ALEXIUS
This is probably the most challenging decision I’ve ever had to make. I’m staring at a stack of files, and I can recite every name mentioned by heart.
Timothy Sutherland.Leroy Jones.Samantha Vanguard.Hillary Rose.Kira Ward.
And the list goes on.
I’ve been going through these for weeks, looking at photographs and reading the horrific details of each case.
I know we’re hardly saints, but there are bigger monsters than us out there in this fucked-up world. It’s no wonder parents don’t let their children play in parks anymore or ride their bicycles to the grocery store around the corner.
Fathers no longer show their daughters any sort of affection in public out of fear it might be misinterpreted, and moms rush their kids home whenever an old man on the street hands out candy. Society has been mind-fucked by countless heinous acts of psychopaths, not just killing and hurting our children but destroying trust in humanity. It’s because our world is sick. It’s festering, rotting from its core, and killing the good one gruesome act at a time—one psycho fuck at a time.
Leaders and philanthropists spend their time and money trying to find ways to stop global warming while our children are targets for the sickest motherfuckers that live and breathe among us. Why the fuck bother saving the planet when we can’t save our children? And why are the rich so obsessed with making Mars habitable? So we can fuck up that planet too?
Good God, the negativity is pouring out of me like toxic vapor.
“Our uncle sure had to pull a fuckton of strings to make this happen.” I lean back in my chair.
Caelian swirls the ice in his tumbler. “He probably took it up the ass more than once.”
“So, what do you want to do?” Maximo leans against the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest.
“I don’t know.” I pull a palm down my face. “This is not just business. It’s personal. Really fucking personal.”
“Let me do it.” Nicoli takes a long drag of his cigarette, the tip lighting up with golden embers. “I’m feeling a little tense tonight, and disemboweling someone always lets me work off some steam.”
Caelian grimaces. “Psycho freak.”
Isaia stands by the window, staring at nothing but the black night. He hasn’t said a word since we closed my office door. It’s a lot to take in, especially since he has a personal investment in this, too.
“Isaia, what do you think?” I swivel my chair to face him straight.
He doesn’t turn around, and his shoulders move as he breathes. “Did he touch her?”
I shift in my seat. “She got away before he could.”
“He didn’t hurt her?”
“Not physically. Emotionally, they both screwed her up good.”
Finally, he turns and leans back against the windowsill. I can practically smell the rage oozing out of him. His leather jacket creaks as he straightens his arms, fingers clutching the ledge. “I think you and I both know what needs to be done.”
A knowing look passes between us, and my insides coil. “Yeah. We do.”
“Are you two fucking insane?” Nicoli cuts his glare between Isaia and me. “She’s pregnant. You can’t dump this shit on her now. I say we deal with it, and she never has to know.”
“I love your plan, brother. I really do,” I say. “There’s nothing I want more than to finish this and not drag her into it. More than anything, I want to protect her—”
“Then don’t fucking tell her. It’s not rocket science, man.”
“I’ve already taken too many choices away from her. I can’t do that again, especially not with something like this.”
“That’s bullshit!” Nicoli shoots to his feet, his eyes blazing. “We make the hard decisions to protect the people we love. If keeping them safe and out of harm’s way means we have to choose for them, then that’s what we do. We get our hands dirty, brother, and we do fucked-up shit without blinking for the ones we care for. If it means they hate us, then so fucking be it because all that matters is keeping them safe!” His voice slams like thunder against the walls, and everyone’s staring at him, staggered because Nicoli hardly ever loses his shit like he just did.
I lean with my elbows on my desk. “Where the hell is this coming from?”
Nicoli’s nostrils flare, and there’s a brief glance between him and Maximo, and suspicion prickles the back of my neck. But whatever it is, it has to wait.