Page 4 of At The End Of The Day

Shit. Every what if and unknown was driving me nuts. I was not built for patience in a situation like this. When a problem presented itself, I usually dove right in and handled it. Sitting, waiting, wondering…hell, no. This was bullshit.

“Man,” he muttered. An arm folded over his chest, the other propped on top to rub at his face. “I still can’t believe none of this. You think he’s always been like this, or is this something new because of his obsession with Tiny?”

My eyes rolling, I huffed and shrugged again. “No fucking clue, man. I ain’t never seen him like this.” Squinting and tipping my head to cast a sideways glance, I asked, “He really been tracking her since she was a kid?”

His profile to me, his head was bobbing, his lips taut. “Had me and Wads put one on the Mustang while you was at the police station turning yourself in.” His brows furrowing, he rested his chin on his shoulder to stare down at me. “I don’t think I ever thanked you for that.”

My pulse skipped at the unexpected subject change. Taking another drag, I exhaled with, “You’re my brother. We gotta look out for one another. I got two years, you woulda gotten ten. Easy choice, if you ask me,” I grumbled, returning my focus to the screens.

“You know.” He thumbed his nose and cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact. “Once Jackyl’s gone, you move up to his spot.”

Again, my eyelids closed with a sinking feeling to my gut. I always knew one day I’d be at the head of the Serpents, but it was always supposed to be me and Jackyl running things, not me alone because he was dead. It was never supposed to be this way.

“I know,” I muttered, flicking the ashes into the tray before taking another drag.

“Yeah, I know, buddy,” he sighed, patting the back of my shoulder. “Ain’t exactly how you wanted it, I know.”

Emotions clogging my throat, I nodded stiffly. So many life altering events in too little time. My whole life had been devoted to my sister. At twelve, I met Jackyl and joined the Serpents, developing a bond like none other, a bond I’d been so goddamn proud of my entire life. Then, when I was fifteen, I fell in love with my classmate who was a guy, instead of a girl, which meant we had to hide. Now I was permanently walking away from Billy and my best friend wanted to murder my little sister and probably their kids. The grief was overwhelming, keeping my stomach twisted in knots.

Dash stood, reached over me, and swiped a cigarette. This close, I could see the lines in his light brown irises, showing small golden chips I’d not noticed before. The faint scent of Irish Spring soap tickled my nostrils, the heat from his body warming my face. Out of nowhere, his moans from the night before filled my ears and my stomach flipped over. My pulse quickening, a breath hitched the back of my throat as I slowly searched his profile.

“I’m out.”

My brows furrowed. “Out? Where?”

“Headed to town.”

“You just did that yesterday, though.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t even think to get cigarettes. Three smokers in this house, we’re running out super fast. If I gotta deal with his shit, I need my nicotine. You want anything?”

I shook my head, averting my attention to the monitor with Violetta and Tyler in the kitchen. He was prepping food and she was cooking, one of the biggest, brightest smiles stuck on her face. I never saw her this damn happy with Jackyl. All these years, despite trying to build a life with her husband, her heart belonged to Tyler, and had Jackyl not interfered, they would have reunited long ago. He would have made it to the NBA, and she’d be a prominent lawyer by now. They would have been a power couple, living on easy street the rest of their lives.

Now he was forever crippled and a recovering drug addict, and she was a full-fledged member of a gang with two babies at twenty-six. Now, they were hiding out in a house in the mountains of Georgia, wondering if they’ll see another tomorrow, waiting for Jackyl to pop up and try to kill them all. One tiny mistake from me or Dash, and there would be six dead bodies in this house.

Seven. Once we were all slaughtered, Jackyl would kill himself. Even in death, he would not allow Violetta to be without him. His obsession for her was off the charts and no one had ever even noticed until it was too late. The man was a master of disguises and manipulations.

He patted my shoulder again and then gave a firm squeeze. “All right, buddy. You got the disposable phone I bought yesterday. If something comes up, don’t hesitate to call the Walmart and have them page me. I can be back here in fifteen minutes.”

I nodded again and took a drag before smashing the cigarette out, my focus flitting to a different monitor of my niece and nephew watching cartoons in the living room. They had no idea they were being hunted like animals by their own father. Would they remember Jackyl as they grew up or, with time, would they believe Tyler was their real father? Did we hope for the latter?

As soon as the door closed behind him, I cursed and shoved away from the desk. Standing, I stomped across the elongated room to the bathroom for more Tylenol. My head was fucking pounding with all this stress and chaos. As much as I loved Jackyl and didn’t want to do what I knew had to be done, I wished it was over with. The sooner my best friend was dead, the better.

Chapter 4

Vincent da Silva

Lighting a cigarette, I pulled the nicotine into my lungs and tossed the zippo to the desk. The smoke billowing from my nose, I scanned the monitors, every muscle tight with anxiety. Where the hell was Jackyl? As always, he was one step ahead of everyone, giving that phone to Eddie. Why? Why would he give it to him, and not Edwina? Why that precise moment?

He knew we were going to jet. He had called Dash and ordered him to eliminate Tyler and Violetta. Had he left it with Tyler, everything would have been fine. Because he added my sister, he had to know he would say something to me. She and Dash were as close as blood brother and sister, he had to know he wouldn’t be okay with killing her.

Apparently, once he thought about it, he realized his mistake and covered his tracks. When we thought we’d been clever in sneaking out of town while he was at work, he had already been ahead of the game.

Now he was out there, somewhere. He was watching us, having an advantage since we didn’t know where he was. This was so unlike him, he usually just swept in and conquered a situation he found threatening. Hiding, plotting, scheming, spying…this was new. It was calculated. It was so fucking unnerving. How the hell was I supposed to predict his moves if he changed his tactics?

I glanced to the left at Dash’s back. He was standing rigid, his legs spread wide, arms crossed, fingers tapping his sides while staring out the window to the backyard. The house built on the side of a mountain, there was nothing but trees to be seen, the moon barely visible through the limbs swaying in the breeze.

“You okay?”