Damien was doing something, but I had no clue what. It freaks me out that he’s now involved deeper than I was aware, but he left me no choice.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and search through my contacts until I find him, then press the little call button. I’m sent straight to voicemail, and I don’t hesitate to go off on him. “If the reason you’re out on an assignment involves Danny or Mario, I’m gonna be really pissed off. Why, Damien? You didn’t tell me you worked something out with Danny. I thought you were just talking to him or something, not cooking up a master plan that I’m sure puts you in danger. I shouldn’t be left in the dark about things that affect me directly. I’ve already told you I don’t need somebody to take care of me. I was managing just fine and had it under control. Please don’t do something that’s going to get you hurt. I want to have you in my life because I like you… Or at least I did, because right now I really don’t.”
I hang up and immediately dial him again and start talking before the beep even sounds. “Just because I don’t like you right now doesn’t mean I don’t love you. Nothing could change that. Whatever you’re doing, be careful and hurry back to me.”
Damien
I keep my phone pressed to my ear and listen to the message Izzy left me yesterday again for the hundredth time. I understand her frustration, but I don’t really care. I’ll do what I need to in order to keep her out of harm’s way. She can be pissed, but she’ll get over it. She won’t have a choice but to get over it because once I deliver this piece of shit to Danny, it’ll be done, and it’ll be pointless to talk about it ever again.
I didn’t want her to be scared, so I responded to her messages yesterday with a text telling her I was okay, and I’d be back tomorrow, which is incidentally, today.
Mario wasn’t that hard to find. He was so easily gullible by the lure of money for the meth he was selling, and it was a cakewalk to knock him out long enough to tie him up and throw him in the back of the van with no witnesses.
It’s fuckin’ with my head, how easily I dropped him and essentially kidnapped him. And who I’m about to hand him off to doesn’t sit well, either. But I’m left with no choice.
“Please, man.” Mario begs me, pleading from the back seat. His hands are cuffed together and his feet zip tied. He’s been doing this for hours, so many I’ve lost track. I’d shove a sock in his mouth or something, but he was so high when I found him that I’m afraid he’ll start going through withdrawals, and I don’t want him to choke on his vomit and die before I turn him over to Danny.
I try to ignore his pleas and have turned the radio up, but nothing drowns out his cries. The rental smells like piss and sweat, and I know I needed to drive all the way through, but I was so fucking tempted to stop and get a hotel so I could leave his ass in the van and get a few hours of peace. But my desire to get back to Izzy was too strong to allow that, so I drove straight through the night.
“He’s going to kill me…” Mario wheezes and wails. “Don’t take me, please. Just shoot me. Give me a gun, pills, anything, and I’ll just kill myself. You can’t do this. You can’t take me to him!” His screams are getting more and more desperate, and I have to clench my jaw closed and grip the steering wheel tighter to keep my composure.
Think about Izzy. This piece of shit leaving her in the arms of a madman. Danny with his hands on her. Her under Danny. Scared. My woman being violated by another man. “Shut the fuck up,” I order him. “Nothing you can say is going to make me change my mind, so do us both a favor and fucking shut up.”
“What do you want?” He sniffles hysterically, changing tactics. “Money? I can get it for you.”
If the situation wasn’t so fucked up, I’d laugh at his feeble attempt to negotiate. He has no clue how much I know or who I am. I