Too Late

Beast

I should be on a plane right now. Timothy Smith is in France on vacation. I was supposed to be on a flight two hours ago. However, I'm here, in the back yard playing with my son.

"Hulk, throw the ball." Little Gabe says, handing me the football over the fence in his back yard.

Behind Summer's house there is a wrought iron fence that circles her property. The fence comes up to my knees. Giving just enough security so that Gabe can play in the backyard without supervision. In addition to the iron fence, are two rows of evergreen trees that give privacy from the busy road behind her property. It also allows me to hide.

I toss the ball Gabe gave me back into his yard. He runs to go get it. We played the same game yesterday. That's when he told me about Summer's date. I had all intentions of killing the man in that bathroom. However, a small voice of reason told me not to. It took every piece of restraint Priest taught me to leave him alive.

Gabe hands me the ball back and I toss it again. I think I'm playing fetch with my son.

His laughter as he goes to get the ball has me clutching my hand into a tight fist. The sound of it has my heart beating faster. It's the same feeling I got when I first saw Summer.

"Gabe and I don't need you."Her words from last night come back to me. The anger and hurt in her eyes as she looked at me once again caused a tightness in my chest.

I wish I was like my brothers. I wish I could be normal and didn't have this gnawing need to cause destruction. The beast inside of me has to be fed. I can't subject Summer and Gabe to that. We don't work. No matter how much I wish we could.

"Then why are you here?"Mother reprimands in my head. "You should be out hunting. Not here with the boy. You will tarnish him."

Placing my hands to my head I try to push her words out. However, those last four words continue to echo in my brain.

"Get out," I growl. Finally, my thoughts were silent. I open my eyes and look down into terrified hazel ones.

"You okay, Hulk?" Gabe's little voice asks.

"Yeah, Hulk is okay."

Gabe dips his chin to his little chest. He tries to hand me the ball back over the fence but before I can take it from him, the back door slides open and Summer walks out. I quickly step further behind the trees obscuring her view of me even more. I once again get lost in the sight of her.

The urge to grab her and take her away last night had me seeing red. I stood outside of the restaurant watching her through the windows. When I saw that guy touch her arm, Mother roared up in my head so quickly I was inside the restaurant before I could stop myself.

I know she doesn't want me around anymore, but I'm not sure I can share her yet. Maybe never.

"Gabe, time to come in, it's getting dark."

"Can Hulk come in too?" He asks.

She laughs, placing her hands on her hips. "Yes, Hulk can come in too. So can the rest of the Avengers."

Gabe turns back to the place I was just standing with a huge smile. I quickly move further away. However, I don't miss the way his smile drops.

"He's gone," he says, turning back to his mother.

"Maybe he had to go home too."

Gabe looks back in the spot I was just standing, his shoulders fall before he turns to his mother and heads back to her. I watch them walk into the house and close the sliding door behind them.

I need to leave this place and never come back. Coming here every day will only make things worse.

Even after that declaration, I stay behind those trees staring at that house until the sun eventually does set, casting the backyard in darkness. Only the muted light from the moon along with the floodlights on the back of the house gives me a view of my surroundings.

I walk from the trees at the back of the house heading toward the front. My walk back to my apartment will take thirty minutes. It crosses my mind to find a place closer by. I quickly shove that thought away.

Stepping onto the curb near the front of Summer's house I spot a gray four door car. It doesn't look out of place. But, I spotted this exact same car the day I saw them at the park.

Walking over to the vehicle, I peer into the back window. It looks to be empty. I walk up to the driver's side glancing through the window. I pause when I spot a gun on the passenger seat. Not just any gun, but a HK .45 with a suppressor.

My gaze goes immediately to Summer's house. I take off for her front door, keeping to the shadows.

I stop at the evergreens by the side of the house keeping me blocked. A man in a pizza delivery uniform and a pizza warming bag in his hands walks up to the door.

He rings the bell and in seconds Summer appears.

"Hey," he says. "Did you order the medium pepperoni pizza?"

"Pizza?" Gabe shouts excitedly as he appears at Summer's side.

