FEDEL
1:03 PM
Over the years, I had watched over both of them, my bosses. With each passing year, I watched as they became more and more like each other. When I had first met Liam, I had thought of him as nothing more than a rabid dog, and for the most part, I was correct. He acted on pure instinct, he didn’t wait and calculate, he killed not only to prove a point but because he got off on the power of it. It was like he was pissing on his territory and wanted the world to know.
Then he’d met Melody, who was the very definition of the word cold. She was sharp, emotionless, calculating. Out of nowhere, it started: them finished each other’s statements, had private conversations just with their eyes, but most importantly, Melody laughed, openly, truly. She was happy and even though she tried to hide it, everyone could see it. She still snapped at people and was horrible about comforting anyone she hadn’t given birth too, but she was different. She even joked now. Liam’s change was subtle; he still had some of the same childlike tendencies to him…until he got upset. Now, just like Melody, would just stay calm, in an eerie sort of way. His eyes were murderous, but he never spoke unless he had to, and when he had to, blood came afterward.
“Mr. Callahan!”
“Mr. Callahan, do you have any comments?”
“Is the governor alive?”
“Have the police contacted you?”
“Are these shootings connected?”
Chicago and its people were ruthless. Here he was, a husband who’d just found out his wife had been shot on live television, and yet instead of giving him space, instead of letting him breathe, they crowded around like vultures. They didn’t care. He and Mel were objects to be gawked at, not people anymore.
“Mr. Callahan.” Murphy, Melody’s bodyguard, ran forward when we finally entered the lobby of the hospital. The first thing I noticed was the blood…it had stained his hands, his blue tie, and his shirt…if I noticed, Liam defiantly noticed, yet still he remained calm.
“Where is she?”
“Still in surgery, sir.” He led us down the hallway. “We have people searching throughout the area. The FBI is speaking to the other Mrs. Callahan now. There—”
“Why are you alive?” Liam paused, staring at the double doors of the operating room. They read ‘DOCTORS ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT’ in blue letters…as if that would stop him.
“Sir—”
“Your job is to put your life on the line for my wife, is it not?” he asked, stepping closer to the doors.
“Yes—”
“So why are you alive, and my wife is in there? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
“Yes sir, it should be.”
He nodded slowly, still staring. “But it’s not, which means you failed at your job.”
“I will not stop until I catch this son of a bitch.”
For some reason, that was the thing that caught his attention. Ripping his eyes from the doors, he stared at the man.
“You will catch him?”
“I swear.”
“Let’s talk.” He walked from the door to the stairwell. Murphy looked to me and I wasn’t sure what was going through his head. Holding the door for them, Murphy stepped in first, then Liam.
“Sir—”
BANG.
Before the door had even fully closed, Liam had fired into the back of his head. Murphy’s body fell forward, tumbling down the stairs.
“Boss?” I turned back to find his gun, the mouth so hot smoke came from it directly into my eye.
“When it comes to my family, I don’t give second chances. You mess up, you die. Are we clear, Fedel?”