Page 83 of Moonstruck
“Do it, Calliope,” Thomas said, studying Zane as if he could look inside and know he was making the best decision.
The film was clear, but because it was a webcam, there was only so much that could be seen. Gage sitting at his desk, nodding to the camera. He was pale, gaunt, dressed in the same clothes they’d seen him in days before. He didn’t seem distressed so much as exhausted. When he stood, Asa could see he wore pajama pants. Gage walked to the closet just outside of the frame, but the belt that appeared in his hand was visible.
They all watched in taut silence as he stepped up onto his bed. Asa was glad they could now only view Gage from the thigh down. Zane’s nails were drawing blood on Asa’s wrist but he said nothing. He would have let Zane tear him to shreds if it could somehow prevent the inevitable breakdown.
Then it happened. Gage stepped off the bed. It wasn’t a quick death. He didn’t jump from enough of a height or with enough force to break his neck. He died slowly, over three minutes. They watched the whole thing. Nobody moving. Maybe not even breathing.
Zane stared at the screen, unblinking, until his brother’s legs stopped twitching, and then he bolted from the room so fast, it took Asa a moment to even realize he was on the move. He followed, catching sight of Zane rounding the corner, quickly overtaking him. He gripped him by the shoulders, leading him to the closest bathroom where he dropped to his knees and promptly threw up.
It was clear Zane had a weak stomach. He was going to end up with a bleeding ulcer. He had a delicate constitution, which was definitely not suitable for the Mulvaney lifestyle. Asa needed to start taking better care of him.
“I’m fine,” Zane managed between heaves. “Just go.”
Asa sat on the floor behind him, rubbing his back. “I’m not going anywhere, Lois. So, save your breath.”
When Zane’s stomach finally seemed too empty for him to vomit, Asa wet a washcloth and forced Zane to hold still while he wiped his face. “Why did you insist on watching that?”
“Don’t lecture me,” Zane said. “I needed to see it. I just… I needed to know.”
“I’m not lecturing you, Lois. I just think you should let me handle the wet work and you stick with the brainiac paperwork stuff.”
Zane snorted, letting Asa pull him back against him on the floor. “You act as if I don’t know how smart you are. You build skyscrapers for a living. You’re the smart one and the hot one.”
“Now, see, the hot is subjective, Lois. Because I definitely think you’re the hot one in our relationship. You like to keep it under wraps, but it’s there. Nobody knows better than me just how fucking sexy you are, especially when you’re naked and begging. Covered in my bruises. Nobody else will ever come close to that. And, as for smarts, I’m math smart. You’re cop smart.”
“Cop smart?” Zane said, amused.
Asa nodded, grateful he was somehow managing to distract Zane. “Yeah. You know how to investigate. Ask questions.”
“So do you.”
“No, I know how to interrogate. I don’t have your delicate touch. I’m all about getting the answers I want regardless of what’s left of the subject once I do.”
Zane was quiet for a long time, head resting against Asa’s chest. “I want you to kill him,” Zane said finally.
“I swear to you, I’ll kill him, and then we’ll find the others and I’ll kill them, too. But one thing at a time. First, we torture Jerry, then we take out the game master. After that, we’ll start worrying about finding the other handlers. Without the game master, the others will scurry off into hiding.”
“I just want him to suffer. I need both of them to suffer. I need to see it with my own eyes.”
Asa nodded. “I can do that for you, Lois. But none of us would blame you if you didn’t want to watch.”
“Was Noah there when they took out the men who hurt him? Was Lucas?” Zane asked.
Asa nodded. “Yes.”
“Do you think they’re stronger than me?”
Asa frowned. Relationships were so much more of a minefield than he’d ever imagined. One wrong word could lead to disaster. He wasn’t used to having to watch his footing so much. “Of course not. I just don’t want you to think this is some kind of test. Neither Noah or Lucas actively kill for us. There are plenty of things to do in this family that have nothing to do with picking up a weapon. Your contributions are going to be important, and even if they aren’t, I’ll still want you.”
“When do we get this guy?” Zane asked, dropping a kiss over Asa’s heart through his t-shirt. It was such a thoughtlessly sweet gesture that he couldn’t help but reciprocate it by kissing the top of his head.
Asa squeezed him harder. He wanted to finish this shit so they could get on with their lives, whatever that looked like. But to do that, they needed to end this.
“Tonight, Lois. We go get him tonight. Let’s get back in there and make a plan.”
Zane was coming out of his skin. They were almost to Atticus’s and Jericho’s murder cabin. The others were already there with Jerry. Asa had wanted to be involved in his capture, but Thomas didn’t want amateurs involved in snatching Jerry off the street in broad daylight and Zane had refused to let Asa go alone. The compromise was neither of them go, instead meeting the others after they ‘acquired the target,’ as Thomas put it.
Asa was unsurprisingly calm, humming along to the music as they made the trek out to the woods. He said the only truly stressful thing about planning and executing a murder was ensuring an alibi was in place. There was no connection between Jerry and anybody in the Mulvaney family or Zane’s family for that matter. Since there was no fear of reprisal with Jerry, there was no worry about forming an alibi, which meant Asa was easy-breezy like they were out for a Sunday drive.
