“We made a deal!” yells Darius as he strains against his bonds.
“Yeah, but we both know I was never going to let you go. This is for my Ann, for my girl.”
“Ann?” I nod and as I plunge the blade into his heart he screams, “Felder?”
The knife is all the way in, blood oozes out the side of his mouth. I apply pressure to his wound, but I know it’s futile.
“Ann Felder, you know my Ann?” I yell.
“S-she’s…” The life drains out of his eyes.
I pull the knife out in frustration and roar. He knew her name. He knew her name. Why didn’t I ask him about her directly? Why? Now, it’s more imperative than ever that I get hold of Hammer. He must know where my girl was killed.
Chapter 11
Wraith
To be careful, I’ve done a couple of drive bys past the motel, that I left Suzannah and her boy at then ditched the car and walked around it a couple of times. There’s no surveillance or if there is they’re better than me.
I knock softly on the door and Suzannah looks out the window before she opens the door. Whatever she’s been through, it’s made her smart enough to know not to open the door, even a crack. It’s easy to bust open a door, even with a chain on.
“Hey,” Suzannah says easily as I enter.
“Hey.”
“You’ve been gone two days, if you hadn’t come back, I would’ve left in the morning.”
“Your intel was good.” I hand her an envelope.
Suzannah opens it and shakes her head. “It’s too much, we agreed on twenty.”
“Your intel was good,” I repeat and sit on the end of the bed. “Where’s Jack?”
“I took him to a friend’s house.”
“Smart.”
“I don’t know you. I agreed to do this for,” Suzannah holds up the envelope and continues, “a price. You might have double-crossed me, hell, you still might.”
I shake my head. “No. My word is good.”
Suzannah sits beside me. “How’s the stab wound.”
I shrug. “It’s fine. Doesn’t hurt much.”
“You hungry?” I think about it and my stomach growls. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I grin at her. “It seems my stomach has betrayed me.”
“I’ll go get burgers. You eat burgers, right?”
“Yeah.”
Suzannah puts the envelope in her handbag and leaves. I lay down on the bed, close my eyes and wake up when she comes back through the door an hour later.
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
“Yeah, must be more tired than I thought.”
I stand, take the bag from her and place it on the small table in the corner of the room. I set it out with napkins and put coasters under the cans of drink then place the burgers on plates, Suzannah got two for me. When I’m done, I realize she’s staring at me and not moving.
“Ahh, dinner is served?” I say tentatively.
“I’ve never had a man layout takeaway food like that before. Normally, I’ve just eaten it out of the bag.”
“All meals should be appreciated. Things are better digested if you sit, eat and talk, no TV.” I pause and look at her. “Sorry, it’s an old habit.”
“It’s a good habit.”
Suzannah gives me a small smile and sits down.
“How did it…go?” Suzannah asks tentatively.
Without giving her the intimate details, I say, “I need to get close to Hammer and that’s not going to be easy.”
“Why him?”
“He’s the last piece of the puzzle. Well, almost, there’s one more after him.”
“You think Hammer took your daughter?”
“Yeah. I need to find out what he knows. Confirm who’s next in the chain. I’m just not sure how I’m going to get close to him without a lot of…fuss.”
“You think there’s more people involved?”
“Darius mentioned someone else.” I take a bite of my burger.
“Who?” Suzannah asks.
I look at her with a mouth full of food and she starts waving her hand in my face.
“Don’t tell me! I don’t want to know!”
I nod at her and swallow my food. “The less you know the better.”
“Agreed.” Suzannah takes a bite of her burger and looks thoughtful. She cocks her head to the side puts the burger down, wipes her mouth and says, “I think I can get you close to Hammer.”
“How?”
“He’s the reason I quit the bar. Hammer wanted to fuck me in the back room. I declined but I could go back and tell him I need to be romanced first.”
“No, too dangerous.”
“You’re dangerous but I’m still here and besides you paid me more than we agreed on.”
“No. You have your son to consider.”
“And he’s safe.”
“Suzannah, no. I’ll find a way.”
“How? Hammer thinks he’s God’s gift and he wants to fuck me. I’ll be careful.”
“Why would you put yourself in danger for me?”
A frown creases her brow. “To be honest, I’m not sure.” Suzannah takes a sip of her drink. “Maybe it’s the way you talk about Ann. Let me help.”
If I was on a mission I’d take advantage of her and this situation in a heartbeat but this is my mission, not something impersonal that the government sent me on. It’s one thing to get myself injured or worse and another situation entirely to have something happen to Suzannah.
“I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“That’s a lie. Let me feel him out, see if I can convince him to see me alone somewhere and if he agrees, you can do your thing and I’ll leave town. You’ve given me enough money that I can start over somewhere new, very easily.”
“I haven’t given you that much money,” I reply as I sit back in the chair.
“It’s enough.”
I look at her surprised. “No, it’s not. The Harbingers of Death are an active MC. They’re being watched by multiple agencies and all of them have nothing on them. If you do this, you’ll have to cut ties with everyone you know, change your name, move out of state. It won’t be as easy as you think.”
