“Why?”
He frowns. “Why what?”
“Why do you want her? I don’t get it.”
“It’s not me that actually wants her.”
I thought about that for a second. Then a lightbulb went off. “The Sultan.”
X raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. He was suddenly very still.
“You know him?”
I watched him swallow. I was right. And he was afraid.
“I know of him,” I said, figuring no use lying. “Mostly because I want to kill him.”
X’s eyes grew wide. “Hmm, very interesting.”
“What? You mean the enemy of your enemy is my friend type thing?”
“Maybe,” he said.
I gave him a winning smile. “Let’s talk.”
25
The Sultan.
He finally had a name to his tormentor. What kind of power-crazed psycho calls himself that?
The woman in black seemed so sure of who wanted Rose that she had to be right. He’d played along.
And even more interesting, the woman wanted this “Sultan” dead. Apparently even more than she wanted him dead. And that was nothing to ignore.
If he could kill the Sultan, or better yet, if the woman killed him, all of X’s problems would be over.
Because the truth was that even if he did hand over Rose, the Sultan, if that’s who it was, could always come back to him and demand more. Because the Sultan knew X’s real identity, he could feasibly blackmail him for eternity.
But this woman, this dark-haired beauty, had given him a solution.
It was a gift she had thrown in his lap.
Even if she didn’t know it.
26
He wanted to work with me.
The man I was intent on killing wanted me to help him kill the Sultan.
We were sitting at his large wooden dining room table eating shrimp, steak and mashed potatoes and asparagus. It seemed so odd to eat an American meal like that on a tropical island. But whatever. I was hungry.
“We’re not friends,” I said, spearing a piece of asparagus. “You are a piece of shit. I’d gladly hand you over to the Sultan.”
He didn’t flinch. “Fine. But I think you want him dead as much as I do.”
What an idiot. There was no way he wanted the Sultan dead as much as I did.
“We both get what we want,” he said, taking a sip of wine. “You get Rose. I get my freedom.”
He’d explained that the only reason he’d gone after Rose was because he’d been threatened by the Sultan.
Killing the Sultan was his solution. If only it were that easy.
Even if it was, I wouldn’t walk away and let him continue to live his depraved life, terrorizing the islands and turning innocent girls into addicts who would do anything for a fix.
“What’s your plan?” I asked, taking a sip of the wine. He was treating me like a dinner guest. It was odd as fuck. The longer I was in his house the more I was convinced he was not only a prick, but he was also slightly insane.
“I’ll tell him we have Rose. He’ll come here, and we’ll kill him.”
I snort with laughter. “You think he’ll just waltz in here and we can easily kill him?” I was doubled over laughing now. It clearly pissed X off. He threw down his silverware and pushed his plate with the steak and steaming mashed potatoes away from him. He stood, his face growing red.
“You have a better idea?”
I stopped laughing.
“Yes.”
I eyed the steak knife he held poised in his hand still. I wanted to take it and shove it through his jugular.
He’d made the idiot bodyguard cut up my steak before I was given my plate. Even my fork was some useless spork type thing that wouldn’t work to poke out his eyes, even though I’d considered trying.
The second bodyguard had never left the corner where he sat with his assault rifle pointed my way. It was going to be hard to make a move at dinner so I might as well enjoy the meal while I told my tangled web of lies.
“Let’s hear your idea, then,” he said.
Fifteen minutes later, he’d handed me his cell phone. I held it to my ear. It was ringing.
“We already told you. Bring the girl. Midnight.” I didn’t recognize the voice. It was very high-pitched. It didn’t sound like I imagined the Sultan sounded. More like a young man going through his voice changing. Then, it struck me. A girl. Eva had said the Sultan brainwashed young girls.
“Plans have changed,” I said.
There were a few seconds of silence. I’d thrown off her game.
“Who is this?”
“Gia Santella.”
Then it sounded like the receiver was covered, and I heard whispering.
I waited to see if the name meant anything. Across from me, X narrowed his eyes. I saw one of the brother bodyguards tighten his grip on the gun he had pointed at me.
I realized then that if my plan didn’t work, I was dead.
I swallowed a lump of dread that was clogging my throat.
Then, the girl spoke.
“What do you want?”
“I want to meet with the Sultan first. If he meets me in person, we can discuss the next step.”
“Impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible.”
I hung up.
“You hung up,” X said, his voice full of irritation.
“No shit.”
“What did he say.”
“She will call back. The Sultan wants me almost as much as he wants Rose.”
“Really?” He raised an eyebrow and then took a sip of wine.
“Really.” I rolled my eyes.
“A she?” he asked.
“A little fucking girl. The Sultan brainwashes them, makes them kill for him, and if they don’t die for him he sacrifices their little bodies,” I said. “That’s the kind of monster you’re dealing with.”
I saw X’s Adam’s apple bob, and his face grew white.
Serves him right. If he wants to play with the big boys, he better be ready.
A half hour later, while we were sitting at the table drinking a second bottle of wine and still trying not to stare at the phone, it rang. X nodded for me to pick it up.
