The McKays Box Set - To Kill For, Blood Sport, Hard Time & Gang Land

by A. J. Carella

  Finn was under no illusion what was likely to happen if he allowed his son to go into that house, but he didn’t know what else to do. He was running out of time. Try as he might, he didn’t seem to be able to talk any sense into Drake and he wasn’t likely to now, either, with Juan whispering in his ear about honor and duty.

  “Please, Drake, let’s go. Let the police deal with this.” He pleaded one last time.

  Taking his eyes of the house, Drake turned and looked at him. “Look, go home. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done, but you’ve done enough.”

  “No, I’m not leaving.”

  “Just go. You don’t understand what it’s like out here, how things work. You never grew up without a family, you never had to live on the streets, and you just don’t get it.” He sighed. “I don’t expect you to understand, but this is something I have to do and it’s best if you’re not involved. Thanks for everything, Finn.” At that, he got out of the car and slammed it shut, cutting off Finn’s reply.

  He heard a chuckle come from the back seat. “He’s right, you know. You don’t belong here. You know nothing of the way things are here. Go home and don’t come back. I’ll look out for Drake. He doesn’t need you.”

  Before he had time to stop himself, Finn reached out and grabbed Juan’s arm. “Wait.”

  Juan just looked at him and then down at the hand on his arm.

  “Sorry.” Finn let go. “I’m just trying to protect him.”

  “That’s my job. Who do you think you are, anyway?” Juan glared. “I’ve never heard you mentioned before today and suddenly you’re coming over all protective and fatherly. You can’t be that close or Drake would have mentioned you before.” He opened the car door and started to get out, but then looked back. “Just go back to wherever you came from. Forget about us and anything you know about what’s happening here today. It’s best for all of us.” And then he was gone, too, jogging to catch up with Drake who had already made it halfway across the road towards the house.

  Dropping his hand to his pocket, Finn felt the outline of his phone. Taking it out, he held it in his hand as he watched them both disappear around the back of the house. He had no idea what to do, but he knew he couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. Either his son was going to commit murder or he was likely to get himself killed. Neither was an option.

  His thumb slid onto the ‘9’ on his phone’s keypad and stayed there for a moment before Finn slid the phone back into his pocket. Knowing he was quite possibly going to regret his next move, he got out of the car and crossed the road, following in their footsteps around to the back of the house.

  The back door had several panes of glass, all of which were broken, but it was quite possible they had already been that way as most of the glass in the windows also seemed to be broken. The door was ajar, though, and he could hear raised voices coming from inside.

  Carefully pushing the door wider, he stepped through it into what had once been a kitchen. It had clearly been a long time since it had been used as one, though, as anything of value had long been ripped out. All that was left was some exposed piping and a couple of cupboards barely clinging to the wall. The arguing was coming from the front of the house so Finn inched his way down the hall, cursing the fact that he wasn’t carrying a gun. There was a doorway leading to the hall on the left though there was no longer any door, and it was from there that the voices were coming from. Slowly, he inched his head around the doorframe and looked into the room. Drake and Juan were standing with their backs to him and Angel was facing them.

  Finn didn’t make a sound, shocked at the sight in front of him. Drake had a gun in his hand and it was pointed straight at Angel. Where had that come from? He’d had no idea Drake was armed. Finn was pleased that he had it, though, as Angel was holding his own gun which was pointed straight at Juan.

  “So what? Yes, I killed her. I fucked her, too, before I did.” Angel sneered. “You had it coming. You’ve been trying to push me out since the day Juan dragged you in off the street. Go on, pull the trigger if you’ve got the balls.” He waited a beat, then laughed. “No, I didn’t think so.”

  “Stop blaming Drake for your fuck-ups, Angel. At least be man enough to own your own mistakes.”

  Finn wished fervently that Juan would just shut up. If there was any doubt about whether Drake would pull the trigger, Finn had no doubt there was none where Angel was concerned.

