Beckett
Ryland and Hudson move into the cabin as Skates’ boat comes into view. We’re so far out at sea that no one is around within eyesight, and all you can see is water.
Casey’s face has no color in it. “Are you going to be able to do this so Mia doesn’t get killed?”
He takes a deep breath. “Yes.”
I shake my head and look forward, seeing red. All the years in my cell of plotting out different scenarios and ways I could avenge Clay’s and Mia’s death never involved a boat or Mia being a hostage. Mia was always already dead.
Already dead. I shudder at the horrible realization Skates could have already hurt or murdered her.
But he wants you to watch.
The sick thought keeps my mind from spinning down the rabbit hole of what he might have already done to Mia.
Stay focused, Beckett. This isn’t the time to get weak.
We approach the boat, and I eye Ryland and Hudson in the cabin. Ryland taps his fist on his heart. I replicate his actions.
Together we stand, alone we fall. I hope we’re all standing after this.
Casey drifts up next to Skates’ yacht. Skates’ two goons tie the boats together while Henry waves a gun at us. “Out, now,” he demands and motions the gun for us to get onto their vessel.
I glare at him. I’m no longer the naive kid I was a decade ago. I’ve lived in hell and experienced evil. Henry doesn’t scare me. He’s a sad waste of space, and he may be holding a gun, but it doesn’t intimidate me.
“Got something you want to say, Beckett?”
“Yeah. How do you sleep at night?”
He grins. “I sleep just fine. I open my balcony and listen to the waves roll.”
Disgust fills me. How many lives have been ruined so he can have his beach house?
“Skates. They’re here,” Henry calls out as one of Skates’ men pats me down and the other one does the same to Casey.
“Where’s Mia?” I ask Henry.
He laughs. “You couldn’t save her last time. What makes you think you can save her this time?”
Rage takes over, and I lunge at him, but the meathead who checked me for weapons holds me back.
“Easy there, kid. You might end up in the ocean with an anchor around your neck,” Skates warns, coming out of the cabin. “Now move.” He motions to the front of the boat.
As we’re walking to the front, I look at him. “Where’s Mia?”
“Oh, she’s reliving her mother’s days.”
Tilting my head at him, I ask, “What are you talking about?”
He snickers. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
My blood boils. “What have you done to her?”
Skates’ cocky expression sends more adrenaline pulsing through my veins. “Given her options.”
“Options?”
“Jimmy, what did you do?” Casey demands in a more authoritative voice than I’ve ever heard him use.
Skates turn toward him. “Well, aren’t you suddenly willing to stick your neck out. Didn’t know you had any balls left, Pops.”
Casey swallows hard, and guilt crosses his face.
Veronica comes out, and I feel like I’m seeing a ghost. She’s only aged a little in the last ten years, and the day Clay introduced me to her on the beach flashes in my mind.
Now that is the type of girl you go back for seconds with. The memory of me telling Clay that makes me shudder and wish I would have told him to stay away, knowing what I do now. How does a girl like her get hooked up with a guy like Skates?
She leans against Skates and bats her eyes at me with a big smile. “Beckett. I didn’t think I would ever see you again.”
I glare at her.
Veronica puts her lips near Skates’. “Everything okay out here, baby? Can I get you anything?”
He palms her ass, kisses her, and says, “I’m good. You go back inside the cabin and take care of our guest.”
She saunters off, and he slaps her ass.
“Hey, Veronica,” I yell after her.
She stops then turns.
“You hurt her, and I’m coming after you.”
She looks at me then Skates then throws her head back and laughs. Turning back, she goes into the cabin.
“I think it’s time to prove your loyalty,” Skates says to me.
“Yeah, I can do that,” I nonchalantly say.
His head slightly jerks.
Yeah, you aren’t expecting me to agree, are you?
He waits.
“You know what I learned to do in prison?”
Skates raises his eyebrows.
“Listen. Observe. Put two and two together.”
He licks his lips.
I gaze at Henry. “You seem to have a lot of faith and trust in the wrong person.”
Henry’s sneers. “Son, I don’t know what kind of story you’re trying to create, but you can stop right now.”
“Don’t ever call me son again. And I’m not creating any story. I’m only relaying what I saw over the last ten years.”
“What’s that?” Skates asks.
“Nothing. He’s lying,” Henry blurts out.
I raise my eyebrow at Skates. “Phillmore, Conceed, Triker.” I name off the top three guys in Skates’ gang who were in prison with me.
“What about them?”
“Henry sure does visit them a lot.”
Skates’ eyes turn into slits.
