Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

ELLIS

When I wake up, my entire body hurts. I’m stiff. My face feels swollen, and I decide that sleep is the better option and close my eyes again. I’ve already been here a full day—now two nights—but I still feel exhausted.

Both nights, it’d taken me hours to fall asleep. I was so far beyond exhausted each night that I thought the moment I hit the pillow, I’d be out, but instead, I lay there in a state of uncertainty. So many questions ran through my head while Tavish slept on the air mattress tucked between the wall and the bed. The air mattress is a twin, so it probably isn’t the most comfortable, but I felt oddly comforted having him in the room.

Although how soundly he slept made me wonder if he’d even wake if someone came busting in through the window with guns blazing.

At least once I fell asleep, I was out for good, having slept until nearly noon the day before. Then while the others were busy looking up stuff, I felt like I had little purpose beyond petting dogs and wandering around the house. At one point, I did go to the store to grab us some clothes and supplies, but Cassel made me move quickly, not wanting me out and about for too long.

But hopefully today I’ll be of more use.

There’s a knock on the door that forces me to fully wake up. “Sorry to wake you guys, but we have some stuff to go over before we need to get moving,” Jackson calls before I hear him walking off.

Tavish groans from where he’s lying on the air mattress, probably feeling as stiff, or worse, as I am. I mean… I guess he did get stabbed in the shoulder. Even so, my stomach hurts when I sit up, and I wince.

“You alright?” he asks as he glances over at the early morning light leaking through the window.

“Oh, fine. I didn’t get stabbed or anything like you did.”

“They beat you up pretty good,” he says. “That shit lasts.”

“I don’t know,” I mutter.

“Lift up your shirt.”

I wave him off. I’m alive, so anything else doesn’t matter. “It’s fine. Definitely better than yesterday.”

“I didn’t think about your ribs when I checked you over when we arrived the other day. You sure nothing’s broken? I’ve only known you, what? Two and a half days now, and I could fully see you politely sitting there in misery because you wouldn’t want to inconvenience someone.”

“I’m fine. I promise.”

Tavish reaches out and when I don’t stop him, he pushes up my shirt, revealing my bruised stomach and chest from Miller whaling on me.

He looks concerned as he eyes it. “Maybe we should take you to get checked out.”

“No, I’m fine. You know if I do, they’ll swoop in and drag me off to my mom and sister… and… I want to know if my dad’s dead. I need to know, okay? It’s something that’s haunted me for twelve years.”

“Okay,” he says.

The moment I open the door, Jackson is on the scene with some bags. “I ran out and got you guys some clothes. Hopefully they fit. Leland said he could creep into your room and measure you while you slept, but I thought maybe that’d be a bit too much.”

“I… thought we got clothes yesterday?” I ask.

“We needed something more… formal,” Jackson explains.

“Oh… thank you for keeping Leland from measuring us in our sleep,” I say as I take the bags and look in at what appears to be nice clothes, including button-downs and ties.

“I would have heard that weasel scurrying around,” Tavish claims, even though he was sleeping so soundly, I’m not sure he’d have heard an elephant enter the room.

“Thank you so much; you guys really didn’t have to go to all of this trouble,” I say.

“Tavish, why don’t you ever thank me like this guy does?” Leland asks as he steps out of a room holding three guns for some reason.

“I just assume you don’t deserve it,” Tavish retorts.

Once we’re dressed, we head downstairs to where Cassel is seated at the kitchen table with his laptop out, as well as a man I don’t recognize. “This is Jeremy. He is also normal, unlike Leland,” Cassel says as a greeting.

“Isn’t that the guy you told us ate squirrel out of Fred’s hands?” Tavish asks.

“I… didn’t eat it out of his hands,” Jeremy protests… but I’m going to be real honest, after meeting Fred, I feel skeptical of anyone willing to eat anything he offers them.

“The man was clearly a serial killer!” Tavish says.

