Chapter Thirty-Six
Madison
We park a half mile from the home. Melina and I run up the street, carrying the post driver between us because it’s so damn heavy, and check out the property. Like the house he kept me and Cori in, this one is away from other homes and on a nice sized piece of property. The desert foliage on the north side of the area gives us a good vantage point to see the back door. I call Celina.
“Send Cori north to our location. The front door is on the south side of the house and you’ll have about twenty-five yards from the truck to the door. Sofia will be your driver and leave as soon as you’re inside. She’ll park and meet us. We’ll come through the back five minutes after you enter.” We covered all of this in the car, but it helps me to go over the plan out loud again. “Give Cori ten minutes to get in place before Sofia drops you off.”
“Cori just took off. We’re set,” Celina says before ending the call.
After Cori meets us, we stay low and wait for Sofia to text me that Celina is in the house. Our phone ringers are off so we don’t alert anyone to our presence, so I watch the display on my phone impatiently. We have no idea how many men are inside.
I glance at Melina. “What if you smash the other post driver through the front window when Sofia and I go through the back?” We knew after we saw the property some of our plans could change slightly. Celina will be ready for anything.
“Okay, I’ll shatter it and make enough room to climb through. It looks like an old home and if we’re lucky it will have regular glass panes and not that safety glass shit.”
She’s right, safety glass will slow her down. Between the five of us, we’ll cause enough commotion to handle what’s needed inside. My phone pings. Celina is inside. A minute later, there’s a rustling noise in the bushes twenty feet away. Sofia runs toward us staying low too.
“We’re set and need to go,” she says between breaths.
Celina’s job right now is to keep Fernandez out of a bedroom. We don’t have much time. “Go,” I tell Melina. I glance at Cori. “Are you ready for this?” I’ve been worried about her hand and tried to talk her out of coming. She threw my worry back in my face and asked if missing fingers would keep me from revenge. Honestly, it wouldn’t and I stopped arguing. We’re all here because we want to be. We’ll come out of this alive and our men won’t kill us after we’re safe. They love us and we’ll remind them if needed.
I clear my mind of thoughts of Moon.
“Sixty seconds and we’re going in. We look down at our watches. At one minute, Melina runs for the front of the house. Sofia and Cori follow me when I take off for the back door.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
Sophia and I hold the post driver at ready and at my nod, we swing as hard as we can against the door where the lock is located. We hear the crash of glass as soon as I kick the door open and we run through with guns drawn. Staying low, we keep behind a middle island. Celina screams and then grunts, which makes me charge for the front of the house. I turn the corner and she’s fighting Fernandez. Her gun is lying on the carpet. Melina comes through the window, her Glock pointed at Fernandez.
Cori and Sofia yell “Clear!” as they go from room to room. We practiced this part in Celina’s apartment and they’re doing their jobs. Fernandez rolls on top of Celina.
“Stop or I’ll blow your fucking head off,” I yell.
Our eyes meet and I see nothing but hatred. He swings his fist into Celina’s jaw before I can fire. She twists and the blow mostly misses her face. “You bastard,” she yells and delivers a throat punch.
I’m frozen for a moment, a nightmare image of Fernandez rising over me locks my brain up. I shake my head to snap out of it. This bastard raped me and took something special. I’ll never forget what he did and even after he’s dead, I’ll be left to live with the memory.
Melina moves behind her brother and places her gun to his head. “Back off, brother dear. I want nothing more than to blow your head off, so please give me a reason.” Her hands don’t shake and determination shows in her hard eyes. She wants him dead as much as I do.
“You bitch,” he spits out. Slowly he releases Celina and stands. She rolls away and climbs to her feet at the same time I snap out of the paralysis. Sofia and Cori run into the room.
“The house is clear. It looks like he couldn’t find anyone to help his ass,” Sofia says.
Cori has the same look on her face that must have been on mine only seconds before. Fernandez looks at her and sneers before turning back to me. “You think you or this black cunt will fucking kill me?” He spits at my feet and laughs. The insanity all but bleeds from his pores as he continues laughing. He turns to Melina. “My sweet baby sister. Is your cunt nice and stretched from that lunatic you hooked up with?”
Pot meet kettle. Austin might be a lunatic, but this man takes it to another level. “Remove your fucking clothes,” I tell him.
His head snaps back in my direction. “And why would I take that pleasure away from you?” He laughs harder.
I don’t hesitate. Lowering my gun, I shoot him in the foot.
“You fucking bitch,” he yells jumping around on the other leg. He doesn’t go down, which proves just how insane he is.
I reach for the handcuffs in my pocket and step forward. Sofia has her rifle pinned on him. “Shoot his leg if he tries anything,” I tell her before holstering my gun and stepping forward. I stay to his left so Sofia has a clear shot. “Hands behind your back.”
His maniacal smile creeps me the fuck out. “What about my clothes? Please make up your mind,” he says in that raspy voice from my nightmares.
The room tilts for a moment and dizziness clouds my vision. I can’t allow him to win and showing any fear right now is out of the question. I inhale slowly and focus on what needs to happen. “Cori, hand me the knife.”
