Page 96 of Tainted Love

Dante

Enzo leads us to a green warehouse on Montrose Beach, about a half a mile away from the casino itself. It’s completely abandoned and fell to the elements ages ago — or that’s what Antony Zappia wants people to think.

“You’re making a mistake, Hart,” Enzo mutters over his shoulder. He keeps glancing back and his eyes shift between the three guns trained on his back. “Killing Marty — it’s ain’t worth it.”

“I beg to differ.”

Enzo throws open a door to reveal a staircase falling to the basement level. He navigates the stairs slowly as each step leads into greater darkness. Elijah finds the light switch and flicks it on. The old fluorescents flicker a dusty yellow, just barely illuminating the old storage area.

Enzo stalls at the bottom. “Look, the kid’s a jerk — I’ll be the first to admit it — but he just did what he had to do for the family, all right?”

I grab his coat, flinging him hard against the shadowed wall. “For the family?” I repeat, digging my gun barrel into his neck. “Enzo, the last thing you want to do right now is associate yourself with what he did to the Vaughns.”

“I don’t get it…” he mutters, shaking his head. “Why do you even care?”

I release his coat and step back. “Keep walking.”

“No…” He digs his heels in. “I’m curious. Killing is your job, Hart. With us, with Snake Eyes, whatever. It’s what you do. Marty knocks off a few nobodies and you’re suddenly a vigilante for justice?” He kisses his teeth. “There’s only one reason why men like you go off-book and that’s big a pair of tits and nice, tight pus—”

I point my gun at his foot and fire off a single round. Enzo doubles over but I spread my fingers over his neck and squeeze to force his head back against the wall.

“I said, keep walking,” I growl.

His face contorts in pain, but he does as he’s told and pushes off the wall, limping toward a grimy shelf in the corner.

“Here—” he says, pausing to lean against the wall. “Behind the shelf, it’s a false wall.”

Lilah steps forward and pulls the shelf out of the way.

“Open it,” I tell Enzo.

He hobbles closer to it, leaving a bright trail of blood behind him, and pushes against it. The wall gives and slides open, revealing a dark tunnel lit up only by a string of old lights.

“This leads up to my father’s office,” he says. “It comes out in his closet.”

I glower. The one place I could never check.

“After you,” I say.

“Come on, man…” he begs. “They find out I took you this far and I’m a dead man.”

“You either risk it or you die here. Make your choice.”

He limps along with his head down and we follow him through the old tunnel several paces behind.

Lilah leans in close to me. “Going a bit extreme, don’t you think?”

“Coming from you?”

Elijah holds up his hand to curb the rage beneath Lilah’s stare. “It’s a fair comment, Dante. You’re not thinking straight here.”

I look between the two of them. They have every right to be concerned. I don’t exactly feel like myself tonight, but I can’t get Lucy’s screaming voice out of my head. She’s still there now, angry and cursing my name in the very bed I take her in every night and it’s tearing me apart.

“She deserves closure,” I say.

“Okay, yeah,” Lilah says, “but make sure you live long enough to go home and tell her about it.”

I can’t picture it. I don’t even want to. I don’t want to imagine what look she’ll have on her face when I walk up those stairs and tell her the man she’s been dreaming about killing with her own hands for months is dead and I did it for her. Will she be happy? Relieved? Grateful? Maybe someday, but not tonight.

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