Chapter 16
I slump back into the black leather seat of my RS7, a cigarette stuck between my lips, and chew on the orange filter in an attempt to ease the irritation bubbling up inside of me. I just finished a meeting with Mr. Williams; the old man”s words still ring through my head. I knew he wouldn”t be thrilled to find out she was still alive. The man is desperate for her death in a way I have never seen in any of my clients before, and I have had my fair share of desperate men who wanted to get rid of their opponents before they got the chance to get rid of them. When he called her a worthless and ugly bitch, I really had a hard time remaining professional; even now, I want nothing more than to go back to his office and put a bullet in his head. I have already crossed every possible boundary; there is nothing professional about this job anymore, and I absolutely hate myself for it.
Tilting my head toward the passenger side of my car, I have a perfect view of her and her friends sitting at one of the outdoor tables at their favorite restaurant. They are all dressed up for what I assume is their girls” night out. She is wearing a beautiful flowy red summer dress with short puffy sleeves, a deep square neck that exposes her collarbone, and her hair styled in big waves neatly tucked behind her ears. Their table is filled with empty glasses, and from their behavior, I can tell they are already quite drunk.
I sigh and take the cigarette out of my mouth, putting the remaining ash, already dangerously close to the filter, out in the small ashtray that rests in the cup holder of the center console. Resting my elbow on the armrest, I prop my chin in the palm of my hand, my fingers drumming rhythmically against my cheek. I watch as she raises her glass of wine to her lips, and the way her throat contracts when she swallows the deep red liquid. The group laughs a lot, and every time her face lights up at something someone has said, my heart flutters.
With each passing day, my desire not to kill her becomes stronger. But if I don”t get this one done and word gets out that I have failed, others will come after me and try to kill me. Right now, I’ve got everyone off my back, and it took years to build up the kind of reputation that would allow me to live in peace outside of the business. Also, I would be risking not only my own peace, but hers as well. The information she has about me and possible ways to kill me would be valuable to everyone.
I raise my eyebrows in curiosity as the girl next to her, with long, shiny caramel blonde hair, throws herself at her. Lily O”Brien, they have been best friends since middle school. She is also twenty-six years old, works as a commercial model, but also aspires to be an actress. I”ve seen her audition tapes; it’s not bad. I think she could make it. They huddle together, arm in arm, laughing at something one of the other girls said.
I sigh, close my eyes, and run a hand over my face. I want nothing more than to get out of the car, grab her from the table, throw her in my trunk, take her somewhere safe, and lock her up where no one can find us. Reaching for the steering wheel, I run my fingers over the smooth leather before gripping it tightly and stretching my arms out, pushing myself back into the seat. I take one deep breath after another to calm the itch within to jump out of the car, and do just that.
But it doesn”t work. I grip the steering wheel even tighter. My whole body trembles from fighting my primal instinct, and I let out a frantic yell, banging my head against the smooth leather, ignoring the awful loud horn of my car. As I pull back to catch my breath from the scream, my chest heaves rapidly. Looking up, I see the people in front of my car staring at me. My head jerks back to the passenger side to look at the restaurant.
Everyone, including her, stares in my direction. As soon as our eyes meet, I can see the horror cross her face—her eyes widen, and her mouth falls open at the realization that it’s me. Honestly, I”m surprised she didn”t notice me sooner, it’s not like my front windows are tinted. But I guess my car just doesn”t stand out in a neighborhood like this. Taking another deep breath, I push my tousled hair out of my face, raise my hand to give her a wave of acknowledgment, and flash her a little smile.
I then hit the start button and steer the car out of the parking lot. I steal one last glance at her before pushing the gas pedal, turning my attention to the navigation system for a brief moment. The screen showing an out-of-state destination. I have one last job that needs my attention before I”m completely free to focus on just her, my beautiful dove.
”Do you want to grab a drink when we”re done here?” Kyle”s voice reaches me from behind. I stand in front of an old steel table, making sure my knives are ready for the little game we have planned. Turning around, I find Kyle tying our victim, the poor soul, to the dirty old wooden table we found in the basement of the abandoned building.
