The Exception (20 page)

CANE

There was no sense in trying to get any work done.

I slammed my pencil on the drawings, turning a circle in my chair.

I had brought a bid home to work on over the weekend, hoping that it would keep my mind occupied, but it wasn’t working. It hadn’t worked all day. Here it was, after ten on a Saturday night, and I was no better than I was twelve hours earlier.

All I could see was her face as she watched me walked out of that fucking bar and all I could hear was the sound of being sent to voicemail a few hours earlier.

She actually liked my fucked up self.

Liked. Past tense. Dumbass.

I got up and walked to the window. I rested my head against the cool glass, wishing I could just redo the whole night before. I expected her to be a little pissed at me when I got there, but I should have stayed calm. And I sure as shit shouldn’t have walked out with that chick.

That was low. Even for me.

My phone buzzing on my desk broke my thoughts. I turned and watched it bounce around.

Maybe it’ll bounce off the desk and smash into pieces.

I ran my fingers through my hair, tugging it roughly. I needed to feel something other than whatever this feeling was.

Is this what guilt feels like? Don’t you need a conscience to feel that?

I need to hit the bag for a while. Work this shit out of my system.

I headed back to the desk when the phone started ringing again. I saw it was Max.

“What’s up?”

“We have a problem,” Max bit out angrily.

For fuck’s sake.
The last thing I wanted to deal on a Saturday night was a construction issue.

I pay him to handle this shit. Let him handle it.

“Oh, do we now? What can you not take care of yourself, Max?” I instantly felt bad for being a dick, but I really just wanted to be left alone.

“Okay,” Max said, his words and their anger hitting me hard. “I just won’t tell you that Jada has fucking bruises on her arm.”

“Whoa. Wait. What?” I sat back down in my chair, confident that I misheard him. “What did you just say?”

“Yeah. Jada just got home and she was nervous as hell. Kari grabbed her arm and she pulled it back. Her arm has a bunch of bruises, Alexander.”

“From what?” I asked, praying that she didn’t do something really fucking stupid. But I had a bad feeling.

“I’d say in my infinite wisdom that they are fingerprints. They look like someone grabbed her.”

Adrenaline began to flow through my body and I stood back up, my heart now pounding uncontrollably. “Who did it?” I looked around the room for my shoes, my mind three steps ahead of my body.

“Powers.”

I stopped dead in my tracks and tried to wrap my brain around what Max just said.

“How in the fuck did that happen?” I roared, snapping back to life. “Max!
How in the fuck did that happen?
”

“I’m just guessing that your little stunt last night at the bar probably made her forget anything you said. Hell, that probably made her do it. Just a thought.”

“Now’s not the time for a fucking lecture, Max!” I bellowed. “Where the fuck were you? How did you not know she was meeting him?” I grabbed my shoes from the doorway and put them on.

“I don’t live there, asshole,” Max said. “But I think the real question is, where the fuck were you? Why didn’t you call her today?”

If he wasn’t my friend, I would have made sure he met his maker right after Simon. “I did. She didn’t answer.”

“You do realize how bad this could have been, right? Was getting a strange piece of ass worth this?”

“Fuck you, Max.”

“I’m coming up your street now. Be ready.”

“I’m walking out the door.”

CANE

The only sound was the crunching of gravel beneath the tires of Max’s Ford truck. The only light came from the headlights as we turned onto the road that led to Simon’s house.

Simon lived in the West Valley, on the farthest reaches of the city. There were few houses on this road, just a lot of agricultural land that had not been chewed up by the construction industry.

“This is Bumfuck Egypt if I’ve ever seen it,” Max said as he flipped his lights on to the bright setting.

Rage was consuming me, eating me alive. I shifted in my seat, my pulse racing.

That motherfucker is going to die!

“Easy, Alexander.” Max shot me a look out of the corner of his eye. “There it is.” He pointed to a small stucco house that sat back off the road.

At first glance, it seemed nice enough. But upon closer inspection, it was a mess. The landscaping was unkempt and the back gate had been left unlatched and was halfway open. The gutter on the front porch had come undone and was leaned against the ground.

The parallels between Simon’s home and the man himself were uncanny.

Max slowed the truck as we crept past, trying to see if there were any signs of life.

The entire area seemed to be dead. There were no moving parts: no cars, dogs, or lights in the neighboring houses. It was a fitting way to live for a piece of shit like Powers.

“Yeah, but the Avalanche isn’t in the driveway. So I’m guessing he isn’t home.”

“Well, what do you want to do?” Max asked, pulling away.

“We wait.” I looked around for a spot that allowed us to still see his house, but not look obvious. “Over there—pull in behind that barn.”

Max drove ahead a few feet and then cut it in behind an old barn. Pulling around it and shutting off the lights, we had a clear view of the road.

“Well,” Max said, looking around, “at least we are at the back of this dead end. Something’s going our way tonight.”

“Whatever. I’d beat him in the middle of fucking Phoenix if I knew where he was. I’m going to tear him apart, Max.”

“I know, man. Just don’t waste your energy bouncing around this damn truck. You know how this shit works.”

Max was right. As fucking usual. It wasn’t going to do me any good to get worked up until game time. I needed to breathe and focus.

“I’m going to kill him, Max. If you know anything I don’t, now’s the time to tell me.” The fury built again as I imagined her scared and at his mercy. My jaw clenched, my teeth grinding together.

“Just that he had sent her a text that said he owes her one or something like that. That was how I know for sure it was him.”

“Really,” I said, stretching my neck side to side. “Well, we will see who pays who when he gets home.”

“We could sit here all night, you know.”

“Then we sit.” I leaned forward, popping my knuckles. “But we may have just gotten lucky.”