“I’ve changed my name before, you know that. And I was moving out of town when you tracked me down. There is no one in my life I can’t walk away from. It’s been Jack and me for a while. Let me make the call, and if you still think it’s too dangerous, I’ll go.”
As much as I don’t want to use her like this, I don’t have many other options.
“Okay. But if I say walk, you’ll fucking run, yeah?”
“Fuck that, I’ll sprint.”
***
I followed Suzannah to the bar, dressed like a homeless man, people didn’t make eye contact or even notice me. I stopped about a block before the bar and sat down in a doorway. I’d gotten used to the way Suzannah dressed when she wasn’t working, not a lot of skin showing. When she came out of the bathroom in her black tank and short skirt, I spat my coffee everywhere. Suzannah no longer looks like a soccer mom, she looks like Candy the bartender. As she walks into the bar, every man that walks past her does a double take.
I watch as she squares her shoulders and takes a deep breath before opening the door to the bar and my gut clenches. This is a bad idea. I don’t have eyes on her in the bar and have no way of knowing if she’s hurt or worse. I stand, and pretend to stagger up the street. I know I can’t enter the bar but I need a better look.
As I get to the door, Suzannah walks out backward, smile plastered on her face talking to someone I can’t yet see. I stagger around her and keep going, glancing over my shoulder, I see it’s Hammer. He’s talking to her, touching a length of her hair, and looking like he hasn’t got a care in the world.
I walk across the street and down an alley, when I turn back around, Hammer and Suzannah are gone. My gut does a somersault and I double-time it back to where we left Suzannah’s car. She’s sitting on the hood, talking on the p
hone and waves at me as I approach her.
My heart beats a little faster and as soon as she hangs up I pull her into my embrace.
“Whoa!” says Suzannah.
“I was worried.”
She pushes me off and grins. “No need to be. He was eating out of my hand. Can you open the car? I want to put a shirt on.”
I unlock her car and sit on the hood. Suzannah puts on the long-sleeved shirt she wore the first time I met her and sits next to me.
“You okay?”
“I saw you out front and by the time I’d turned around, you were gone.”
“Sorry.”
There’s an awkward silence. I’m processing why I’m feeling this way while Suzannah plays with a loose thread on her shirt.
I stand and open the driver's side door, Suzannah follows suit by opening the passenger door. I stare at her over the roof of the car.
“Did you get him to agree to see you, alone?”
Suzannah grins and nods. “Yeah, I’m meeting him at his house at seven.”
“Good.” I tap the roof twice and get in the car when she gets in I say, “Obviously, you aren’t going to be there.”
“No, I am not,” Suzannah sighs. “You’re on your own. I’m picking Jack up and we’re leaving.” She reaches across and grabs my hand. “Do you want to know where we are headed?”
I look down at her hand in mine. I know what she’s asking me and yeah, I want to know where she’s headed, more than anything but she won’t be safe. I’m not safe. I place her hand back on her leg.
“No. You can do much better than me, love.”
“I know.”
I chuckle. “You know?”
“Yeah, but I was giving you a shot.” Suzannah gestures to her body with a sweep of her hand. “You know you’re missing out on a whole lot of goodness.”
We both laugh and I nod. “Yes, ma’am!”
Suzannah winks. “Okay, take me back to the motel. I’ll write down the address and then I’ll be on my way.”
Chapter 12
Wraith
This time I’m waiting in a cupboard in the bedroom. This house is a dump, the bed is covered in a sheet that has so many stains on it you could get tetanus from looking at it. This annoys me. Suzannah deserved better.
I hear a door open and voices. A light comes on, I peer out through the louvers of the door and see Hammer and another man.
“Told you, no one’s here, Brute.” Hammer sits on the bed. “It’s just going to be me and that chick from the bar. Told me she’d do anything to get her job back. Hey, you can do her too, after I’m done.”
“Was that the hot one, with the blonde hair and the big tits, Candy?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
They both laugh and I lose my cool, I throw open the door, shoot Hammer in the kneecap and Brute right between his eyes. Hammer screams so I shove the gun in his mouth and they turn to whimpers.
“I need you to shut the fuck up,” I growl.
With the gun in his mouth, he quietens as I listen for other bikers. There’s no movement or noise, so I remove the gun from his mouth.
“Ann Felder.” Hammer gives me empty eyes and shakes his head slightly. I place the gun on his other kneecap and repeat, “Ann Felder.”
“What about her?”
“Where is the body?”
“Did they kill her?” he asks with confusion.
“Tell me where Ann Felder is,” I snarl.
“Alec Petrov has her. Did he kill her?”
I take two steps back. I’m confused. Ann is alive?
“How long ago did you see her?”
“Last week when we dropped off the latest shipment. Alec liked her, so he bought her. Keeps her with him at all times. Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m Ann Felder’s father.”
Hammer laughs and applies pressure to his knee. “A father? Fuck these girls don’t have families that care. It’s what makes it so easy to take them. In nearly five years of doing this, we’ve only had three girls reported to the police. Three out of?” He waves a hand in the air. “More than I can count.”
I look down at Brute’s dead body and realize I’m nodding furiously. I stop all movement and stare at Hammer.