  “You’re telling me to man up? Seriously?” Angel waved the gun around, getting agitated. “What did he ever do for the gang? Come on, tell me. Where was he when the rough stuff needed doing, eh? Nowhere, that’s where. Too much of a pussy.”

  “He’s twice the man you’ll ever be,” Juan threw back.

  The loud crack in the room was sudden and deafening, making Finn jump. He watched as a surprised look came over Juan’s face and his hands went to his stomach. Blood trickled through his fingers as he fell, first to his knees and then sideways onto the floor.

  “You bastard!” Drake screamed, his finger wrapping itself around the trigger of his own gun.

  “Stop. Drake, don’t do it.” Finn stepped out from behind the wall and into the doorway.

  “Who the hell are you?” Angel demanded, swinging his gun around to take aim at him.

  Holding his hands up to show he wasn’t armed, Finn stepped further into the room. “I’m a friend of Drake’s.”

  “What the hell are you doing here, Finn?”

  Finn looked at him, taking in the sheen of sweat on his brow and the shaking hand holding the gun still pointed at Angel. “I’m here to stop you from making a huge mistake.”

  “He just shot Juan.”

  “I know, I saw.” He took a step closer and held out his hand, doing his best to ignore the gun pointed at his head. “Why don’t you give me the gun, Drake? This isn’t what you want to do. It’ll make you no better than he is.”

  “I have to make this right, Finn, for both of them now. I have to.”

  “And you will, the right way. Put the gun down.”

  “Put down the big boy toy, Drake, you might hurt yourself.” Angel taunted.

  “Drake, look at me.” Finn kept talking. “Ignore him. People like him get their kicks from hurting others because they’re not man enough to do anything else.” Finn clenched his teeth, waiting for the bullet to strike. He was taking a hell of a risk. At any minute, Angel could decide to pull that trigger and that would be it. Game over.

  “Not man enough? You should have heard his girlfriend, begging me to give her some more. Told me how good it was to be fucked by a real man for a change.”

  Finn saw the shutters go down behind Drake’s eyes and tried to grab the gun but he wasn’t fast enough. Everything seemed to slip into slow motion as Drake, his hand as steady as a rock now, took aim and squeezed the trigger.

  Finn’s heart sank as he watched Angel fall backwards and crash to the floor. Shocked, he turned to where Drake now stood with his arms hanging down by his sides, a vacant expression on his face. Oh, crap.

  “Drake? Drake, listen to me.” He didn’t respond, just stood staring at where Angel had fallen. Pulling down his shirt sleeve, Finn reached forward and gently removed the gun from Drake’s hand, tucking it into his own waistband. Quickly, he went over to where Juan still lay on the floor, barely conscious. Kneeling next to him, he pulled him up into a half-sitting position, lifted his shirt and examined the wound. He’d been hit in the stomach and he’d lost a lot of blood.

  “Did he kill him?” he rasped, reaching up and gripping Finn’s hand where it held his shirt. “Tell me.”

  Finn hadn’t checked, but he saw that he’d taken a head shot so it was safe to assume he was dead. “Yes,” he looked the other man in the eye. “he killed him.”

  “Good. He deserved to die. Tell him I’m proud of him.”

  Proud of him for killing someone? Finn would never understand this strange world they lived in, but the man was dying. “I will, I promise.”
>
  “And you’ll look out for him?”

  “Like he was my own son.”

  “Give me the gun.” He coughed, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth.

  Nodding, Finn took the gun out of his waistband and, using his t-shirt, wiped it clean before handing it to Juan.

  “Now go, get him out of here.”

  Juan met his eyes and they both knew that this is where he would die. “Thank you.” This man who had practically been a father to his son was saving him once again.

  Gently laying him back on the floor, Finn went over to where Angel lay and felt in his pants pocket. Finding his cell he dialled 911 and reported a burglary in progress, before wiping it clean and putting back where he found it. Knowing they didn’t have much time before the police arrived, he quickly took Drake by the arm and, with a final glance at Juan, led him out of the house.