"Sorry," Summer says rubbing the top of Gabe's head. "I didn't order pizza."

"Are you sure? What's your name?" he looks at the paper in his hand.

"Summer, and I'm positive."

The man shakes his head. "I'm so sorry about that ma'am. I looked at the address wrong. It's 415 not 514. You two have a good night." The man backs away from the house as Summer shuts the front door.

The scene before me seemed normal. He's a delivery driver, it would explain the need for the gun.

However, there is a niggling in the back of my mind that says something isn't right.

"Hell no, something isn't right. You know that, Kid."Priest's voice says in my head.

Before the pizza driver could make it back down the driveway, I quickly crawl into the back seat of his car and lay down. Within minutes, the front door opens, and he sits down tossing the bag into the back seat hitting me in the chest. Immediately, I notice the bag is too light. I lift the flap and stick my hand in. There is no pizza box inside.

"I think I found your girl," the guy says on the phone. "Her name is Summer, she fits the description, and get this, she has a kid."

My stomach fills with rocks and the hairs on my arms stand at attention. The night I spent with Summer I felt a lot of different emotions. Many being new and foreign to me. While in lock down I studied, not only reading emotions from other people, but also what certain emotions do to me.

However, I didn't need my research for this one. I haven't felt this emotion since I was a child still living with my mother. Fear. For so long in my youth I wore fear like a second skin. Back then, I was helpless against my tormentor. Not anymore.

"The kid's about five or six. Why?" He's silent for a moment, listening to the person on the other end. "I don't know. But he looks mixed. Do you want me to bring them in?" He's silent again. "Alright, I'll keep watching." He hangs up the phone and places it in the drink holder beside him.

Shoving the pizza bag to the floor I sit up in the car causing it to rock slightly. Before the guy can turn around to see what caused the movement, my arm is barred around his neck. I apply just enough pressure to pin his head back against the headrest and keep him in place, but not enough to kill him. He fights against my hold. I grab the wrist of the arm pressed to his neck with my free hand and tug causing a little more pressure to his neck. He stops moving.

"Who are you working for?"

"I'm…not…talking…" the guy grunts out.

They all say that, but in the end, they all talk.

"The wicked shall be punished. Rip the truth from his deceitful mouth."

"Yes Mother," I comply.

I apply more pressure to his neck, cutting off his airways. Not enough to kill but just enough to render him unconscious. He fights a little before going stiff.

As soon as he's out cold I climb out of the backseat. Opening the driver's door, I shove the fake pizza guy over to the passenger seat and then climb in. He may not want to talk, but I promise by the end of the night he will.

***

I smack the fake pizza guy in the face. He comes awake with a start. As soon as his eyes adjust and he notices me, he starts to pull at his restraints.

"Don't," I warn.

"I won't talk," he once again threatens. "You might as well kill me now."

"There is no peace saith the Lord unto the wicked,"Mother says in my head. "Make him suffer."

"Gladly."

I rip the front of his shirt open, exposing his chest. I then place the sander against his skin and turn it on. His screams roar over the sound of the power tool as his flesh slowly disappears and nothing but blood and muscle remain.

I stop the machine and place it down on the cart.

"Who are you working for?" It takes him a moment to fight through his pain in order to answer me.

"I don't know," he shouts as spittle flies out of his mouth. His head drops and sways as if he might be intoxicated.

Picking up the machine again, I turn it back on. I could do this all night.

"Wait. Wait," he yells halting my movement.

Pressing the off button, I silence the machine.

He heaves a few breaths, his head lolling to the side as if it pains him to keep it up. "I don't know the benefactor. He hired me to find a girl named Summer. That's all I know."

"How did he find out about her?"

"Look, I don't know. All he gave me was a description and a name. An African American woman named Summer, light skinned, around the age of twenty-five to twenty-eight. Anywhere from five three to five four. He said she might have had a drug problem or a record."

The benefactor had entirely too much information about Summer. Even knowing her name was a problem. My question now is why is this benefactor looking for Summer? However, I don't think this man knows anything.

"How did you find her?"