Cassel nods emphatically. “That’s what I said! His daughter dragged me back to this room with this massage table and started giving me a massage, and I was like RIP Jeremy.”

“You thought he was a serial killer, so you just… started getting massaged by his daughter?” I really can’t be the only one confused by this.

Cassel rocks back in his chair so he can pin me with a look. “Listen here, Ellis. No massage feels as good as the one you get when you realize they might be out to murder you, but it’s okay because you finally got the guy who you’re in love with to notice you,” he explains. “Anyway, pull up a seat and grab a donut. Jeremy walked down to the store this morning and got a whole dozen just for us. He didn’t know what kinds to get, so he said that he got the ‘long ones with cream inside.’ When I told him I had a long one with cream inside, he told me I was hanging around Leland too much and quickly walked out the door.” Cassel seems rather disturbed by this. “I… I don’t want to be like Leland. Please… someone… I don’t want to.”

Leland seems delighted by this fact. “How cute. You’re like my teeny, tiny, little bro.” Leland kisses his cheek in the loudest manner possible.

“Do I even ask what’s going on?” Waylon wonders aloud as he walks into the room.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Leland asks.

“Two-hour delay. It’s on the calendar,” he says as he points.

“That means we still have time to abduct your teacher,” Leland assures him.

“No, Ellis helped me, like a normal person.” Waylon slides into a chair and then slumps down on the table with a yawn. “I’m so tired.”

“Why didn’t you sleep in?” Jackson asks.

“You seriously expected me to sleep in while you guys are doing some… covert operation stuff?”

“So you’re being nosy,” Jackson says.

Waylon just shrugs but doesn’t deny it.

Cassel clears his throat. “Okay, remember how that Eugene guy mentioned that Arthur’s business partner might actually know more? I set up an appointment to speak with him at eight this morning.”

“How’d you get an appointment so fast?” I ask. “Are businesses even open yet?”

“I got into their system and added us to a meeting with him at eight. I thought it’d be best to catch him right away,” Cassel explains. “Their scheduling system was so sad and weak. Now on to the other stuff. Ellis’s father, Zachary, was investigating the death of Arthur’s daughter, Jasmine. She’d been killed in a hit-and-run, and there was speculation that it was premeditated.”

“Was anyone ever arrested?” Leland asks.

“Her boyfriend was taken in for questioning but never convicted. Looking into the information they had gathered, they didn’t have anything incriminating against him, especially because the guy had a solid alibi and was out of town.”

I interrupt real quick. “Speaking of out of town, my family lived in Illinois when this all happened. What’s Arthur’s company doing here?”

“The main location of Arthur’s company is in Illinois, but he has buildings spread all over the country. Damn near something in every state, so it’s not surprising he has one around here,” Cassel explains.

“So Ellis’s father Zachary found out what happened to Arthur’s daughter, and someone wasn’t happy about it and made him disappear?” Jackson guesses.

Cassel holds up a finger. “Let’s rewind a moment. I didn’t get to the issue at hand. This all happened like six months before Zachary disappeared. I just wanted to bring it up because I guess the two of them knew each other before any of this shit happened. It actually seems like the two of them became somewhat close to each other and even closer after the passing of Jasmine. About four months after her death, Arthur finally made a discovery leading to a close friend of Jasmine’s being convicted for the murder. When Zachary brought her in, the woman, named Sally Bower, confessed. Sally said she’d hit her and had fled out of fear. Then a couple months later, Zachary disappears.”

“What case was he on at the time?” Leland asks.

“Nothing big or of note but I’ll see if I can figure out anything pertaining to them. With Arthur involved, this seems to be our best lead, though,” Cassel says.

“Interesting.”

“So his daughter really was killed? What he told Tavish really did happen?” Jackson asks.

