I stumbled back from Jack, almost too shocked to even retaliate. They always say the ones closest to you will be the ones to betray you first. I shook away the shock and kicked him hard in the stomach.
"I trusted you not to lie to me Jack. This will be worse now"
"But I'm telling the truth. He really sent us"
"Why? Zeke has no reason to come after me, not without knowing the consequences of what will happen to him when I get back"
"It was his dying wish"
I kicked him again, feeling pleasure in the crack I heard. I nodded to the boys and I left. Not caring if my family was safe or not. I boarded the next flight back to New York. I hadn't been able to get into contact with Zeke and I knew that something fishy was going to happen when I touched the ground again. And sure enough it did. The cops arrested me on the spot as soon as I came out of my gate. I was brought back to the police station and they advised me to get a lawyer but I advised them that I will not be needing one.
"Now Mrs. Hanning, I'm sure you heard the news by now"
"What news would that be, officer?"
"We bought you in on the suspicions of the death of one Mr Zeke Matthew"
"I wasn't even aware that he was dead until you told me"
"Give it all a rest Mrs. Hanning. We have your DNA at the scene of the crime"
"Of course you would"
The detective looked baffled at my answer.
"There should be a lot of my DNA at his apartment because I spent a lot of time there"
"What exactly are you implying Mrs. Hanning?"
"Zeke and I fucked, a lot too. We were having an affair and you can question my husband and his wife"
"They know?"
"Of course. We stopped a little while ago. Now aren't you meant to ask me about my alibi?"
"Alibi?"
"Yes, since the police officers failed to tell you that they arrested me at the airport. You can check my bank statements and the airport security cameras, but everything can confirm that I have been in Texas for the past couple of days. You will also see on my bank statement, that I checked into a hotel and you can also check their footage as well"
The detective stuttered and rushed out of the room. I waited about twenty minutes in that non air contained room before two other detectives came rushing back in. They unlocked the handcuffs and I rubbed my raw wrist. Handcuffs are only fun when they are plastic.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Hanning. Your alibi cleared and the forensic came back. It seems Mr. Matthews killed himself"
"Coward. Your chief will be hearing about this, arresting and accusing someone before getting your facts straight"
They gave me my stuff back before escorting me out of the precinct. I called for my car and I was taken home. Owen looked flustered when I walked through the door. He seemed to want to rush towards me but I gave him a shake of my head. I was in no mood to be loving.
"Why am I just hearing about Zeke's death?"
"We only just found out. Are you alright? Did everything go alright in Texas?"
"Unfortunately not. I will have to return to sort out some issues that I couldn't fix because I was interrupted. I'm guessing Zeke was with Williams and Peterson?"
"It looks like it"
"Fuck, I was too busy wondering if my assistant was the spy I forgot to include other people on my list. Make sure that boy it dealt with. I don't want any loose ends connecting to Zeke"
"What about Margo?"
I stilled on the staircase. I had forgotten about her for a moment.
"What about her? She will have to go as well"
"She's eight months pregnant"
"Fuck"
@@@
Margo was huge. I mean she was eight months pregnant and ready to pop any moment now but still, she was huge. She also didn't look too good either. It was either the morning sickness or the news of her husband's death. She also didn't look too pleased to see me when she opened her door.
"Why are you even here S? I know very well that you don't do sympathy"
"Loose ends. You would be dead right now if it wasn't for that baby of course"
Her complexion seemed to get paler.
"You are the only loose end that I can't tie up. I'm a nasty and cruel woman but I am not a monster. I will hide you and the baby and make sure you have everything you need"
"Why are you bothering to do this?"
My face twitched as the ugly memory surfaced.
"I'm sorry to tell you this Miss Wesfeld but the wound ruptured one of your fallopian tubes"
"What does that mean exactly?"
"Because you're only fifteen, your body hasn't had time to mature properly. If you were in you mid thirties and had kids already then this wouldn't be a problem"
"So I can't have kids?"
"I'm not saying you can't have kids, I'm just saying there is a possibility that you may never get pregnant"
I touched my stomach. I wasn't in the position to ever think about having kids but Margo, she was so lucky and I envied her new family. Zeke may be gone now but she will have this miniature version of him running between her ankles. I always wanted to have a big family from growing up in the system but when I got into all the mess, I knew it would never happen. Once my contract was up, maybe I will think about it but for now, no kids and no dreaming.
"Like I said, I'm not a monster. I will have men on you until the baby is born then I will make sure nothing will happen to you two. Look at the time, I need to go back. Stay seated, I can show myself out"
She nodded and I quickly went back into the car. Why did they hide this from me? If I had known..... What exactly would you have done Carla? You don't have a single nice bone in your body. From experience you would have knocked the pair of them off earlier. Maybe that's why they didn't bother telling me. My second phone started to vibrate and I frowned at the unknown number. By the looks of it, it was a Dallas area code. No one should have this number anymore. Why did I even bother keeping it? I knew I should have thrown it out a long time ago, it will bring me nothing but trouble. With caution I answered it.
