The Holy Ghost

by M. E. Clayton

  I jumped up, and when Luca’s ringtone filled the room, Randy yelled, “Hold her down!”

  Tony held my arms behind my back while the third guy wrapped his hand in my hair and covered my mouth with his hand. They held me prisoner between them, so I couldn’t even kick if I tried to. The only small satisfaction I had was seeing the third guy with a bloody lip and the blood starting to cake all over Randy’s nose.

  “Do you have my money?” Randy barked into the phone, breathless and irate. None of us could hear the other end of the conversation, but it wasn’t hard to fill in the missing pieces when Randy said, “You have one hour to get to Cedar Creek, and not a second more.” He hung up on Luca and the promise of ten million dollars wasn’t enough to cool his rage.

  “Randy, don’t do this!” Robbie begged, her voice hoarse and cracked from all her screaming and crying.

  I watched helplessly as he stormed over to her and backhanded her across the face, yelling, “If you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to let Tony and Eddie do whatever the fuck they want to you, Robbie!” Then he turned my way. “As for you…”

  Tony and Eddie released me and left me to face Randy head-on. “As for me?” There was no way I was going to allow Randy to perpetuate Robbie’s rape. He’d have to kill me first. “As for me, what?”

  He glanced at his goons. “Tie her up again.”

  I fought, but I wasn’t strong enough against two men who, weren’t in shape, but weren’t slobs either. Once I was secured back into the chair, it was clear the lengths Randy was willing to go to in order to salvage his pride. My body stilled as he pulled a switchblade from his back pocket and flicked it open. I forced my mind and body to calm down, doing my best to convince myself that he couldn’t kill me just yet. He needed that ten million dollars in his hands first before he disposed of me. They guys would sure ask for proof of life before handing over the cash.

  “And now you need a weapon?” I spat, trying to control my nervousness. “You’re a real class act.”

  He didn’t say anything as he took the knife and started slicing my hoodie to shreds. I didn’t dare breathe for fear he’d accidentally cut me, but there was still another kind of fear. There was only one reason Randy would be cutting my clothing off.

  “Maybe you’re good for more than ten million dollars,” he taunted. “Let’s see, huh?”

  Robbie started screaming again, but everyone continued to ignore her. She wasn’t a threat with as injured as she was. She was just unfortunate to have me as a friend.

  I held still as his knife finally sliced up the middle of my t-shirt. It fell open and the guys could clearly see my breasts encased in a light blue lace bra. It was humiliating, but I knew it was going to get much, much worse.

  Randy leaned over, and with a grin as wide as Texas, he said, “You’re entirely too pretty for your own good.”

  I finally screamed as the tip of his knife made its way down my face.

  Chapter 19

  Phoenix~

  The house looked like an old, abandoned farmhouse. It was on the outskirts of Cedar Creek with desolate land limiting the intrusion of neighbors. The only thing that hinted at any kind of inhabitants were the trash cans overflowing with garbage and recyclables.

  The second we hit the city limits of Cedar Creek, Luca had made the call that we had the money, and we were on our way. The stupid bastard had no idea we were already here. Frankie’s wedding rings had led us to this farmhouse, and I knew in my heart, she was in that place.

  “I’ll take the back, while you guys take the sides,” I instructed. The farmhouse was only one story, so that helped. They simply nodded, and we all got out of the car and made our way around the house.

  We separated, and as I made my way towards the back, I heard faint screams. My heart dropped and I knew there was no time to case the place. Ciro was at my side, asking, “Did you hear that?” I nodded, unable to speak.

  “There has to be a basement,” Luca said as he joined us in backyard. “Those screams are too faint to be coming from the main floor of the house.” He was right. If the screams were weak from where I stood, Luca stood on the right side of the house, and from where Ciro had stood on the left side of the house, there had to be a common central place where the screams were coming from. Since the house was a single story, there was no upstairs, so there could only be a basement.

  “What are we waiting for?” Ciro demanded.

