31. Thirty-one

Joey

The road is bumpy, and no one says a thing the whole way to Veronica"s house. I know we"re there when the vehicle slows down.

"Send the message," Carlos says. "Let them know we"re outside the gate and wish to drop off the delivery at the front of the house."

Isaiah pushes a few buttons with his fingers. There"s a clicking sound each time they move and then a few seconds later the phone makes a loud alert sound. I sit there quietly, pressing my back against the seat. The car slowly moves at the sound of metal squeaking. The gates are opening and I"m not sure what"s going to happen next. It"s like I"m back at the mansion all over again, unaware of what"s around me or what my future holds.

Except this time I know whatever it is, my men will be there right beside me. It helps me breathe easier. "Almost time to get out, baby. Don"t worry, I"m right here. We both are."

"I know. I"m ready."

The vehicle stops again and the door on my right opens as Isaiah"s arm brushes over my leg. "Time to get out, baby. Feel my hand guiding you. Watch your step on the way down."

Isaiah gives me a slight push and holds onto my shirt when I reach the edge of the seat. I slowly step down, trusting Isaiah to ensure I don"t fall on my face. "Get him inside," a soft spoken voice says in the background. The more she speaks, the more I recognize her high pitched tone—Veronica. "Does anyone else know you"re here?"

"No one. Before you can have your boy, I want the reward that was promised."

"Arthur, get the man his money. Why do you hide behind a mask?" Veronica asks.

"The same reason Santana hides behind other people."

She laughs. "Fair enough. Remove the hood from his head. Let me make sure he"s who you say he is."

"If that"s what you want." Isaiah pulls the hood free, and the bright light has me squinting my eyes. It normally doesn"t get dark until nine p.m. this time of year.

Veronica saunters my way with a devilish grin and unsettling eyes. "Joey, time has certainly changed you for the better. Hasn"t it? Hopefully not for too much longer. Too bad they didn"t get the chance to ruin that pretty face of yours at the mansion. You and your friends made quite the mess over there, didn"t you?" She grabs my face and her hands are like poison on my skin. "I"ll be sure to make them pay also."

I glance down at her stomach. "I was expecting to see you much bigger after hearing you were expecting a child soon."

She laughs, tossing her long black hair behind her shoulder. "You only thought what I wanted you to think. If you thought I was married and happy…"

"I wouldn"t have been able to guess you were Santana?"

She shakes her head, taking a step back. "No, you might see what kind of life you missed out on."

I scoff. "You always were delusional. Apparently, that didn"t change with age."

Her hand cracks against my skin leaving a sharp sting on my cheek. "I"d be careful if I were you. I plan on keeping you alive for a while and I"d hate for you to spend your last days more miserable than you have to be."

A man walks beside her, dropping a bag of money. "We counted it again, it"s all there."

"Good," she says before shifting her gaze behind me. "You can let go of him now that you have your money."

"Have your man put it in the back seat," Isaiah orders.

"You heard the man, let"s get this over with already. This has taken longer than it should have. Joey should have never gotten free to begin with."

The man mutters something under his breath while tossing the bag in the car. As soon as he passes by me, Isaiah pulls the rope loose enough for me to break my hands free. I get shoved forward and Veronica snaps her fingers at the man on the other side of her. "Take him to the basement."

The man nods, tugging on my arm roughly and pulling me with him.

"Oh, one more thing?"

"What now?" Veronica asks, clenching her teeth together.

"I"ve changed my mind."

"Let me guess, you want more money."

"Not exactly," Isaiah says, tugging off his mask. "I'd much rather have you dead." He pulls out a gun, shooting her in the arm. "That"s only a flesh wound, try to move and I"ll aim for your heart next time."

Her men reach for their guns and I break my hands apart, slipping my foot under the man"s leg, tripping him to the ground. Isaiah shoots the other guy. I lift up my leg, pull my gun from my garter and shoot the man trying to crawl toward the front of the house.

"You"re making a huge mistake," Veronica says. "What makes you think people won"t come for you after this?"

"I dare them to try," Isaiah says. "Drop to the ground and put your hands on your head." He gestures toward me. "Tie her hands together, baby."

"It would be my pleasure," I say, grabbing the rope from the ground and tugging it tight around her wrists, making sure it rubs raw against her skin.

A few shots come from the house and two more men come charging through the door. Carlos steps out of the vehicle and starts shooting right beside Isaiah.

"Are there any more surprises we should be expecting?" Isaiah points the gun back at Veronica.

"No, you"ve killed all my men. You might as well kill me too."

