Poisoned Rose (Dark Roses #1) (7 page)

Twelve

              Aurora got home from her weapons session at six to find her uncle smoking on the front steps and the front door open.  She hid her surprise.  Her mother’s older brother only visited on special occasions, and even then she’d never seen him sit outside.  She hadn’t even known that he’d smoked.  Coming home to find him with his head down, shoulders sagging and a trail of smoke disappearing into the frigid night air was a red flag.

              ‘Uncle Rob, what are you doing sitting out here in the cold? Come inside.’

              Her uncle put out his cigarette and offered her a hug.  But his body was stiff and awkward, and there was something wrong about the gesture.  She stepped back and looked him in the eye, searching for any hints of what she was about to find.

              ‘Thanks kid, I’ll come in soon, just gonna have another smoke first.’

              He took out another cigarette and lit up, using his left hand to cover the open flame.  He sat back down and stared out at nothing.  Tossing her keys onto the table in the foyer and dropping her duffle bag underneath, she found Johnny and Vince sitting on the right staircase, Vince with a scotch in his hand and Johnny smoking.  Seeing her brothers expressions made her want to walk back outside, get in her car and drive straight back to the training center.  Was it too much to ask for one uneventful night?

              ‘Is this a thing now? Hanging out on steps?’

              She tried to bring some humor into the situation but her deadpan comment fell flat.  Johnny blew out a final string of smoke before putting out the cigarette, shoving the butt into his pocket and standing up, turning to walk up the steps without a word. Vince knocked back his drink and put the tumbler to the side of the steps, standing up just as she reached him.  When she asked him what was going on, he shook his head.

              She rubbed her palms against her thighs and swallowed the lump in her throat as Johnny led the way down the second floor corridor to their mother’s bedroom.  He knocked three times and when there was no answer, he opened the double doors and flicked on the lights.  Aurora had to cover her mouth to stop herself from gagging, the smell of hard liquor and smoke overwhelming her senses.  She peered over his shoulder to find her mother seated on the bed with her back to them, her cell pressed to her ear.  Santina turned and gave Johnny a nasty look, the vehemence making Aurora cringe.  Her mother took a cigarette out of her mouth.

              ‘I’m on the phone.’

              ‘Hang up.’

              She was surprised at Johnny’s abruptness but knew her mother would listen.  It was an order, not a request.  Santina rolled her eyes and turned her back to them again.  With a quick explanation to the person on the other end, she promised to call them back before dropping the phone onto her bed and standing up, turning to face them.  She was dressed in a nightgown, a black robe half covering her body, one shoulder bare as the robe sat halfway down her arm.  Her hair had grown out so that she had an inch of stark grey roots contrasted against her dyed black hair.  She had purple bags under her eyes and as she started chewing on one of her nails, Aurora noticed that half her red acrylics had broken off.  She put out her cigarette and reached for a tissue from her bedside table.

              ‘What’s so important that you had to pull out the man of the house card?

              ‘You have an alcohol addiction.’

              Santina froze with the tissue to her nose, scrunched it up and crossed her arms, shrugging her shoulder to try and get her robe to sit in place and failing.  Aurora felt a wave of sadness wash over her as she realized why her uncle was there.  Vince stepped in.

              ‘Since dad died, you’ve been hauled up in your room with the lights out, drunk and angry and talking to yourself.  You’re a mess, you’ve never smoked before in your life and you used to take pride in your appearance, now look at you.’

              Santina raised her chin and Vince shook his head.

              ‘How I live my life is none of your concern, I don’t need my children to look after me…’

              But Johnny growled and interrupted her by heading towards her bathroom. Aurora watched in horror as her mother launched herself at him, grabbing him by the bicep and trying to pull him away.  He ripped his arm out of her grasp and she ran into the bathroom after him.  Aurora wasn’t sure if she should follow and looked to Vince, who crossed his arms and told her to stay where she was.  From the door, she watched the nightmare play out as Johnny threw open drawers and cupboards, one after the other, Santina trying to stop him every time.  When he found what he was looking for, Aurora held her breath.  The cupboard beneath the sink was filled with empty liquor bottles, so many that they tumbled out and smashed against the tiles.  Empty packets of cigarettes followed.  Johnny stood up and faced their mother, the expression on his face cold and terrifying.  Santina stuttered, offering a shallow excuse that the bottles weren’t hers while avoiding eye contact and chewing on her bottom lip.  Johnny grabbed her by the shoulders.