  Luca’s voice was frozen in rage as he answered, “Another scream.” Rage was flooding my veins. “It’ll drown out our entry.”

  Ignoring them both, I tried the backdoor and, to my surprise, it was unlocked. That’s how confident this asshole was. He hadn’t even bothered to lock the fucking door.

  We entered the house with me taking the lead, and we broke off in search of the basement door. Ciro found it behind the kitchen pantry and was ready to go in, but Luca stopped him.

  He stopped him because of me.

  I was shaking with uncontrolled rage.

  I knew it.

  I could feel it, and they could see it.

  However, we had no idea what was down there. We could be walking down into a room full of twenty men with guns pointing our way, or we could be walking down into a room with just one man, but a man who had a gun to Frankie’s head.

  Luca turned those black eyes on me. “Get. It. Together. Phoenix,” he hissed.

  I gave him a tight nod to let him know I heard him. I understood him.

  He cracked open the door, and we could hear a man speaking. “You’re lucky I want that ten million dollars more than I want to kill you. Although, I have to say, you’re going to wish you were dead by the time we’re done with you.”

  We’re.

  So, that meant there was more than one man down there.

  I heard Frankie’s laugh, and it nearly brought me to my knees. “You can kill me,” we heard her say. “You can even slice my face up some more…” Luca’s hand grabbed my arm in a punishing grip as her words registered around us. “…You three can even try to kick my ass again. But you’ll still be sad, pathetic, pieces of shit who aren’t man enough to make your own way.” She let out another hollow laugh. “Do your worse, you fucking pussy.”

  We were enraged, but proud of her in this moment. She also gave us some important information when she referred to the three of them.

  “You’re a bastard!” came another female voice. “I hope they kill you slow.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Robbie!” the man screamed. “If you don’t, I swear I’ll let Tony and Eddie shut you the fuck up!”

  Luca lifted his hand and silently started counting down from three. We were going to rush in, the element of surprise on our side. We were all expert marksman. The second we got our prey in our sights, it’d be over. I wasn’t worried we’d accidentally shoot Frankie or the other woman. I was more worried that one of us would accidentally kill the guy who took Frankie, and I didn’t want that just yet.

  No.

  I wanted to spend some quality time with the sonofabitch. Ciro and Luca, too.

  Luca’s hand counted down to a fist and nothing could be heard over the thundering of our feet running down the basement steps.

  “What the-”

  Guns drawn, I came flying down the stairs first, my bullet hitting a tall, lanky guy in dark jeans and a black t-shirt. He went down screaming in agony as his kneecap blew apart. I heard two other shots but ignored them both as I spotted Frankie tied to a chair, her shirt shredded to pieces, blood dripping down her face, and the rest of her battered and bruised.

  I rushed forward, ignoring everything around me, because I knew Ciro and Luca had taken care of the other two motherfuckers in the room.

  “Baby…” I whispered as I dropped my forehead on hers. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, and I’d never felt so weakened by anything before in my life. Even when Frankie had left me all those years ago.

  She was functioning on pure adrenaline wh
en she said, “Took you guys long enough.” I knew she was in pain. And I knew once the fear and adrenaline wore off that pain was going to intensify tenfold, but she was alive.

  She was alive.

  “What…”

  “If I were you, I’d shut the fuck up,” Ciro snarled.

  I turned to look behind me, and I could see the guns in each of Ciro’s hands as he held two of the men at gunpoint. Luca had his gun trained on the third man. Satisfied that they had everything under control, I turned back to face Frankie and immediately went to work on untying her from the chair. As soon as she stood up, I took my jacket off and placed it around her shoulders to cover her up.

  I watched as she adjusted the jacket to suit her. I looked into her golden eyes and asked the one question I didn’t want to. “Did they…your shirt was…”

  Frankie shook her head. “No,” she replied. “They just…put hands on me.”

  Put hands on her.

  What a fucking way to describe it.

  Then her eyes widened. “Oh, God. Robbie.”

