Page 43 of Bones

I shrug, because I don’t have a plan. We won’t know until we get there exactly what needs to happen. Obviously, I’m killing her father, but the rest is very much up in the air.

“That depends on the shape I find my wife in. Just so we are crystal fucking clear, nobody looks at my wife.”

Psycho chuckles beside Kage. “Bones is in loooove.”

I grab the pen out of my jacket pocket, and chuck it at the back of his head. “Shut up, asshole. If you can’t control your eyes, you can wait in the goddamn car.”

He grumbles as he rubs the back of his head, “I get enough pussy, I don’t need to look at yours.”

Reaper turns to me. “Can I kill him?”

I shake my head. “Not a fucking chance, brother. He’s all mine, but I might let you bring him back a few times.”

My youngest brother may not be great at body disposal, but he has gifts. It’s a shame my father threw him out of the business, because he could be useful. He will never be like the three of us and handle multiple things. He’s hyper focused on one thing, and one thing only, but if we have him only handling that side of things, he could be an asset. I make a mental note to discuss it with my father. Our family has our hands in nearly all things illegal. We even own a few brothels, but we aren’t involved in human trafficking. There are families that get into that shit, but we don’t. Drugs, prostitution, weapons, everything else we do. We don’t kill people every day, but it is often enough that Reaper might be able to satisfy his urges.

Kage pulls up to an area covered in trees, out in the middle of nowhere, with only wildlife.

“We are a mile away from the house, I assume you want to be sure he doesn’t see you coming.”

I nod my agreement, because with Athena there, I don’t want to risk her safety. If she weren’t there, I wouldn’t fucking care.

All three of us are armed with several weapons, but they won’t be used unless it’s absolutely necessary. I have no intention of making this quick. My brothers know this about me, I don’t have to say a word, but they also know if it’s required to save my wife, I’ll deal with it. Her safety is of the utmost importance. Everything else is secondary.

We approach the farmhouse and I glance around, taking in my surroundings. It’s dark, but I can see well enough to spot the overgrown grass. The farmhouse is a dingy white, like someone hasn’t taken care of this property in a long time. There’s a fenced area off to the left, suggesting he might have cattle.

Reaper stares in the same direction. “I wonder if he has pigs.”

I shake my head. “Let’s go.”

Kage looks to me for direction, and I respond. “Back.”

We walk around to the back, and Psycho grabs tools out of his pocket and picks the lock. It would be easy to break the door down, but we’re trying to get inside quietly. He holds the door open and I walk inside first, with my brothers following behind me. The first room we enter is a kitchen, with broken down cabinets, an old green stove and refrigerator, and stained cheap countertops. I wonder if he actually lives here as we walk through a long hallway. There’s a living room off to the left, with a worn couch and sitting chair. The house appears to be empty, and I become concerned that she isn’t here. I suddenly regret having Reaper kill Jimmy, because what ifshe’s not here? I wasn’t thinking clearly, and acted more like Psycho than myself.

Kage points to a door and whispers. “Basement?”

I nod as he opens the door, and I walk down the steps and pull the cord on the ceiling, that lights up the dark basement. It’s an unfinished basement, with a soiled mattress on one side and that’s it. Otherwise it’s completely empty. And my wife is not here. Fuck.

We go back upstairs and check the bedrooms, but there’s nobody here. Wherever he has her, it obviously isn’t here. The panic surges through my blood, and I feel something I never feel. Fear. What if he killed her? Even thinking I’ll never see her again makes it difficult to breathe.

“What the fuck is that?” Psycho asks, as he stares down the dimly lit hallway. It’s not easy to see in here, and we didn’t turn the lights on up here because we didn’t want to give him a heads up, if he were here. The moonlight shines through a window, and causes a ring to almost glow. As I step closer, I realize it’s a ring attached to a string so dingy it’s nearly black. Psycho pulls it, and stairs come down from the attic. My heart pounds furiously as I walk up the steps. Several different scenarios run through my mind, as my breathing becomes heavy. None of them are the outcome I’m hoping for. I step over a black whip as I enter the room. Psycho hits a light switch and my heart shatters. Like the weak man I am for her, I fall to my knees as the blood pounds in my ears and cry out, “Butterfly.”

My wife sits in the corner of a cage shivering, and it’s not from the cold, because it’s hot as hell up here. She’s naked, and has lash marks on her body, and a swollen face. I notice the welts on her cheekbones, and physically feel her pain. What did he do to her? What kind of a father does this?

I move over to the cage and open it. “Butterfly, come here, baby.”

My wife doesn’t respond, she doesn’t even look in my direction. It’s as if she’s gone. The dried tears on her face don’t please me this time, they gut me.

Psycho breaks through my internal struggle. “We need wire cutters. I don’t think she’s going to come out on her own.”

Still I have to try, because I don’t have fucking wire cutters on me. None of us do.

“Butterfly. I love you. Please come to me, so I can make everything better.”

She lifts her head and gazes at me, before she breaks me. “Leave me here to die, Luca.”

“Fuck this.”

I glance at Psycho. “If I can break bones, maybe I can break metal enough to go in and get her.”

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