“Oliver would never kill you.” Kailey is still shaking her head.
“He’d have no choice.” I cut in. “He did say he would be away for a few days. Said family shit.”
“I have a week to get my shit together.” Brody nods and looks from me to Kailey. “He came by earlier to let me know the deadline.”
“I want to call him.” She demands while holding out her hand.
I hand her my phone and watch as she dials his number. The phone rings and rings until his voicemail comes up.
“Oliver, call me back at this number. It’s an emergency.” Kailey’s voice is wavering as she tries to hold in her panic.
Then we sit in silence waiting for the phone to ring anxiously. I want Brody to be wrong to save Kailey from anymore heartbreak but I knew there was something up with Oliver and this all fits.
“I have to tell the others.” I say.
“Yeah,” Brody nods.
“No!” Kailey yells, her voice still hoarse. “Do not turn the others on him, what if it’s not real?”
“It’s real.” Brody tells her. “Have I fucking lied to you yet?”
“If it is true,” she gets up and begins to pace. “He has no choice.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Brody agrees. “I don’t hold anything against him for that in particular, but there are other things that make me want to kill him slowly.”
“Who don’t you want to kill, Brody?” She snaps at him and I laugh at the surprised look on his face.
“She’s right though.” I continue to chuckle.
“And what about you!” She turns on me. “You secured my house from any intruders and this fucker was still getting in. You fucking knew he was getting in didn’t you?”
“Not at first,” I hold my hands up. “But I just want to say, I fucking hate apples.”
“Oh my god!” She stomps her foot and it’s the most adorable thing I’ve seen.
“Zeke is our tech man. He has his own security firm and has been working all security details for us.” Brody says. “You need to know that when we need someone looked into for anything, he’s our man. He kept a steady watch on your father.”
“And you get rid of bodies?” She looks at me.
“Only two so far.” I hold up my hands. “That’s usually Cooper’s job.”
“Cooper?!” She swings around and pins Brody with a glare.
“Another day.” He states and gets up. “My head is getting foggy and I need to get some rest.”
“Do these drugs work?” Kailey asks him, concern evident in her eyes.
“They suppress my subconscious thoughts, I feel like I can’t concentrate on anything too long, and that way he’s suppressed too.”
“The Monster.” She whispers.
Before Zeke left, I tried calling Oliver another three times and left him a slew of text messages. He’s clearly avoiding me and that means everything is true. He’s an assassin known as the Teacher and his next hit is Brody.
I don’t know how to feel about any of this and with everything that’s happened the last few days, my mind is reeling. I’m still trying to conjure up some semblance of feeling other than anger but it’s not working. I’m angry at all of them for hiding so much from me, at Brody for punishing me, at my papa for ruining our family, and mostly at myself for living in a secluded bubble for so long.
There are things I can never forgive myself for and I just added shutting out my best friends as one of them. I need to face the consequences of my actions and not just the effect it had on my life but also on theirs.
It’s Christmas morning and my body is sore. Walking is a bit difficult and swallowing is painful. I’m not a stranger to spending Christmas alone, last Christmas Papa had to work-apparently-and the Christmas before that was the same. I lost that nostalgic feeling for holidays when Mama was killed. Something else Papa deprived me of.
Then, the revelation about Brody and the Monster has been constantly on my mind. I can’t completely forgive him for what he’s done to me, especially since he’s held me here but I can’t completely disregard his mental health. As much as I want to hate him and even though I’ve told him as much, I can’t.
While he was inside of me yesterday-right after I slapped him-I watched his whole demeanor change. His face changed, his eyes changed, and his voice changed. I thought he was possessed and as I felt myself losing consciousness, I accepted that death was there to take me.
He had become the Monster.
I hear the door open and Brody steps in to drop a plate of what looks to be waffles again.
“Merry Christmas.” His voice sounds better, has some pitch to it. He throws a box wrapped in a bow on the bed.
“You got me something?” I ask as I walk towards the bed.
“Nah, that has taken years to make.” He leans against the wall and puts his hands in his pockets. “I took the meds again so if you want to talk about something we have to do it now.”
“Can you tell me about this empire you and the guys are making?” I ask as I pick up the box. It’s light and when I shake it there’s no noise inside.
“We hate our families.” He shrugs. “We wanted to watch them fall from their pedestals as we climbed ours.”
“How so?”
“Zeke for instance was supposed to take over his father’s import/export business. Any guesses as to what he’s importing or exporting?”
“Drugs?” I suggest.
“That’s one.”
“Weapons?”
“You’re good at this.” He grins, the slight curve making his face devastating.
“Is there more?”
“His most lucrative would be humans.” He states and I let the words sink in.
“Like slaves?”
“Sex slaves, yeah.” He nods. “Mostly children.”
“Oh my god.” My hand covers my mouth. “Zeke is taking that over?”
“Zeke has effectively put his father out of business. He tracks all his shipments and frees them before their intended destinations. Now, his father owes a lot of powerful people money or product and he can’t deliver either. He’s on the run currently and Zeke is trying to locate him for those very people.”
“Zeke is setting his father up to die?”
“Precisely.” He scratches at his chin.
“And Cooper cleans up dead bodies?”
“Cooper’s family business is to clean up or cover up murders and provide security detail to high profile clients. Cooper instead, started his own clean up business and has stolen many clients from his father. He also pairs up with Zeke in security detail.” He grins again, obviously proud of his closest friends. “His father is just about through, too.”
“You and Caine?”
“Let’s try again tomorrow.” He nods at the box. “Are you going to open that?”