Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
“That’s harsh.” I cluck. “Or wishful thinking. I could’ve been wounded.”
“She set a trap,” he says more forcefully. “Why else did she take that pistol out of her bag?”
“Maybe as a weapon of self-defense in case I were to attack her?” I muse with mocking.
He narrows his eyes. “What are you saying? That I’m lying about Tatiana’s escape?”
I take the knife from the holster under my jacket and step right up to him. “I’m saying those coincidences are just a bit too convenient.” Gripping his nape in one hand, I push the knife into his belly while bringing my lips to his ear. “And I don’t believe in coincidences.”
His eyes go wide as I slowly pull out the knife. When I let him go, he stumbles. Cupping the cut where the blood pours out, he sinks back onto his knees.
I go forward, standing over him. “And that was the last time you disrespected her by addressing her with familiarity. It’s Mrs. Morici to you.”
He stares at the blood gushing over his fingers. “Fuck.”
Lifting his head, he looks between Reino and Ulysses.
Neither of them moves. They both watch him with emotionless expressions.
“In fifteen minutes, you’ll be dead. I’m going to watch you bleed out. That gives us enough time to have a last man to man. If you ever gave a shit about Lee, this is your chance to honor him by coming clean.”
Laughing, he spits at my feet.
Reino moves forward, but I block him with my arm.
Ulysses appears next to me, saying in a lowered voice, “You should’ve tortured him. He could’ve told us something useful.”
“He wouldn’t have broken.” I know him too well.
“Fuck you,” Kent shouts, spittle flying from his mouth. “Fuck all three of you, you cunts.”
“Do you want me to take his tongue?” Reino asks. “It’s of no use to us anyway.”
I smile. “Let him scream. I’m going to savor it.”
“You made a mistake.” Kent goes red in the face. “A huge fucking mistake.”
Beneath all that anger, his skin is already turning pasty white. Sweat beads on his forehead.
“What happened, Kent?” I walk around him, tapping the bloody knife against my thigh. “Did you get greedy? Did splitting the spoils lose its sparkle for you? Did you decide it was better to pocket more of it for yourself? Money can do strange things to people. It can make them forget their promises and their friends. Did you orchestrate the kidnapping, or where you just the instrument, the sorry idiot someone else used?”
He regards me with defiance, not saying a word.
“Do you know the old story of the rich man who built a splendid tomb for his beloved wife?” I circle him again and stop behind him. “As the years passed, he filled it with treasures and finally made it his own dwelling, forgetting the love that inspired it.” I grip his hair and pull back his head until he meets my gaze. “You see, Kent, some people are like that wealthy man. They think they love, but they only love themselves. They’re nothing like the men whose honor never dies.” I let him go with a shove. “You fall into the first category.”
He stares at me with hate. “Go fuck yourself, Dante. I hope you never find the necklace.”
“Oh, I will.” I walk around and face him once more. “When I do, I’ll leave a stone on your grave, a nice big diamond to haunt you with the knowledge that there’s nothing to spend it on where you’ll be rotting in the ground.”
He tries to spit on my shoes again but misses.
My laugh only infuriates him more.
He pushes to his feet and storms at me. “I’m going to fucking kill you.”
Ulysses grabs his arm. “Easy now. You’ll want to save your strength. You don’t have much of that left.”
“Fuck you all,” he screams.
I stay until the end. Until then, he chooses to keep his mouth shut. I always knew he’d never break, not under torture and not under a knife. I just never expected him to betray me.
When the light goes out in his eyes, I walk to the door. “Send someone to his place to get his dog. He lived alone. There’s no one to feed it.”
“Yes, boss,” Reino says.
“While they’re there, they can search his apartment.”
Ulysses opens the door for me. I walk into the late afternoon sun. There’s a chill in the air. Or maybe it’s in my heart. Maybe I’m the one who’s forgetting like the rich man in the story, neglecting Lee’s memory in lieu of the people who are very much alive.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Tatiana
* * *
The day is sunny, and the birds are chirping. Even here, at the cemetery, the world carries on. The sun rises, and the robins go about catching worms and hatching their pretty blue eggs.
I stand in front of the mausoleum where my parents and grandparents are buried, taking in the gable with the simple cross.