His screams filled the garage immediately, mixing with his stuttering of William’s name over and over again. Before I could tell him he was answering the wrong question, he yelled, “S-s-send a m-message. H-he wanted us t-to send a message. That’s all.”
“Is that so?” False amusement slid through my voice, and without taking my eyes from him, I reached behind me and shot his uninjured foot. When the new screams began, I kept my voice calm, steady, dark. “You think I hadn’t figured that out the second you announced yourself?”
The door to the house opened, and my driver came shuffling in with the body of the other man slung over his shoulder.
I waited until he dropped the body next to the man I was still standing on before asking, “What was the message?”
But the man was now shaking so hard I wondered if he would go into shock from the pain before he could answer me.
“Last time,” I growled. “What was—?”
“H-he—he h-h-has . . .” He pointed at the other man when talking became too difficult.
I stepped off his knee and bent over the dead man next to him, checking his pockets with my free hand until I found a small, thick envelope. I pulled it out and opened it, and had only read the first cardstock before everything inside me went numb.
This wasn’t like for like.
He’d lost his goddamn mind.
I looked at the man on the floor from under my eyelashes, and growled, “Kill her.”
He nodded slowly as a sob burst from him, and the front of his pants became wet. “J-j-just do it. Do it. K-kill me!”
I bent down to drop the second cardstock on the chest of the dead man, and then placed the first on the quivering man. I stepped back, pulled out my phone, and took a picture of the men and sent the picture to William with the words:
Because she’s still breathing, one of them will continue to . . .
William’s cards were in plain view, both with bold, swirling letters.
Now yo
u know how it feels . . .
I hope you enjoyed her . . .
After the message was sent, I squatted so I was near the man still alive, but getting closer and closer to losing consciousness with each passing minute, and let my calm slip just enough so he would never forget me, never forget my next words, and would never think to come after what was mine again.
“Three people have lost their lives because they’ve tried to take that girl from me, and another will never walk again. The only reason I’m not going to take my time killing you is because she is still breathing. Consider yourself lucky that you can be a message to anyone else who thinks they can tear her away from me.” I leaned closer and growled, “I would burn the world to keep her safe.”
I stood as I let my calm take over again and walked slowly away from the men.
When I reached my driver, his stare was bouncing from the floor to me, and he was cringing, like he was waiting for something else.
But I’d done enough.
“Get someone over here to dump these men on William’s driveway, and someone else to fix the carpet in my room.”
He dipped his head in a faint nod and avoided meeting my eyes. “Y-yes, Mr. Holt.”
“But don’t enter the house until I contact you.”
“Yes, Mr. Holt.”
I ushered Briar into the house and gave her a look, begging her not to say a word until the door was shut behind us and we were walking up the stairs. “Bla—”
“Why can’t he come—?”
“Listen,” I said softly but urgently as I lifted my phone and shot off a message I knew would be received immediately. “I told you I was going to keep you safe, and I will. I’ll do everything I can so that nothing like this ever comes near you again. And the phone call we’re now waiting for can’t be heard by anyone—even the driver.”