Текст книги "The Wrath of Cain"
Автор книги: Kathy Coopmans
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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 15 страниц)
“How do you know that?”
“Because this is one of my dad’s warehouses. He wants us to be found. He’s fucking nuts. Just stay calm and keep your mouth shut. I don’t think he wants you dead. He’s going to use you for leverage or some sort of negotiation. No matter what happens to me, you have to promise me you will not fight him.”
“I don’t know if I can promise you that.”
Manny doesn’t say anything after that as once again, bright lights shine down on us.
“You’re both awake. This is great. Now it’s Manny’s turn to watch. You wanted her baby, come and get her. Just remember she cannot die. I need her alive.”
I turn my head just in time to be punched in the face by none other than Emerald herself.
Chapter Twenty-One
Cain
I’ve never known true fear until today. Salvatore’s words gobble up my every thought, working my imagination overtime. I’ve heard of Royal’s work. He’s messy. He never cleans up. How he has gotten away with this for as many years as he has is beyond me. Ivan obviously has cops in his pocket just like this family does.
But this is a completely different story. He has my wife and my best friend. I need to get the fuck out of here. Lola is a mess, Cecily is a mess, and John was due back here hours ago and no one has heard a damn thing from him.
The front door flies open. A disheveled looking John walks in holding a box, violently kicking the door shut behind him.
“Jesus, man. Are you all right?”
He’s white. His hair is a mess. I know he’s in pain. He refused any pain medication from the doctor. Told everyone his mind needs to be clear.
“Where’s Salvatore?” he says sharply as he walks past me towards Salvatore’s office. “And Cecily and Lola?”
“I’m not sure where they are. In their rooms, maybe? I’ve been in the family room going out of my mind.”
“Let’s just hope they stay where they are. They don’t need to see or hear this.”
His voice sounds rougher than normal. Something is wrong, I can feel it. Whatever happened is troubling him in a bad way. A way that he wants to keep from the ladies. I don’t like this feeling at all.
Breaking his fast paced stride, he crouches down, placing the box on the floor and his hands on his knees. I’m by his side in an instant.
“John. What the fuck is wrong?”
A dark shadow crosses over his face.
“Fuck me!” he roars, crumpling to the floor.
Salvatore pushes through his office door.
“What the hell?”
“Hell if I know. He came barreling in here with that in his hand. Asked about Lola and Cecily and then collapsed on the floor.”
Salvatore reaches for the box.
“Don’t open that!”
John gets off of the floor, his entire body shaking, and snatches it up. He’s got to be in pain, not only from the accident, but for Calla and Manny. I’ve never in all my years of knowing him seen him so agitated.
“In your office,” John demands.
The three of us walk in. Salvatore shuts the door and locks it.
“I need a drink.”
John moves to the cabinet, grabs a bottle of Johnny, twists the cap off, and guzzles it like water. Without putting the cap back on, he sets it back on the top of the cabinet, turning to the both of us and exhaling loudly.
“Goddamn it! You better tell me what the hell is going on and now!” Salvatore shouts.
“Shit. This was delivered at the gate about five minutes before I got here. I told them I would bring it up. It’s… fuck!”
He runs a hand through his already messed up hair.
“It’s what?” Salvatore moves to him, takes the box out of his hands, and lifts the lid.
“Jesus Christ!”
“What is it?”
I move to the two of them. My stomach rolls when I see the bloodied finger lying in the box alongside of a flash drive. Salvatore stands there, unable to move. The finger has got to be Manny’s. Good God, he was right. They are torturing him.
“How? How could my own son do this? How could I have failed as a father?”
Once again, I’m helpless as I watch a man who is like a father to me beat himself down with despair, mourning the loss of one son while grieving for the other. When his hands start to shake, I take the box from him, my stomach churning.
Closing the lid on the box, I quietly back up to leave the room. John has his hand on Salvatore’s shoulder, his eyes on me nodding towards the door for me to go. I make my way up the stairs and down the hall to my empty room; the room I was going to share with my wife. The room where I was going to give her the ring that is now sitting on top of the white dresser. Cecily cleaned it up and gave it to me this afternoon. She went on and on about how stunning it was going to look on her daughter’s finger, and how it was going to mean so much to Calla to have it. And now I can hardly bear to even look at it.