  She rushed towards the other woman who was also tied to a chair and I noticed she was just as beaten as Frankie was. I went over to help her with the woman. “It’s okay, Robbie,” Frankie cooed. “It’ll be okay.”

  “I’m so sorry, Fran-”

  “Shh now,” Frankie rushed out. “This is not your fault.”

  There were moans and whimpering playing throughout the room, but Luca’s voice rang through the room. “Get them upstairs. Call Basco in.”

  Frankie’s head whipped around. Her eyes were flashing. “I’m not going anywhere,” she insisted. “I want to see this-”

  I took her face in my hands, and it was as close to begging as I would ever get in front of witnesses. “Francesca,” I used her full name, so she would know I was serious, “I need you to take your friend upstairs and let Basco see to your injuries.” My eyes held hers and I prayed she’d have mercy on me and fucking just listen for once. “Your friend needs your help.” She knew I was manipulating her, but she relented. “Do you need help upstairs?” I knew it was killing her, but she gave me another small nod.

  As soon as Frankie untied her friend, she slumped forward and I caught her, lifting her up in my arms. I heard Ciro call out to Luca. “Grab my sister. I’ve got these three fucks.”

  Luca put his gun away and lifted Frankie up in his arms. “I can walk, Luca,” she said wryly. “I’m okay.”

  “Humor me,” he snapped.

  We carried the women upstairs, called Basco in, and waited for him to come inside and set up. We placed them on the couch, and Luca immediately headed back downstairs. It wasn’t that Ciro couldn’t hold down the fort, it was because he couldn’t stand to look at Frankie any more than I could. Her face was busted up, and he’s seen her clothes shredded, just like I had.

  The woman I carried upstairs mumbled her thanks as I set her down then walked over to Frankie. I leaned down and kiss her on the top of her head. I looked into her battered face. “What do I need to know?” She sighed, and that wasn’t a good sign. “Francesca?”

  “The light brown hair with the grey shirt, that’s Randy,” she answered sadly. “He’s…he was Robbie’s boyfriend. He’s the one who planned this for the money. The other two are just his goons.” I absorbed the information as Basco walked in .

  I turned to look at, who I surmised, was Robbie. “What do you know?”

  She started sobbing, but it wasn’t in hysterics. It was in genuine remorse. “I caught him texting Frankie, pretending to be me. When I called him out, he…” her tortured brown eyes looked down, and I decided to grant her mercy. Besides, I’d find out all I needed to know downstairs.

  I gave Frankie another kiss on her head and without looking back, I said, “It’s your life if anything happens to her, Basco.”

  “I understand,” came his faint reply as I was already shutting the door to the basement behind me. When I reached the bottom of the steps, Luca had his guns pointed to the assholes, same as Ciro. I noticed that Randy had two guns on him, so I figured one of them must have been talking while I was upstairs.

  “So, what do we know?”

  “This one’s the ringleader of this circus,” Ciro answered, tipping his gun towards Randy.

  “Yeah. Frankie told me as much,” I remarked.

  All three men were grimacing on the floor, one with a shattered kneecap, one with a gut shot, and Randy with a shot in his right thigh. Our aims were enough to encumber, but not enough to kill. No. This wasn’t going to be quick.

  “The first one who talks gets to go quickly,” I announced.

  “It was all Randy’s idea!” the guy Ciro had his gun on yelled through his agony. He was the same one with a bullet in his kneecap. “It was all his stupid fucking idea.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Tony!”

  “Fuck that!” he screeched. “I’m not going to be tortured to death because of your greed.”

  “My greed?!” Randy yelled. “You were eager to be in this just as much as I was!”

  “Enough!” Luca roared.

  “Yeah. You’re both pretty, girls,” Ciro deadpanned.

  I dropped on my haunches in front of Randy. “Who cut my wife’s shirt off?” I cared about Frankie’s injuries, but I cared about her humiliation more. Frankie will heal from whatever physical injuries these sorry fucks inflicted on her, but her modesty? I couldn’t even begin to understand what a woman goes through when she feels she’s been violated. But, while I couldn’t understand it, I sure as fuck could avenge it.

