a tired groan, the door opened, revealing two other guards who tipped their hats to me as I walked through.
“Closing visitor door C, over,” the guard on the right said.
The one on the left asked me to wait. I checked my watch. I was due back in Astoria in three hours. “You can follow me, Doc.”
I hid my irritation at the nickname, plastering on a practice smile.
“Appreciate you.” As I followed him down the long, cold hallway, he tried making small talk, and for a few moments, I entertained him.
But the closer we got to Fitzgerald’s isolation cell, the less I wanted to talk. I couldn’t be polite any longer.
Not for this.
For the last two months, I’d been coming to see Tucker Fitzgerald once a week for a therapy session.
At least that’s what it said on paper. Red Snake Investigations still hadn’t made much headway with this case.
Fitzgerald had only given up who hired him all those years ago—the successor of Nightshade.
We had a name, photo, and his last known location.
We’d sent out feelers to the CIA, FBI, and CSIS. We’d know more in the coming weeks.
Jake made a timeline of the last ten years of Fitzgerald’s life—who he was involved with, his contacts, his bank accounts, and even personal relationships. Though the last were rare occasions that usually ended up in domestic violence.
Fucking bastard.
For now, Ash and Angel were safe, and I would continue visiting this cold, godforsaken prison until Fitzgerald had nothing left to give me.
Astoria’s murderer was behind bars, but there was still a hit out on Ash and a hefty bounty on his head.
Grayson had tried getting answers for a month, then Hayes for two, then Ash for one, and they even decided to send Jake in before me.
But he didn’t have the patience for interrogating a trained killer.
Mitchell and Grayson were just trying to spare Tucker… and me.
My methods were a bit…unorthodox, after all.
But there were questions that needed to be answered.
Everything seemed fine back home. Red Snake was operating again, taking on new clients, Ash was settling in with Angel, and Hayes with Margo.
And Carrie and Grayson’s wedding was set to happen next June.
Still, the underlying mystery surrounding the Nightshade kept us awake at night.
As if I didn’t have problems sleeping already, this just added to my misfortune.
“You sure you don’t want to move him to the therapy room?” the guard asked, stopping in front of a large steel door. There was a rectangular hole toward the bottom for food trays, and inside, the light was off. I looked at the guard, raising my brow in a silent question.
He nodded. “The inmate has requested a daytime sleeping schedule.”
“Who authorized that?” I asked, opening his file, checking the notes. “There’s been nothing dictated here.”
“The warden signed the authorization form last Tuesday.”
“I see. Any particular reason this went through? I noticed none of the other inmates in isolation get the same treatment.”
He radioed back to the front to switch the lights on for cell 589B before looking at me. “I have no idea, Doc. I can go get a copy of the form for you if you’d like.”
“No, that won’t be necessary.” I snapped the file closed. “Twenty minutes, correct?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be right here when you’re done.” He unlocked the cell and pulled open the door.
My eyes dropped to the pool of blood on the floor, watching it stretch out toward my shoes.
I took a single step back as the guard began shouting orders on the radio, calling for a lockdown.
I sighed through my nose, looking at the dismembered body on the bed.
Tucker’s head was in the center of the floor, his eyes turned toward the ceiling, his tongue out.
“Fuck,” the guard breathed. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
I paid him no mind as he bent over, hurling up the contents of his lunch onto the hallway floor.
Instead, I stepped inside and put my hands in my pockets.
A drop of blood landed on my shoulder, compelling me to look up, and my own blood ran cold with fear, true, unfiltered fear, for the first time in my life.
The message in blood was not meant for Ash.
Nor Angel.
Nor Red Snake.
It was a message for me.
A threat to a person I didn’t have the strength to allow myself to love.
More drops of blood slowly rained down upon me as I read the message aloud, needing to know it was real.
“She’s next, Dom. Brown hair. Brown eyes. All a disguise. Her blood will mine.”
I pulled out my cell phone and put it to my ear.
The fear tasted sour on my tongue. Vile.
Like death. With each ring, it buried itself deeper in my chest. I couldn’t take my eyes off the blood.
The guards were all around me, shouting and screaming.
The prison alarms blaring. Chaos. Messy. A nightmare.
I just needed to know she was still alive.
Please, please, tell me I’m not too late.
Suddenly, all the noise quieted, the sound of her sweet voice, bursting with light and warmth, filled my ear. “Thanks for calling Seaside Boutique! This is Pam. How can I help you?”
“Sabrina,” I pushed out her real name. “Please tell me you're all right.”
“Dominic?”
“Yes, beautiful. Tell me you’re okay,” I begged, moving out of the cell, bracing my hand on the wall.
“You have no right to call me,” she snapped. The pain in her voice was nearly too much to bear. Pain that I’d caused her.
My eyes stayed on the blood I tracked into the hall. “I need you to listen to me—”
“You don't get to come into my life just because you're bored. Stay away from me, Dominic.”
The phone call ended, and I ran a hand through my hair.
I’d made a promise to her over a year ago to stay away from her, to keep her safe from any further pain. Now I had no choice but to break that promise to keep her safe.
To be continued…