Moving across the room to the closet, I open the door and place the box with Manny’s finger on top, covering it with the extra blanket on the top shelf. I don’t even bother shutting the door. I have to see what’s on this flash drive. I have to see her. I have to see him.
I turn on my computer, tapping the drive on my leg waiting for it to boot up. Once it does, I plug the stick into the USB port and wait.
The sight before me has me standing up, gripping the sides of the desk hard. My teeth clench together. There she is, taped to a chair while a man holds her head in place. I’m going to kill him for touching her. Slice his goddamned throat and watch him bleed out.
Calla’s eyes are wide with fear. She’s busted up. Her eyes are swollen. Her face and arms have bruises and gashes running up and down them. But she’s alive. If it weren’t for the irony of the situation, I might laugh right now. After everything she has been through, she still has on those sexy as all hell spike-heeled shoes she demanded John get for her before we left.
I don’t take my eyes off of her until I hear a scream I will never forget in my life coming from just a few feet away from her. I stare at the back of a man’s head while he’s crouched down on the floor. I know this is Royal. He stands up, giving me my first view of Manny.
“Aw, fuck!”
He’s screaming, rocking the chair. And then I notice it. There in the corner. Crates. Large crates. I know this place. I know exactly where it is. It’s a storage unit for the guns Manny and I steal. I’ve been to this place more times than I can count.
With shaky fingers I stop the video. I pull the flash drive out, shoving it into my back pocket before opening the dresser drawer and pulling out my Glock and clips. I shove the gun into the back of my jeans, racing down the hallway and down the stairs. My boots thump loudly as I go. I swing the office door wide open, not even bothering to knock.
“I know where they are,” I say breathlessly.
Four pairs of eyes are centered directly on me.
“Shit.”
Lola and Cecily both stand. I can only look at my mother in law. I cannot bear to look at Lola. She has to know what’s about to happen. Either one or both of her sons will be dead by the end of the night. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain and heartache she must be feeling right now. The same as Salvatore. He knows better than anyone how things like this go down. He is the first to speak.
“Where are they, son?”
“He has them at the warehouse in Queens.”
“Are you sure?” This comes from John.
“Yes, I’m sure, for Christ’s sake! Let’s roll.”
I don’t give them time to follow me. I’m down the hall and out the door as fast as my legs will go. I try to block out the women’s screams, yelling to all of us to please be careful and bring their babies home. I shake my foggy head, clear my thoughts, and focus on what lies ahead.
By the time Salvatore and John get to the car, I have it raring and ready to go. John hops in the front and Salvatore in the back. Tires squeal as I race out of the drive.
“Open the gate,” I hear Salvatore say heatedly. Then he’s on his phone, every word clipped to whomever he is talking to. I pay no attention.
“My God, boy, are you trying to get us killed?”
John’s hands are gripping the dash. I’m weaving in and out of traffic, speeding like a bitch and running every red light, driving heedlessly.
“He’s right, Cain. You can’t cause an accident; it will delay us getting there. Besides, I already have guys surrounding the place.”
I’m so in the zone. So ready to see, touch, and hold Calla. The only thing on my mind is getting to her.
I slow down and don’t say a word, my eyes trained on the road ahead. The closer we get, the thirstier I get for blood.
“Pull in here,” Salvatore commands.
We’re about a quarter of a mile from the warehouse. I swing the car into a vacant lot.
John points to the side of the building where a narrow paved path leads to the back of the building.
“Around back.”
My fist grip the steering wheel tight. I’m ready.
“What is this place?”
“One of my buildings. It’s empty. I have several men meeting us here.”
I’m stunned. John must see it in my expression when we come to a stop alongside several other cars. At least a half dozen men are standing around with rifles on their backs, cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. I put the car in park, cutting the engine. I grab the keys and go to open the door.
“Cain.”
John grabs my arm.
“You need to get your head on straight right the fuck now.”
We have a stare down. I know he’s right. I’ve never done anything like this before. I take a few calm breaths before speaking.
