Chapter 21
Elise
Devlin sent me a text message that simply read: We have them. I’ll be home soon.
Looking at Amaya, I asked, “Do you feel like taking a ride?”
She scrunched her forehead as she asked, “Where to and why?”
“They found them, and I want to be there when Devlin ends them,” I responded and delicately pushed myself up from the couch. Amaya didn’t seem sure of my request, so I added, “I can have Chuck take me if that would be better.”
She stood and approached me, asking cautiously, “Are you sure this is something you want to see? You know Devlin will take care of them.”
It was hard to describe, but it was almost like I needed to see what he was going to do to them.
With all the mindfuck AI bullshit, I was struggling to believe anything I didn’t see with my own two eyes.
They had made me believe the worst things about my husband, and they made him believe I was brutally murdered.
“I need to be there,” I remarked, and she gave a nod.
“We’ll need to grab the keys from my apartment.” She looked at me and asked, “Do you know where we’re going?”
The elevator doors opened as I answered, “Devlin took me by there one day, explaining there was a panic button hidden within the building, if I was ever in trouble.” We moved down one floor and the door opened as I added, “I think he wanted to make me understand he wasn’t the same person he was all those years ago. ”
She opened the front door to her apartment and reached in to grab her keys before closing the door.
With security downstairs, no one was getting into the apartments without us knowing, so we left everything open for convenience.
The elevator doors were still open, and we stepped inside as Amaya spoke.
“But deep down, isn’t he still that same crazy madman who’s killed for you before?”
As crazy as it sounds, I couldn’t help but smile at her statement.
Devlin was crazy, and he had killed for me in the past. Not one person, but many over the course of my lifetime.
And for all he’s sacrificed, I wanted him to know I supported his actions and encouraged his crazy.
Besides, who was I to judge? I’d spilled blood for him and would do it a thousand times over again.
I guess that made us all a little crazy.
We made it down to the parking garage, and Amaya helped me into her SUV before she got behind the wheel. The bump as we exited the garage made me cringe, but the pain wasn’t too bad. Maybe it was the adrenaline coursing through my veins as Amaya drove us out of Pierce Bluff and toward Portstill.
It seems everything in our lives began and ended in Portstill, so it was fitting that the only warehouse Devlin kept, as far as I knew, was on the border between Portstill and the Flats.
I gave her instructions on where to turn, and when we got to the isolated warehouse in the woods, I showed her where to park the SUV so it wouldn’t be seen by anyone.
The police never patrolled here since Devlin makes sure to give them a sizable donation every year for the department.
I thought they knew what happened here from time to time, but they didn’t seem to care when it was a pedophile or rapist he was dealing with.
There were just some people who shouldn’t live, and the police were powerless to control them. So, people like my husband, Devlin Callahan, stepped up and got their hands dirty. For the betterment of everyone’s lives.
Amaya helped me out and insisted on helping me get to the building, muttering under her breath about how this was a bad idea and how pissed Devlin was going to be.
Someone was standing outside the only door leading into the warehouse, and when he saw us approaching, his eyes grew wide. Rhys was looking around as we got closer, and he shook his head like I was in trouble.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he whisper-yelled. “Devlin’s going to be pissed.”
“That’s what I told her,” Amaya returned, and I rolled by eyes at both of them.
Looking over his shoulder to the warehouse, I asked, “Are they secured?” He nodded, and I continued with a smile. “Then I’m not in any danger, am I?” Looking at Amaya, I suggested, “Why don’t you stay out here with Rhys and keep him company?”
“Are you sure?” she inquired.
Carefully, I hugged her and whispered, “You don’t want to be a part of this, and it’s okay.”
She seemed relieved not to have to go inside, and when I turned to Rhys, I held out my hand. “You don’t want me to go inside without protection.”
“I don’t know what I’m thinking,” he muttered as he unholstered his Glock and checked the chamber and safety before turning and handing it to me. “Safety’s on with one in the barrel.”
The gun had a good weight to it, and I moved it to my dominant hand before raising my eyebrows at Rhys. He stepped to the side and opened the door just enough for me to be able to slip inside. There wasn’t any noise coming from the warehouse, but I didn’t expect to walk into screaming terror.