“That’s a lie. I’ve never visited anyone in prison,” Henry cries out.
“Too many times to count over the last decade.” I’m lying. Henry knows it. I know it. Skates doesn’t know it.
Skates says nothing and continues to glance between Henry and me. Suddenly, he seizes the gun the guy near Henry holds and waves it between Henry and me.
“He’s lying,” Henry cries out.
“Eight times in the last year alone. Did you know about any of those?” I ask Skates.
“That’s not true,” Henry claims.
I nod to Henry. “He’s playing you.”
Henry suddenly spins and tries to punch me, but I duck. Henry’s punch lands on the man holding the gun behind me. Several shots ring through the air, and the man flies over the side of the boat, hits his head, and falls into the water.
Henry lands on top of me, and blood seeps across the deck.
“Beckett!” Mia yells from somewhere, but Henry’s body lies heavy on me.
“Mia, get back inside,” Casey yells.
“Beckett!” I hear her yell again.
I try to get up, but Henry’s body is on mine, and the deck is slippery with blood. I shut my eyes because the sun shines directly in them.
“Beckett!” Mia cries out again.
“Stop, Mia!” Casey says.
“Let me go.” I hear her say.
Skates snickers. “Let her go, old man.”
Suddenly, Mia is hovering over me, rolling Henry off me. I feel her tear hit my cheek. I open my eyes, and she cries harder.
“Beckett!”
“Shh.” I stand up and pull her with me and feel something hard in her back, so I quickly turn her against me.
Where did she get a gun? There is no doubt a pistol is pressing into my torso.
Another thing prison taught me to do is assess a situation quickly. Skates is aiming the gun at us. His only remaining ally besides Veronica is standing next to him, weaponless. I’m pretty sure I could take him if I needed to. The fact Mia is standing in front of me with a gun in her back tells me Veronica won’t be interrupting us.
“Jimmy, put the gun down. It’s time to stop this,” Casey tells Skates.
He glares at him. “Not sure who you think you’re ordering around, but I make the demands, remember?”
Casey glares, and a tear falls out of his eye. “I’m sorry I took her from you. I didn’t know you were together. You never told me.”
Skates scowls. “You think I care about her? I don’t care about her. This is about tying up loose ends.”
Sadness and pain pass across Casey’s face. “You don’t have to do this.”
Skates sticks the gun in Casey’s face. “You don’t tell me what I get to do or not do. I tell you.”
Casey holds his hands in the air. “Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Skates scans his eyes. “If I didn’t need you for the restaurants, you’d be dead.”
Casey closes his eyes and sighs.
In the corner of my eye, I see Ryland in the back of the boat with his gun in his hand.
I murmur to her, “When I say run, you go.”
Mia’s body tenses against mine, and I take her gun and step in front of her, keeping the weapon between us so no one can see.
Suddenly, there is a banging from inside the cabin. Skates looks down at the cubbyhole window, and Casey reaches for his gun.
The next few minutes are chaotic.
“Run,” I whisper to Mia, push her off me, and step toward Casey at the same time Skates’ goon does as well.
Skates’ thug sees my gun and lunges at me, and the pistol flies out of my hand. We wrestle for it, but he gets to it first and holds it to my head. Several shots follow, and I’m once again lying in a pool of blood, but this time, there’s moaning.
Within seconds he’s rolled off me. Ryland yanks me up, and Casey is standing on the side of the boat with Skates’ body against him, his head drooping. Casey is shaking, and red is all around their feet.
Hudson is in the back of the boat with Mia in his arms.
I stare at Ryland, trying to comprehend what just happened. The muzzle of his pistol is hot. His hand shakes harder as his eyes flick from the dead body to me and back again.
“I killed…oh fuck…” I remove the gun from his shaking hand. He stares at the dead body.
“I’m sorry I got you in this. Everything will be okay.” As I say the words, I wonder if it will.
He blinks hard and pins his wide eyes on mine. A loud thud echoes as Skates’ body drops on the deck, tearing me away from his shocked orbs. Casey falls to his knees, crying loudly over his body.
I don’t know how long the waterworks last, but there is a moaning that gets louder, and I realize that it isn’t any of us.
I leave Ryland and go to where Casey shot Skates. I look through the hole and see Veronica lying in a pool of blood on the floor.
I maneuver my way through the cabin, but by the time I get there, she’s taken her last breath. Her blonde hair is covered in blood, and her blue eyes are frozen.
Swallowing hard, I stare at her. I’m standing in a blood bath. I look down at my hands and realize my entire body is coated in blood. It’s been ten years, but death once again surrounds me.
