“He’s going to wish he were dead after I’m done with him.”
Dax nods. “How is she?”
“I haven’t seen her since she woke up, but she’s back.”
“You smell so much better,” Eden says.
I laugh in relief as I pepper her face and lips with kisses. It’s late and past visiting hours, but the nurses and I have an arrangement.
“Are you comfortable?”
She nods, but her eyes are heavy. She complained of a headache, and the nurses gave her a dose of pain medication that also contains a sleep aid.
“You should go home and go to bed,” Eden says. “Cori told me you haven’t left since I got here.”
“And I’m not sleeping in our bed until you come home with me. Until then, I’m staying right here.”
“I won’t argue with you.”
“You weren’t going to win,” I warn.
She sighs and rests on the mountain of pillows. I sit at the end of the bed and rub one of her feet. It doesn’t take her long to fall asleep. After a few minutes, I send a text. Moments later, the door opens, and Selene enters the room.
She takes the chair I’ve occupied for the past few days.
“I’ll be back. I don’t want Eden left alone, and I don’t trust anyone else to sit with her.”
She nods and doesn’t ask any questions. That’s why I asked her to do this instead of Cori. Cori is nosy, and that nosiness will get her in trouble one day. Selene isn’t, but I can tell she’s shrewd and probably understands what I’m about to do.
“The nurses say she should sleep for several hours.”
“I’ll be here.”
“I won’t be long.”
“Do what you need to do, friend. I’ll keep our girl company.” She pulls a book out of her giant purse. “I’m gonna read her all the dirty parts of this romance novel.”
It’s been four days, but it feels like I haven’t been outside for a year. There’s only a sliver of a moon, and the darkness outside mirrors the darkness inside of me.
I should feel conflicted about what’s about to happen, but I don’t. One of the rules is that we don’t involve the police. The police bring eyes and questions. We handle things ourselves, without resorting to violence. That is why this works, but Brennan broke the rules, and for that, he must pay.
It doesn’t take long for me to reach Dax’s one-story, ranch-style house. It’s late, and the streets are deserted. The garage door opens for me, and I drive in. Once I’m inside and the door closes behind me, I send a text to Selene to ask if Eden is still asleep. She responds immediately with a thumbs-up.
Dax opens the side door and appears like an apparition. He gestures for me to follow. Neither one of us says a word. I walk behind him until we get to the other side of the house. A door leads to the basement, which is a typical man cave with a big flat-screen television and tan leather furniture.
We go through that room, and Dax opens another door. It takes us to a long, tunnel-like passage encased in brick. It’s lit, but dim. We walk for about ten minutes until we arrive at another door. He punches in a code, the door beeps, his phone lights up, and he puts his face to the screen. A lock unlatches, and it opens. We go up a flight of stairs and enter an eight-car garage. I follow him inside the main house and enter his gourmet kitchen. I’ve only been here a few times, and it’s always the same. I have to meet him at the other home and enter through his underground tunnel.
As we go through the house, I wonder again why he has such a big place when the only company he has is Finch. We enterhis home office and go behind his desk. He presses the wall. An opening takes us to a flight of stairs. We go down into a dimly lit room.
Finch stands in front of a tall crate and growls. Preacher rises from his chair and rubs the back of his head, but my attention isn’t on him. It’s on the piece of shit inside the large crate.
There’s a dog dish full of water. I pick it up and toss the contents at him. He wakes up sputtering. His arm is handcuffed to the pipe behind him. He pulls on it, and it rattles. He looks around like the caged animal he is, and I smile a humorless smile when our eyes lock. He crawls away until his back hits the railing of the cage.
“Let him out.” Dax pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocks the crate.
“No,” Brennan says while shaking his head from side to side.
Dax doesn’t answer him. He tosses the keys to Preacher, who uncuffs him. Once that’s done, Dax grabs both his ankles and pulls him out of the cage.