              ‘Enough! I was hoping you’d sort yourself out but you don’t seem to want to do that.  One way or another you need to get your shit together, and I don’t trust you to do that on your own anymore.  You need constant supervision and we can’t give you that.’

              Santina scoffed but Aurora could see that she was shaking.

              ‘What are you gonna do John? Kick me out of my own home?’

              ‘That’s exactly what I’m doing.’

              Aurora moved out of the way as Johnny pulled their mother out of the bathroom and towards the bedroom door.  Santina started screeching, hitting Johnny’s arm and trying to throw herself onto her bed, screaming that she needed her cell and begging Johnny not to leave her without a phone.  But Johnny wasn’t listening.  He turned and pulled Santina towards him.

              ‘Listen to me.  This is for your own good.  Uncle Rob’s gonna take you to his place so he and Aunt Maria can look after you. We’ll get the maids to pack your suitcases and drive them over to you.’

              ‘You can’t do this!’

              ‘Watch me.’

              Johnny picked her up and carried her over his shoulder out the bedroom door.  Aurora could hear her mother swearing and hitting him on the back as they made their way down the staircase, the sound of smashing glass indicating that Johnny had kicked over Vince’s tumbler.  As they walked out the front door and their mother’s voice filtered out into the night, Vince picked up her cell.

              ‘Do you really think this is necessary?’

              Vince tossed the cell to Aurora and walked out the door.

              ‘You tell me.’

              She was gutted when she looked at the screen.  There was no SIM card.  She put the cell in her back pocket and was walking out of the bedroom when she heard the front door close and her uncle’s car drive away.  She looked over the banister at Johnny and Vince, who were talking in hushed tones.  She called out to them, not sure what to say as they both looked up.

              ‘Are we going to talk about what just happened?’

              She was sure her brothers wouldn’t want to discuss it but she had to try.  Johnny walked away without giving her an answer, but Vince replied before following.

              ‘There’s nothing to talk about.’

Thirteen

              It was close to midnight on a Saturday when Hawk pulled his Ninja up beside an old Camry at a set of traffic lights in West Hollywood.  He cracked his neck and when he glanced at the car, recognition had him smashing his fist through the window.  It was the driver from the night Mike had been murdered.  Caught off guard but quick to recover, the driver stepped on the accelerator and tore through the lights, almost taking Hawk’s arm with him.  Hawk took chase, speeding through West Hollywood and Beverly Hills down to Venice’s back streets, and barked Johnny’s name into his Bluetooth.  When the call went to voicemail he went with the next name that came to mind.  Bo answered on the first ring and Hawk interrupted the greeting.

              ‘Bo, clear your schedule man, I’m chasing the driver from the night your boy was killed.’

              ‘Where are you?’

              Hawk cursed as the Camry went flying through a red light on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.  He put his head down, clamped the bike between his thighs and lifted it into the air, landing the Ninja on top of an Accord that was passing by.  The driver slammed on the brakes but Hawk was already in the air again, bypassing the boulevard and landing at the start of the street on the other side.

              ‘Flying over Abbot Kinney.’

              ‘Drop me a pin so I can track you.’

              As he heard Bo’s Hummer growl to life, he instructed his cell to send his location.

              ‘Got it, I’m on my way, stay on the line.’

              The Camry took off again.  He wasn’t surprised to find that the driver had stopped, hoping to see Hawk get taken down, and knowing that made the chase that much more exhilarating.  He continued tailing the car, closing in until he heard Bo’s voice again.

              ‘I’ve got him.’

