by Shady Grace
A forty-five-gallon drum still smoked next to the road. Terry wondered if somebody was scared off or permanently silenced.
This place had been abandoned over twenty years ago. Lately it served as a means for under aged kids to party, drug deals to be made, or a quiet place to kill somebody.
Soon this site will become state of the art condominiums.
Horrific images of Mary hanging from a beam with her blood dripping into a pool on the floor flashed in his mind as he parked the car and turned off the ignition. He closed his eyes and repeated in his head that Mary needed him. As much as he wanted to step away from this life, he knew what he had to do. He had to get her back, no matter what it took. No matter if he had to trade places, because he’d gladly die for her. He got her into this mess, and he was sure as fuck going to get her out.
He got out of the car and gently closed the door. As he made his way around the back bumper, he pulled out his Beretta and twisted on the silencer, praying for a steady hand and perfect shot. He took in his surroundings like a sniper eyeing the scene. Carefully, he peered around the corner of one of the buildings and spotted a man he didn’t recognize guarding a door. No vehicle was in sight, but they could have it hiding anywhere around here in this concrete and metal jungle.
He crept around the machinery, carefully making his way closer. Once he got into range, he lifted the Beretta and fired one shot. The guard’s knees crumpled and he hit the ground.
Terry glanced around the vicinity again. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he made a mad dash to the door and checked the guard. Blood oozed from his chest, and when he touched his neck, he found no pulse. Quickly, he pulled the body away from the door and hid it behind an old neglected loader.
Again, he inched his way to the door, carefully eyeing all directions, weapon ready.
His heart pounded. He fought to control his breathing as he twisted the doorknob. The hinges creaked in protest as he slowly pushed open the heavy metal door, and slipped inside.
He entered a long narrow hallway shrouded in darkness. His cell vibrated in his pocket and he quickly checked the message from Gabe: Wanda is missing. House is empty.
Fuck. Now what the fuck was he supposed to do?
Prepared for the worst, Terry continued down the hallway to a set of stairs leading underground. He took them slowly, trying to make out any strange noises or voices as he descended. Nothing but silence met his ears.
Then he heard it. A woman’s laugh, and it was painfully familiar.
No. Not her. Please don’t let it be who I think it is.
He reached the last step, approached the end of a short hallway, and made one last promise to himself before he burst around the corner at full speed.
Stunned by the sudden attack, the guard barely had a chance to raise his weapon before Terry fired two rounds into his chest.
The guard flew back and hit the wall as Terry burst through the door. The second he stepped inside a fist came out of nowhere and smashed into his cheek. His head snapped back, but he quickly corrected himself and blocked an uppercut from a second man, then another from the first, before somebody kicked the back of his knee and took him down. They rolled on the cement floor. His knuckles connected hard to the cement floor, but he felt nothing. He needed to get to Mary and get her out of here.
A muffled cry resounded from somewhere in the room, but Terry had other things to worry about. He rolled over, barely avoiding a kick to the head, and managed to get back on his feet. He prepared for another round and held his fists high to protect his face. But when the click of a hammer being drawn echoed through the room, he knew his fight was over.
He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the dim space for the first time. A small window maybe ten feet above shone little light into the vast room. A few crates were piled into one corner.
One of his attackers wiped blood from his face, while his gun pointed to Terry’s head. Another man stood to his other side, his gun trained on Terry as well. He was totally outnumbered and his weapon was on the floor.
Then he saw her. In the middle of the room, on the floor, with her hands tied to a post and duct tape over her mouth, Mary stared up at him with utter fear in her eyes. Her cheeks were wet from tears and it was all because of him.
“Right on time, Terry.”
Sammy Hayes stepped out of the shadows.
Terry expelled his breath, not quite believing his eyes. This can’t be happening. How could Sam do this to him? He’d never felt more betrayed in his life. He tightened his fists, hoping to get a shot at the man who’d been his good friend for years.
“Jesus Christ, Sam. How could you do this?”
Sam shrugged, his face void of emotion.