”Sorry, I already have plans after this. Maybe next time,” I answer and watch Kyle tie the last knot around the man”s ankles before he stands up and crosses his arms over his chest, his leather jacket crinkling with the motion.
”Let me guess, is it still that girl?” he asks in a teasing tone, and furrows his eyebrows, ”You”re really taking your time with her. I”m starting to worry about your sanity.” He walks over to me, hopping onto the table beside me. We both look at the still-unconscious man tied to the table in front of us. Kyle grabs my pack of cigarettes and once again helps himself to one of mine instead of his goddamn own. I twirl one of my butterfly knives between my fingers, not looking at my friend.
”Let”s just say it got a little complicated,” I admit with caution. Kyle is my friend, my only friend, and I trust him, but it feels strange to admit out loud that something like this is happening to me. Because it never has. I never fail.
”Complicated? What do you mean?”
”I don”t really want to kill her.” I look at Kyle, who has his head turned towards me, his eyes wide, and his face shows genuine interest.
”Well, this is a... first for you,” he says with an amused chuckle, ”what”s so special about her?”
I push myself off the table and approach our victim. Needing to keep my hands busy, I begin to cut the fabric of his clothes, exposing the man”s wrinkled skin.
”She”s beautiful, resilient, and willing to fight me. Oh, and she felt incredible around my cock,” I babble on without thinking about my words and their actual meaning.
A set of hands lands on my shoulder. Kyle yanks me around and pushes me against the table where our victim lies. His eyes are blown wide open, surprise etched on his face. ”Wait a second, you fucked her?” he asks with a raised voice.
I stare back at him. My hands twitch at the sudden confrontation, and I suppress the urge to raise the knife on him. ”Yeah, didn”t I tell you what happened at the wedding? I guess I forgot to mention that detail.”
”That”s one big fucking detail you forgot,” Kyle almost yells at me, his grip on my shoulders tightening as he rocks me back and forth. I bring my hands up and put them on top of his to push him off of me.
”Let me go and calm down. It”s just sex.” I attempt to brush it off, even though I know it”s not just sex. It’s changed the whole set of circumstances for me and has thrown me off my game. But Kyle doesn”t need to know that.
”Sex with the person you”re supposed to kill.” He lets go of me and takes a step back to look at me. ”Here I thought I was the reckless one of us, but you”re showing me a whole new part of you. Where have you been hiding that side of you all these years?” He chuckles.
”Shut up.” I roll my eyes.
”Is that how she got away from you again?”
”Possibly.”
”Man, you must really suck for that girl to keep running away from you.” I glare at him, but it only causes the grin on his face to grow wider. ”You know, if you were so desperate for this pussy, you could have just killed her and fucked her corpse. That would have saved you the embarrassment.”
My head snaps in Kyle”s direction, my face turning into an expression of horror at his proposal. ”What the fuck? Please don”t tell me you”ve done this before.”
”No!” He laughs at my reaction. ”But since you”re the crazy one, I wouldn”t be surprised if you had a thing for dead bodies.”
A cold chill runs down my spine, and I shake my head, trying to get rid of the new set of images that have formed in my mind. A grunt behind me grabs our attention, and we turn to see the man regaining his consciousness. With him awake, we can finally move on from the subject of Evelyn. I don”t want to think about her right now.
It”s been two days since I last saw her, and it”s been killing me. I”ve barely been able to eat; every time I think about her, my stomach begins to ache. I don”t like not knowing what she is doing. Not being able to keep an eye on her drives me nuts. I have the GPS on her, and instead of sleeping, I”ve been watching the little red dot on my phone. I know she hasn”t gone out of her apartment since I left, but it”s torture not to actually see her. I thought about hiding cameras in her apartment, but ultimately decided against it. As hypocritical as it is, I already follow her everywhere, so I didn”t want to invade her personal space any further.
With Kyle”s nagging out of the way, we get to work.
These people are all the same. No one is creative these days. Just like everyone else, our victim is trying to convince us that he’s innocent, that we have the wrong one, and that X, Y, or Z is the person we are looking for. But we have the proof that he”s the one we”re after, and even if he wasn”t, he’s seen our faces; he has to die.
