"Good. Now, help Ricardo take the bodies to the harbor."
"Yes, sir."
Frank's men didn't bat an eye when it came to cleaning up dead bodies. He had trained them well, but it was unfortunate for Frank that he hadn't trained Jackie as well as he'd thought. She’d had a long speech to give him about killing her husband, taking her baby, and locking her up for eighteen years, but Jackie didn't get to say any of those things because she had seen an opportunity and taken it. Frank hadn’t hesitated when he'd shot and killed Russell in front of her, so she didn't either.
"Are you okay?" Frankie asked Jackie.
"Yeah." But when she lifted the gun to hand it to him, she was shaking.
"I thought for a second you were going to shoot me," Quinn admitted.
"I did too," Frankie agreed.
"I was hoping everyone would think that."
"I just hope it's all over now," Quinn stated.
"Me too," Jackie agreed.
"Go check on Zell while I make sure these guys do what they were told," Frankie ordered.
The ladies went to the stairs, looking in each room for Zell until they got to the end of the hall and found her pacing back and forth in the small space.
"Is it done?" Zell questioned.
"Yes," Jackie replied and brought Zell in for a hug. "It's all over."
"What do we do now?" Zell inquired.
"I don't know about you two, but I could use some sleep," Quinn answered.
I couldn't believe that the plan had worked.
Jackie had scared me when she turned the gun on my mother. That was unexpected, and I thought she was turning on us, that somehow Dad really did have control of her. I wasn't sure what I would have done if that had been the case. Would I have had to kill Zell's real mother? Would they have killed us? My heart raced, thinking about everything, but I had to show no fear, especially since I was in charge now.
"You good?" I asked Ricardo as he and another guy carried my father's lifeless body down the hall to the stairs that led to the kitchen.
"Yeah. Are you?"
"Perfect." I wasn't necessarily sure that was true. I was too busy worrying about everything to really process the last two days or the fact that I’d just watched my father die. Plus, I was exhausted and starving. I went down with them to a van parked near the service entrance to the building. They placed both of the bodies in the back.
"Is that all, boss?" Ivan questioned.
"Actually, tell me why my father had you come in the back way."
Ivan looked at Diego and Aaron and then back at me. "After he got the call from Ricardo, he pulled up the camera feed on his phone. He saw you all talking and knew that you weren't shot."
Those fucking cameras. I had forgotten about them since they were hidden on the main level, but I was going to rip the place apart until I found every last one of them. I grunted and pulled my shirt up, revealing the bandages on my chest. Hell, my sweater had a bloodstain on it. "I was shot."
"Why didn't he come up with his piece pulled?" Ricardo questioned.
"He thought we'd get the upper hand by coming in through the back. I don't think any of us expected that woman to shoot him."
Yeah, that was a shock. "Okay." I nodded. "And just so we're clear, you work for me now."
"Yes, sir," the three of them said.
"And Ricardo's my right-hand man, so when I'm not available, he's the one in charge."
"Yes, sir," they said again.
"Ricardo, call me when you're done."
"Yes, sir," he responded.
The men got into the van, and I went back into the elevator. Ricardo had given me the code, but I needed to figure out how to change it. In fact, there would be a lot of changes. I needed to find out if the warehouse was still standing, if the auction was completed, and then stop it all. There would be no more kidnapping or selling women, and the nightclub wasn't going to be a front for drugs anymore.
I stepped into Zell's room, and she rushed into my arms when she saw me. "Don't forget I was shot, princess," I groaned.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"Are they gone?" Mom asked.
"Yeah. It's just us left."
"Now, what do we do?" Zell questioned.
"We can go back to the apartment," Mom suggested. "We know we'll be okay there."
"Just don't drink the scotch." Jackie chuckled.
"Yeah, we need to pour that out," Mom agreed.
"Is it really over?" Zell asked.
I pulled her to me and wrapped my arm around her, kissing the side of her head. "Yeah, princess. The old king and his witch are dead."
"Until the cops find their bodies," Jackie stated.
I never knew what happened with the bodies my father got rid of in the harbor. Maybe the water washed away all the evidence and nothing ever got tied back to him. I hoped that was the case this time.
"Well, the only evidence is here in the penthouse, so we obviously need to clean up Frank’s and Saffron's blood," Mom said.
"Can we sleep first? Maybe get something to eat?" I asked.
"What if someone comes and sees the blood?" Zell questioned.
"Like who? They can't get up in the elevator," I stated.
"Martin will be here in the morning," she replied.
"Who's Martin?"
"The chef."
"He comes and goes?" I questioned.
Zell shrugged. "I thought he had a room downstairs, but I haven't seen him since we've been here."
I let go of Zell and took off toward the kitchen. Ricardo had said the service elevator was next to the chef's room. Was he there the entire time? The first door I opened was the pantry. I slammed it shut. The next room was a bedroom, but it was empty. "He's not here."
"Maybe he left with the girls," Mom suggested.
"Zell"—I grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes—"think real hard, princess. Was he held captive like you and the girls, or did he come and go?"
"I think he lived here like us."
"That seems likely since he has a room here," Jackie stated.
"He had to have left with the girls," Mom said. "We can ask Ricardo."
"Yeah, I'll do that when he calls me." I yawned, causing all the ladies to yawn. "Let's get out of here and get some sleep." I was fucking exhausted.
"Can we stop and get banana pudding?" Jackie asked. "I've been craving it for over eighteen years."
I woke to the sound of crying. When I turned on my bedside lamp, Zell was curled into a ball next to me sobbing. "Shhh, it's okay." I wrapped my arms around her. She cried harder. "Just let it all out. I've got you."
"I was just thinking about everything."
"I figured. A lot has happened."
"I always wanted to see the city, but now I'm scared to go outside without you. What if I get kidnapped again?"
"I won't let that happen." I nuzzled my face into her neck.