Chapter Seven
I endedthe call and dropped my phone onto the bed next to me, then stared at the ceiling in shock. I had just agreed to move to Alabama and live with a guy I met a few months ago on a dating app. And oddly, that wasn’t the thing that was bothering me. This decision felt so right, and that was the thing that was giving me pause. Why did this feel like the best decision I’d ever made? I should be second-guessing myself and worrying about what would happen. Instead, I was worrying about my lack of concern. Which was a perfect indicator of how fucked up my life had become in the last few days—ever since Friday night? Even thinking about it now made me flinch.
Friday afternoon on the ride to work, I had felt so great, then the other shoe had finally dropped. Marcus had finally made his move, and I was lucky to have survived. I can see that now.
We were busy as fuck tonight, and of course, Nick and Brody were no shows again. It was my first break, but I couldn’t leave Jens by himself. He threw me a shy smile of gratitude before drawing more beers and taking more orders. I was just placing a beer down for a very sexy older construction worker who’d been trying to get my attention the last few weeks. As I set the drink down, my other arm was pulled and twisted around painfully. The sexy guy went to stand up to help, but the second I got a look at the dead brown eyes, I waved him off. This wasn’t going to go well for me, but no one else needed to get involved.
Marcus was in a police uniform, not his usual dingy brown suit, and his badge was right there for everyone to see. He let go of my forearm and got a pinching vice grip on my upper arm. “Been looking for you, Ethan, You need to come with me. I have some questions for you about a case.” I tried to pull my arm away and winced at the pain when Marcus gripped even tighter, grinding muscle and bone together. “Don’t even think about it, pretty boy. You’re comin with me now, or I’m takin you to headquarters. You’re choice.” His mouth smiled, but his eyes promised more pain. These were the eyes of a predator, and I didn’t trust that if I ever left with him, that I would actually make it anywhere near police headquarters.
Everyone in the bar, including Jensen, had noticed what was going on by now and seeing all eyes were on him, Marcus slipped into his professional cop personality so quickly that I almost missed it when he closed down his normal evil aura. He turned us both toward the bar, dragging me behind him, and raised his voice so everyone could hear him. “Mr. O’Leary is coming outside with me to answer a few questions, Mr. Beck. He’ll be back shortly as long as he cooperates.” The threat was clear to everyone in the bar at this point, so Marcus let go of my arm and ushered me out the back door into the alley. Yet again, we were the only ones back here. Fuck me. I was in so much trouble that I wanted to cry. And I was seriously wishing I hadn’t worn this skirt and fishnets outfit. I never regretted my fashion choices, but I was this time.
I decided to try to get back some of my confidence, so I turned on Marcus and quipped, “Man, we’ve got to stop meeting here like this, people will start talking.” I was wholly unprepared for the fist that immediately struck me across the face, then hit me in the gut followed by another rib shot immediately after. I doubled over with the pain, but Marcus got a hand full of my hair and jerked my head up, putting my neck at a painful angle, so I could meet his, once again, dead eyes. The world was spinning, and I’d never felt this level of fear. I was certain this was the place he’d finally kill me.
“No one better be talkin about me, or you’re gonna pay the price you femme freak! Your smart mouth is gonna to get you hurt, bitch, but since you brought it up, the last time I was in this alley is why I’m here. You need to forget you saw Donnie or me, you understand? I was never here, and I was never anywhere near Donnie. I’m counting on you, and you better deliver, freak. I’ve made more than one boy disappear without a trace, no one would miss you except for your ghostly freak friend in there, and I would take care of him, too, have no doubt. You understand me, pretty boy?”
Marcus’s eyes had taken on an odd gleam now, and I missed the dead look. The gleam started when he mentioned making boys disappear, and that was scary as fuck. A chill went down my spine, and it wasn’t from the cool December night. I realized I was looking into the eyes of a killer, and I had no idea what to do. Marcus was a crazy psychopath that had clearly killed before, and the fact he felt comfortable telling me this was the scariest part of this whole situation. He might be crazy, but he wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t tell me something like that and give me the opportunity to turn on him. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen Donnie since that night, and now I was beginning to think he was no longer among the living. I was probably the last to see him alive, and I could place him with Marcus. I was well and truly FUCKED!