“Tell me what you want me to do. Just don’t tell me I have to wait out here. I need to see her just as badly as you do.”
“Fuck! You listen to me. I want Royal. Calla may be your wife, but she’s my little girl. And no matter how much blood has been lost between Salvatore and his son, he won’t kill him. But I will. I go in alone.”
I slump against the headrest. My heart explodes in my chest, bouncing around like a fucking ball.
“I know you want to see her. Hell, I know better than anyone the means you’ve gone to, to protect her. But Cain, this is not a job for you. I’m not saying you can’t pull the trigger on that sweet ass Glock of yours,” he adds wryly.
I chuckle. The motherfucker doesn’t miss a damn thing.
“What I’m saying is, I’m trained for this. I already have so much blood on my hands. I won’t allow you or Calla to have to live with the shit that runs through my head every day. I love the both of you too much. I have no clue where my daughter’s head will be at when I get her out of there. She’s going to need you to be strong for her. Be that man.”
Shit, he’s scaring the hell out of me. I know he means well, but fuck me if he’s not in a roundabout kind of way telling me he’s not sure if he will come out alive.
“What I need you to do is tell me exactly where in that warehouse they are.”
The faint smell of cigarette smoke fills my nostrils. John is the one man who I know will get her out alive, even if it costs him his own life. I recite two times exactly what I saw on that flash drive. His demeanor shifts from burning rage to the coldest of ice.
“I hope Salvatore and Lola will be able to forgive me for this. I’m not letting Royal off easily, not by a long shot. I’m going to make that piece of shit suffer. By the time I’m done with him, he’ll regret the day he caused this war against his father. No one touches my daughter.”
With that, John is gone. I sit in the car, my face looking up into the dark, clouded sky. I don’t know if John was trying to convince me or himself that he would come out of there alive. It’s the first time John has left me with any kind of doubt. Shit is about to be real, and son of a bitch if I’m not worried.
Salvatore turns from his position outside of the car, his eyes filled with regret and sadness. He knows what’s about to happen. How could he not? John works for him. He’s also very aware of the type of cold, hard killer his son is.
I run my hands through my hair. I need something, anything, to help me keep my mind from its negative thoughts. A cigarette. Smoke inhaling through my nose. Into my lungs. That’s what I need.
Exiting the car, I bum a few from one of the guys, then sit back in the car and fire it up. I suck in the deep aroma, letting it fill my lungs before I exhale. It does nothing. I put it out just as quickly as I lit the damn thing and lean my head back. I watch two ambulances pull in. The EMTs get out and shake hands with Salvatore. I watch him work his magic with all the men around him.
I don’t envy him at this precise moment. He’s a good man, a decent man. One who doesn’t deserve to be fighting the unknown of what’s happening inside his warehouse. He didn’t even see what was in that video, and yet, I know he knows. He’s aware of everything. Controls everything. I stay focused on him. He may be acting in control right now, his words rough and his smile tight. But he’s not. His shoulders are slouched. He keeps checking his phone and his watch. The building up the road.
I survey him until I feel like I have him all figured out. Until I see him look once more toward the building. The building that holds my heart.
“I want to ask you something, Calla.”
I remember that moment so well in my mind. The way her eyes got huge. The strange look she gave me.
“What? That you want to marry me?” she’d teased, her head lying in my lap. We were at the park that day. Moms were pushing their children on the swings. We were surrounded by laughter, though somehow it seemed it was only the two of us.
“How the hell did you know I was going to ask you?”
I puffed out my chest like the badass teenager I thought I was. She pushed herself up off of my lap and started jumping up and down, screaming.
“Yes! A thousand times, yes!”
We talked it all out. Planned it all out. Thought we would have the world at our feet and that no one would be able to keep us apart again. Little did we know the very same day she became my wife, she would be ripped away from me by the one person I trusted. And now, when I finally have her back, have a chance to prove to her that I love her so damn much I ache, I can’t do anything but sit in this car and stare at that front door. Willing it to open.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Calla
My head is thrown back by her punch, though it barely scrapes the surface of the pain my body is in. She hovers above me, her tiny frame seeming so much smaller than I remember. Drugs will do that to you. Make you lose your appetite. The only craving you have is the desire for your next hit, your next score, or whatever the hell you call it. She’s a fucking druggie.
