Chapter Twenty-Two
Austin
I’ve been unable to locate Fernandez and it’s driving me insane. Moon has Melina on lockdown or I would have her back at my home right now. The waiting is killing me, but first her brother needs to die so she’s safe.
I’m sparring with Andreas and he’s taking a beating because of my irritability. He taps out again and I curse, “You’re getting fucking soft in your old age.”
“Fuck you, age has nothing to do with it,” he says when I release him and he scrambles off the floor for the third time. “That woman is causing you problems, boss.”
My right leg kicks out and sweeps his, sending him back to the mat. “What woman?” I challenge through heavy breaths.
He only laughs and rolls into my legs, grabbing me at the knees and taking me down half on top of him. I outweigh him by thirty pounds, so it’s not his greatest move. We wrestle on the mat until I secure him in an arm bar and cut off his air. He taps out and I grab my towel and head out of the room following a long sigh of disgust.
His laughter follows me. “Go get the woman,” he says because he has a death wish.
“Fuck you.”
The cold shower feels good on my overworked muscles. Even with the cold water on me, my cock swells when I think of going after Melina. My hand makes short work of the problem, or at least the one between my legs. Where in the hell is Fernandez? Most of his men are dead and he hasn’t returned to his house. I’ve had men watching the burned out property since I left. He has another hole he’s hiding in and I need to find him or get one of his men to rat him out.
After I’m showered, I walk around Victor’s home. It doesn’t feel like mine without Melina, and I almost wish I could burn it to the ground. My strides take me down into the basement. This space holds more of Melina. My equipment is still down here, and I lift the Dragonfly X2. Ink is all that’s kept me sane during difficult times in my life. Or as sane as someone who killed his mother can be. It’s strange that of all the deaths I’m responsible for, she needed it the most. So why do I dwell? It’s Melina. She’s opened up a different world for me.
I came to grips with the abuse I suffered at my mother’s hands years ago. I say her hands because she allowed it to happen and even encouraged it when she needed drug money. Cindy tried talking to me about her but I never opened up. What will Melina think when she knows about my past?
“Hell!” I slam the machine down harder than I intended. For a sociopath I’m suffering from feeling overload, which is ridiculous. I’ve never cared what anyone thought of me. Melina’s different, though. She wormed her way into my dead heart and now it’s beating for the first time since I was a child. This is not a good thing in my line of work.
I call Andreas from my cell and have him bring the car around. I need a workout of a different kind and there’s someone to kill at the homestead. If that doesn’t take care of my melancholy mood, nothing will.
The homestead is warmer than I care for but that’s summer for you. I thought about replacing the evaporative cooling system with air conditioning but haven’t gotten around to giving the order.
“Get a decent cooling system in here,” I order Andreas. The place doesn’t have the best insulation but that can wait.
“On it, boss, but the electrical payment will be pricey.” I look over my shoulder and Andreas takes a step back and places his hands up. “Just keeping your best interests in mind, boss.”
“And stop calling me boss, dammit.”
His lips twitch. “Sure thing, boss.”
Damn him. Maybe what I have in mind for the guy in the wet room will put the proper fear back in Andreas. Funny that I didn’t fear Victor; maybe that’s why we got along. If Andreas weren’t so damn irritating, I might actually like him. Fuck I’m getting soft. I don’t fucking like anyone.
The man I came to see is watched by a guard. He’s sitting on the floor with a sack over his head. I lift a metal pipe from the floor and slam it into his knee. His screams are loud and please my dark soul. We’re both covered in blood when I’m finished. I’m alive and he isn’t.
“Get this piece of shit out of here,” I say when I’m done. Andreas has no comeback, which is a good thing. I haven’t worked out all my frustrations. “I need Fernandez. Check every contact we have. He’s hiding somewhere close. I can feel his slimy ass.” I’m holding the bloody pipe and breathing hard from my exertion.
Andreas eyes me warily. “Yes sir, Mr. Miller.”
I grunt and drop the pipe and even on plastic the sound rings throughout the room. It’s about time I get some proper fucking respect.
∞∞∞
A week later we still have no word on Fernandez. I call Moon daily with some sorry excuse. Today’s no different and we’re playing the game because he knows I want to hear about Melina. We finish the niceties with a shared “Fernandez needs to die” philosophy, before I ask about her.
“She’s working for the escort service and fits right into my organization,” he offers casually.
“What the fuck? I’ll fucking kill you, you motherfucking…” the phone goes dead. Moon and his fucking games. There is no possible way Melina is working as an escort. If she is, Arizona will have a new person in charge by tomorrow. I punch in Andreas’ number and fortunately for him, he answers on the first ring. “I need a plane to Phoenix in the next hour. Arrange it.”
“About time, boss.”
This time it’s me who abruptly ends the call. I’m done with this shit. Melina is coming back with me one way or another.