"Oh, we plan on it," Isaiah says with a devious smile.

"What are you waiting for? Pull the fucking trigger already. You should do it before my husband comes back home."

Isaiah cocks his head to the side, "It will be hard for him to come home when he"s dead and don"t think your death will come that easy."

I laugh. "It"s funny how things work out, isn"t it? You couldn"t move on and let me live my life. Now yours is in shambles."

Her eyes widen in fear and her hands tremble, touching her mouth. "Dante…"

"He"s dead but don"t worry you"ll be together really soon." Carlos smiles when a black truck pulls in behind us. The doors swing open and Carlos" brother Angel steps out of the driver"s side. "Hola, did someone call for a delivery?" He steps behind the truck bed and Santiago joins him, opening the lid of a wooden box.

"What did I say about keeping your hands above your head?" Isaiah shouts, stepping closer to Veronica.

"What are you going to do to me? What"s that box for?"

"You"ll find out soon enough," I say maliciously. "You always said I never paid attention and was never listening to you. I remember the day you asked me what my biggest fear was, and you told me yours. You never did like being in small spaces, did you, love?"

"You wouldn"t. Please, Joey. It doesn"t have to be this way."

"Oh, but it does. You made it this way," I spit.

"We found where her husband grows his crops for his fake business. We will bury her there. The hole was dug this morning and has been waiting," Isaiah adds.

Carlos stands taller with a half-smile. "That can be arranged."

"It wasn"t easy getting it in the back of the truck. It was less heavy when it didn"t have your dead husband in it," Santiago says, chuckling. He is having more fun with this than we were. "I may be an awful man, but I never did care for sex traffickers. In fact, if I could rid the world of them all I would, but for now you"ll do just fine." Santiago grabs screws and a drill from his truck. "Just the way dad used to do it. Like father, like son." He laughs again, walking back to the box.

"Please," Veronica begs again. "I"ll disappear, you"ll never see or hear from me again."

"Oh, we plan on that," Isaiah says. "You remember when you tried to kill me ten years ago? I couldn"t use my legs for almost two weeks." He points the gun at her right leg and pulls the trigger. She screams, nearly dropping her hands. "Don"t move those hands or I"ll shoot off your fingers." He points the gun at her other leg. I pull the trigger again and blood gushes from her upper thigh. She slips her bottom lip between her teeth, and tears pour down her cheeks when she closes her eyes shut. She doesn"t beg anymore. By now she knows it"s useless. What about when those boys begged when her men took them from their homes? She ignored their cries so it's only fitting that we ignore hers. "Get her in the box."

I walk toward her, slapping her hard across the face and she bites back another scream. Grabbing her by her good arm, I pull her to her feet. She struggles to stand at first and screams through the pain every time she tries to put weight on her legs. "Stand up or I"ll drag you there."

She shakes her head, fighting against my hold. "We"ll be doing this the hard way," I say, slamming the gun into her head several times until she goes limp in my arms. I toss her over my shoulder like she weighs nothing, carrying her motionless body to the wooden box that looks similar to one that would carry tools.

Santiago and Angel jump onto the truck bed, grabbing her body from my arms. They lay her inside on top of the pieces of her husband. It"s the only way they"d both fit. They slide the lid over it, locking it and screwing it shut all the way around, making sure it"s still tied securely to the truck bed. "We"re ready to go. The farm isn"t too far away from here."

We drag all the bodies inside and Carlos goes back into the house with lighter fluid. He pours it all over the inside and outside of the bottom floor. When he comes back out, he tosses a match behind him. "Let"s get out of here." We hurry to our vehicle and follow closely behind Angel.

I stare out the back window watching what used to be Veronica"s life go up in smoke. Better hers than mine. It doesn"t take long to reach the farm. We drive closer to the corn fields and together drag the box out, taking it to where the hole was dug which is in the middle of a bunch of growing corn. We lower it inside with rope tied to both ends and fill the top with dirt, reburying the corn plants the best we can. The sun is going down, but the heat still has us all dripping with sweat. I don"t think anyone will be looking out here for a while.

"It"s finally over," I say, sighing in relief. Isaiah slides his hand down my lower back, kissing my ear. "At least for now."

Carlos squeezes between us, settling his arms over our shoulders. "We can worry about it when the day comes. For now let"s go the fuck home."

"Touché," Angel yells and we all head out of the cornfield laughing. I grab Carlos" hand and Isaiah grabs the other one. He glances between us smiling. If he still doesn"t understand that this thing between the three of us is real, then we will help him to see things more clearly.