We’re not so unalike, Jess and me.
We’d move heaven and earth to protect those we loved.
She doesn’t disappoint, she’s right on time with a car I didn’t recognise, and Sean.
Seeing him get out of the driver’s side throws me a little.
He eyes me approvingly when I open the front door to their knock. I’d dressed in what I thought was appropriate clothing; black trousers, black shirt, black beanie on my head and old shoes. I knew they’d all have to be burned when I got back home. I wasn’t totally naïve.
“You’ll do,” he rumbles. “Take these,” he hands me a pair of disposable gloves. I take them and tug them on.
“Here’s a spare pair. Now, he’s not going to be happy, but the boy is nothing if not stubborn and sometimes we have to do things that he may be angry about. And he will be angry … maybe notwith you or his aunt, but definitely with me. Now, two of my boys are going to follow you to a certain point where they’ll wait for you. They’re going to make sure you’re safe. Jess says you know where to go?”
I nod.
“Good. You might be just the thing to get that boy's head out of his arse and back to living, or you may be the thing to break him. We’ll see how strong you are for this life. Me …” he taps his chest. “I think you’ll be okay, but Jess… well she’s a little concerned that you’ll bottle it, but I know for a fact you’re stronger than you look and not nearly as soft as people think you are.”
“Thank you, Sean,” his words go a long way to bolstering my courage. Pressing a kiss to his cheek, I slip out the door and slide into the car.
Tonight was the night I took control of my life and made my stalker mine permanently.
CHAPTER 17
BUTCHER
I've done this many times. My guys would pick the dirty motherfucker up when instructed. We had plans in place for how this would work. Going forward they’d be working with Keelan, so I wanted him to see each part. There were a lot of moving parts that we had to execute with precision.
Keelan was waiting for me at the old filling station as instructed. I got out of my car and walked towards him, nodding in greeting as I leant up against the grill of his car next to him. Taking a burner from my pocket, I open it up and send a message to my guys.
Update
In sight. Ten minutes to go time. Hour until deposit.
Understood
Deleting the messages, I remove the sim card and destroy it before putting the phone in a bag and then on the floor, crushing it. I’d deposit bits along the road as we drove.
Keeping my attention on my task I ask, “You get all that?”
“Aye, standard procedure for me.”
“Fucking excellent. We’ll get to the disposal site now and set up.”
“Stock?”
“I’ve got caches everywhere, I’ll let you know where they are. This one is about a mile that way. We’ll circle back around.”
Keelan doesn’t say a word, just follows me to my car and slides into the passenger seat.
We make the drive in the opposite direction to the site. I let the broken phone fall out of the bag onto the road a little at a time until it’s empty, stuffing the bag in my pocket to be disposed of later.
We get to one of the many sites I have supplies at. This one is an old garage; it looks derelict, but it’s not. I hand Keelan anotherpair of disposable gloves. “Double glove you don’t need a split and to leave any DNA in here,” I order.
He doesn’t argue. Taking the gloves, he puts them on, covering up the ones he’s already got on. We load up rolls of plastic, a clean saw, tape, metal chair, disposable suits, shovel and a box of tools. I’m old school, and only use tools that are available at all major hardware stores and are disposable. They are destroyed after each job.
I explain my process to Keelan as we work. We suit up first before we even enter the house, including our shoes. Once inside, I take him to the room with the least windows. The entire house is clear of furniture. We make short work of taping sheets of plastic to the walls of the room and the floor, setting up the chair and our tools.
Once I’m happy with the room I ask, “Any questions?”