“The Sultan will meet you at the marina at midnight,” the voice said. This time the caller was using a voice disguiser that distorted his or her voice.
“Fanfuckingtastic.”
I waited to see if anything else would be said, but the line went dead.
“I need to call my contact,” I said to X.
While we’d waited for the Sultan to call back, I’d told him my plan.
I’d said I had a contact who could round up some unsavory militia types to surround the island if we talked the Sultan into coming here. That way, even if I failed, they could take him out if he tried to leave the island. “They can be here within the hour,” I lied. “That way if the Sultan tries anything, we’ll know. They will act just like regular fishermen in their boats, but inside, they have enough firepower to blow up the entire harbor.”
I smiled but was holding my breath, hoping he would bite my incredibly farfetched tale.
X chewed on his lip for a second. “Don’t fuck with me.”
“I won’t,” I said in a cheery voice as one of his big ass bodyguards handed me my phone. I dialed up Ryder’s number.
As soon as he picked up, I spoke.
“Hey, the Sultan has agreed to meet with me. My new friend here says if I kill him, he’ll leave Rose alone. And me. The meeting is at the marina at midnight. Can you get your boys here surrounding the island in case the Sultan tries to escape? We need him dead.”
Ryder didn’t miss a fucking beat. Which was good because he was on speaker phone.
“I’m on it.”
“Thanks.” I quickly hung up.
I wondered what Ryder would make of the information I’d just given him and what he would do? It was my only hope to get some sort of message to
him, letting him know I was a captive and that the Sultan was involved. He knew my “new friend” was no friend at all.
Just then Keiki wandered into the dining room. I hadn’t even realized she was there. She scowled when she saw me. She looked like she was fucked up. Her eyes were glazed, her movements languid.
“What are you doing here?” she said in a slurred tongue, her voice thick.
“Eating dinner,” I said casually and plucked a piece of shrimp from my plate, sticking it in my mouth.
“Ew,” she said.
Then she gave me something to be grossed out about when she walked over to X, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him on the lips. To my surprise, I caught a look of distaste on his face as he gently pushed her away and gave a fake smile.
“There, there, darling,” he said. “Go pack your bags. I have a new home for you.”
“What?” Her nose scrunched up in confusion.
“Just do as I say.”
She scowled but walked out, bumping into the wall once as she did.
“What new home?”
“If your plan doesn’t work, I’ll offer up Keiki as a peace offering. She looks a little like Rose.”
I glared and stood.
“Where are you going? Khan is about to bring our dessert.”
I gave a tight smile. “I’m watching my figure.”
“You know, Gia,” he said. “It’s been nice having you here. It’s not often I meet someone who has my same level of intelligence. I didn’t realize until tonight how much I missed that. I usually am far superior to everyone else and, frankly, it gets a little boring. Even my enemies are never any match for me in any way. It’s so blasé. They piss me off, I kill them, end of story. But you? You are a challenge to me.”
“Goodie for you,” I said. “Are you done now? I need to go get ready.”
He gave me a tight smile, so I turned and left.
What a fucking megalomaniac.
27
The marina was lit up by one high street light casting a yellow glow on the parking lot and small shack where you could buy tickets to the ferry. There were only a half dozen beat-up rusted vehicles, probably belonging to fishermen out on the water.
I was in the back of X’s sedan, some big black luxury model. My hands were bound behind my back again. When I’d come downstairs ready to go, he’d nodded and the bodyguard had come over with some fabric to bind my wrists. Unprofessional jerry rigging for sure. I thought about trying to fight or run, but that same guy sat in the corner with his assault rifle casually pointed at me.
The bodyguard had held a pistol to my back until I’d gotten into the backseat. I thought I would have a chance with my feet free. I was already imagining how I’d wrap my ankles around the driver’s head and neck to choke him out when the bullish bodyguard with the assault weapon slid into the backseat beside me.
X sat up front, and the other bodyguard drove.
At the marina, I was nudged out of the vehicle.
“You gonna untie me?” I asked X.
He ignored me, looking out at the water.
I turned and saw the same thing he did—a large boat anchored just off the long wooden deck where the ferry came in. The boat was dark. Not even a glimmer of light anywhere.
The Sultan.
I looked around the marina parking lot, trying not to move my head or be obvious.
If the boat was here, the Sultan’s men were already on shore somewhere.
X had underestimated everyone he came up against. I wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t a hard-core criminal. He was a con artist who had killed out of fear and necessity.
He had the money to pay for men like the two bodyguards flanking me, but if it was strictly a paycheck, they could be bought.
X had wandered off toward the small shack at the base of the dock.
I spoke in a low voice.
“X is going to be dead by the time the sun rises. You should probably pick your side now. If you stick by him, you’ll probably be dead, as well. If you leave now, you might have a chance to live.”
Neither one spoke, but they did exchange looks over the top of my head.
