As for the man named General, that’s proving to be a little trickier.
Most of the clientele is ignorant about who else enjoys the group home’s services, their anonymity being the very reason they pay top dollar for the privilege of ruining innocent lives. The only hope I have of finding one monster is to find the other first. Whoever is in charge knows who their full client list is, including General, and when I find him, I’ll make him tell me exactly where General lives, just before I slit his throat and rid the world of his brand of evil.
There’s only one thing that is bothering me about my plan.
If the book I have in my possession was written by this so-called boss, then why didn’t he also add General’s info to it? Why leave him out? I guess I’ll have my answer when I finally meet him face-to-face, but to do that, I have to concentrate. Right now, it’s a hard task to accomplish when all my thoughts end up leading me down one road—Zoey.
“Speaking of shit…,” Hale starts, sounding less than amused, and his tone pulls me out of my thoughts. “A friend would have given me a heads-up that Alaric would be paying me a visit.”
“He went to see you?” I ask, since everyone knows Hale doesn’t do drop-ins at his place. In my mind, I have imagined that he lives in some sort of dark cave filled with computer screens as he spies on the world, but I’ve never been able to verify if my suspicions are right or not since Hale keeps his home address and everything else pertaining to him off the grid. It speaks volumes about Alaric’s motivation to track him down.
“Yeah, he did, asshole. Thanks for that. Not only do I have to replace the door because the prick busted it down, but now I’ve got a good old shiner to match. He messed with my money maker thanks to you,” he whines.
“Me? What do I have to do with it?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because the big, brooding beast thought that somehow I knew you were shacking up with his little girl. FYI, you really need to get more friends. Being the only one who actually likes your fucked-up ass is starting to mess with my looks. How the fuck can I be seen in public with this black eye, huh?” he carries on.
Vain fucker.
If I didn’t know Hale was even more unhinged than Alaric and I put together, the way he conducts himself would never hint at the depravities that run rampant in his psychotic mind. Hence why I think he’s the most dangerous of us all. He looks like your run-of-the-mill, clean-cut,GQcover model, while Alaric and I wear our damage right on the surface. Anyone who comes close to either one of us knows that we aren’t to be messed with.
Hale on the other hand…
He’ll win you over with his dazzling, pearly white smile while slowly shredding your life apart, piece by piece, destroying everything you hold dear until you weep for death at his hand. He’s shrewd and calculating under the guise of a shallow demeanor.
“Did he say anything to you?” I question, wondering just how deep Alaric’s resentment regarding Zoey runs. I don’t care if he hates my guts or not, he never cared much for me to begin with, but knowing his dislike of me trickles down to his daughter sets my teeth on edge.
“Oh, you know, the usual. He listed all the ways he’s going to kill you. Nothing a big papa bear like him wouldn’t say.” His laugh grates on me.
My tense shoulders ease somewhat.
“So he only talked about me, not Zoey?”
“Are you listening to a word I say?” he goads. “The man is fantasizing about chopping you into tiny little pieces and feeding you to his dog.”
“Alaric doesn’t have a dog,” I retort, rolling my eyes.
“Oh, trust me. He’ll get one just for you.” Hale laughs.
“Whatever,” I mumble.
The line goes quiet for a while, and the hair on my neck rises at Hale’s silence.
“What?” I bark when the silence gets to be too much for me.
“You want this girl?” he asks evenly.
“She’s already mine,” is my firm reply.
“The fuck she is,” he retorts with a scoff. “Look, I’m not an expert oflove,” he begins, the wordlovesounding like it tastes bitter on his tongue, “but I do know something about women. They either hate their daddies and want to rebel with fuckers like you, or they love them to the moon and back, which makes you just a pit stop until they find a guy their fathers approve of. Guess where your girl lands?”
I fist the phone in my hand, almost breaking it in two, but I refuse to say anything in return.
“If you want the girl, and I mean really want her, then get right with her pops. She might say she’s okay with going against his wishes now, but sooner or later, she’ll resent you for not having him in her life. Remember one thing—she loved him first.”
“You done?” I snarl.
“You know what? Fuck it. Take my advice. Don’t take it. I couldn’t give a shit. Just don’t come running to me when she kicks your ass to the curb. I have a feeling you’re one of those ugly criers, and who wants to see that shit?”