by Sarah Monte
Liam trailed off. He had made a grave mistake just now, and he was going to pay for it. Donovan slowly got up and strolled towards Liam. It was this languid pace that made his approach even more ominous. Donovan was a proud man, but he was, at the end of the day, just a street thug. He did not deal in any major league criminal activity, he just controlled the drug trade in his part of town, keeping the big fish at bay using his ruthless techniques. His pride never let him accept this fact, and anyone that so much as thought anything like this in his presence was dealt a most vicious punishment.
“By a what?” said Donovan, his voice dangerously low. “Finish your sentence, Liam.”
“I just meant that he knows a lot of people that might go to war with you if he asks them to, boss,” said Liam, sinking to his knees desperately trying to assuage the assault that was inevitably hurtling his way.
“No,” said Donovan in the same low voice that made ever hair on Liam’s body stand on end. “You mentioned him getting ‘annoyed’ by something. Is that what you think of the man that made you, Liam? Nothing but a mere annoyance?”
“No boss of course not!” said Liam, sweating profusely now. “I was just saying…”
Liam quailed as Donovan crouched down to his level, trying to cover his face with his hands. “Do you remember what I did to that cunt Bianchi and his family?”
Liam was shaking like a leaf as he slowly nodded his head.
“Say it,” said Donovan.
“You peeled their skin off while they were still alive, boss,” said Liam, his voice barely more than a whisper.
“What?” said Donovan, his voice barely carrying but still seeming to resonate like a thunderclap, “I seem to have difficult hearing you.”
Donovan brought his ear closer to Liam’s and said, “Could you repeat that? A little louder please.”
“Y-you peeled their s-skin off,” said Liam, gulping before continuing, “w-while they were still alive, b-boss…”
Donovan sighed and placed a hand ever so delicately on Liam’s shoulder. Liam started to whimper as Donovan said, “Louder, Liam.”
“Y-you… you… y-you…” stammered Liam, unable to get past the first word of the sentence. Donovan applied the slightest bit of pressure to Liam’s shoulder and at this Liam pissed himself and screamed at the top of their lungs, “You skinned them alive! You skinned them alive! You skinned them alive! You skinned them alive! You skinned them alive! Oh god please, please boss please no please!”
Liam sunk into a fetal position, hugging himself and sobbing profusely. Donovan, clearly unmoved by this, brought his mouth to Liam’s ear and whispered the most terrifying thing that Liam had ever heard in his life.
“If you ever doubt my place as the king of this city again, I will peel the skin off of your children and force you to cook it and eat it while they bleed to death before your very eyes. Do you understand you pasty Irish FUCK!”
At this last word, Donovan’s voice ascended to a bellow as he arose and kicked Liam in the nose in a single, swift motion. Liam howled in pain, gingerly cradling his bleeding nose, his voice a strangled combination of pain struck howling and fear struck sobbing. He sounded like a dying animal, and by this point he had shat his pants as well.
Donovan got up and sighed. “This man, this Michael Sinclair, he is going to get what is coming to him. My retribution will be swift and merciless. I am going to wreak biblical havoc upon him and his loved ones, and by the time I am done with him he is going to be begging for the sweet surrender of death. I am going to look him in the eye as I peel off his flesh and eat it raw, I am going to watch the life fade from his eyes. And do you know what I am going to do then, Liam?”
“W-what, boss?” Liam said in between choking sobs.
Donovan turned to face his accountant with a look of animalistic psychopathy upon his face. There was no humanity in that look, only the violent urges of a man that was well beyond the boundaries of sanity.
“I am going to go out for dessert!” shrieked Donovan gleefully, and he laughed. And in that moment, Liam found that the title for most terrifying thing he had ever heard had switched yet again. This laugh, this crazy, inhuman laugh was without a doubt the most terrifying thing he had ever heard, and he would never forget it for as long as he lived.
Donovan strolled to his desk and picked up the phone. “And you know what the beauty of all of this is?” he asked Liam. “With this memory card I have all of the information about his loved ones that I would need in order to take his life apart one by one. But where to begin? Where to begin…”
Donovan scrolled through the phone and Liam pushed himself against the wall as if he was trying to sink into it and disappear, escape his life as the lackey of this utter madman.
“Ahhhh,” said Donovan, letting out a sigh of pure pleasure. “There we go. I think I know where I am going to start. I think I know just what to do. Yes, this is going to hit him right where it hurts. Oh, and there’s an address and everything! How thoughtful of dear Michael to make things so easy for us.”
As Donovan slowly approached again, Liam felt like he would go mad with terror. “Liam,” said Donovan, “Dear, dear Liam. Look at what a mess you’ve made! Go and get something to clean this up. Oh, and before you go! Take this phone with you, remember this name, note down the address. This is who we are going to hit first. This is going to be Sinclair’s first casualty in this war he started against me. The fool will rue the day he crossed Donovan Fieri!”
Liam gingerly got up and took the phone from Donovan before shuffling out of the office. As he limped to the supply closet to get a broom and mop he took a look at the screen of the phone and saw the name of the person he was going to have to kill.
Her name was Jennifer Gellar.