“If you do live, if you walk away right now, I’ll make it worth your while. If you give me one of your guns, I’ll make sure you don’t have to work for a year.”
“You wish, bitch.”
“You have two seconds to decide?”
One of them snickered. “No fucking way we’d agree to that.”
The other said, “Why would we believe you, anyway?”
“Now that you’ve made your decision, here’s how it’s going to go down.”
I’d worked the bindings loose around my wrist. Inside the car, I’d reached into my back pocket where I’d slid the razor blades. Now the binding was hanging by a thread.
“Oh, do tell,” one of the brothers said.
“In two seconds, I’m going to take your gun and shoot your brother in the leg with it. And when he falls to the ground, I’m going to take the butt of your gun and ram it into your balls so you end up on the ground, as well. Then I’m going to stomp on your neck with the heel of my boot, crushing your carotid sheath, larynx and trachea all at once. I may be able to tear your hypoglossal artery, so you choke on your own blood. At the same time, I’m going to lean down and use your own fingers to squeeze the trigger, blowing off your brother’s head.”
There was the start of a scoffing sound before I did just as I described.
I’m not gonna lie, I was a little surprised I was able to execute it exactly as I’d described.
As soon as I’d shot the one brother in the head and the other was slowly dying, suffocating from his crushed airway, I looked toward the dock.
X was gone. I turned, scooping up one of the assault rifles and fired at the tires of X’s sedan. I hit one and then when I was about to take out the rest, something made me turn back around.
Standing in front of the dock was a man I’d only heard about.
The Sultan.
28
He was a hulking figure in a black robe that fell to the pavement. He seemed to glide instead of walk. He was wearing a hood. His face was completely engulfed by the darkness.
I couldn’t believe it—the Sultan had come in person. It sent a chill down my spine.
He was alone. That couldn’t be right.
That’s when I heard them. I was surrounded. I turned to see small ninja-like figures with masks surrounding me. They didn’t have guns. But they were moving toward me fast.
I still had the assault rifle in my arms. They didn’t seem too worried about it. That alone worried me. Then I remembered that Eva had told me the Sultan’s soldiers, mostly young women were brainwashed. They would die for him. Kamikaze style. That was not good.
For them or for me.
I ignored them, staring at the Sultan. He stood eerily still. His face was just out of the beam of light, remaining in the shadows. I took a step forward, fascinated. He exuded an aura of dark evil. It was tangible. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before.
I took another step, glancing behind me. The small ninjas were surrounding me from behind now in a semi-circle. But they were keeping their distance. I assumed they were waiting for a command from the Sultan.
Keeping my eyes trained on him now, I took another step forward. Now, I’d cleared the dead or dying brothers. But I was still too far away to shoot him with the rifle I held.
With my focus on the Sultan, I didn’t really register the sound of a helicopter until he turned his head to look behind him. Even at a distance, I could tell by the bone-thudding sound that it was a military bird.
And then, with just a tilt of his head, the ninja-like figures raced past me in a flurry and surrounded the Sultan. I began to run toward him, as well, but by the time I got to the dock, they were all in a small motorboat speeding toward the larger boat anchored some ways away.
I stood on the dock for a few seconds and watched them board the boat. Its
large engine hummed to life at the same time the helicopter reached us.
A large beam of light shone down from the copter, illuminating the deck of the boat, but was immediately met by gunfire. Massive rocket launchers. The copter swooped and dived and dipped and then rose to avoid the fire.
Behind me, in the parking lot, I heard the sound of a vehicle start up. I whirled. It was X taking off in the black sedan. One of the tires I’d shot out was making it hard, but it would still drive.
I stood there, torn between trying to find a boat to chase the Sultan and finding a car to hotwire and chase X.
Ultimately, it was X I had the better chance of capturing at that moment.
As much as I wanted to go after the Sultan, my hands were tied. I had to hope the military copter would take him out.
Racing toward the parking lot, I lucked out.
A man carrying a bucket of fish was cowering by one of the old trucks. I immediately spotted his keys in his hand. He was fixated by the boat and helicopter chase on the water before us.
“I need your truck,” I said, grabbing his keys. Twenty seconds later, I was squealing out of the parking lot.
I was counting on the sedan limping along with only three tires, and my bet paid off. Based on the pieces of shredded black rubber I kept seeing on the road in front of me, X must’ve been driving on the rim alone. By the time I reached Main Street, I wasn’t surprised by what I saw. The sedan was smashed into the side of a building. It looked like the crash had just happened. I pulled up and jumped out of the truck with my gun and raced over to the driver’s side to see if X was there.
As soon as I registered that the driver’s seat was empty, the car burst into flames.
I turned and ran for my life. Two seconds after I ducked behind the fisherman’s truck, the sedan exploded in a big ball of fire.
I crept out from behind the truck.
People began to fill the street. Anyone who lived in town was now out in the middle of the street, staring at the remains of X’s vehicle. I began to walk toward them, holding the gun, head swiveling in each direction. Where was he? Where had he run to after the crash?
Dark Vengeance Page 11