“Fuck. I should’ve known there was something up with you. Why, Sam? Why?!” He shouted, almost on the verge of tears. How could he betray him like this? “I suppose you killed my father, too? How could you do it after everything we’ve gone through? Everything he’s done for you?”
He couldn’t believe Sam would bring Mary here to lure him in. Why not kill him before Mary even got involved? He should’ve let that poison kill him instead, before he fell in love with her. Before he realized what he truly wanted in life.
“Sam didn’t kill Colton,” said a lilting feminine voice. “I did.”
Terry’s heart tripped as his stepmother appeared out of the shadows and stood next to Sammy. He’d never felt angrier with himself, and everyone else, before. He shook his head in complete disgust and raw hatred.
“Nice to meet you, Daniella. Why not stick with your real name? I didn’t even know you were Montesano’s daughter.”
“Nobody did.”
He grit his teeth. “I can’t believe you had us fooled all this time.”
“Men are stupid when they’re in love, Terry. You’re just like your father, pathetic and weak.”
He grit his teeth. “I’m nothing like my father.”
Wanda tipped her head back and laughed, before she strolled over to Mary and grabbed a handful of hair, yanking her head back. Mary whimpered behind the duct tape, her eyes wide and wet in terror.
“I suppose it was you who poisoned me then, you sick bitch.” He wanted Wanda’s hands off of Mary. Come here and hit me if you want. Any way to keep her attention off of Mary was better than nothing. He’d take Gabe’s eyelash curler with a smile if it meant Mary wouldn’t be touched.
“Everyone knows your love for Finlandia Vodka, Terry. It’s the first thing you touch when you come home.”
Her snarky smile really set him off.
“Cassandra had difficulty at first. Colton nearly caught her, but my precious girl knows how to distract a man very well, and your father loved her little ass—”
“That’s enough.”
Wanda laughed at his obvious disgust. “Cassandra was such a lovely creature. She’d do anything for me. And when I say anything, I mean anything.”
What a disgusting broad.
“Everything worked out perfectly, didn’t it, Samuel? Aside from a few hiccups, I’m happy with our progress. Soon everything will be mine.”
Sam’s eyes drifted over Terry briefly, before he nodded at Wanda. “Yes, my sweet. Anything you want.”
What a fucking idiot. Doesn’t he realize he’s being used? “Sam, don’t let her get to you. You’re nothing but a means to an end. She’ll kill you too, like she did to my father.”
Wanda strolled over to Sam and kissed him passionately. “I would never hurt my Samuel. He means everything to me. Soon this empire will be ours.” She turned and stared at Terry. “And I’m going to kill you next, right after Gabriel arrives.”
Terry shook his head. At least he had some hope that one of them would survive this mess. “Gabe isn’t coming, so go ahead and kill me if you want, but don’t hurt Mary. She has nothing to do with this.”
Mary shook her head and mumbled under the duct tape.
“Oh, but she does. In order for me to succeed with my plan I need all of
you gone. With your father and you out of the picture, all of this will be mine. The money. The business. Everything. But I have to tie up all loose ends. I know Gabriel won’t quit until he sees me dead, which is why he’s on his way here right now. I left a little prize for him in the parlor.”
Fuck.
No wonder his father had mentioned to Buck about changing his will. He must’ve learned something about Wanda and wanted to take her out of it. Now he was dead, and Terry next. Antonio was right. His daughter was a smart cookie. She got rid of her rich husband just in time and now his successor would be next.
He turned to Sammy again, hoping he’d listen to reason. “Sam, listen to me. She isn’t worth it. She used my father. What makes you think she won’t do it to you?”
“Shut up!”
Wanda stormed over to Terry and backhanded him hard across the face. “You stupid little boy. For years I took care of you and that old, ugly father of yours.”
Terry grit his teeth. If he ever wanted to hurt a woman, it was right now.
