Page 55 of And Twice as Twisted
“He made me do it!” It wasn’t one of my finer moments, but it was a factually based declaration.
Isabella trotted over on one of her horses, hopping down gracefully and tying her thoroughbred to the fence. She waved for me to reverse my car and before I even stepped out again, I could see her displeasure. Al and I stood side by side, like a pair of petulant children about to be scolded.
“This is the first season I’ve gotten these damn things to bloom and then here you two come along!” She picked up a snapped blossom. “You! They! Ugh, forget it.” Her chin wobbled and my jaw clenched. She yelled out a few choice statements about her inability tokeep nice things intactbefore hopping on her horse and taking off across the field. I retrieved my phone from my pocket and looked at Al.
“It’s a damn bush,” he scoffed, earning himself a palm to the back of the head.
“It’s a lot more than that,asino.” I called Mario, relaying the message and directing him to Isabella.
I inspected my car once more, turning at the sounds of fast-trotting hooves. Mario raced out of the stables, heading in the same direction his wife had fled. The family was falling apart, and Mario was taking all of it on himself. He’d chosen this life for them and everyone was paying for his mistakes. But he wouldn’t let any of us help him through it.
“Was there a reason for your asinine display, other than a death wish?” I inquired, picking a stray piece of nothing off my suit.
“Sienna’s apartment alarm was going off.” Al’s chest heaved as I turned for my car and we sped down the driveway.
We were born, we lived and then we died. To some, it was a daunting truth they preferred to ignore. But when the sun rose on each new day and you awakened to realize you survived again, life was good. If the sunset didn’t set you aflame, it was the devil knocking on your door who would drag you to hell.
“You really don’t know where she is, do you?” I asked while aggressively honking my horn at a cab.
“I don’t.” His anger spoke of his truth. “I don’t think anyone knows where she is, just that she’s okay.”
“Unacceptable,” some bastard hissed in our direction, and I scoffed at the cab’s passenger presently rolling down his window to shout at us. “Talking to you, ya fucking idiot!” He threw spare change at my windshield, the offending copper pinging off my tinted glass.
“Che cazzo.” Al chuckled. “No, Apollo!” He reached for my arm, but it was too late.
As I stepped from the car, I shook out my jacket, showing my Glock safely tucked under my midnight-blue Brionisuit. I bent down and picked up one of the pennies from the ground, tossing it into the air and catching it.
“You dropped this.” I pinched the dirty copper between my thumb and pointer finger, reaching just past the bastard’s window. “Take it.”
“Man, I’m s-sorry.” He slumped farther back in his seat, trapped like a rat in a small cage.
“I said. Take. It.” Then, moving quickly and with deadly precision, I latched my hand on to his jaw and tugged him forward. His mouth opened in shock, and I jammed the pennyinside, clamping it closed. He sat immobile, watching me, unsure what was next. “Swallow.”
Before I could force the command, Al was at my back, muscling me into my car. “You good?” He slid in beside me and I nodded. “I know you’ve worked hard to collect yourself. But, shit, did I miss that part of you.” His amusement only heightened my serenity.
“If there truly is a god, he made me a sinner and I’m content with who I am.” I couldn’t hold back the grin ticking the sides of my lips.
“And, fuck, if I haven’t missed it.”
As much as I didn’t want to admit it,Imissed this back and forth too. I was in control and there was no going back now. I had a lot of wrongs to right and this visit was just the first of many. A part of me was missing in her absence. Something dark and sinister always consumed me but she was the final piece of the puzzle I needed to feel whole.
Tasks like this were what kept my mind busy. Approaching Sienna’s apartment, Al and I motioned to each other before breaching it. Slowly, the door slid ajar and I held my position and waited. As expected, they began firing through the opening, quickly depleting what I was sure was their limited arsenal. After a moment of silence, one of the fuckers stepped closer to peek around the corner.
“Hello.” I smiled, while his look of dread and the smell of defecation had that smile widening into a full-on grin. It took less than a minute to subdue the intruder and his cohort, both unable to stand their ground.
“I’m not telling you shit!”
I narrowly missed the wad of spit descending towards my Alessandro Galet Scritto Leather Oxfords.Al chuckled, looming over the prone form behind me. I drew my foot back and my three-thousand-dollar loafer broke his tooth, forcing his neck tocrack to one side. His incoherent mumbling was a consonance of pride that built within me.
I was back. A rejuvenated version of myself at least.
I unbuttoned my blazer and placed it on a chair, rolling my sleeves to my elbows. I glanced at the counter, faltering as the iridescent metal glinted under the light. A gift I’d given Sienna. “A memento, how fitting.” I gripped the cool steel in my hand, enjoying the snap and the glint of the sharpened edge. “The parotid duct is what releases your saliva and I can very easily get to it with one solid swoop of this blade.” I waved the knife around for effect.
“N-no… I-I won’t-t t-ta—” he stammered.
“Your increased heart rate, erratic breathing, and the sudden rush of epinephrine and adrenalin from your amygdala is inducing that stutter. I suggest we counteract your body’s natural response to fear.” Slowly, I took in a breath through my nose and exhaled out my mouth. “Here.” With a flick of my wrist, the seven-inch serrated knife embedded his hand into the wall. There was a crescendo of screams that made my nerves settle and a visceral calm float around me.
“Looks sharp,” Al taunted, the man beneath him moaning.