I tilt my head to the side, doing my best to try and muffle the sounds of my cries from the sudden jolt to my shoulder. The numbness from holding it still for so long causing a surge of the worst pain I have ever had to progress its way down my arm.
“You’re not so tough now, are you? Cain’s not here to protect you this time.”
She puts her face up close to mine.
“Do you know how long I have waited for today? A long time. I’ve loved Cain ever since I can remember, and then, Boom! Out of nowhere comes you. You stole him from me, and now you’re going to pay.”
The bitch lunges at me, clamping a vice-like grip onto my shoulder, her fingers pressing deeply into my wounded flesh.
“Aaggh!” I scream out in agony. “Fuck you!”
I spit in her face.
“You weak cunt. That’s the best you got? You’re fucking pathetic,” I hiss.
“Calla. Shut the hell up.”
Manny speaks with a thick tongue, his words scarcely intelligible.
Royal steps in front of his brother, backhanding him across the face.
“You shut the hell up, brother. This isn’t your call. Emerald, hurry the hell up. You have five minutes to play. And guess what, sweetheart? I’ve all of a sudden changed my mind.”
Changed his mind about what? He glances down at his watch, lightly tapping his fingers on the face.
“Since the two of you are clearly testing my patience, I’ve decided to kill you both. Do what you want with her, she’s no use to me. He can watch this time,” he says, flicking his hand.
I watch in horror as he walks over to Manny whose eyes are pleading with mine to hold on for as long as I can.
“Then I’m going to fuck her up good,” says Emerald with ill-suppressed glee.
She grabs a handful of my hair. I can do nothing but cry out. The view of the room changes as I land with a loud thud on the floor. Emerald yanks and tugs, walking backwards, pulling me by my hair. My neck and shoulders scrape across the coarse cement. I squeeze the backs of my legs up against the chair as they smack up and down.
Manny is screaming for Emerald to let me go. The farther away I get from him, the more panic arises. I feel the blood drain from my face. My mind tells me this is the end. You’re about to die.
She lets go of my hair. My neck muscles volley to stay upright. I’m left there for a few seconds, barely able to catch my breath.
“Let’s see how you like this? Three, two, one, go!” her voice squeals.
My body goes stiff as a board. I’ve lost all motor skills, though I’m entirely cognizant of my surroundings. I’ve never been electrocuted, but that’s what it feels like. My entire body starts to convulse. My side is on fire from whatever she is pressing into my skin. She’s tormenting me in raw, horrendous fashion. All I want to do is die. I grind down hard on my teeth, afraid I will swallow my tongue. And then it’s over. The convulsions stop, but the burning in my side is still there. I breathe in and out as best as I can. I hear a loud clunk next to my ear and I slant my head to the side to see what it is. She used a Taser gun on me.
One of her feet steps on my head, then both of her feet come together, squeezing so much pressure on my skull that I feel it down to my toes. I begin to choke. I feel vessels popping in my brain. All the while she laughs. She knows she has me. I’m restrained. Even if someone took the tape off of me now, I’m too weak to fight.
“Royal told me how much you love this. I love it, too. Did you know too much of it can kill you? Cause you to have a heart attack?”
I try to talk, but nothing comes out but a gurgle. The needle in her hand gets closer and closer to my neck. I feel her weight when she sits on my chest. I feel the sting of the needle, not in my neck, but in my arm. Once again, I feel the burning sensation rushing through my veins. The feeling I have... it’s worse this time. I can’t explain. I have only a second before she is up and off of me. My eyes roll into the back of my head.
My vision is blurry. I watch her stand up, her small frame towering over me now. Seconds tick by. Her foot, decorated in a pair of boots, appears over the top of my face. A cruel smirk crosses her face. I close my eyes, bracing for the impact of her slamming that boot into my face.
My lungs burn with each small breath I try to take. This is it. I’m going to die. My entire life flashes before my eyes. All those happy memories of my childhood. My parents’ excitement when I would open my favorite present on Christmas morning. Curling up on my dad’s lap for him to read me a story. Making cookies with my mom. The look on Cain’s face when he first told me he loved me. The moment he kissed me after we got married. The happiest memories of my life. I wait.
