CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 

SOLOMON

It was the perfect moment for a cigarette. 

I set my phone down on the floor next to Antigua's fat, swollen face. His jowls trembled as he struggled to stay conscious and cling to life while my boot pressed into his fleshy, bloody back. 

Natalie was still on the line as I turned on the speakerphone. She wanted to listen to this poor excuse for a man take his final agonizing breaths and I wouldn't let her miss the opportunity. 

He wheezed and spat and tried to form words but he was fading fast. All around us, his men were being subdued and taken away in handcuffs by cops. 

This day was victorious for all sides. The law caught an evil, dangerous man that had been wanted for years. He no longer had a monopoly, so small-time crooks like me could have more freedom in their own business. 

And my Natalie got to listen to her torturer die a slow, painful death. 

While Antigua's men were placed under arrest, my people searched the compound for the hidden girls. Time stretched on and it made me wonder with a sickening feeling what kind of conditions they lived in, to be hidden so far out of sight. 

I brought the cigarette to my lips and lit it as I ground my heel into Antigua's kidney. Out of the corner of my eye, Eddie approached me as I took my first drag.

"That was fantastic, boss," he said with a nervous smile, his skin coated in a thin sheen of sweat. "I wasn't sure how this plan would turn out but it couldn't have gone more perfectly. I should never have doubted you." 

I said nothing in reply. Instead, I simply exhaled smoke in his direction as I looked at him with a cold, hard expression. He knew what was on my mind. What I wanted to know. 

His smile faded.

He pulled his hands from his pockets and held his open, bare palms out to me. 

"Boss, I'm loyal to you with my life. You know that. I was trying to buy my time and stroke that fat bastard's ego. I would slit my own throat before I ever betrayed you." 

I nodded as relief washed over me and I took another drag. He was telling the truth. I could see it in his face.

"That's all I needed to hear, man." 

Eddie's smile returned, along with a laugh of relief as we clapped each other's backs. 

"Hey, can I take a whack at this shitbag?" he asked, nodding toward Antigua's carcass down under my feet. 

"Ask the lady. He's hers," I said, gesturing toward the phone on the ground. 

"Go ahead, Eddie!" Natalie said through the speaker. "Give him a good one for me."

For having seen plenty of violence in my day, I still had to look away when Eddie delivered swift, hard kicks to Antigua's face. 

His meaty head bounced back and forth like a basketball. The first kick sent teeth flying in every direction. By the third, his face was unrecognizable through the blood and he had surely broken his jaw.

"Alright," I said with a final drag on my cigarette. "I'm getting bored with you being alive." 

I dropped the still-burning butt, which landed on Antigua's back and quickly burnt a hole through the silk kimono. 

He let out an unintelligible moan and shifted under my foot. I stepped off of his body and took careful aim with my gun. 

BANG!

I shot him in the center of his back. It would damage internal organs and kill him soon but not quite yet. 

I walked around the pool of blood and knelt at his head. His eyes wide, bloodshot and in shock, stared at me with deep-seated fear. His mind was still there. He saw me.

A flash of gold at his throat caught my eye and I yanked the necklace off to examine it. 

It was definitely pure gold and antique, knowing his taste. The chain was thick, ornate and stamped with intricate designs. At the end of the chain sat a teardrop diamond pendant, stained  only by the blood from its former owner but otherwise flawless. 

Clutching the necklace in my fist, I leaned down close to Antigua’s ear. 

“This will make the perfect gift for my wife. She’ll always remember the day she was freed from you. How you lost everything and we won.”

His ragged breathing grew lighter and shallower. I watched as the life slowly left his eyes, making sure I was the last thing he saw. 

When his breath grew so faint that I could no longer hear it, I held a hand in front of his mouth. No air touched my skin. 

"He's gone, babe," I said into the phone. "He'll never hurt you or anyone again." 

"Thank you, my love," she whispered into the speaker. I could only imagine what she was feeling in that moment. And I couldn't be happier being the one to carry out justice for her.

"Anything for you," I replied. 

We said our goodbyes and I ended the phone call, nodding at one of the police officers who brought over a sheet to cover the body with. 

"Boss!" 

I turned to see Dante, one of my soldiers, running toward me. "We found them," he said panting. "The girls. But they're not letting anyone get close. They think it's a trap." 