              He grinned as the Hummer came into view and Bo fired two shots, blowing the Camry’s front tires.  The car skidded to the right and crashed into the front yard of an American foursquare, the driver jumping out and taking off down the street.  Hawk idled his Ninja, crossed his arms and lifted his visor, watching in amusement as Bo jumped out of the Hummer and tackled their suspect.  The driver hit the ground and panicked, spinning around and attempting to bite Bo’s ear while wrapping his legs around Bo’s torso.  Bo head butted the driver unconscious, spun him back around and cuffed him before dragging him to where he’d parked his Hummer.

              ‘Now those are one pair of legs I don’t want wrapped around me.’

              Hawk snorted.  That was one of the reasons he liked Bo; the guy was a lunatic with a sense of humor.

              ‘You want to take him to Johnny’s warehouse or mine?’

              Bo stared at the driver knocked out in his back seat.

              ‘Let’s go to Johnny’s, it’s nearby.  I’ll call him on our way, his jet should have landed by now.’

              He dropped his visor into place and brought his bike to life, letting Bo lead the way
. 
Twenty minutes later he pulled up in front of the Hannam warehouse just as Bo was opening the Hummer’s back door and dragging the driver out.  Bo let out an exaggerated sigh and threw the dead weight over his shoulder, slamming the door shut.

              ‘I knew there was a chance I’d be carrying someone over my shoulder tonight, but I assumed it’d be a chick, not an ugly S.O.B… Is it sad that I’m more excited about this though?’

              ‘I’d say yes but I’m in the same boat my man.’

              They both sniggered and walked into the warehouse.  It was dark and their voices echoed in the empty space.  The metal staircase clanged under their boots as they climbed up to the manager's office at the back of the building.  Hawk went first, threw the door open and turned on the light.  A light bulb in the center of the room flickered to life and beneath it was a wooden chair.  He rolled his eyes and Bo grinned as he unloaded the driver into the chair.

              ‘Why change something when it works? Anyway, there’s a different switch near the desk that lights up the fluorescents.’

              Bo had a point. Hawk looked around the office and found an oak desk towards the back of the room with filing cabinets on both sides and a pair of wooden chairs in front.  Bo cuffed the driver’s wrists behind his back and his ankles to the chair’s legs before presenting the scene to Hawk and stalking over to one of the other wooden chairs.  He dragged it to the edge of the room, spun the chair around and straddled it, popping a piece of gum in his mouth before resting his arms in front of him.

              ‘Tools of the trade are on the table to your left.’

              Hawk made his way to the table and found several knives and chains, as well as a wide array of guns and Tasers.  He wasn’t surprised at the absence of rare weapons.  Like Mario, Tony had always favored the classics when it came to interrogations.  There were also several bottles of bleach.  Under the table were buckets filled with water, hessian sacks and ropes.  It was like a smorgasbord straight out of hell.

              He laid his helmet and jacket on the desk, cracked his knuckles and went back over to the interrogation table.  He picked up a bucket and tipped the water over the driver’s head.  The driver spluttered and coughed, coming to and starting to panic as soon as he realized what was going on.  Hawk threw the bucket down and gave him a solid backhand across the face.  Blood flew out of the driver’s mouth and Bo grinned, blowing a bubble and popping it.

              ‘I don’t know anything!’

              Another backhand.

              ‘I just got paid to distract the son ok, stroke his ego a bit and lead him down the alleyway, but that’s it I swear, I don’t know where they took him!’

              Hawk paused.  The man wasn’t just the driver from the night Mike was killed, he’d also helped set up Dante.  It was better than they had expected.

              ‘See that wasn’t so hard.  Now, I know it was dark the last time we met but my eyes are pretty unforgettable wouldn’t you say? And my voice, I’m sure you remember me asking you if you were waiting for someone.  What was it you told me? Oh yeah, ‘custom seats cost a fucking fortune.’’

              Hawk mimicked the driver’s words from the night of the execution, his voice dripping sarcasm and laced with malice.  At first the driver was confused but then realization dawned.  He pissed his pants and burst into tears.  His words slurred and he began to beg for mercy.  Hawk went back to the table and picked up a thin rusted chain.

              ‘Save your breath buddy, I’m just getting started.’