“It’s time to go, I’ve got shit to do. Try and stay out of trouble,” I tell them as I turn and leave, “And clean up the body,” I demand as Jagger follows me out of the house, “Jag, we’re driving over to Wally’s house.”
He doesn’t seem surprised. “Yes boss. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that Wally doesn’t miss a damn meeting, he lives for the Brady organization,” I tell him getting into the car.
He climbs into the front seat. “Yes boss, but the man’s been married less than a week. If that were you and Mia, you wouldn’t be leaving the house. You would be balls deep inside of her.” He starts the car, just as my men begin to leave the house.
“Watch your mouth,” I say through clenched teeth, I don’t give a shit if he’s my best friend or not, no one talks about Mia that way. He turns on the engine and reverses out of here. “I’ve got a feeling there’s more to this shit than what meets the eye. Why did he tell Kenneth? It makes no fucking sense.”
“Unless, Kenneth was a plant all along? Maybe he is a cop after all? He could be one of Johnson’s men? I guess the only way we’re going to know for certain is ask the bastard when we get him.”
I take my cell out of my pocket and dial David’s number. It rings out, no answer. Fuck, I do the same for Aaron’s and it’s the same. Shit. Fuck. I call Rory, and it rings.
“Boss?” He sounds sleepy like I’ve just woken him up.
“Yeah, did you do as David had asked?”
“Yes boss. They were dropped off outside his hideout. David told Cormac and I to leave that he had it from there.” Gone is the sleepiness, he’s fully alert now.
“How far out are you?” I question, my fucking gut screaming that something has happened to Aaron and David.
“Ten minutes, less if I take my bike.” He has a Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird.
“Take your bike, they’re not answering. Find out what the fuck is going on. Call me as soon as you get to that fucking place.” I glance at Jagger, his knuckles white from the grip he has on the steering wheel.
“Shit, I’m on it. I’ll call you soon.” He ends the call and I know that he’ll be there within ten minutes, knowing Rory, he’ll be there in about seven.
“He’s gone?” Jagger asks.
“I believe so, the men aren’t answering. We’ll know for sure soon enough.” My gut’s screaming at me that something else is going to happen.
Jagger pulls up outside Wally’s house, its pitch black, not a single light on. “They could be asleep,” Jagger says and I scoff, he sighs. “Yeah, it doesn’t look good.”
I’m out of the car, my feet moving as quick as they can, when I get to the door, I know there’s something off. My men know about Martin, they know the threat that he brings, they wouldn’t leave the damn door ajar. I nudge the door open with my foot, my gun raised as I enter the house. I don’t need to move much further than the doorway when I see him. His lifeless body hanging from the banister. Fuck.
“Motherfucker.” I don’t need to turn to know its Jagger behind me.
“Search the house, find out where Molly is.” His wife wouldn’t come to the safe house I had for the families, she and Wally had just got married, and they didn’t want to be separated. My cell rings and I lower my gun, reaching into my pocket, I see Rory’s name on the screen. “Rory.”
“Boss, they’re gone, all three of them. Aaron’s car is still parked here but there’s no sign of them. There’s blood everywhere.”
My cell beeps, indicating I have another call. “Hold on,” I instruct him and I put him on hold as I switch the calls. “Yeah?”
“Boss,” David says, his breathing labored. “Fucker got the jump on us. I’m sorry. Fucker knocked us out, shit, boss, he bought us to Synergy and set it ablaze. Aaron was still unconscious and has a lot of burns on his body. He’s in the hospital being checked out and the firefighters are working on the club now.”
Fuck. “What about you?” I ask him.
“What about me?”
I tsk. “David, are you injured?” My tone brooks no argument.
“Not really, I’ve got a cut on my head but other than that I’m fine.”
“Where has Martin gone?” I underestimated him, fuck, I need to call dad, make sure that fucker doesn’t go anywhere near them.
“I don’t know.” He sounds defeated, I know it wasn’t his fault. He shouldn’t shoulder the blame.
“We’ll get him. I’m standing in Wally’s house. Looks like Martin struck earlier today.” I don’t believe that it was a suicide. No way in hell.
“Fuck. This fuck just keeps on going. We need to hit him hard again.”
“Yeah we fucking do.” My eyes on Wally, that bastard made it to look as though it was a suicide. “Go to the hospital, get your head checked out and then stay on Aaron.”
He doesn’t argue with me, “What about Molly?”
I grit my teeth. “No sign of her yet, Jagger’s searching the house.”
“Fuck, we’re back to square one with this shit.”
I glance at the floor, hating that all the leverage I had is now gone. “Yeah, we are. This time though, we’ve dismantled that fuckers operation, he’s on his own. He has no plan, and that makes him dangerous but it also means that he’s going to slip up. I’m going to be there when he does.”
“A-fucking-men to that.”
“Get to the hospital and get checked out. That is an order.” I end the call and walk toward Wally, as much as I’d love to take him down, I can’t. I need to get the evidence, find out if Martin has done it alone or if he’s had help.
“Boss, you’re going to want to see this.” Jagger yells and I turn away from Wally and walk out of the room. “I’m in the bedroom.”
I take the stairs two at a time, as soon as I reach the doorway to the bedroom I understand why he wanted me to see it. My body goes rigid at the sight. Molly’s lying on the bed naked, her wrists cut and blood soaks the entire bed. Her legs are spread wide apart, and I have to glance away because I know that she’s been assaulted, brutally so. Seeing this, it makes everything that he did to Mia come to my mind, I shut down the thoughts instantly, not letting myself go down that rabbit hole. It’ll send me spiralling, make me lose my damn mind. Again.
“Boss, it has to be Martin,” Jagger says, he’s as disgusted as I am. You don’t do this shit to innocent women, and you certainly don’t do it to my family.
“It’s time to go. Call Lazarous, tell him that I want him working this case. I want to know how many men were here and how they managed to overpower Wally.” The man was five-feet-eleven and weighed over three hundred pounds, he wasn’t an easy man to overpower, it’s what has me thinking that Martin wasn’t alone. He’s got someone else that’s working with him.
I walk out of the house, pissed that I’ve let someone else die. I’ve lost too many already, way more than we should have. Jagger follows behind me, his voice low as he talks on his cell. He’ll see to it that we’ll know as soon as the detectives know, as soon as I find out who else is working with Martin, I’ll burn them alive.