She steps forward and Fernandez spins and tries throwing a punch at my head but misses. He moves quickly even with a bullet through the foot and gets between Cori and Sofia’s rifle. Melina takes the opportunity to bring her gun down on the back of his head. He stumbles and I kick the tibial pressure point in his good leg. He drops and I kick Celina’s gun away from him. She grabs it and aims it at him as he wiggles around like a flopping fish. I hand Melina my gun and slam down into his back with my cuffs primed. I practically pull his arms from their sockets in order to secure his hands behind his back while he’s stunned.
“Help me get him up on the kitchen island and I’ll cut off his fucking clothes.” We drag him back to the kitchen minus Celina who stays at her post, which is the front door. He struggles but it’s not enough for four women on a mission.
The sick feeling in my stomach stays and I turn slightly and rub tears from my eyes. Not a minute has gone by that I haven’t thought about this moment and now I just want to vomit. The thought of being in bed with him on top of me, has panic raising it’s ugly head. No, I tell myself, I’ve got this. He needs to die for what he did to me and Cori and also the endless women he’s tortured and killed.
“Are you okay?” Cori asks softly.
I’m not, but I can’t tell her that. She has even more of a reason to want him dead. “I’m good, I need your knife.”
“I can do it,” Melina says.
“No, he’s right. I want to remove the sick bastard’s clothes.” I try to smile but it comes out as more of a grimace. No matter my words, the last thing I want to do is touch him in any way. Still there is no way I’ll allow one of my friends to do this. The queasiness increases. I take the knife from Cori and slice his shirt. Melina rips it from his upper body while I go to work on his pants. It takes us a few minutes to get his clothes off and he laughs the entire time. When his pants and boxers are clear, his fucking dick is hard. I pull short breaths into my lungs trying to fight throwing up on top of him.
“Mak?” Melina says.
I look down and my hands are shaking. This is happening because I put it into motion. I need him dead and I need to find a way to carry through with it. The world will be a safer place without him in it. I will do what it takes and put this behind me. The expressions Melina, Sofia, and Cori wear are just as fucked up as mine must be. This is calculated murder and right now I can’t think about the ramifications to my soul. Somehow I’ll make it right after he’s dead.
“Incoming,” Celina shouts from the front of the house. “It’s Moon and Alex. Oops, Dax too. They’re coming in force.”
I step back and sink to the floor on legs that will no longer hold me. Resting on my knees, my back is against one of the cabinets. That’s how Moon finds me. I look up into his worried face and burst into tears. He doesn’t even look at Fernandez. His arms circle me and he lifts me to my feet. “I’m going to be sick,” I whisper. He turns me and my small lunch ends up on the floor. Moon buries his face in my hair when I stop heaving. “I know you’re mad, but I need to finish this.”
Moon releases me and my unsteady feet hit solid ground. I look at Fernandez, who has gone quiet. He’s realized he isn’t getting out of this alive. His silence is only momentary and after a few seconds of quiet he spews more filth. “Your whore’s cunt was sweet,” he tells Moon.
Moon looks behind him and tells one of his men to get Goose out of the car before turning back to Fernandez. He places his hand out toward Alex and Alex places a knife in it. Moon releases me completely and steps toward Fernandez. He nods at Alex who steps forward and pinches Fernandez’s nose. Alex grabs a handkerchief from his pocket and holds it. They work in tandem like they’ve done this before. Fernandez finally opens his mouth to breathe and Moon grabs his jaw. Alex uses the cloth to grab his tongue and slaps him across the jaw when Fernandez tries to bite him. Before I realize what’s happening, Moon slices his tongue off. Fernandez’s eyes grow large and he squeals like the pig he is. I don’t look away because I’m back to feeling nothing. It’s like what’s happening is taking place on a television screen. Fernandez’s screams cause my shaking to grow worse, but otherwise I remain frozen.
Moon looks at me and then turns to Alex. “Get Madison and Cori out of here.”
“No,” I say with more force than I thought I had. I look into my husband’s eyes. “I need to do this.”
Moon stares at me and I hold his gaze. I see so much emotion in his eyes. He might be angry, but he still loves me. “Come here, Madison.”
I walk the few feet separating us and he folds me in his arms. They wrap tightly around me. I stare past him at everyone in the kitchen. Dax wraps his arms around Sofia from behind and she sinks into his chest. Alex places his arm around Celina and pulls her into his side.
“Madison?” Moon says to get my attention. “There’s no coming back from this, baby.”
“I’ve killed before,” I whisper.
“To save yourself. Not to kill for the sake of killing.”
I can’t stop the tears running down my face. Fernandez starts pounding his head against the countertop like the insane animal he is. I want to cut out his eyes, which are staring at me. I want to remove his dick and balls while he’s still breathing. I want to go to sleep and not wake up until this nightmare is over.
Moon releases me and hands me his knife. My fingers are trembling so hard it’s difficult to take it. The knife feels good in my hand, though. Fernandez’s blood on the blade holds my attention. I can do this, I think to myself. I will do this.
Without saying a word, Moon kisses my brow then pulls out his gun, presses it to Fernandez’s head, and fires.