I must have taken too long to respond because Marcus gripped his meaty paw around my throat and slammed my back against the brick of the building behind me, causing me to see stars as even more pain bounced around my skull. But that was nothing compared to the squeezing pain of suffocation. The gleam hadn’t left Marcus’s eyes. In fact, it had gotten even brighter the longer he watched me struggle to pull his hand away and catch a breath. He smiled as I clutched at his uniform, anything to get him to stop. I felt my eyes bulge and heard my heart rate become slower…slower…slower. I was going to die in this alley, and the last thing I was going to see were those unholy gleaming eyes that were not only lit with pleasure but also with desire. Marcus was getting turned on while he killed me!
He let me have a little breath at this moment but then squeezed again and stepped up to me so I could feel his cock, hard and ready, against my belly. I would have thrown up if I could have. Jesus, fuck, he looked like he was about to come from slowly killing me. I had no doubt he had before, and the thought made me even sicker than before. I was too weak to fight anymore. I wanted to, but I didn’t have the strength left. Marcus was going to come while he killed me in this alley. I couldn't let myself think about that, so I needed to think about anything else. Anything that would make it easier to endure until it was over. I thought of James and held onto his image until the darkness had nearly overtaken me. I was at peace.
Then Marcus let go, and I was back. I leaned over and gagged, coughing, and spitting on the ground as I tried to pull a breath through my swollen throat. I hoped he had gotten his point across and was done, but I was so, so wrong. He grabbed me, but by the back of the neck, pushing his mouth to my ear. “Now that you know I’m serious, you need to be a good boy and cover for me. I’m your new daddy now, bitch. I own you in this city, and you’ll do exactly what I say, when I say it, right?”
I couldn’t get a sound out of my rapidly swelling throat, so I nodded immediately, not wanting to give any more reasons for him to hurt me. I hurt all over, and I just didn’t want to hurt anymore. I didn’t want to give this crazy fucker a reason to finish what he’d started. But he was far from done with me.
“Say, it, freak, say what I want to hear.”
I tried to swallow painfully and wanted to gag again at what I was about to have to say, “Yes, daddy, I’ll do everything you say. I’ll be a good boy. I promise.”
Marcus looked me in the eyes and smiled his crazy-fucker smile as he wiped at the tears running down my cheeks. I wasn’t sure whether they were from being choked, or the mixture of emotions I was feeling—everything from hopelessness to boiling rage. It didn’t matter, but I didn’t want him to think I was broken. I started to make another smart-ass comment, but before I could, he pushed me down to my knees and started unbuckling his belt under his slight gut. He looked down at me. “I love seein’ you cry. I wonder how pretty you’ll cry when I’m skull fucking your swollen throat and choking you on my cock. That’s one of the most perfect sights in the world. Gets me off every time. Well, that and other things.” The gleam was back. “You be a good toy, and I’ll let you live.” Then he paused, tilted his head to the side as if he was listening to something, then straightened again and continued, “For now.”
He was laughing again, and his dull brown hair fell across his forehead and eyes. He pushed it back into place, then continued with his belt. “Put that smart mouth to work and show me what I just bought, bitch.” But before he could get any further, the back door to the bar banged open, and Nick charged through the door looking like an avenging angel. He looked like he had been running because his dark, auburn hair was flying around his head as he whipped from side to side to see where we were. Before he could look in our direction, Marcus grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up. He frowned at the interruption and fixed his belt before facing the door.
“What do you want, Nick? I’m questioning a suspect, and you’re interfering with a police investigation.” He snorted and shot an evil look at Nick, thinking he could get rid of him and get on with mouth raping me. Fuck, I loved Nick at this moment and swore never to think bad about him ever again, whether he wanted to never help behind the bar again, I’d deal, because he had just saved my soul, I was sure of it.
Nick didn’t look intimidated at all. In fact, he looked amused. What the fuck? He was keeping the back door wide open and said, “That’s funny, Marcus, because I just got off the phone with a friend and he assures me you’re not on duty tonight.”
Unfazed, Marcus drew himself up to his full height and asked, “Oh, yeah? And who is this friend and how the fuck would they know my schedule? What’s your friend’s name so I can set them straight about sharing personal information about a police officer’s business?”
Nick, still unfazed, leaned on the open door, crossed his ankles, and answered casually, “His name’s John.” In my mind, I couldn’t understand how Nick was being so comfortable talking to this psycho. Seriously, what the fuck was going on tonight?!