A set of lights turned down the gravel road and the vehicle sped our way.

I focused on controlling my breath as my anticipation grew. I liked to go into fights as controlled as possible. It made picking apart the opposition that much easier. It was something my boxing instructor had taught me growing up and had proven to be right every time I needed it … and I had needed it a time or twelve.

“It looks like his SUV,” Max said quietly, leaning forward on the steering wheel.

“Okay. As soon as he pulls in, slide the truck in behind him. If he gets in the house, he won’t come out. He’ll know why I’m here.”

Adrenaline started shooting through me, making me feel like a live wire. I inhaled deeply, trying to keep myself in check and ready for the task at hand.

The task of tearing Simon Powers apart limb by limb.

Max slowly pulled his truck around the barn with the lights off as the Avalanche approached the house. Simon hit the gravel of his driveway and Max hit the gas, flying up to the mouth of the driveway as Simon exited his SUV.

I hopped out of the truck, my nostrils flaring, and rushed around the front.

I vaguely heard Max’s footsteps behind me as I stalked forward. Simon stood beside the front of his car, his eyes darting around the darkness.

“Well, well, well. Imagine finding you out here,” Simon said, the arrogance I had always known him to have loud and clear.

I couldn’t stop the smile that slowly spread across my face. I was going to enjoy this way more than was fucking right.

With every step, my heart beat faster, every sense heightened. It was all I could do to reign myself in and not just knock him the fuck out. But I couldn’t do that.

Anticipation was half the fight and I wanted him to have the full experience.

Simon stood upright, throwing his shoulders back. His fists were balled at his side and I grinned, hoping he would at least fight back so I could extend his pain … and my pleasure.

“Put your hands up,” I instructed, trying to keep myself from just planting him into the ground.

Simon cocked his head to the side, eyeing Max for a split second before landing his sights on me again. “You know I’m a lover not a fighter, Cane. Just ask the little bitch I took to dinner tonight.”

The words were the detonator to my fuse, ensuring that he would be unrecognizable the next morning.

“Put your motherfucking hands up, Powers!” I boomed, motioning for him to raise his fists. I brought mine up to my chin and looked down my knuckles, waiting for him to get ready.

There would be no mistake this was a fight.

Reality washed over Simon like a hurricane. His face paled, his eyes grew wide as his fate became clear.

I watched with impatience as he did the predictable—the same thing that every guy that watched too many Van Damme movies did. He brought his hands waist high and began bouncing around like a kangaroo.

Good enough.

I threw a jab crisply, snapping his head back. Simon stumbled backwards before righting himself, a look of disbelief in his eyes.

I took a step forward and threw another jab, landing it flush, causing his head to snap back again. A cracking sound echoed through the night and Simon’s hands flew to his face, his eyes wide.

I laughed as blood oozed between his fingers.

He withdrew them from his face and held them in front of him, looking down at the crimson dripping off his fingers to the ground. His eyes rose to mine, before back to the blood.

“What the fuck?” Simon yelled in disbelief, wiping the blood off his face with his hands. As his hand got near his nose, he jumped back in pain.

His nose was bent, clearly broken.

“Just giving you something to remember me by in the morning. Don’t worry. I have more presents up my sleeve.”

“Cane,” Simon began, his voice frantic, “I don’t know what’s going on.”

I took a step towards him and drew my hand back, making him flinch. “I just heard you owed someone something tonight and I came to collect.”

“There was a misunderstanding.” Simon took a few steps backwards towards the house.

I leapt forward, smashing my right hand into the side of his face. His head fell to his right, but was stopped by my left hand, driving his head the other way. His eyes rolled back upon impact and he fell to the ground with a thud.

Round one—me.

I breathed heavily, my chest rising and falling with such force that it almost felt like I wasn’t breathing at all. I looked down at the piece of shit at my feet as he found his wits.

“We are going to make sure there are no more misunderstandings. Get up,” I commanded.

“Cane—”

“Get. The. Fuck. Up.”

Simon scooted back in the gravel, his eyes filled with absolute terror.

“Max!” I called, turning my head slightly to the side. “Get this motherfucker up!”

I heard the rocks crunch behind me.

“No!” Simon got up to his knees, bringing his hands back to his face again. His nose was already swelling, his face stained with his own fluid. “Let’s figure this out.”

“I’m losing my patience.”

Very slowly, Simon rose to his feet, squeezing his eyes shut. He braced for the impact he knew I was about to deliver.

I threw a roundhouse kick right below his knee, causing his legs to sweep out from under him. The sound of bones snapping pierced through the night.

He landed forcefully back onto the ground, a whooshing sound escaping his mouth as his breath was knocked out of him. He lay on his side, his face in the decomposed granite, his hands wrapped around his calf. He groaned as he rolled onto his back, still holding his leg.

I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. “I’m disappointed, Powers. I expected more from you. I really did.”

I moved until I was standing over him. He looked up at me, tears rolling down his face.

If only I gave a fuck.

“Let me help you up.” I reached down and grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him to one foot. He winced in pain, trying to pull away, but we both knew he wouldn’t be able to move without assistance.

I helped him get to the front of his Avalanche and he leaned back against the hood, breathing harshly. His nose made a wheezing sound as he tried to inhale around the mixture of tears and gore swirling around his face.

“Now, let’s make sure we are on the same page before I go home, okay?”

He nodded, leery. His eyes were beginning to swell shut and the slits that were left were clouded by tears and blood.

“When you get up in the morning and you can’t walk or breathe or see, I want you to remember not to fuck with me ever again. You got it?” I grabbed his chin in my hand, pulling his eyes to mine.