  The canary started singing again. “Randy did it,” he cried out. “This is all his fucking fault!”

  “Like you didn’t put your hands on her too!” Randy yelled.

  I pulled my gun out from the back of my waistband, pointed, and shot the canary in his head. I turned back to Randy. “I’ll get the entire story out of you, one way or another,” I told him. “And you’ll be begging for death way before I’ll grant it.”

  The third guy let out a resigned laugh. “We should have known better than to listen to you,” he said, referring to Randy. “But you said you had an in and it was foolproof.”

  I looked over at the third guy. “Which one of you was the prick who hurt Robbie?” None of their answers were going to save them, I just wanted to know. The guy’s blue eyes fell empty. That’s when I knew the answer. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

  “At least, I didn’t rape her,” he pleaded. “He gave me permission to, but I didn’t!”

  I stood up. “At least, you didn’t-” I was too astonished to continue.

  “Fuck this shit,” Luca growled before discharging his gun and firing a bullet in the side of the piece of shit’s head.

  “So, I get to kill this fuck, since you guys got yours?” Ciro asked, thrilled with the possibility.

  I shook my head. “Nah, I’m the one who gets to end this fucker’s life. After all, it was my wife he put his hands on.” I told him, staring into Randy’s frightened eyes. “But you’ll have plenty of time to play with him first, seeing as how she’s your sister, and all.”

  “I just needed money!” Randy shrieked. “I’m sorry!”

  “You’re not,” Luca told him. “But you’re going to be.”

  The guns had silencers, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Every minute we were here was a risk. “We’ll put those assholes in the doc’s car and take them back to Morgan City, where they’ll be cleaned up.” I kicked Randy on his bullet wound. He howled but, fuck him. “We’ll take him back with us.”

  “Torch the house?” Ciro asked.

  Luca nodded. “It’s old and run down. Manipulate the wiring and no one will be the wiser.”

  I cocked my head and grinned at Randy. “Did you know that Ciro, here, can keep a man alive up to two weeks before the poor asshole’s body finally gives up?”

  Randy paled and pissed his pants.

  Chapter 20

  Francesca~

  Basco had done
his best to fix my face, but he said that, while the cut wasn’t deep enough to warrant stitches, he still believed it would leave a scar. I had a trail of seven butterfly stitches down my face, and he said a bottle of Motrin would help with the rest unless I wanted something stronger. Right now, I felt fine, however, I knew tomorrow my body would be hurting like a sonofabitch. I opted for the Motrin with a stronger backup for tomorrow, if needed.

  He tended to me first, and I had protested since Robbie had gotten the worst of it, but Basco made it clear that I was his first priority and the sooner I settled down and let him tend to me, the sooner he could see to Robbie’s needs. Needless to say, I ended up cooperating.

  Once Basco was done fixing me up, I had moved from the couch to the armchair closest to Robbie. I wanted to be close by, in case she needed me, but I didn’t want to be in Basco’s way either. I was still kind of shocked that Basco still worked for the Benettis. His shock of white hair and his aged skin should have him years into retirement by now, but I suppose that was just fanciful thinking. Everyone knew you never truly retired from the Mafia.

  Robbie’s eyes looked haunted as she stared at me, letting Basco look her over. “I’m so sorry, Frankie,” she whimpered. “I’m so, so-”

  “Stop it,” I demanded. “This is not your fault.”

  “Of course, it-ow! Shit. Sorry,” she mumbled to Basco. Her eyes flew up to look my way again. “Frankie, I’m the one who told Randy who you were. This is completely my fault.”

  “She’s got a couple of cracked ribs,” Basco announced. “Nothing to be done about those except to bind them properly.” He eyed her skeptically. “Can you sit up, child?” Robbie tried to sit up and immediately winced against the pain. Basco and I gathered her in our arms and helped her sit.