“All I wanted was to prove to my father that I was smarter than him,” Wanda shrieked, flailing her arms in the air. “I can run this business as well as any of you. But at every turn I was pushed away because I’m a woman. I had no rights, and no power. Well look at me now.” She stood tall and proud, and Terry realized with dread that Wanda was completely insane. All this time she never cared for any of them, she only wanted power. Power drove people over the edge. It killed them, just like it did his father.
Now Terry knew for certain he told Sal to do the right thing.
“You really think you can run the show? Do you think your father will let you be his new competition? He’ll have you slain in your sleep within days, daughter or not.”
“Ha! You don’t know anything about my father,” she spat.
A wicked grin played across his face. Every muscle in his body tensed. “I know him a lot more than you think.”
Wanda frowned, and he detected a hint of fear in her eyes, on her face. Maybe her plan wasn’t perfect after all.
“What do you mean?”
“Let Mary go and I’ll tell you.”
Mary shook her head in disagreement, but Terry ignored her. He only wanted her to be safe. Trading his life for her was the only bargaining tool he had, and he’d gladly take it.
“A vehicle just pulled up.”
“Perfect. Gabriel is here to save the day.” She smiled triumphantly at Terry. “Maybe I’ll let your girl live, for a little while, as long as I get to see you two boys dead. Then all my worries will be gone like the wind. Right, Samuel?”
Sam nodded again. Terry wanted to kill him. But right now all that mattered was coming up with a plan and getting Mary the hell out of here.
* * * *
Mary stared at her lover a few feet away. He looked beyond angry and broken. To learn how his friend betrayed him, yet again, must be hard to swallow. First Ben, and now Sam. Would Gabe do the same? Mary had no idea what to think. She was a hard-working bush girl caught in the middle of this scary world of crime.
And she was pregnant.
What else could possibly go wrong? She stared at Terry. She wanted to tell him now, before it was too late, before they all die. Would it make him fight harder if he knew he would’ve been a father one day?
But she couldn’t utter a word with the tape on her mouth. There was nothing she could do. No warning she could give.
Suddenly the door burst open and two men dragged an unconscious Gabe into the room. They dropped him on the floor and left him there, his face bloody and bruised. Mary guessed they’d taken him off guard and although he did his best to fight back, it wasn’t enough. At least now she knew Gabe wasn’t working for them. Gabe was on the right side.
She looked over at Terry again. He stared at her with such stark emotion it hit her both physically and emotionally.
“Terry, darling, why don’t you tell your little girlfriend what you did to her husband? I’m sure she’d like to know,” Wanda said, and smiled like a snake. “She doesn’t believe me.”
Terry’s head jerked up and his eyes widened. “What? What are you talking about?”
Wanda chuckled and crossed her arms over her breasts; her pose casual. “Don’t ever underestimate me. I’ve overheard many conversations in my husband’s study. One of them involved a Mr. Tom Billings and his deadly swim in the river.”
Terry looked down at the floor for long, heart breaking minutes before he faced Mary, his expression defeated.
So it’s true. She wasn’t lying.
Tears filled Mary’s eyes, but she didn’t look away from Terry. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She was angry and lost, and didn’t know what to believe with these people. She was just an innocent woman, living her life in peace, doing nothing to nobody, and now this. All these lies and competition, for what?
Greed. Nothing good came from greed.
Wanda nodded and Sam cocked his gun, pointing it at Terry’s temple.
Hot tears slid down her cheeks. She wanted to beg for Terry’s life. She wanted to beg for her and her baby’s life, and go back home.
But she wanted to know what really happened to Tom. She needed closure.
Wanda raised her voice. “Tell her, or I’ll have Sam shoot her first.”
The gun turned to Mary now. Her body trembled in fear and outrage as Sammy pointed his handgun to her temple. A slight squeeze and she’d be gone—just like that.
“Okay! Okay!” Terry looked Mary straight in the eye. “Tom was already into the blow when we found him. He said he’d sold some of it to some people he knew. But that wasn’t the reason why I lost my shit on him. I saw the bruises on his knuckles. Mima said he’d beaten you two days before. She said he’d be at his trapper’s shack.”