  Twenty-Seven

  Sam’s sister had gotten there quickly and, after going back to the house to pack them some bags, he had seen them off at the airport. It was a tearful goodbye, but Sam knew that the girls were in good hands and he promised them he would see them very soon. As soon as they’d boarded, Sam pushed thoughts of them from his mind and rushed back to the station.

  “Sam, can I have a word?” the captain called out as soon as he walked in.

  “We’ve found Angel,” he announced before Sam had even had the chance to sit down.

  “Thank God. Where is he? Downstairs? Who’s going to interview him?”

  “He was involved in a shooting, Sam. He’s in the hospital.”

  Oh no, the bastard better not die. Sam wanted him to pay for what he had done, not get out the easy way. “Is it bad?”

  “We’re not sure yet. Seems he was hit in the head. Obviously, I’ll keep you updated, but that’s not what I really wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Oh?”

  “No. Juan Deluca was also involved in the shooting and he made a deathbed confession to the first officers on the scene. He told them he’d killed Angel as he confessed to being responsible for the murder of all those women. It looks like you were going after the right man.”

  “All of them?”

  “It would seem so, yes.”

  Sam frowned. He fully believed he was responsible for the last one, but he still had his doubts about the others.

  “And we’re still going with it being one killer?”

  “Yes, Sam, we are. I know it bothers you, but really there’s nothing to point to there being more than one killer here, and now we’ve got him.”

  “Okay, boss.” Sam went back to his desk where all the victims’ files were still stacked. The captain was probably right. There was no evidence there was more than one killer and he needed to stop trying to find any.

  Twenty-Eight

  Finn had driven straight back to the hotel with Drake, talking to him the way he would have spoken to a young child the whole way. Telling him that it was going to be okay, that it was over now. He didn’t respond, though, and just sat staring out of the car window. He’d helped him out of the car and gently guided him back to his room, sitting him down in one of the chairs there.

  Going to the mini-bar, Finn took out two mini bottles of the generic scotch the hotel provided and poured them into a glass, setting it in front of Drake.

  “Come on, drink this. It’ll make you feel better.” He urged, though he wasn’t sure that was true. He remembered the first time he’d killed a man and that had been tough enough, even though he’d done it in the course of his police work. “Drake, we need to talk about this. You can’t bury this inside. It’ll eat away at you.”

  Drake looked at him and focused for the first time since the shooting. “You think this is because I shot Angel?” He shook his head forcefully. “No, he had it coming. I don’t regret that for a second.” He reached for the glass of whiskey and downed the contents in one gulp. “I’ve just lost the only person who ever cared about me. I’m alone now.”

  It broke Finn’s heart to hear the pain of the loss in his voice. “No, you’re not alone. You have me.”

  “You?” Drake let out a short laugh. “We only met a couple of days ago. Why on earth would you care what happens to me? Not being funny, man, but if you hadn’t happened to be around when I had nowhere else to go, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now.”

  “But I was and I made a promise to Juan that I’d look out for you.”

  Drake waved his hand in the air. “Well, consider yourself relieved of that responsibility. Seriously, thank you for everything you’ve done, but it’s over now. All I wanted was to see Angel pay and now I have. I can go and hand myself in to the police and face whatever’s coming my way. You can go back to your life and I can go back to what’s left of mine.”

  It was time. Finn walked over to the bedroom window and looked out at the city below. “Or you could come back with me and start a new life,” he said without turning around.

  “What on earth are you talking about?”

  Finn turned around and looked at him. “I’m serious. Come back to Brecon Point with me. Start again.”

  “Okay, enough. This is starting to freak me out.” Drake stood up. “I don’t know what’s going on with you but I’m not an idiot. I’ve been on my own since I was fourteen remember? People don’t just offer people they’ve just met the chance at a new life without wanting something in return and I’m telling you, whatever it is you’re after, you’re not getting it.” Drake started to walk towards the door, ready to leave.