Tavish nods. “In a way. He lied about how she was killed. And I guess it depends on whether you think of vehicular manslaughter as murder or negligence. The information that he gave me, which I now know was forged, listed her as missing. He had proof of her contacting Ellis. And he even showed her similarity to other women of the same age and build who’d been murdered, all of whom supposedly had contact with Ellis. I don’t have any idea where he got the photographs. I have to assume they’re from a different case, and someone had enough skill to fudge it around to make it all fit. He didn’t know Ellis’s current name or location. The photos of him were much younger, likely before he’d gone into protective services.”

Tavish looks at me apologetically as he continues. “It took me a bit to find him but once I did, everything really did line up perfectly with the stage Arthur set. Whoever he has working this shit did a very good job faking the whole incident.”

“So they possibly convicted the wrong person, Zachary found out, someone made him disappear, and that’s how it connects to Arthur?” Jackson questions.

“I don’t know.” Cassel leans back in his chair, but he stares at his computer like there’s something fascinating on the screen. “And, Tavish, I did look at the files you were given. They are really fucking good. Whoever did them has some talent, but by doing some checks on them, I did find that they are from random cases. They just tied them all together to convince you to do whatever you could to hunt Ellis down.”

“But why me?” I ask. “I know so little. Wouldn’t it be better to hunt my father down? I mean unless he really is dead.”

“Possibly,” Leland says. “But if you didn’t know anything, they could use you for leverage against your father. People cave so much faster when they have to protect those they love.”

Waylon pushes his glass around a bit. “People do really fucking stupid things when it comes to protecting the ones they love,” he comments, making me wonder if he’s speaking from experience.

“It’s why having a family or someone you love can be detrimental to having a successful career as a hitman. The moment someone finds out, everything could be destroyed,” Leland says as he anxiously looks over at Jackson.

Jackson just gives his hand a squeeze.

“So is this lady in prison? The one who killed her?” Jeremy asks.

“She is, so we can speak with her too. I can make an appointment for that,” Cassel suggests, but it’s one thing to break into a secretary’s schedule and make a business meeting and another to deal with one at a prison.

“Let’s wait and see where we get with this. I tend to hate speaking to prisoners,” Leland says with a grimace, making me wonder what that means.

So once we’re ready, we head out to the meeting with Arthur’s business partner, which is nearly an hour from here. Jackson drives, taking everyone but Waylon who’s waiting for the bus.

“Aren’t they going to be suspicious when we arrive, and this guy has no idea who we are?” I ask.

“You just pretend you belong and bullshit your way through every scenario. Works amazingly well for me,” Tavish says. “We’ll leave Leland in the car since there’s absolutely no one who would ever believe he belongs anywhere.”

“Um… is there a reason we didn’t take two vehicles?” I ask as Leland sits on Jeremy’s lap. I really feel like Cassel would have chosen to sit on his boyfriend’s lap, but nope. The moment the door opened, Leland just climbed on board, which caused Cassel to take one look, shrug, and climb into the passenger seat.

“We’re dropping Jeremy off at work,” Cassel explains, like this solves anything. “He left his car at work last night since I picked him up. But if I give him my car, then I would need someone to drive me to his work. It’s just easier this way.”

“Jerebear likes it like this,” Leland says as he caresses Jeremy’s face. It’s obviously done in an attempt to irritate the man who has not said a fucking word . He’s just stoically sitting there, staring out the window like nothing’s happened to him.

“Jeremy is doing what’s called ‘If I pretend he doesn’t exist, maybe he’ll pester me less,’ which would work on anyone but Leland,” Cassel informs me as Leland slowly runs a finger down Jeremy’s cheek.

“I see…”

“I feel like a little baby in Papa’s embrace,” Leland says as he waits for Jeremy to do anything . “I hope Daddy Henry doesn’t get jealous.” Leland is quiet for nearly a minute before it’s clear he’s irritated that he’s getting absolutely no reaction out of Jeremy. He quickly looks over at Tavish.

“Don’t you fucking look at my lap,” he warns.

“But Jeremy’s lap is boring,” Leland says, a mischievous look in his eyes now that Tavish is looking put off by him.

