He nods softly as if he gets it. And why wouldn’t he? Every Hound wants to be the one to end those who’ve wronged someone they care for.
“Thing is….” I look at the machines as they continue to beep away, then back at him. “He did some talking before the boys ended his life.”
His eyes flutter open softly.
“Turns out he wasn’t just Viv’s stalker but also involved with the former VP, Cast Off’s crew. Said he was paid to hunt and deliver the products to someone who would bring them to the auction or just a holding facility. Want to hear the real kicker?”
He swallows and nods.
“That limo driver we let go who we thought wasn’t involved with Viv’s drugging that first night? Turns out he was involved in the trafficking ring too. So was the boxer who Viv fought that night. And the guy who drugged her. Seems every single person who was involved in Cast Off’s crew was all in on Viv getting taken. They all wanted her, but for different reasons. Her stalker—his name is Henry, by the way—was part of Mack’s security. Not that Mack knew. He was prettypissed when he found out. Even took the body off our hands and said he had people who would be interested in some of his parts. Guy wanted his own pound of flesh, it seems.” I laugh at that as I move around the room.
“Well, you see, Henry was the classic stalker type. Fell for Viv’s smile, and that was it for him. Wanted her and created this whole coupling thing between him and her up in his head. He was definitely touched in the head.” I hit my temple to drive the point home. I wish it was something else I was hitting, but I breathe through my issues and continue. Being mad right now isn’t going to do shit.
“As for the others? Well, they were just meant to get good old Henry back in line. They figured if they took his obsession, then he’d be more willing to start his old job up again. Apparently, when Cast Off was killed, leadership went out the window. No one knew who was in charge. Or, more appropriately, everyone wanted to be in charge.”
I give him a look that has my eyebrow rising and my lips twitching, to which he nods. He gets it. Too many hens in the henhouse.
“So that’s why he killed all of them,” Link says, understanding it quickly. Kid always was able to jump to conclusions. Figuring things out so quickly.
Too quickly.
“Yeah. Looks like it. But….” I let that single word hold in the air between us as I stop moving. Stop almost breathing as I center myself in front of his bed and look him right in the eyes as I speak. “They weren’t the only ones looking to take over.”
I watch his throat constrict and his eyes dart around the room for a second before resting back on me. No one else ishere, and nothing’s within reach for him to do anything with. Like protect himself. From me.
“Seems as if there was another group.”
The machines start to beep. I glance at them and see his heart rate is making the lines go up and down like one of those machines that register earthquakes.
I walk back to his side and turn my body to look over his machine. I never was good with the doctor bit. Always put superglue on a cut and a bandage on something that didn’t seal right away. Never bothered to learn. Still don’t. But I look over his system of machines to try and understand them and what all the bells and whistles mean as I tell him what else we found. “Seems the other group was part of the Hounds. Or they were.”
“Who?” he asks. The quake in his voice makes me smile, but I hide it from him as I look over my shoulder at him.
“Shovel. That’s why Henry killed him. He was in it for the money. He was going to be the new driver. And you remember that vamp who didn’t want to go when I first arrived? Apparently, she was supposed to be the new spotter. The one who found the people who would be taken and tell Henry to stalk and bring to Shovel.”
I turn around to face him, not wanting to miss a single second. I wish I had a camera to watch this on repeat afterward. “But you already knew all that.”
I show him the plug I pulled from the machine. The one that’s no longer beeping and won’t alert anyone if something were to happen to a patient. When I figured it out, I was so angry with myself that I didn’t see it. That I could be fooled. But then a small voice that sounded like Viv’s in my head told me to calm down. To remove the emotion and think. I didthe exact same shit that Bane did. I got fooled by the shiny things the kid was showing me. I was missing what he was hiding till it was almost too late.
“You knew because you were the ringleader. The fourth member who called the shots and was hoping to take over Cast Off’s business. You thought you had it all figured out. Even had your girl accept a new delivery from Henry. Don’t worry about how she’s doing. I’ve got a friend dealing with her. It turns out that while the Hounds don’t deal in skin trafficking and fucking up women, the mafia has a special division for dealing with people who need to be eradicated from the world, and they don’t care what sex they are. And they were only too happy to offer their services once they learned their sponsor’s favorite fighter was a target.”
I watch the sweat slowly trickle down his face, waiting till it disappears under his hospital gown before I continue. I enjoy the fear of quietness. Others prefer to torture and talk about how they’ll string a person up and kill them in explicit detail. But for me? The ticking of a bomb is stressful enough. Just like waiting to know your fate.
“I don’t know what you planned, and I really don’t care to ask. I can guess that Shovel’s death was a warning for you. You erased the tapes, and I know you did. You think you’re good, but my guy Flint is better. He found them, and we saw it in full. Everything you thought was gone never was. But after Shovel’s death, you didn’t know if Henry would still play the game.”
I lean closer, making sure he understands that I’m smarter. That I figured it out. His plan that he thought was so clever? It wasn’t. He got caught. I don’t give a fuck that he almost got away with it—he didn’t. And from the pale lookon his face, any gloating he might have done is now gone. He might have bragged to his boys about it or some bitch he was fucking, but that was before he dealt with me. The president of the fucking Michigan chapter, and the one who will destroy him for this.
“Sure, he got your girl the next delivery, but how long could you really keep him on a leash? That’s why you decided to pin it on someone else. It was the distraction you needed to get Henry to Viv. You made a deal with him: Viv in exchange for working with you when you asked. You even had him stab you, so it looked like you were a victim. But he went a little too far, didn’t he? You expected the ‘attack’ but also planned to double-cross him yourself. And that’s why you sent the plumber a message to turn the water on early. You counted on us finding him. You knew he would be there. He told you. You were to keep people out by disabling the cameras, which you did. We found the email to the plumbing company. Bet you thought we wouldn’t know it was you. I mean, the warehouse was a dead zone, and then you couldn’t get your phone if you were in surgery. But hey, that’s what delayed delivery is good for, huh?”
The guy’s whiter than the sheets he’s lying on. I’m not smiling, nor showing anger. Just talking. Like a ticking time bomb. You know it’s coming, just not sure when the explosion will happen. You don’t know if you have enough time to get out of the blast radius.
“What are you going to do?”
I snort. The guy isn’t even trying to dispute it. How anticlimactic.
“Nothing.”
I take a step back from his bed and head for the door.