  “Drake, stop. I’ll tell you the truth.”

  Drake pulled up short and turned around. “So there is something you’re hiding. I knew you weren’t helping me out of the kindness of your heart. Go ahead, then. What is it?”

  “This is going to be hard to hear but I want you to listen to me and try to understand. Will you do that?”

  Drake nodded. “Okay.” He went back over to the chair and sat down.

  Finn pulled out the second chair and sat down in front of him, taking a deep breath. “I’m not sure where to begin, so here goes. I’m your father, your birth father.” Finn felt gripped by fear. It was out there; there was no taking it back now.

  Drake didn’t say a word, just sat there looking stunned.

  “Drake?”

  Springing to his feet, Drake sent his chair crashing backwards to the ground. “Are you some kind of sicko?” he shouted. “What kind of sick joke is this?”

  Finn held up his hands. “It’s not a joke, Drake. Please sit down. Let me explain.”

  Drake started pacing, shaking his head. “No, you’re lying. My birth father is dead. My dad took great pleasure in telling me that. He killed himself because he couldn’t cope with looking after me after my mother killed herself.” He stopped pacing and looked at Finn, he face twisted in pain. “Why are you doing this to me?”

  Finn hadn’t known that his adoptive father had told him that, and if he had been in the room with them right at that minute, he would cheerfully killed him with his bare hands. “Drake, he lied. I promise you, I am your father.” He pleaded. “Think about it. All he ever wanted to do was hurt you. Why wouldn’t he lie?”

  Drake sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands, clearly distressed. Standing up, Finn walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Get your hands off me.” Drake reacted angrily, shaking his hand off and moving away from him. “If this is true, how could you let me live with a man like that? Why didn’t you come and get me?” There was a catch in his voice now and tears had appeared in his eyes. “I lived on the streets, and all that time you just let it happen?”

  “God no, no, Drake. If I’d known, I would have come for you. I only found out about you a few months ago myself.” It was killing him to see his son in so much pain and he needed him to understand that he hadn’t turned his back on him. “I’ve been looking for you ever since.”

  This time when Finn put his hand on his shoulder, he
didn’t pull away. “I promise you, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you.”

  Gone was the street-hardened face when Drake looked up at him, replaced instead with the tear-streaked one of a lost child. “What about my mother? Did she really kill herself?”

  Finn shook his head. “No. She’s alive.”

  “I can’t take all this in.” Drake stood and started pacing again. “Wait, even if you didn’t know about me, she did.”

  “Yes, but she had no idea of the situation you were in or she would never have left you there, you have to believe that.”

  “Don’t tell me what I have to believe.” The anger was back. “I’ve been lied to all my life, it seems. I’ll decide what to believe from now on.” Walking over to the mini-bar he helped himself to another drink.

  “We need to decide what to do next.”

  “Next?” Drake snorted. “Next I indeed to empty your mini-bar and then head downstairs for more. I think I deserve a few drinks after today.”

  “I know this must have been a terrible shock for you, Drake, especially on top of what happened at the house, but we do need to make some decisions.” He wanted Drake to come home with him, but he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere until they knew where he stood with the police. There could be a warrant out for his arrest right now, for all they knew, or there could be nothing. They needed to find out. “We need to talk to the police.”

  “We? We don’t need to do anything. I’ve already told you I’m going to turn myself in, but it has nothing to do with you.”

  “I know I can’t make you let me help, but I have a lot of experience with this stuff and you’re my son. I want to.”

  “What experience?”

  Finn hadn’t exactly lied up to this point, he just hadn’t told Drake what he did for a living—and for very good reason. He had to come clean now, though, and he knew it may well be the thing that tipped him over the edge. “I didn’t tell you before because you would have had nothing to do with me.” He tried to soften the blow. “I’m a cop, Drake.”