Marcus had all of his attention on Nick now, so I took the opportunity to edge slowly back away from him while he continued his conversation. “John, huh? John what? Lemme guess, John Smith, now wait, John Doe.” He was sneering at Nick and enjoying his own joke like only a crazy fucker could, but it was short-lived.
Nick stayed calm, crossed his arms, and put on a condescending smile. “No, not John, you dumb shit crazy motherfucker, Jean.” Marcus stopped laughing at the correction of the name and suddenly looked a little unsure for the first time. “That’s right, you crazy, bastard. Jean, as in Jean Deuchaine, the new Chief of Police. Your new boss, asshole. Ring a bell? I guess he would know your schedule, wouldn’t he? Well, I’ve known Jean since I was christened since he’s my godfather and all. So, when I called him up and asked him why the police were harassing one of my trusted employees in my bar, he was understandably concerned. He told me he would take care of the situation and apologized on behalf of the force. Oh, and Uncle Jean says for you to, let me quote him, Tell him to have his ass in my office first thing in the morning or his ass better never come back into the building ever again!”
Nick stood up from his casual slouch and walked over to where I had moved around the back of Marcus, never letting his gaze stray from the crazy bastard. He put a gentle arm over my shoulders and let me lean on him as he slowly walked us back to the door. “Come on, Ethan. Your break was taken up with all this bullshit, so you can come in and have your break in my office, and then I’ll drive you home.”
As we walked past a silently seething Marcus, Nick couldn’t help but add one more parting shot. “If I were you, I’d go home and get a good night’s sleep so you can be in there bright and early. From the looks of it, you can use all the beauty sleep you can get. Uncle Jean can be a little scary when he’s upset, and he sounded really mad at you. Goodnight, Officer Brant.”
As we were heading through the door, Marcus finally got his voice back, and even though I was now in front of Nick, I could still hear him. “You might think you've won, Nick, but I’ll get you back. You can’t fuck with me without consequences. You’ve been on my wrong side before, and you’ll pay the price again if you’re not careful.” I couldn’t see Marcus anymore, but the hold Nick had on my shoulders got painfully tight as he tried to anchor himself in place. I put what I hoped was a comforting hand on his that was gripping my shoulder and he loosened up a bit, but Marcus wasn’t done. He always had to have the last word apparently. “Do I need to start paying visits to Brody and show him what happened to the last one? What was his name? Julian? Yeah, sweet little Julian. They never did find out how that happened, did they?” Faster than I could blink, Nick was back out the door and had his hand around Marcus’s throat in the same place he had held me minutes earlier. Except with Nick’s height and bulk, he was holding Marcus up on his tiptoes so he could barely touch the ground.
In the deadliest voice I’d ever heard, Nick growled, “Motherfucker, you just don’t know when to quit, do you? Let me be absolutely clear, crystal clear. You or one of your sick twisted group lay a finger on Brody or any of the people I care about, and I will end you. And, believe me, when I say end you, I mean end, gone, finished. They would never find a hair or a fiber, and I would never be a suspect. You would disappear, and no one would ever know what happened. But I can guarantee there would be some very fat happy gators in the swamp not long after. You get me, you redneck, corrupt crazy piece of shit? You’re going down sooner or later, but try me and sooner can sure as fuck be arranged.” He squeezed Marcus’s neck one more time before dropping him to fall on the ground. Standing over him, he had the last word this time. “You threatened me, and now I’m threatening you, motherfucker. Try me again, and you’ll never see another sunrise. That’s a promise.”
As he once again put a gentle arm around my shoulders and led me through to his back office, I made a mental note never to piss Nick off because he was one scary motherfucker in his own right. And not for the first time I wondered what he had done before moving back to New Orleans and opening the Swallow five years ago.
Nick had brought me home, walked me to the door, and stayed until he heard the door lock click. Then I watched through the window as he walked over and knocked on the back door and went inside to talk to Jessie and Mark. They were friends from years ago but didn’t hang out much. I was sure he was making them aware of the situation with Marcus. Jessie was a firefighter, and Mark was an EMT. They would be familiar with Marcus and the rumors about him around town.
I’d been lying in my bed or on my sofa since then wondering what the hell I was going to do. And with one phone call with James, I had a solution. Nick had called earlier to let me know that Marcus had been suspended without pay and that he was seriously pissed. Word was that he blamed Nick and me for his problems and Nick had suggested I might want to get out of town for a few days. Looks like that wouldn’t be a problem now, although it wasn’t going to be just a few days. It might be permanent.