I sigh and look at the finger I cut off the man”s hand. He lies on the table, crying uncontrollably, his whole body quivering while calling for his mother. ”Let”s take a break.” I toss the finger aside and turn to Kyle, who is looming over our victim, cooing to him like the crying baby he is.
Kyle spins around and nods. ”Sure, sounds like a fantastic idea.” He pats the man on the cheek one last time and joins me. I pull the blood-soaked gloves off my hands and drop them on the table before we both head outside. Escaping the stench of blood and urine. The poor guy pissed himself the first time I slapped him. What a fucking pussy.
We sit in silence perched on the hood of my car, each with a cigarette in hand and an energy drink I brought as a treat. Kyle is busy typing on his phone, jumping between different chats, his face scrunched up, his forehead wrinkled in lines that highlight his annoyance. The temptation to sneak a peek and see who he”s having drama with this time is high, but it”s probably just one of his far too many escorts feeling neglected again. Given his preference for young girls with attachment issues, I wouldn”t be surprised. I tilt my head back, close my eyes, and take a deep breath, releasing the gray smoke from my lungs with a deep sigh. Opening my eyes, I watch the smoke dissipate into the early morning sky, a beautiful orange with a hint of blue.
With a quick flick of my wrist, I dispose of the cigarette. The remains of the filter fall to the dusty gravel. Stepping forward, I twist my foot to kick out the remaining burning stub. The kicked-up dust settles on my previously clean leather shoes. Kyle does the same, and we head back inside.
A buzzing sensation in the back pocket of my pants makes me freeze. Didn”t I turn off all notifications? I grab my phone, and the screen flickers to life the moment it tilts up. My heartbeat quickens, pumping the blood through my veins at the notifications from the GPS tracker I put in her purse. With nervous, shaky fingers, I enter the passcode to unlock the phone and open the app, which shows a map with a small red dot moving away from the zone I”ve set as safe. Does that little bitch really have the audacity to try and run away?
My foot nervously taps against the concrete floor of the building, the repetitive sound echoing off the stone walls. My eyes remain glued to the screen of my phone, watching the dot move toward what looks like New Hampshire. My brain is working at high speed, coming up with every possible scenario and action I need to take to stop her.
A low, gurgling groan tears me from my thoughts, and my head jerks up to our victim. The man has already lost a lot of blood and lost his ability to communicate long ago. There’s no point in trying to get any information out of him. I put my phone back in my pocket, and with long strides, make my way across the room. Grabbing one of my knives from the table, clutching the handle tightly in my fist, I approach the man strapped to the table.
”Noah, what are you doing?” Kyle asks, and I hear the concern in his tone, but I choose to ignore him. I raise the knife above my head, and without a second thought, I stab the man in the chest. Over and over again. Blood spurts from his mouth and splashes in my face as he gurgles and takes his last miserable breaths. Even when the man stops moving, and no more screams come out of the now lifeless body, I don”t stop. I let out my anger and slam the knife back into the man”s torso, putting all my body weight into the swing. A pair of large hands land on my shoulders and pull me away from the lifeless body. I trip over my own feet as my body is tossed around. Kyle grabs my wrists, knocking the knife out of my hand. ”Calm down,” he says with an urgency in his voice. ”What”s going on?”
”She”s running away.” I try to free my wrists from his grip, but he holds tight, my palms prickle from the reduced blood flow to my fingertips. My whole body is trembling, the anger boiling inside me. Kyle”s hold on me remains tight, and he looks at our target, knowing just as well as I do that we are done anyway. He releases my wrists and shoves me back.
”Go get her. I”ll take care of the rest,” he sighs, ”I”ll call you as soon as I got everything.” He steps out of my way.
”Thanks,” I say, and in no time, I gather up all my belongings and storm out of the building. I toss everything in the trunk and get into the driver”s seat. Stupid bitch, I curse under my breath. I”ve been away for what? Two days, and she has the nerve to try and run away? After I treated her like a gentleman? If that”s the way she wants to play it, she can have it.