Page 87 of The Italian Reckoning
Sarah’s head tilts as she looks at me. “Why?”
“You’ll see.” At the end of the garage is a red door which creaks as I push it open.
Inside, Bobby hangs naked by his wrists from a length of rope. His body is covered in an array of open, weeping wounds and bruises. One leg is badly broken from his fall down the elevator shaft and several broken ribs protrude from his chest. His hair is matted to his skull with blood and the remnants of gasoline, but despite his terrible appearance, he manages a grin when he lifts his head and spots Sarah.
“Well, the bitch finally woke up, huh?” he rasps.
Sarah’s grip on my hand becomes painful and her breath catches audibly in her throat. She stares at him with wide eyes, so I step forward first and angle my body between him and her.
“What do you want to do?”
“H–How do you mean?” She looks at me with wide eyes.
“You wanna arrest him? Take him in, do it by the book as you said?”
Her eyes move past me to Bobby as he wheezes and gasps. This is what she wanted, after all. She wanted to arrest the fucker and put him behind bars, make him suffer for the rest of his life, and Bobby certainly deserves it.
While fear burns in her eyes, there’s something else there too. A determination.
“No,” Sarah says after a moment. “That won’t make me feel better. Someone like him doesn’t deserve to be safe behind bars.”
“Look at you,” I tease gently. “You little rule breaker.”
“Gonna arrest me?” Bobby slurs loudly. “Come on, bitch. Drag me in front of your captain and see what happens. Do you think any of this stands up in court? I’m gonna be out within the week! I got friends, see? You weren’t the only cop that came drinking there. I made friends. So everywhere you go, I’ll be there. Cause I’m in your life, Sarah. I always will be.”
I wrestle with the overwhelming urge to pulverize his already beaten face just to get him to shut up and have to bite my own tongue so as not to lose out to that urge.
“No,” Sarah says softly. She lets go of my hand and moves past me. “I’m not scared of you anymore.”
“Bullshit,” Bobby spits. “I can see you fucking shaking from here.”
“Sure, my body remembers things. Sure, I’ll have nightmares about the twisted shit you put me through. Maybe I’ll struggle to cope with the touch of someone I care about, or loud noises, or things around my face. But you know what? I’ll overcome them. I’ll listen to myself and I’ll learn because I know I’m not scared of you. You’re just a sad, pathetic excuse of a man and now that Isee you, that I really see you, I realize that only one thing is going to happen.”
“And what’s that?”
“No one will remember you. No one will miss you. No one will even think about you because you see, in case you missed it, my boyfriend is in the Mafia and they excel at making people disappear.”
Boyfriend?
It’s difficult not to be distracted by such a word and my attention slips from Bobby to Sarah. She is shaking, but her head is held high even as she fiddles with the bandage around her injured thumb.
“So you did all of this, and for what? I’m here and you’re there. I win.”
“No,” Bobby snarls. “You’ll remember me. You’ll never forget me!”
She breathes deeply, lifting her shoulders, and then she shakes her head. “I’ve already started.” Sarah turns to face me. “He should die, but I don’t know if it should be me. What about Gio?”
I smirk coldly. “Who do you think beat him up this much?”
Sarah’s brow darts upward. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Gio’s had his revenge. So he’s all yours, sweetheart.”
Her cheeks pink up slightly and she nods while holding out her hand. “Can I have your gun?”
I pass it over without a word. Sarah turns back to Bobby and walks closer. “I thought about making you suffer. About putting you through everything you put me through, and it was so tempting.”
“Go on, then,” Bobby taunts. “Fucking do it.”