Hudson comes in. “Come sit in the main room, Beckett. We need a plan.”
I stare at him and finally nod. When I get there, Mia comes flying over to me.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” I ask her.
“No. I’m okay.”
I hold her the tightest I ever have and stroke her hair.
“We need to sink this boat, and everyone needs to remove their clothes and wash up before getting on Casey’s,” Hudson says.
Ryland jerks his head. “Shouldn’t we call the police?”
“No. You might go to jail. It wasn’t self-defense,” Hudson tells him then turns to Casey. “And you might over Veronica’s death. I think Beckett did enough time for everyone.”
Ryland and Casey sit next to each other, staring as if in shock. They focus on Hudson but don’t say anything.
I suppose that’s how I looked when Clay was shot.
Hudson goes into the bathroom and Skates’ bedroom. He chooses clothes, towels, and extra blocks of soap. “Clothes stay on the boat. Mia, you go first.”
She pulls out of my embrace and doesn’t ask any questions. She quickly showers and comes out in a towel. Hudson throws her a dress he found that must be Veronica’s. She goes into the bedroom and comes back out while Casey is in the shower.
One by one, we all scrub the blood off us. We put on Skates’ clothes, and when we’re done, Hudson comes back into the room. “On the boat. Make sure you aren’t stepping in any blood or making any blood marks before you get on the boat. Mia, Ryland, Casey, you go now.”
I follow them, making sure no bloodstains are being tracked anywhere into Casey’s boat then help Mia onto the boat. Once Ryland and Casey are also aboard, Hudson puts two pairs of Skates’ sandals next to where Casey’s boat is parked and tells me to follow him.
When we get to the bow of the boat, gas cans are waiting.
“Everything gets covered,” Hudson instructs.
Together, we douse the boat, including the inside of the cabin. When we get to the back, we throw the cans down and switch out of our shoes, careful nothing is on the sandals Hudson left for us to get into before getting on Casey’s boat.
“How are we blowing this up?”
Hudson doesn’t flinch. “Flare gun.”
I stare at him.
“Get on the boat, Beckett,” Hudson instructs, and I obey. He follows me.
Ryland and Casey untie us from the yacht. Hudson takes the wheel, and I sit with Mia on my lap, next to Ryland, who keeps mumbling, “I don’t know his name.”
When we get about eight hundred feet away, I still can’t see land or anything except water. Hudson digs the flare gun out of the case.
“Wait,” Casey says.
He looks at him.
Casey walks over to him and holds out his hand. “Give it to me.”
Hudson hands it to him.
Casey takes a deep breath, and, as more tears roll down his face, he positions the flare gun straight at Skates’ yacht and pulls the trigger.
The light travels through the air, and the instant it hits the boat, an explosion takes place. Hudson hits the throttle, and we drive away as millions of flaming pieces are flying in every direction. Within minutes, smoke fills the air where the yacht sat, and no outline of any boat or its pieces can be seen.
We ride the rest of the way mostly in silence. Mia is curled in my lap. Ryland and Casey both stare off into space. From time to time, Ryland mumbles the words killed, name, shot. Hudson drives the entire way and we exchange glances, both worried about Ryland. By the time we get to Casey’s dock, it’s dark out.
No one speaks. We tie the boat and go directly to our vehicles. When we get to the driveway, Casey calls out, “Mia.”
Mia freezes then slowly spins out of my arm that is around her shoulder.
“Do you think we could talk sometime?” Tears fall out of his eyes again.
I protectively wrap my arm around her again.
She stares at him. “I…I can’t answer that right now.”
I didn’t think he could look any sadder, but he does. “Okay. I’m here if you decide you want to.”
I help her into Ryland’s truck and take the keys from him.
He looks at me like he doesn’t understand what is going on.
“I’ll drive you home and pick you up tomorrow. Unless you want to stay at our place?”
“What was his name?” he mumbles.
“I don’t know.”
Hudson gives me a worried glance. “You two go. Ryland can come to my place tonight.”
“Okay. Call me if you need anything.”
Hudson guides Ryland to the truck.
I stare at Ryland, who’s mumbling to himself as Hudson walks around the truck. As they drive away, I wonder if Ryland is ever going to be the same, but then I curse myself. I already know he never will.
Death has a horrible way of defining you.
My brother killed a man to save me. I vow to do everything in my power to save him from the guilt that is sure to eat away at him.
Together we stand, alone we fall. I won’t let him fall, but I’m not sure what he needs right now, and that scares the shit out of me.