“I’m grateful, but will that be okay?”
“Yes. They’ll hold it for me. It was part of my terms. So, I’m on board to do whatever you need me to do.”
“Thank you.”
“You are most welcome. See you in the morning.”
I dip my head, and she leaves.
I take a moment to think about everything and then finish off the contract.
It takes me a little over an hour to get to Leif’s three-story mansion in South Boston. There was a traffic diversion that took up extra time. I look ahead and don’t see Zakh or Malik’s cars, so it seems I’m still early enough to have some one-on-one time with my uncle. I’m looking forward to spending time with Leif and taking a break.
I park up on the drive next to his truck and make my way up the steps.
When I reach the front door, I notice it’s unlocked. That’s strange for Leif even when he’s expecting visitors. His butler, Jake, normally answers the door.
I push the door open and walk in, but the faint scent of blood hits me when I walk a few paces in, and I stop in my tracks.
In my world, you pick up on things like that, and you know there has to be a lot of blood for you to smell it. My nerves spike in an instant, and worry cascades down my spine like a million spiders crawling down a drain pipe.
Carefully, I start walking again down the passage, noticing the house is unusually quiet. Especially for a Sunday afternoon. Leif loves football and basketball, so he’d normally be watching sports on ESPN.
Jake and some of the other staff would also be talking away or moving around the house. But there’s nothing but silence. The sort of silence that tells you something is wrong.
I check the living room. It’s empty, so I continue down the hall.
I turn toward the dining room, and my blood freezes when I find Jake on the floor, lying in a pool of blood with bullet holes in his body. Across from him are the maids, Helen and Jessie.
Fucking hell, what happened here?
I grab my gun and look around frantically, checking to see if whoever did this is still here. Keeping my gun close, I rush down the hallway, heading for Leif’s office.
Seeing the door open when I get closer makes my heart pound like a sledgehammer against my ribs. I run through the door, and my soul shatters when I see Leif lying on the floor surrounded by blood and a knife plunged into his heart.
“No… no, please. No.” I rush to his side. Although I can see the knife and the blood, I foolishly hope, pray, and beg God and the universe not to take him from me.
Not him, not him, not him.
Please, not him.
My fucking hopes fade when I notice a few bullet wounds next to the knife, and when I touch him, he’s cold. The life has already left his body.
Leif is gone. He’s dead.
My uncle is dead.
I couldn’t save him.
I couldn’t save him the way he saved me.
We only spoke a little over an hour ago. How could this happen?
Damn it. If only I’d left work earlier, or not gone in at all, this wouldn’t have happened.
I look at Leif, but my brain won’t accept what I’m seeing. It can’t because as much as I told him, and myself, that I’m no longer the helpless boy, I am. I’m that boy again, and my world has fractured.
“Leif…”