Chapter Eighteen
Mike and Jennifer rushed into the precinct, eager to let Ted know of their plans. They found him at his desk, eyes drooping from exhaustion and weariness. When his gaze fell upon the two of them however, he leapt up into action, eyes alert and all signs of his lethargy disappeared.
“How’s David now? And how are the two of you?” asked Ted, a hint of concern in his voice as he looked at them.
“We’re fine Ted, don’t worry about us. In fact we have come up with a brilliant idea to lure Donovan out and get to him as well. You look like hell though, its fine if you want to go home and rest for a while,” replied Jennifer. She could see how tired he looked, and despite how much she wanted him to stay – she knew that he wouldn’t be as effective if he wasn’t well rested.
“I agree with her Ted, we cannot afford to have you be in bad shape at this point in time,” chimed in Mike.
Ted looked at them fiercely and said, “I am a police officer and this case is as important to me professionally as it is to the two of your personally. Do you really think I can go home and rest at this point knowing that people’s lives might be in danger? I had a bit of a nap a while back, I’ll only be able to rest in peace once Donovan is behind bars and I have nothing to worry about. Now, you said you had some plans that you wanted to discuss with me. Let’s hear it then.”
Mike nodded and said, “We know Gunther isn’t going to give us anything more without wasting a lot more of our precious time. But from him, we have gotten enough information to turn Rat over. Earlier too, he was just about to reveal his boss’s name to me in the van before Gunther stopped and scared him. If we tell him that we know his boss is Donovan, he might just give up the fight and give us all the information we need.”
Ted nodded in approval and Jennifer continued, “If we give Rat the option of coming over to our side with the promise of leniency later he might cooperate better. Once he agrees, we can get the information on some of Donovan’s existing drug warehouses and other storage spaces. So then –“
“– if we raid the warehouses and get all the drugs, Donovan would get thrown and do something that he wouldn’t have planned. That’ll lure him out into the open and we’ll capture him once he’s
vulnerable. That’s perfect!” exclaimed Ted. “So Mike, do you want to do the honors with Rat or should I take over?” asked Ted with a grim smirk.
“You look too worse for the wear to be intimidating at this point Ted,” replied Mike with a sigh. “I’ll do it,” said Mike. He turned to Jenny and said, “Sweetheart, until I crack Rat, there is nothing for you to be doing here. I wouldn’t want you to see me like that either, it would just make me very uncomfortable and unable to focus. And I’d feel so much better if you could help me by keeping an eye on David instead. I really don’t like the thought of him all alone there,” he finished with a slump in his shoulder and a distant look of sadness in his eyes.
Jennifer hated the fact that he wanted her to leave. She wanted to stay there and be a part of what was going on, helping Mike in whatever way possible whilst being in the eye of the cyclone right beside him. Her fierce feminism and pride rebuked her ever so slightly at the thought of being safely pushed to the sidelines, merely to take care of the ill. Whatever Mike said, she knew that he wanted her to go more so that he knew she was out of harm’s way rather than for David. She hated the fact that he was making her do this, but more than that – she hated the look of sorrow she saw in her boyfriend’s eyes. And she could do anything to change it. She took his face in her hands, pulling him close enough that only a breath separated them away. In that moment, it didn’t matter to Jennifer that they were in a police station, in front of many people. Only Mike’s piercing gaze and the feel of his skin under her fingers mattered, as she looked straight into his eyes and whispered, “Mike, I know you’re scared deep down about what might happen, I know you’re worried for David and I know you feel the pressure of a responsibility to make everything right. I wish you would let me share in those burdens further with you, but if this is as far as you can take it I won’t push you. Just don’t worry about David, as long as I’m there nothing will happen to him. And if you need me for anything, just call me. I’ll go home and change first before going to the hospital, I feel like a bit of a mess though.”
She released him as he nodded, smiling slightly as the look in his eyes changed from sorrow to one of a blazing determination. He said nothing, merely nodding at her and squeezing her hand to communicate an unspoken message. Jennifer swiftly kissed his cheek and turned away.
Mike knew he had never done anything in his life to have someone like Jennifer love him, with the same level of understanding and compromise that everyone expected in their relationships. And here she was barely a few weeks old in his life and already being as though she was there all along. Just as his heart wanted him to call out to her to stop, to be safe, she turned and said with a smile, “You take care, I’ll keep David safe and myself safe for you.” He smiled, remembering his words as she turned the corner and out of the door.
***
“I love two people the most in this world, Rat. I wonder if you know what it feels like to love someone. I wonder if you’ve ever loved someone Rat,” said Mike enquiringly as he sat looming over Rat in the dingy interrogation room. It seemed like Ted hadn’t spared Rat any more than Mike had left Gunther. Mike almost felt a little sorry for Rat, who lay there with his head against the wall, battered and bruised and frail. It seemed like all his life had drained out of him, leaving only a functioning corpse in its place. At Mike’s question, Rat looked up with a slightly dazed look as his lips formed the barely audible words, “I wonder what my love has to do with this interrogation Sir. Have you come in here to discuss your feelings with me?”
