Page 68 of Capture Me
Before I reach O'Brian, Matteo's voice gives a gentle reminder. “Just don't kill him yet, Menace. We have one more thing to do.” I don't know or care about what he means. I wasn’t going to kill him, anyway. I want to make him bleed one good time before I figure out what the hell I’m actually feeling.
I stand directly in front of this broken man and raise the blade. “I hope they drag this out to make you pay for every victim,” I tell him, my voice barely a whisper. “Then I hope you burn in hell, because no amount of penance will ever be enough.” Then I slice my blade across his forehead. Blood hits my face and pours down his as he screams. It’s not a deadly cut but it sure as hell is a painful one.
The knife clatters to the ground as I turn. The guys exchange unsure glances, their uncertainty palpable as they fumble with how to handle the situation. I don't know what’s worse, having the answers, not having them, or the pity I see in this room. I walk to the door, but realize I can’t open it without one of the guys.
My throat is tight, and tears burn my eyes. I don't want anyone to see me fall apart, and I don't know how much longer I can hold it together. “Please open this,” I say tightly.
Akio walks over and places his eye in front of the scanner. Locks clang open immediately, and without another word, I leave, swiftly climbing the stairs to my room and cranking up the shower as hot as it will go. Steam fills the room as I lock my bedroom and bathroom door. I walk into the shower with my clothes on, feeling exposed and defeated. My back slides down the wall as I sit in the hot spray with my knees curled up to my chest. Only then do I allow myself to fall apart.
Chapter 23
Akio
The door swings shut behind Fallon’s retreating form with a click as loud as a gong. It might as well be a dagger to my chest.
Clay fucking Ensling.
He's a dead man walking for a long list of reasons. Seeing the wreckage he inflicted on Fallon, it’s a miracle we don’t hunt him down tonight. But we can’t. Not yet, anyway. We have plans for Clay, plans that we will set in motion sooner than we’d planned now that we know he is Fallon’s attacker. She’ll want her revenge too, there’s no doubt. And she’ll get it. But first…
A whine draws my attention back to Officer O'Brian, his head hanging as if he’s too exhausted to hold it up. The fucking prick.
Dec swipes a finger across the fresh cut on the cop’s forehead, tsking. “You’ve really dug your own grave here, Officer. I’m not sure you’re aware of how badly you’ve fucked up.” He crouches down and grabs O'Brian’s hair, forcing him to look into his eyes. “You don’t remember us, do you?”
“R-remember you?” The cop coughs, blood coating his lips.
“Maybe we should refresh your memory,” Matteo says, shoving a hand into his pocket and pulling out something dainty and shiny.
My heart clenches at the sight of Luna’s bracelet. I sometimes forget he keeps it with him as a reminder. Teo even went to the trouble of saving up his money the weeks after she went missing so that he could have the chain fixed for her when she returned to us.
Matteo pinches the bracelet by the chain between his forefinger and thumb, swinging it back and forth like a pendulum in front of the fucker’s face. “You probably don’t recognize this. The last time you laid eyes on this bracelet it was broken and in the hands of three very worried teenagers who were looking for their foster sister.” Matteo carefully curls the chain back into his palm before returning it to his pocket. “Her name was Luna.”
“I don’t… I don’t remem–”
“Of course you don’t!” Matteo shouts. Declan’s hold on O'Brian’s hair tightens as he moves around behind him, letting our brother take front and center, and giving the cop the perfect view of the silver gun in Teo’s other hand, resting at his side. “Why would you remember a girl’s name from fifteen years ago when you didn’t bother filing the missing person’s report? You were probably too busy counting the money in your head to write anything down when you came to our old, beat down house.”
I step up to Teo’s side, drawing my knife. “One cut for every year she’s been missing.”
Declan releases his hold on the cop’s head and grabs the iron knuckles out of his bag. “One punch for every year we spent searching for her without answers.”
We get to work while Teo watches, never taking his eyes off O'Brian. No matter how much he screams, we don’t let up, taking our time with each slash and strike. My knife digs in, dragging deep, but not deepenough that he bleeds out quickly. Dec’s punches hit precisely, breaking bones in the most painful places on his body. We go until the man is black and blue, swollen and barely recognizable.
Smelling salts stir him back to consciousness, and Matteo calls us off.
“Say her name.” The click of him racking the gun echoes through the cement room.
“L-Lu–” the man pants, barely able to form the word with his split lips and swollen tongue.
“Say. Her. Name.” Matteo places the muzzle of the gun against O'Brian’s forehead.
“L-Luna,” he slurs.
The sharp crack of the gun reverberates through the room. Blood and brain matter splatter the cement wall behind him.
“Akio,” Matteo mutters when nobody moves. “Get what you need for filming. We’re doing this now. The sooner we’re done with this guy, the sooner we can focus on the next target.” He holds a hand up to Declan who has started to untie the cop. “Leave him. Let’s keep him here while we film. This can be a lesson to anyone else in the Axton Harbor Police Department who may be in Helix’s pocket.”
Hours later, I’m showered and dressed for bed. While I feel vindicated that we’ve dealt with at least one of the people involved in Luna’s kidnapping, it does little to settle the anxious knots in my stomach. There’s no use in trying to sleep, so I slip out of my room, not really sure where I’m headed at this hour, not until I end up face to face with Fallon’s door.
I raise a fist, but hesitate, unsure if I should let her have her privacy or go in and hold her. God, I want to hold her, soothe her, just fucking be with her. The way she completely shut down before she left thebasement, the blank look on her face – that’s going to stick with me forever. I run a hand through my hair, torn on what to do.