Nothing happens. Opening my eyes, I peer up at her, my mind clouded. Her doll-like features are frozen in shock, her eyes vacant and cloudy as she slumps down onto her knees. Blood and matter drip down onto my chest from the gunshot wound right between her eyes.
Emerald slumps forward, her dead body lying halfway across mine. I know I’m screaming, unable to move with her body pinning me down. I hear feet shuffling.
“Greer! You cock sucker!”
The hoarseness in Royal’s voice is strained. He’s been shot.
“Dad?” I barely manage to squeak out, beginning to gurgle. The potent taste of blood sits in my mouth.
“Manny? Dad?”
Silence. A strange sensation floats through me. All I see is white, the colors slowly shifting darker until all I see is black.
***
I wake up suddenly in unknown surroundings, blinking profusely to adjust to the bright lights shining above me. I try to talk. I try to move. I can’t do either. My memory is so confused, I begin to panic.
“Calla.”
The sweet sound of my mother’s voice hugs me. I can feel her hand on top of mine.
“Sweetheart. Don’t try and move.”
Unable to move my head, my eyes search out her voice. Tears flow down her face. Her appearance is unlike her. She’s pale, and there’s a silent void in her eyes.
I need to know what happened. Where am I? Where’s Dad? Manny? Cain?
“Water,” I manage to croak out.
She brings a Styrofoam cup with a straw to my lips. I take a small sip. The coolness of the water does very little for my parched mouth.
“I know you have a lot of questions. However, I have been instructed by the doctor to keep you calm if you were to wake up before he gets back.”
Calm? Why? What happened? What is she not telling me? My lids become increasingly heavy again. I try to fight falling out of consciousness. It’s no use, my body is too weak. I drift back into the unknown where everything once again is the awful color of black.
“Mom?” I jolt awake this time. The room is dark.
“Calla, baby.” I hear him. Cain. He sounds so tired.
“Jesus, baby. You’re awake.”
“My shoulder,” I say.
“It’s fine. You’re going to be fine.” He bends and kisses me on my cheek.
“Manny?”
“He’s fine, too. Both of you have been through hell and survived.”
“My dad?” I can’t see him. It’s too dark.
“Cain?” I begin to panic.
“I’m right here, my girl.”
I lift my hand, trying to find anything for it to come in contact with for support. I feel the warmth of someone’s hand. My dad’s hand. I squeeze it. My body begins to tremble. I attempt to stifle my sobs at first, to show my strength. It’s no use. The salty tears fall down my face to my quivering lips.
“Hey, no crying. I’m here. You’re safe.”
A warm hand presses against my back. I would know that hand anywhere. Every time it touches me, I feel myself come to life. My adrenaline soars and my heart rate picks up, all from the simple touch of his hand. He moves it in slow, comforting circles, a small token to try and help me drown out my sorrows and misery.
“I don’t want to go back to sleep. I want to know what happened. I need to see Manny. Please,” I croak.
“I’m right here.”
Manny’s voice has me more alert than before. I’m happy to hear them all. Irritated doesn’t begin to scratch the surface that I cannot see them.
“I need to see you,” I say.
I’m welcomed with silence once again.
“Seriously?” I question, my irritation turning to anger. “I’m not a child. I want to see him.”
The click of a light switch comes from the corner of the room. A soft yellow glow cascades from the lamp. My dad is the first person I see, just like so many mornings when he would get me out of bed and help get me ready for school.
“Where’s mom?”
He has a slightly impressed grin on his face.
“She’s upstairs taking a shower.”
“Upstairs? Where am I?”
“We’re at Salvatore’s.”
I go to speak but my dad silences me with his finger.
“An ambulance brought both you and Manny here. No hospital, sweetheart. Too many questions would have been asked if you were taken there. You’ve been treated with the best doctors around, Calla. We have round the clock nursing staff here. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?”
The hospital part catches me somewhat off guard. I contemplate what he said for a moment, although I understand more than any of them think I do. My dad, or someone, cleaned up after it all. Knowing my father, he hasn’t left my side, not once. Neither has my mother. Neither has Cain.