“No, you slimy little worm. I have come in here to tell you that I know what your boss’s name is. And I know exactly how I’m going to find him. The two people I love the most in the world are in danger because of him, and I’m going to change that. He hurt David once – he will pay, but I won’t ever let him harm Jennifer,” said Mike with rage in his eyes as he looked at a now smirking Rat.
“I’m not going to fall for your little mind games man. If you knew what my boss’s name was you wouldn’t be standing here now, even a man with as much as money as you. My boss will kill David for sure, the minute he learns who you are even you’re dead. And as for the lovely lady – what was it, Jennifer you said? – if she’s such a weak spot for you, you can be sure that my boss is going to get her first,” spat Rat.
Mike’s vision turned red with anger as he blindly started pounding at Rat. All thought of proper planning and scheming forgotten, the only thing he could think of was the confidence with which Rat thought his stupid boss was going to one up Mike. Donovan, who didn’t even know that Mike knew who he was. As if Mike would ever let anything happen to his beloved Jennifer. He didn’t realize when he beat Rat up into unconsciousness. One minute he was hitting the little rascal, the next Ted was trying to get him to stop fighting, and he was out in the observation room. Mike calmed down a little, and Ted looked at him with a firm voice and said, “Mike, I can pull a few strings for you but that doesn’t mean I will accept this kind of hooligan behavior in my station. You made Rat unconscious, and if I hadn’t stopped you – who knows you might have even killed him! Now please tell me, if he had died, who would have given us the information we needed? Your emotional breakdown could have cost us the entire plan, and we would never have caught Donovan. Even now, I don’t know how willing Rat will be to tell us the plan anymore, thanks to your less than civil behavior. We can only hope he’ll speak to me when he comes around,” finished Ted with a sigh.
Mike took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He was beginning to feel the regret of his temper rise coming to him. But he knew he was bound to crack. One minute life had been pleasant with Jennifer, the next second David was in danger and so was Jennifer through no fault of her own except the fact that she had fallen in love with possibly the wrong guy. Thinking about Jennifer, he started to get a little worried and decided to call her. First things first though, he had to convince Ted to let him interrogate Rat, for he knew only he was cunning enough to be really effective.
Looking Ted in the eyes he said, “Look Ted, I’m really sorry about what happened in there. I’ve just been feeling so overwhelmed by all the things that have been happening recently. And that little rascal was being so cocky, I lost my shit in there. I promise you, it won’t happen again. I will not let anything I do make you regret the decision to use your power and let me be in on this case.” Ted looked at him skeptically, yet he knew there was no point arguing with Mike. “Well, you can talk to Rat if you want to – but this time I’ll be in the room with you. I don’t want to hear any arguments about that. And another thing Mike, one more mistake and you’re out,” replied Ted as he got up to leave. “You better hope you’re calmer by the time Rat wakes up,” he said as he left.
Mike looked at Ted’s receding figure, and decided the only thing that would calm him down right now was talking to Jennifer. She must be so worried about him, he thought as he looked at the clock in the room. It had been almost an hour since Jennifer left now, and he was sure she would be on her way to the hospital right now which was about another hour away. Mike had hated the feeling of disappointment he saw in his Jenny’s eyes as he asked her to leave, but he wasn’t lying when he said he would be glad if someone he trusted was around David. This would also serve the dual purpose of keeping Jennifer safe, and he knew that she understood his reasons whether he admitted to it or not. Yet she had decided to go, and he loved her all the more for understanding him without questioning him. He decided to call her, feeling around in his pocket for the phone.
His pockets were empty, in fact his back pocket was torn. Getting a little worried, he got up and began hunting around for it – looking all over and even peeping into the interrogation room, wondering if it had fallen down there. Ted noticed him walking around looking for something and called out from his desk, “Hey Mike! What are you up to? Is something lost?”
Mike barely looked at Ted as he responded, “I’m not able to find my phone Ted, I want to call Jennifer. Could you
give my phone a ring?” Ted dialed his number quickly, but merely got a switched off response. Mike and Ted began looking around intensively, Mike’s anxiety growing with every passing minute. He couldn’t realize how he had misplaced his phone, and somehow with every moment he couldn’t find his phone – his worry for Jennifer grew. Just as he was fishing about below the table, Mike suddenly stood up with a look of complete horror on his face.
Ted noticed Mike freeze, and strode over to him, “Are you okay Mike? What’s up? What happened?” he demanded with a note of panic in his voice. Mike suddenly jerked out of his horrified trance and focusing on Ted, almost screamed saying, “Give me your phone, I need to call Jennifer now!”
Ted fished out his phone and handed it to Mike, at the same time asking, “What happened? Would you please just tell me?!”
Mike kept dialing and redialing, it seemed that nobody was answering on the other line. This immediately left Mike in shock, because Jennifer was always quick to answer her phone, even if she was asleep or busy – she would reply almost immediately. Mike was just about to flee the precinct when Ted demanded an explanation for his behavior. Mike looked at Ted in complete shock, his face drained of all color as he said, “My phone was probably knocked out of my hands at the place where I went to rescue David. I’m sure Donovan was smart enough to procure my phone. If he indeed did, then Jennifer is in danger.”