“Wait!” Hammer says loudly, holding up a bloody hand. “I can tell you where she is.”
“I don’t need you for that.”
“Fuck you!”
Hammer tries to charge me but I shoot him dead. Brain, bone and blood splatter the wall behind him. For over six months I’ve been chasing what I thought was a ghost. When her trail went cold, I assumed these assholes killed her, not that she’d been sold.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and walk out of the room. Normally, I like to take my time. The CIA recruited me and trained me but I’ve always had a predisposition to inflict pain and suffering. I’ve kept it in check, only allowing myself to torture those the government needed information from or those I needed information from. Lately, the need to get my hands dirty or bloody has been hard to control and now, now I feel like I’ve been cheated. I’ve killed two people and my hands are relatively clean.
I walk out the front door, two Harleys are parked in the driveway, I go back inside, snag the keys off Brutes dead body and leave.
***
It’s a week later, staking out Alec Petrov hasn’t been easy. He seems to spend most of his time at a house in the country, surrounded by armed guards, dogs and security cameras. If I can get inside the house, I’ll be able to talk to him. I haven’t seen Ann. If she is still alive, she must be in the house. The guards out front wouldn’t even let me enter the grounds to deliver flowers, nor would they confirm that an Ann Felder lived there.
I’m inside the grounds, just over the fence waiting for the guards to make their rounds past me and move before the dogs are allowed out to roam. I picked tonight as there is no moon, and being out in the country there isn’t any ambient light, so hiding in the gardens is easy, as long as I avoid the lights around the yard.
Moving silently, I approach a side door. There are no cameras around this side of the house, I try the door and of course, it’s locked. I drop down to my knees and pick the lock, it takes less than ten seconds. Opening the door, I slip inside and listen for people or an alarm. I make myself count to thirty, it’s excruciating but I can’t afford to screw this up. If Ann is alive, she’s depending on me.
I make my way through the bottom floor of the house, it’s tastefully decorated, the only people down here are guards and the house staff, I manage to avoid all of them. Getting up the stairs to the second floor isn’t easy, the stairwell is in the middle of the first floor directly in front of the doors leading to the outside. I wait, hidden in a cupboard, for guards and staff to leave. It must take thirty minutes before I am sure I won’t be seen. The stairs creak as I step on them, the sound to my ears is amplified. As quickly as I can I ascend the stairs, once I’m at the top, the house branches out into two wings. I go left and open all the doors, there are no security guards up here.
The left side of the house is empty, a bunch of highly decorated rooms with no one in them. I move to the other side of the home, I can hear a TV and head toward it. Looking quickly around the side of a door, I see Alec Petrov on the phone, walking away from me. I look again and he’s facing the window, talking.
I slip into the room, no one else appears to be in here with him. I wait, and he finishes the call, tossing the phone onto an armchair.
Petrov is still facing the window, shaking his head. “You know many have tried but none have made it this far. Is it my father you seek to punish or is it something I have done?” he asks loudly.
With his hands raised, he turns slowly to face me, a small smile on his lips. I hold up a picture of Ann and walk toward him. Petrov lowers his arms, takes it, looking puzzled, he smiles.
“Dorogoy? Why do you have this?” demands Petrov.
“Dorogoy? You call her darling?”
&n
bsp; “If you mean to hurt her, I will yell, loudly. Please if you want to hurt someone, let it be me, leave her out of this.”
“What’s her name?” I ask. Petrov shakes his head. “Tell me her name.”
“Ann. Her name is Ann Petrov.”
Stunned, I walk toward him, gun raised. “No. Her name is Ann Felder.”
“That was her name. Ann is my wife.”
I shake my head and raise my eyebrows. “She's only sixteen,” I growl out.
“I know. We know. It’s what she wanted to do. Who are you?”
“I’m her father. And I know how to find people, she can’t be married, that would leave a trail, one I could follow.”
“We are married, maybe not in the traditional way but in everyway that counts. Ann has met my parents, my friends, she’s even in my will.” Petrov pauses then continues, “No,” he states shaking his head. “Ann said her parents were dead.”
“Do I look dead to you asshole?”
“Her father died overseas, he was military or something. Ann was devastated, you can’t be him.”
I hold up another photo, it’s of Ann, her mother and me. Petrov walks toward me and takes it, then sits down in a chair.
“Please sit,” he says gesturing to a chair opposite him. “I took her word for it, I believed her when she said you’d died, she cried.”
I lower the gun and stare at him. Petrov seems perplexed and he hasn’t called for help. Could he be telling the truth?
“How old are you?”
Twenty-six.”
“She’s sixteen.”
“I know.” Petrov shrugs. “Was it you who killed the Harbingers?”
I nod. “They said you bought her.”
Petrov laughs and nods. “I suppose I did. One look at her and I never stood a chance. I love her, you see?”
Petrov stands and walks over to a cabinet, opens it and pours two drinks.
He walks toward me, one glass held out. “Whiskey?”
I nod and take it from him. “Where is she?”
“Ann is shopping in town. She should be back soon.”
Twisted Tales of Mayhem: 2019 MMM Special Edition Anthology Page 36