As I began to walk across the warehouse floor, I heard someone moving toward me, and on instinct, I raised the gun, ready for whatever. James stepped out from some crates, and I lowered the gun as he smirked at me. When he was in front of me, he chuckled.
“When Rhys called me out, I didn’t expect to see you, but I can guess why you’re here.”
“Why?” I asked as he turned and offered me an arm to hold onto as he guided me deeper into the warehouse.
“You want to see them die for making you think Devlin betrayed you?”
I snapped my eyes at him, and he was smiling at me. James was closer than a brother to me, and over the years, I’d admitted some of the darker and more callous thoughts that invade my mind occasionally.
“Don’t worry,” James remarked as we got farther into the maze of crates. “He’s going to be happy to see you.”
If Devlin gets mad, then he could deal with that on his own. These two fuckers took me away from my husband and my sons, twisted my mind to think the worst about Devlin, then she let her . . . whoever he is to her, beat me so she could fabricate evidence of my death.
“I want to know why they did all this,” I reasoned to James. “But watching them die will be satisfying.”
As we approached a door on the far wall, I saw one of Devlin’s men standing guard outside. James and I walked up, and he stepped to the side as he cast his glance to me briefly. James looked at me and spoke softly.
“If you need to leave, say the word and I’ll take you out.”
I gave a nod and swallowed the thickness in my throat as he placed his hand over a black pad.
A noise chimed, and he punched in a long passcode before the door unlocked with an audible click.
He gave me one more look and inhaled deeply before he opened the door, allowing me a glimpse into my husband’s madness.
The room had metal walls and a large drain in the concrete floor.
There were hooks hanging from the ceiling off to the side and two metal tables centered in the room.
The door closed behind us quickly, and I remained at James’s side as the sounds of what was going on began to fill the space.
He kept us to the back of the room as I watched Lucian take a knife and run it down Bradon’s arm, causing it to bleed from the cut.
He was hanging from one of the hooks and I looked at James who shrugged and went back to watching.
Kendra hung from the other hook by her wrists while Devlin looked at something in a file in his hands. She must have heard James and I walk in because I saw her lift her head just before she began to scream like a banshee.
“What the fuck are you doing here, misfit? Devlin doesn’t want you anymore.”
Devlin, hearing her words, snapped his head up and looked in my direction. His gaze was a mix of worry and surprise as he tossed the folder onto a table off to the side and stalked across the room to me.
Kendra continued screaming horrible things as James stepped to the side and Devlin walked up to me. He brushed his hand down my cheek and asked, “What are you doing here, Lamb?”
“Fucking bitch. You don’t deserve him, you whore,” Kendra spat as I stared into Devlin’s deep blue eyes.
They were always comforting to me, and I smiled up at him as I admitted, “I wanted to watch you kill them.”
“Why?” he asked with a smirk.
He loved to get me to admit the things I wanted, mostly in the bedroom, but I thought this was exciting for him to have me here to show off.
I pressed up carefully as I placed a kiss on his lips, causing the crazy bitch scream unintelligent things.
“They did something no one’s ever done before and won’t ever do again.” I paused and explained. “She made me doubt you and she deserves to suffer for her actions.”
“Stop touching her, Devlin,” Kendra bellowed as he leaned over and placed his lips against mine.
“Stay with James, okay?”
I nodded and saw the light in his eyes shine brighter, revealing his manic state of mind as he turned and walked back across the room. Kendra was still yelling and ranting as Devlin walked up to her and backhanded her so hard, she swung off her feet and her head whipped to the side.
My husband isn’t the type of man to lay his hands on a woman, but I had no problem with his actions toward her. She threatened to take my sons away from me, and if given the chance, I had no doubt she would actually try. If he needed to smack her around to get to the truth, then I was fine with it.
When she brought her eyes back to him, her lip was busted and, for the first time, she seemed unsure of her future.
I’d guess she was used to always getting what she wanted, but Devlin was mine, and I wasn’t giving him up.
Ever.