Tavish is not having it. “I’ll fuck you up. I will push you out this window if you come over here.”

Is Tavish really not aware that the only reason Leland is prepared to ditch Jeremy’s lap for his is because he wants a reaction?

“Yeah? I’ll have my irritatingly cute Cassel fling you down a flight of steps again.”

“Is this the same flight of steps you chased him up with a knife?” I ask Tavish.

“Different ones. This was when the Helium Sisters were doing some exclusive dancing and he popped my tit,” Leland says, like any of that made sense.

They pull up to the police station, and I feel weirdly suspicious again.

“I’m confused. Aren’t you guys the bad guys? Shouldn’t you avoid the police station?” I ask as Jeremy gets out, pleased to be dumping Leland onto the seat. Cassel rolls his window down and blows Jeremy a kiss.

“We’re like the chaotic neutral guys,” Cassel explains.

I realize the middle seat is a horrible option when Leland turns to me. “Do you know how to shiv a man?”

“I can’t say that I do.”

“Do you know how to shoot a man?”

“I shot some guy’s finger off and felt absolutely horrible.” I shudder at the thought.

Leland takes a deep breath. “I-I’m only doing this because I feel slightly guilty that I talked about how I would hunt you down and murder you. N-Now, this is my new baby that I haven’t even gotten to try out yet, but… but I’m going to give her to you. Her name is Naomi…”

He holds his hands out and seems confused why I’m reluctant to take what he’s offering. That’s when I realize it’s a taser gun he’s forced into my possession.

“Uhhh… I’m okay. Thanks.” I try to hand it back, but Tavish’s hand on mine stills me.

“I really think you should keep it. The weasel rarely has good ideas, but this time, it’s pretty good.” Tavish tilts it a bit to get a good look at it. “It looks like the kind they use in law enforcement, which means it has a better range. You’ll have a range of, oh… twenty feet? We can practice on Leland if you want to make sure it works well.”

“Just make sure you’re going to hit your target because they’re not like a gun that you can fire again right away if you miss,” Jackson advises.

“So aim for a wide spot since you’re more likely to hit,” Tavish says. “Although you did shoot that finger off with precision.”

“Let’s not talk about the finger again,” I plead. I hold the taser gun nervously as Tavish goes over how to use it. “I really don’t think I’m going to need this.”

Tavish stares at me as I relive being abducted, flown to Murder Island, pummeled, and thrown out of an airplane.

“You know what? I think I’ll keep it. Thank you. Really, thank you guys so much for helping me,” I say. “I know words can’t do justice to how much I appreciate this. I can’t thank any of you enough.”

Leland smiles at me. “You’re just so much nicer than Tavish. I think you can take his place in the group.”

He says that as if I have any interest at all in becoming a permanent member. “I don’t mind just… not taking anyone’s position and remaining the addition who will go back to his normal life after this is all over.”

“Normal is boring,” Tavish decides. “After this is all over, and you’re sitting there in your normal house with your normal job and normal life, you’ll go ‘Man, I miss the time Tavish took me skydiving.’”

“You act like we went there on a date,” I say. “‘Took’ implies that we went there on purpose. Not that you flung me out of a moving airplane as I screamed and you bled all over after I threw a gun at your face.”

“I have a weirdly different recollection of that. I remember the way you were like, ‘Hold me closer, you sexy man. I love the way your sexy voice rumbles in my ear.’”

I raise an eyebrow as I question whether he hit his head on the way down. He must have if that’s how he’s remembering it. “How hard did you hit your head?”

“I think he was just born that way,” Leland says. “Eternally confused and slightly narcissistic.”

“Sounds like a damn fine specimen to me. I’d do him,” Tavish responds.

“Do him in, you mean?” Cassel asks.

“HA! Cassel! You’re hilarious ,” Leland says. It’s clearly said to annoy Tavish, but Cassel seems quite pleased.

“Sorry to break up the fun, but we’re here,” Jackson announces.