Mary’s throat tightened. She remembered that night like it happened only yesterday. She couldn’t chew solid food for a week.
“So I hit him, over and over again, until I couldn’t close my fist anymore. He said you weren’t good enough, and soon he would’ve cashed in the money from the blow, and left you for some other broad he was having an affair with.”
Mary whimpered beneath the duct tape.
“I dragged him down to the river and held his face under the water until he stopped shaking. Then I shoved his body under the ice and he disappeared. Two weeks after that I started checking up on you. I felt sorry for you, but that’s not—”
“You’re a widow because of this man, Mary,” Wanda cut in, her voice loud, daunting. “How much do you want him now? He was only using you for an easy fuck like every other greedy, heartless bastard.”
Mary cringed as the duct tape was violently ripped from her mouth.
“Mary, I swear. I’m not using you,” Terry blurted, his voice desperate. “I felt ashamed about what happened. That’s why I visited you, to make sure you were okay. I didn’t plan to care about you, it just happened.”
But she had nothing to say now that the tape had been removed. Too much to think about. She hung her head and tried not to break down in front of these people, in front of Terry. She’d suffered enough already. Crying wouldn’t bring her any peace. No. No more crying. She was sick and tired of nothing but heartache. If she died today, she’d die with her head held high, knowing she didn’t do anything wrong, and only did everything she could.
At that moment Gabe groaned and opened his eyes.
“Wonderful,” Wanda said. “Let’s get this over with so I can return home.”
“That’s not your fucking home, it’s my mother’s,” Terry said through clenched teeth.
Something Wanda had said before entered Mary’s mind. She looked back up at Terry, her resolve stronger now. He deserved to know the truth. “Wanda led your mother to the pig pen, Terry. Your mom is dead because of her. She planned it all along so she could marry your father.”
“Shut up!” Wanda shouted.
Terry glared at his stepmother. If the look in his eyes could kill, the
y were ripping Wanda apart right now. “I’m going to kill you with my bare hands. My mother was an innocent woman.” He struggled against the men holding him down, but he wasn’t strong enough to take them all.
“Untie his little fruitcake,” Wanda shouted. “I’m bringing her with me.”
Mary struggled as Sam untied the rope from the post and roughly hauled her up. She hauled back and punched him hard, but Sam grabbed her as if she weighed no more than an empty bucket and shoved her into the arms of another man. She kicked and struggled against him, but he was too strong. As the man pulled her back toward the door, she dared one last sorrowful glance at the man she loved.
“Where are you taking her?” Terry struggled against the men once again.
“Kill them,” Wanda ordered Sam. “I have a special treat for Mary. She’s going to meet those hungry little pigs.”
Mary gasped as Wanda and one of the men dragged her from the room. She saw Terry staring at her with pure fear in his eyes before the door slammed shut behind them.
* * * *
Terry glared at Sam as he took a deep breath, lifted his hands, and cracked his neck. “Stand them up,” he ordered the three remaining guards.
Terry and Gabe were yanked onto their feet and forced to stand side-by-side. “You’re going to pay for this, Sam. I swear to fucking God,” Terry warned. “My father trusted you. I trusted you.”
“So did I,” Gabe added, his voice seething with rage.
Sam’s smile was almost comical as he shook his head. “You boys have a lot to learn, and we don’t have a lot of time.” He lifted his gun and shot one of the guards clean between the eyes.
Terry blinked in stunned confusion, his eyes wide. “What the fuck—”
Before Terry could comprehend what was happening, Gabe spun around and elbowed the other guard right in the eye. As he stumbled back, Gabe took him down to the ground as Sam shot the last man three times in the chest.
Terry lunged for his gun. “What the fuck was that?” He lifted his weapon and pointed it at Sam’s face.
“That was me saving your ass,” Sam said, as calm as ever.
Terry’s hand shook as he stared Sam down, his weapon still trained on him. “But I thought you were with Wanda—”