If this guy was able to track her down with so little information, someone else could. I need to know how he did it.

He sighs as if talking is taking a lot of him. "I'm a PI, but I was a detective for fifteen "years…. I called in a favor from some friends…. they told me they had a few reports on a Summer Jones…. She matched the info the benefactor gave me. Please, I need….to go to the hospital." His head falls forward. I know he's fighting to stay conscious, but I didn't care about his comfort. I still had questions.

"When did the benefactor hire you for this case?"

He doesn't answer right away. Tossing the machine onto the cart, I grab his sweaty hair and lift his head. His eyes are glazed but he's still breathing.

"Answer me," I growl through clenched teeth.

"About……about five months ago."

I release him, before climbing to my feet. I tug at the hair on top of my head. Five months, he's been out there looking for Summer. Getting close to my family. And I've been wasting time.

"Failure. You are a complete and utter failure," Mother taunts.

"Look…." The fake pizza guy says causing me to turn back to him. "I don't mean the girl any harm. The benefactor……. he told me that she was his sister-in-law, and she was in danger. I thought…. I thought I was doing the right thing."

I don't care what he thought he was doing. He got entirely too close to my family.

"Whose fault is that?"Mother chastises in my head. I can hear the disappointment in her tone. "You left them alone. You don't deserve them."

I shake my head, forcing her words out of my thoughts. "Where are the records of your search?"

He looks up at me, his eyes rounding at my question. Every PI keeps records or notes of how he tracked down his subject.

"At my home. It's all locked in my safe. Other than calling him tonight to let him know I might have made a positive match, the benefactor has no idea where she is. If you let me go, I vow that he never will. I'll burn everything I have. You can watch me."

I allow silence to fill the space between us. Meanwhile, I study the man before me. He's a trained detective and at one point his job was to serve and protect. Could he be trusted?

"Why do I want her information?"

His brow pinches in confusion. "Wha….what?"

I step closer to him, leaning down so that he can look me in my eyes. "You didn't ask why I want the woman's information? You were hired to find and protect her, yet you would give information to me and not ask why."

He sighs, licking his lips. "Look man, I don't care what you want with her. Just let me go."

I shake my head. "Wrong fucking answer."

Picking up the sander, I turn it on the highest setting before pressing it to his chest. His screams ease the beast inside me. I couldn't set him free. Not only does he know too much about Summer and Gabe, he's proven that he couldn't be trusted with the information.

Once the beast has been sated, I put the PI's body in the incinerator and clean the mess I've made in my special room.

Climbing back in the blue sedan, I head toward the chop shop I use to get rid of cars. Priest taught us to always have outside sources. The Church has their own wreckage company that handles jobs like this. But just as we all have our own cleanup crew, I also have my own source of getting rid of big objects.

After pulling into the shop, the same one I used to get rid of the Lincoln town car, I put the car in park. Immediately, the phone in the cup holder starts to ring.

I answer it hoping it will be the benefactor he was on the phone with earlier. Swiping my hand across the screen, I remain silent. My hope is that he or she starts to speak first.

"Hello?" the voice on the other side of the phone says. I noticed right away it has an accent.

Before I can speak, the person on the other end of the phone chuckles.

"Well, hello, Beastie. I see you found my bait."

Rage boils through me. I fell right into his trap. It never crossed my mind that the PI could've been bait. When it came to keeping Summer and Gabe safe, I allowed my knee jerk reaction to outweigh my thoughts.

"I knew the fastest way to narrow down my search for your girl was to put someone close to her."

It's already obvious that whoever this is, is smart and calculating. He also knew enough about me to know that I would go for the bait.

"Who is this?"

"Who I am doesn't matter. Not yet anyway."

I grit my teeth. "Then what matters?" My questions have to be precise. If I don't ask simple direct questions, I have a feeling he will skate around the answers.

"What matters is you left a lot of breadcrumbs, Beastie. So many people remembered seeing you and her that night. That was very unlike you. I don't think the Church would approve."

"You work for the Church?"

He chuckles. "Don't insult me, Beastie. You and I both know I don't work for the Church."

