Page 46 of Charity's Torment

I crawled on top and straddled her thighs, causing her to stir. Her eyes opened, then widened with shock at the sight of a hooded figure above her. I slammed my hand over her mouth and punched my knife right below her solar plexus, severing her abdominal aorta. She’d bleed out in minutes. This artery was the largest in the body. When cut just right, the blood would pool inside, rather than a bloody mess on the outside.

I kept my knife in position and gave a twist. Her eyes couldn’t get any wider as her body jerked from what I imagine would be unbearable pain. Her muffled cries called out to me, but I didn’t pay them any mind.

“Was it worth it?”

She laid frozen from fear and pain. She made no motion to attack me. Not that she could, I had her arms pinned beneath the comforter I was sitting on. I never understood why people slept with their arms tucked under the blanket. It made you so easy to become a victim. Her breaths came in short and fast as she tried her damndest not to move. Her heart beat erratically against my fist I had held tight into her belly. When the time came, I’d be able to feel her heart slow and eventually stop.

“Women do stupid things for men. Am I right? You convinced your husband to kill a man that rules the most powerful crime family in the US. I became a killer to protect my brother. I’d ask you why you did it, but I think I already know.” She whimpered. “He’s dead. Did you know that?”

Tears spilled down her face. She shook her head from side to side. I pressed the knife in a little harder, feeling the squish of blood pooling in her belly. Arturo’s protection killed the guy as soon as he left his solitary confinement punishment. He barely made it out of the block when the guards left him alone, and they slashed him to death. “My guess is that Giovanni convinced you to get your husband to do it?” She nodded. “Well, in the next life, don’t let men or money cloud your morals, if you believe in that sort of thing. Me, personally? I think you’re going to Hell, just like the rest.”

I twisted the knife and pushed in a little farther. Let’s speed this up a bit.

Her lids fluttered as I imagined the soul flickering from her body. I dropped my hand from her mouth, pulled my blade from her body, and rose just as the wailing of police sirens and tires screeched to a halt close to the house. Red, white, and blue lit up the second-story room, and my blood ran cold. I tightened the strings on my hood and rushed down the stairs just as an officer broke down the front door.

I ran through to the back and raced across the grass with the officer at my heels like a pudgy rabid dog. I scaled the wooden fence that bordered her property and ran across the next lawn and through the gate before the officer reached the top of the fence. My feet pounded hard and fast against the sidewalk. I crossed the street and entered another yard while dogs barked and gnashed their teeth through the fence lines. A cop car with lights and sirens skidded around the corner of the street as I closed the gate to someone’s backyard, and they careened by none the wiser I was in the road a few seconds ago.

My heart thumped hard against my chest, and perspiration dripped down my brow. A floodlight flashed, alerting everyone to my presence as I walked beneath it. I skipped forward, picked up my pace, and hit the back fence at a running speed, vaulting myself over the top with ease.

Pain snapped in my side as I tumbled my landing. My hands dust the grass as I stand. A chain rattled to the right of me. I turned in time to notice the large retriever hit the end of his tether at my heel. The back porch light came on as his barking increased, and saliva dripped from his ferocious teeth. I raced to the end of the chain-link fence and pulled myself over the top.

Staggering pain slashed into my palm as the points of the fence cut through my leather glove, drawing blood.

“Fuck.”

I bit my lip while holding pressure to my hand, then walked to the street while my lungs drew in air at a rapid rate, and anxiety tightened my chest. What the hell just happened there? There was no way someone saw me enter the house, and even if they did, they would call it in as a burglary in progress. They would come in ‘dark,’ not hot. Someone knew I was there. Someone knew what I was doing.

I don’t believe in coincidences.

This felt calculated.

I strolled down the sidewalk, my eyes darting to every moving shadow. Discarding my jacket, I fixed my hair to cover my face and sauntered back to my motorcycle. I put my darkened helmet in place and took off, taking the scenic route home.

Chapter 17

“I’m telling you, it was a setup.” I wanted to punch my wall, but my hand was killing me. A deep, long gash settled across the palm of my hand. I wrapped it up last night with gauze and tape. Dried blood coated my motorcycle handle, and I wiped it with a paper towel covered in bleach water while I pressed the phone to my ear. A cruiser pulled into my driveway. “Luca, I’m going to have to call you back.”

“Morning, Cupcake,” he said, getting out of the car.

“Hi. What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to see if you were feeling any better, being sick and all.” I tossed the bloody disposable cloth into the trash, and his eyes followed the rag. “Are you bleeding?”

I held up my gauze-covered hand, showing him my injury. “I was. I cut it on my friend’s fillet knife. It bled all over my bike, so I was cleaning it up.”

His brows knit together, and he held out his hand. “Want me to take a look?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s fine. I’ve got it cleaned up.” I took another wipe and finished my cleaning job. The white cloth came back brown with old, oxidized blood. “How’s your case?”

“Slow. Still looking for the girl in the video. What’s with the interest in this case?”

“What are you talking about? I’m always interested in your cases. It’s pretty much the only thing we discuss, Dad.” I held my palms up to the sky, then put them back down.

“Mm. That’s true. I’m working another one on the side—a missing girl.”

I scrunched my brows. “That’s awful.”

“We think it might involve the sister, somehow. She has had a rebellious streak lately. Plus, she was increasingly unpredictable with major bouts of rage. We are going to do a news conference soon to see how she reacts.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Speaking of my job… I’ve been meaning to ask you something…” I roll my eyes. I knew where he was going with this. “Your brother mentioned something to me a few weeks back about your employment.”

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