"Hello?"
"I bet you didn't think you would be hearing from me again Carla"
"Who is this?"
"You don't remember my voice? I've used it to threaten your life many times before"
I held my breath as I recalled the voice over the phone. Well I certainly did not expect him to be phoning me again. Back when I was in my two man drug cartel, Hugo was a very well known mafia boss in Dallas. Of course I've had many run ins with him and none of them were very pleasant to say the least. Back then I was deathly scared of him because I knew he could end my life at any moment. But now, this was a game on easy mode for me. I wonder who he has taken hostage to bring me to him. I wonder if I should play the scared card?
"Ah yes, Hugo, I do remember you"
"I have a present for you Miss Wesfeld. Boy say hello to your saviour"
"Carla, do what he says. He said he'll kill me if you don't come here"
"Axel?"
Well that I did not expect. Hugo was not a smart man. Axel could have told him that we have not been together for years. But I guess Hugo had men watching the house just in case I did come back. Why did he still hold a grudge on me? Surely this is a trap and by god do I love me a good trap. I put on my best voice, trying so hard not to smile through the phone.
"Axel? Are you hurt? Did he hurt you anywhere?"
"I'm fine. I tried telling him but the oaf wouldn't listen to me"
"Don't worry, I've already booked my ticket back. I promise I won't let anyone hurt you"
@@@@@
Axel's POV
Hugo ended the call and I patted him in the back.
"Do you think she bought it boss?"
"It sounded like she did"
"Do you think she will be coming back?"
"I guess we will find out. Get the other men ready and make sure there is no where she can run from me"
Hugo nodded and made his way back upstairs. Carla should have never come back to Dallas. Now that I know everything she has been up to, it will be enjoyable to cut off her head. All I have to do is kill her and make her group mine. When Lindsay and Carla swapped places, I knew it was going to be easy to make her territory mine. Lindsay didn't know everything Carla was up to and I don't think she ever found out. All I have to do is make Carla talk. I need to know where she hid Lindsay or if she is even alive anymore. Not long now before all my plans start to play out.
We tracked her every movement, from the moment she left the New York airport, to where she landed. But the reports, it looked like she decided to come alone. Maybe I was wrong, maybe she still did care about me. We set up the warehouse and I made Hugo tie me up and gag me. Time for the plan to play out. I just hope I can trust Hugo not to stuff everything up.
@@@@
Carla's POV
I decided not to bring back up with me. All I have to do is kill Hugo and his men will become my men. It was quite a simple plan but I knew it was stupid to go into this trap alone. I walked into the warehouse, on high alert. I heard muffling and saw that Axel had been tied to a chair, a rag stuffed into his mouth. Hugo was standing in front of him and they hadn't spotted me yet. In fact there was no one else around, which made me worry a bit. If this was a trap, it was a very stupid one. I crept up to the men, just hearing the last bit of their conversation.
"Don't worry boss, the men are in their positions. She won't get out of here alive"
Frowning, I watched Axel nod his head. I headed back through the warehouse and knocked on the front door. So this is what Axel has been up to these days. I never really watched out for him because it hurt too much to even see him. I guess he took the opportunity while I was away to regain the territory from me. I never did really care what happened to this area but I now I do. I was going to disappear soon and I needed a back up place. I always thought I could go home.
The door to the warehouse slid open and Hugo smiled creepily down at me. I kept my face still and followed him through the warehouse again. I stuck my hands in my jacket pockets, tightly gripping the small gun I managed to snag on my way here. It was tough considering that Hugo's men were watching my every move. Axel struggled against his restraints when he spotted us. He was good at playing his part.
"Tell me exactly what you want Hugo"
"Your head on a spike will be enough payment to set your little boy toy free"
"That's all? I thought it was going to be something serious"
I suddenly screamed, dropping to the ground, clenching onto my left shoulder. The fucker had the nerve to shoot me. Pulling my hand away to inspect the wound, I saw that the bullet went straight through. Good god. This was going to fucking hurt in the morning.
"I was quite serious, Miss Westfeld. Your head is the price for the Axel's freedom. The bounty on your head has grown quite a sum since you left all those years ago"
Shuffling off the ground, I raised the loaded gun towards Hugo, making him laugh out loud. He snapped his fingers and I heard the whole warehouse reload. Fuck, he wasn't kidding when he said I was surrounded. I laughed and moved my gun from Hugo, to Axel. The laughter turned into confusion and worry started to set on Axel's face.
"I see you've finally managed to tame the beast Axel. You could've done so much better for the hostage. My little sister would have bought out a better response from me but I would still be in the same situation. I guess you thought you could cut off my head and reign over my men. Do you know how many men have already tried this game? Do you want to know how many of them are still alive?"
I smirked and shot. Silence filled the room as we all kind of stared at Axel's lifeless body.
"None"