The Wrath of Cain(56)

All of a sudden I feel sick. No wonder Manny jumped on board when I wanted that shit away from the club.

“He was regularly in and out of rehab up until he turned eighteen. We did everything we could to try and help him. Lola was a mess. And Manny, he always used to look up to Royal, until one night he came home so high, he beat the shit out of Manny. Broke his arm, busted up his jaw. A few days before that I had told him I’d had enough. If he wasn’t going to straighten himself out and prove to this family and to himself that he was man enough to beat his addiction, then we were done. He would not lead this family, Manny would. That night was the last night I ever saw my son.”

I face him now. His pain pours out of him. To lose a child to drugs and to know the kind of person they have turned into has got to destroy a man.

“Don’t pity me, Cain. I can see it in your eyes. I love Royal; he’s my son. But I will never condone the things he does. I’m no better than he is in certain ways. I’m not a law abiding citizen. Fuck, I’ve killed, too. But one thing I will never do is turn against my blood.” His eyes turn icy and resolute. “We will find them. That I can promise you.”

Standing before me is a man who has more power than anyone I know, but if I had to guess by the look on Salvatore’s face, he’s trying to convince himself more than he’s trying to convince me.

“Come sit. There are a few more things I want to go over with you, which I think will convince you I believe what I’m saying.”

Jesus, it’s like he just read my mind. We each take our seats once more. Salvatore turns on his computer. As we wait for it to boot up, he proceeds to tell me something I should have known the minute he mentioned the word drugs.

“You don’t have another narc in your club. It’s always been Emerald.”

“How can that be?” I question.

“Every bit of information she found out, she told that dirt bag Kryder, who then went back and told Royal.”

“What the f*ck? How do we know this to be true? I mean, how the hell did you find all this out?”

“I have my ways. It may take time, time we don’t have right now.”

I walk around to the other side of his desk and I stare him down.

“Don’t hide shit from me, Salvatore. You’re like a father to me. How did you find out?”

“I’ve been on the phone with many people, asking if anyone has spotted Royal. He’s been hanging out the past few nights at The Rose Garden. It’s a nightclub in Times Square. I have video surveillance from the club.”

He leans forward in his chair and opens some files on his laptop, then turns it around and slides it over to me.

There they are, cozying up to each other at the bar. Another shot shows them kissing. Her back is to me in this one. It’s her though, I know it’s her. I continue to click. There are several shots of them on the dance floor, then back at the bar. The video comes to an end as they exit.

“Where is she now?”

I’m going to burn her alive. Listen to her scream.

“I’m going to assume she’s with him.”

My heart stops beating. Whatever type of revenge Royal wants on his family, she knows absolutely nothing about anything. They’ll kill her. I can’t even think straight. My wife is a strong woman. But to withstand being drugged, or even worse, beaten and tortured? She won’t be able to handle it.

“John’s due back anytime,” continues Salvatore. “I have resources everywhere, including quite a few cops who tend to turn their cheeks the other way when it comes to my business affairs. He’s here in New York, I know he is. He won’t do anything quietly; he wants my attention. He wants me to feel fear. He had my fear the moment I found out he took those two. We just need to find them before he sends me his message.”

“What message might that be?”

I swallow down the answer I already know in the back of my throat.

“He’ll torture one of them while the other one watches. He’ll video the whole thing. I know how his sick mind works.”





Chapter Twenty


Calla



“You monster!” I scream.

“Who are you?”

His ferocious, intimidating laugh would normally scare me. I see Manny looking at me through one eye. The other is badly bruised and swollen shut. He’s been brutalized. Blood is everywhere. How he can even be alive at this point is beyond me, but that one eye, the one that is barely open, is pleading with me to keep my mouth shut. There is no way in hell I am going to lie here and watch him be tortured. Or worse, killed. My head starts spinning, my stomach rolling from the sight in front of me.

I’m thrown back down by this animal. I kick and scream at him to let me go with all of my might, hurting myself even more as I struggle to get free.

“Come over here and help me tie her down!” He roars.

“Fuck you, you bastard!”

Somehow I’m able to get one arm free. I bring it up and claw at his face with my nails. Blood instantly pours out, dripping everywhere.

“Leave her alone, Royal. Or would you prefer me to call you Scarface.

It’s Manny, his voice small and barely recognizable.

“Fuck off, little brother.”

My eyes go wide. I stop trying to get away. All I can hear is ‘little brother.’ I look closely at the beast towering over me. The resemblance is there; that single eye is identical to Manny’s. I’m going to be sick. These two are brothers. I don’t understand.