I grit my teeth at him once again able to read my thoughts. If he'd worked for the Church, he wouldn't use a PI to find my family. I asked the question only to see how he would respond.

"I do have concerns about Summer's safety," the benefactor goes on to say.

"You have concerns about something that belongs to me?" I grit out. My hands tighten around the phone at my ear. The thought of Summer even crossing his mind has me wanting to split his fucking chest open.

"Having something that belongs to you left so vulnerable seems like a bad idea. I knew about the girl, but finding out there is also a child left out there seems sloppy. If the wrong person was to happen upon this information, it could be very bad."

"Stay away from my family."

He gives me another chuckle. "Relax, Beast. I don't want your family. I'm not the bad guy."

"Then who is?"

Twice he's mentioned an unseen villain. I don't believe this man is the type to waste words. There is truth buried in everything he says.

This time when he speaks there is no laughter in his voice. "Someone you are not ready to meet."

The way his voice changes and the quietness after his statement tells me that not only does he fear this person, but he's also angry with them. However, because he didn't give me the name right away warns me there is still some loyalty there.

"If you aren't the bad guy, then who are you?"

I need to know what his plans are with the information he has. Right now, he knows too much about my family.

"I haven't decided yet if I'm a friend or foe," his tone is back to the joking one from earlier.

"And if you decide to be my enemy?"

I had no worries about this man becoming my enemy. I only needed to know what his plans were for Summer and Gabe when I went after him.

"Your family is safe. I don't involve women and children in my affairs."

I don't yet allow his words to bring me comfort. I didn't trust anyone with any information on Summer and Gabe. I also don't like the fact that the benefactor seems to guess my thought process.

"So, what do you want? Why were you looking for me?"

There is no way he would've found Summer if he wasn't first searching for me. Whatever issues he has involves me. I'm assuming it has something to do with Church business because he made a point to mention them.

His laughter floats through the phone. "Now that, is the right question. Let me know when you figure it out."

The line goes dead leaving me in silence.

I slam the cell phone against the steering wheel until pieces of it fly across the car.

"Aye, big man," Pharrell, the guy that owns the chop shop, comes up to my window. "You good?"

Opening the door, I climb out of the front seat. Pharrell takes a step back. Even though I've been working with him for years, he's still terrified of me.

"I need a car," I demand, tossing the broken cellphone back into the car on the passenger seat.

There is no need to take the phone. Most likely it was a burner, and I won't get any information from it. Nor will the benefactor use it again.

"Sure. I can have you a brand-new vehicle with no vin in about three days."

"No, I need one now." I take a step closer to him.

Pharrell takes two steps back before shouting, "Jay, give me your keys."

"What? What do you need my keys for?"

"Man, give me your fucking keys." Pharrell turns and shouts at him.

Jay tosses his keys to him. Pharrell then holds them out to me.

"Thanks. For your help, keep all the proceeds you make from the car."

Pharrell nods. I rush out of the building and onto the gravel parking lot. The light rain that was only barely falling on my way over here is now pouring down in sheets. I don't let it slow me down. Hitting the key fob to unlock the doors. The lights flash on a black SUV. I rush to the vehicle, with only one place in mind.

I may not be good enough for them. And they are better off without me, but right now, they need me.

Summer

I add another bead to the necklace I"m working on. Usually, making my jewelry helps ease my thoughts and settles my mind, but not tonight. A certain someone is stomping through my brain like Godzilla. I drop the necklace to the table and sigh.

"Why can't I get him out of my mind?" I ask myself for the millionth time since meeting Gabriel.

Seeing him last night has not made it easier. Yes, Gabriel is absolutely gorgeous. He doesn't have those supermodel looks like the brother I met that night. He's a bit too rough around the edges for that. However, it isn't his looks that has him traipsing through my mind 24/7.

No, it's something about him. About the way he looks at me as if he's seeing a part of me I don"t even see myself. It's the feeling I get when in his presence. As if I"m the safest I"ll ever be when he is around me. That is why I can't just forget him like I"ve been trying to do for five years.

You would think after all this and having him tell me to my face that he's not interested in being in Gabe's life would turn me off from this man.