“I understand everything, Dad. I do have to say though, you look like shit,” I blurt out. He smirks.
“You think? I probably smell worse than I look. I haven’t showered in four damn days.”
“Four days? That’s how long I’ve been out?”
He lifts his eyes from mine to Cain’s.
“Dad?”
He exhales.
“You’ve been in and out for two weeks, Calla,” Cain says from behind me.
My body is stiff. How I manage to flip over to face him is beyond me. This is my first glimpse of him in two weeks. He has days of scruff on his face, his eyes bloodshot from what I guess is lack of sleep.
“Two weeks?”
That’s impossible. In and out without even realizing that two weeks have passed? Something is not right.
“What is it you three are hiding from me? Is something wrong?”
I may feel weak and somewhat lost, but for God’s sake, if I can handle what happened to me, then I sure as hell can handle whatever they are hiding from me.
“Dad. Please?”
His eyes dart from mine to Cain’s. Whatever it is, it’s bad. The last time I saw this pained expression on my dad’s face was the night he told me he was Salvatore’s hitman. I’m starting to become agitated.
“I’m not a child. I have a right to know!” I insist.
“All right, calm down. It’s not you. You’re going to be fine. The doctors had to keep you in a drug-induced coma. You were so banged up. So drugged up. Hell, with the amount of heroin they injected into you in such a short period of time, we’re damn lucky you’re alive.”
I rest my head back on my pillow, grabbing both Cain’s and my father’s hands. Manny stands at the end of my bed.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I had no choice but to allow them to keep you under,” Cain whispers.
“It’s okay. I’m just a little taken back. I knew they drugged me. I knew it was heroin, but my God, enough to truly kill me?”
I lift my head. The pain in my shoulder is merely an ache.
“And what about you, Manny? Are you really okay?”
He looks great, actually. Traces of yellowish color spread across one cheek and under one eye. Other than that, he looks like Manny.
“I’m fine. My pinky finger is gone.”
He lifts up his left hand to show me his bandaged up stump.
“Oh, Manny. I’m so sorry,” I say sincerely.
“Stop. There will be none of this ‘I’m sorry’ bullshit. We survived. Very few people do. If anyone should be sorry, it’s me. I couldn’t do a damn thing to save you from the shit my brother was doing to you and then that cunt. I hope she is living the true meaning of hell right now. Burning for eternity is too good for that dumb bitch.”
I can’t help myself. I start to laugh. I laugh so hard my stomach starts to hurt.
“So true!” I finally say. “And your brother is right there with her.”
The room goes eerily quiet. I look at all three of them in confusion. Again, an unsettling feeling overwhelms me.
“Royal’s not dead.”
Manny stops laughing before those dreaded words come out of his mouth. I feel myself gripping their hands even tighter. Tight enough to feel a stinging sensation.
“Shit. It’s my fault,” says my dad. My lips begin to tremble.
“I don’t understand.”
“Calla. Listen to me. I shot him in the shoulder. It’s the first time I have ever missed a mark. This is on me. I lost focus.”
I really take in my dad’s appearance. This is bothering him more than he is letting on. I’m back to the eyes. Always the eyes. He’s beating himself up over this. I won’t allow it.
“Dad, no,” I say sternly. “You did what only my dad would do. You saved your daughter’s life. There’s no fault in that. You all know as well as I do I would not be here right now if it wasn’t for you. Don’t ever say or think anything like that again.”
Dad and I have a very severe stare down. An ill feeling settles over me. There’s more to this story. These three can’t hide things for shit. The stiffness in my dad’s posture gives that away for damn sure. I continue holding his gaze, my eyes telling him I will never blame him for this. His holds a promise. A promise that he will indeed find Royal and destroy him for what he has done.
My father is the first to look away. Me, I stand firm. I could never blame him for anything. One thing is for damn sure. After everything that has gone down, I have made up my mind that I will do whatever it is Salvatore wants me to. Family always comes first. Royal may not have loyalty to this family, but I do.
“When did you become the wise one? Huh?” asks my dad, stroking my cheek.
“The day I was born. The day I became the daughter of Johnathon Weston Greer.”