"Where are they?" I demanded. 

I followed him to the opposite end of the complex, at least three full-sized warehouses away from where we found Antigua. 

Just the size of his place, how far we had to walk indicated how much power and control he had. 

Not anymore. 

"We moved a bunch of these pallets," Dante said, pointing them out. "Looks like a bunch of elephant tusks or some shit. But we found a basement door in the floor." 

Jesus christ. 

The door stood wide open with only a dim light shining from the dark depths within. Rickety, wooden stairs led down to what looked like a bomb shelter. 

A dark, dank, concrete room with a low ceiling. A place where no human deserved to live unless they were criminally insane.

When I looked down, a half dozen pair of eyes looked back up at me. 

They were all different colors and shapes but all were framed by thin, unwashed faces. All the women looked at me the same way Natalie did when I first saw her, with defiance and distrust.

"Antigua is dead," I announced to them. "No one is going to hurt any of you anymore. We have police and medical staff here to help you. You can trust us."

"Liar!" spat an Asian woman who seemed to be the chosen leader among them. "This is just another one of his sick games." 

Dante and I exchanged a look. We didn't want to force these women out but we might need to. They wouldn't budge unless they saw the truth for themselves. 

A sudden idea struck me. Natalie! I could call her and have her talk to them. 

"I can prove that we're trustworthy," I said, pulling my phone from my pocket. 

"Wait, what's that in your hand?" asked another woman. 

I forgot that I was still holding Antigua's necklace in my fist. The sunlight caught the diamond at just the right angle to reflect onto the women's faces down below. A drop of blood slid down the polished, brilliant surface and landed at my feet. 

And I realized that was all the proof I needed.

"This is Antigua's necklace," I said, holding it up like a trophy. "I killed him. I watched the life drain from his eyes.”

"It's true, I recognize it!" shouted one of the women. I recognized her as being one of two sitting next to Antigua earlier. "Is he really dead?" 

"This is his blood that's on it," I replied. "His body is under a sheet right now." 

The eyes turned to the Asian woman, who continued to look at me skeptically but I saw the glimmer of hope in them as well.

"I'm giving this necklace to Natalie," I said. "The one who was able to escape." 

"Oh God, Natalie!" the Asian woman cried and clapped her hand over her mouth. "You mean she's alive?"

"Alive and well," I told her. "And now safe. Like all of you." 

The Asian woman's expression softened as she took a few tentative steps up the rickety stairs. I held my hand out to her for support and she took it, tears forming in her large brown eyes as she looked at me. 

"It's okay, girls," she said to the others. "We're going home." 

Dante and I helped the rest of them out of the basement just as more ambulances were arriving. 

Antigua's body remained sprawled out at the foot of his gaudy throne. The sight of it elicited cheers and cries of delight from the women as they walked past to be seen by the paramedics. 

More detectives and investigators arrived at the scene as well in several vans. Some inspected the illegal and stolen artifacts while others took photos and collected evidence. 

As I watched the scene unfold before, I leaned against one of the vans and slid the necklace into my pocket. My work was done, and not just for the day. 

For good. 

A brotherly jab came to my left shoulder as Liam leaned up against the car next to me. 

"Well done, my man," he said. "This is a huge fucking operation we busted, all thanks to you."

"Nah," I said. "Eddie's the real hero. He risked his life leading us here. It all would have been for nothing if it weren't for him."

"That's true," Liam agreed watching law enforcement agents crawl around the scene like ants. "So what's next for you?" 

"I'm done, man," I said with a shake of my head. 

"Oh?" he cocked an eyebrow. 

"This was my last day as a low-life dirty thug. I'm out of this game. I got a family to raise." 

"Not that I don't believe you but," Liam narrowed his eyes. "What about your business? You're the boss that just broke up Antigua's massive empire. That's got to mean something."

"It does but it's not important to me anymore," I replied. "Ivan will take over for me in Cloverville. Eddie can do what he wants with the remnants of the empire. But for me? It's time for me to be there for my woman and my kid."

Or kids, possibly.

"Well happy retirement, I  suppose," Liam said with a smirk. "Wish I could've retired at twenty-seven. What are you gonna do in your downtime?"

"Not sure yet," I said, gliding my fingers along the gold chain in my pocket. "But I'll find something to do."