A loud rumble of thunder claps across the sky and quickly following it is a flash of lightning that lights up the room for a brief second.

"Mommy," Gabe's voice grabs my attention.

He's standing in the doorway, his Black Panther stuffy in one hand while rubbing his eyes with the other.

"Hey, baby. Can't sleep?"

He shakes his head from side to side and stares at the ground.

"I have the perfect remedy for thunderstorms. Do you want to know what it is?"

This time he nods up and down.

"Hot cocoa and a movie."

He lifts his head and looks at me with a big smile. My heart immediately melts.

"Come on," I say, standing from my chair.

I walk over to him, and he grabs my hand, looking up at me with those hazel eyes. We walk hand and hand into the kitchen.

Gabe lets my hand go and takes a seat at the kitchen table. I go over to the stove to prepare our hot cocoa.

"What do you want to watch?" I ask as if I don't know the answer already.

After grabbing the milk out of the fridge, I realized Gabe has yet to answer me. I look over my shoulder to find my son's face pressed to the patio door.

"Hey, what are you looking at?"

"Hulk," he says.

This kid has been mentioning Hulk a lot lately. Usually, it's Iron Man and Black Panther that gets all the attention.

"What is Hulk doing out in this rain? He needs to get back to the other Avengers," I joke.

"He's just watching us."

Something about the calm way he says those words has me pausing with the milk carton in my hand. My stomach tightens.

"Gabe, what does Hulk look like?" I ask, placing the milk down and making my way over to the patio.

"Like me," Gabe says without looking away from the door. "But bigger."

The tightening in my stomach turns to full out pains. I rush to the door and glance out. Just as I do, lightening cracks across the sky illuminating my back yard and the man standing there.

Anger fills me. I slide the door open and stomp out toward him ignoring the cold droplets of rain against my skin. Gabriel's piercing eyes stare at me as I approach. His clothes are soaked and the rain has saturated his hair causing it to lay heavy and flat against his shoulders.

"No," I say marching up to him. "Go away."

"Summer," he tries to speak but I don't want to hear it.

Last time I talked to Gabriel he told me he didn't want to be with us. I refuse to allow him to yoyo Gabe around with his presence.

"You don't get to do this. You can't come and go in and out of his life. Get out of here." I shove him, but I might as well be pushing a brick wall. He doesn't even sway.

"No, Mommy. Hulk stays," Gabe shouts. I had no idea he followed me out into the rain.

His presence and hearing him plead for his father makes me angrier.

"Go," I shout at Gabriel. But he remains in his spot looking down at me.

I shove him once again, putting all of my force into it. Still no movement from him. Balling up my fist, I punch him in the chest. My hand throbs from the impact, but I don't stop swinging.

"No, Mommy. Don't hurt my friend," Gabe shouts behind me.

I ignore him, continuing to pound on Gabriel getting all my frustrations out. I hit him for the fact he thought he could walk in and out of our lives. I hit him because it took him five years to break out and come find us. Also, because in those five years he never thought to reach out to us.

I pound my fists against his chest for all the nights I stayed up running that infamous night through my head. And lastly, I hit him because even though he's unhinged and a reminder of the old me, I missed him.

Gabriel allows me to continue to attack him, never even putting up a hand to protect himself.

"Go away. We don't need you," I sob as my arms lose the strength to strike him again.

I collapse into his chest and cry. The rain has soaked through my braids and my nightgown. I imagine I look like a crazy person.

"I'm sorry, Summer," his gruff voice says, and I can hear the pain in his tone.

I'm not foolish enough to think that my attack caused him any harm. No, something else is bothering him.

Lifting my head from his stomach, I look up into his stoic face. He cuts his eyes away from me briefly before looking back at me.

"They found you."

"What?" I asked, confused about who found me.

"Someone knows about you and Gabe."

My entire world tilts on its axis. I remember the threat Fem told me about the Church and how they would react if they found out about me and Gabe. Fear, like nothing I"ve ever experienced, takes over me.

I guess all my talk about not needing him just went out the fucking window.