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Chapter thirty-seven

Damien

‘Shepherd of Fire’ – Avenged Sevenfold

I hate leaving her like that. I about fell to my knees when she asked me to stay, but my anger took over when I saw the fear flash in her eyes. She’s terrified something will happen to me, and I never thought that through. What my line of work would do to her, cause for her. I don’t care how many circles of hell I have to pull myself back from, I can’t die on her. I'll have to get better. Be better. She’ll understand more when she’s safe, but for now I'm going to let my rage win.

I’ve made up my mind and waged a war with Dust, and they’ll feel every ounce of it. I'll gut them and line their properties with their intestines for the rest of them to see that they do not fuck with what’s mine. Ashia is mine, and I will burn this city, with their bodies at the stake, to make sure she’s safe. Dranan thinks he has a Sahara problem? He doesn’t know what I'm capable of yet. With the amount of supplies I took from The Basement, he’ll get a taste of what’s coming to him.

I have two pit stops before the others meet me, the first? Cut Me Down. Carter pulled up a live drone feed to show Emmett there looking over the damage. I’ve already called and paid for a professional crew to come clean up the mess, but with Ashia not going to be able to work for a while, he’ll need help. She’ll feel better knowing he and his family are taken care of.

I park a few blocks away in a small alley, and make my way up the fire escape. I feel like fucking Spiderman crawling around like this, but my guess is that both the police and Dust will be watching Cut Me Down to see if either myself or Ashia come back. I only have to cross two buildings before coming to Ashia’s, and then I just sneak in the window to the hallway. Carter knows to wipe the cameras already once I leave, thank God, because I'm not sure I'm thinking straight tonight.

I sneak down the hall and into her apartment to grab her bag that she packed, her wallet, her phone charger, Serena’s purse and phone, and Ashia’s birth control. I thought about leaving it, but I don’t want her to have to worry about anything else. The thought of her stomach swollen with my child brings me a sense of comfort, but she needs to process everything that’s happened, and she’ll worry too much if she doesn’t have it.

She’s known what I do, even seen it first hand, but nothing like today. I never wanted her to experience my life, our life, that way. What does she think of me now? Does she see me differently than she did last night? Is she repulsed by me? She may hate me now, but I won’t lose her. If she thinks she has any chance of escaping me, she’s wrong. I will do anything and everything to keep her by my side. Including tossing this bullshit prescription down the drain if necessary.

I’ve already blocked the location and tracking for her phone on anyone’s device but mine and Carter’s. I'll have to do the same for Serena’s phone now. Among other things. Keeping her safe also has to become a priority of mine. If anything happened to her, Ashia couldn’t handle it, and there would be no question if she despised me or not.

I make my way out the back window and down the escape to the back entrance of Cut Me Down. Dropping down to the concrete below as softly as possible before walking up to the back door. As I walk up to it, I see Emmett through the crack of the hinges. He's behind the door on the other side. Holding something with a hint of steel in his hands. As I walk through, he tries to raise a shot gun to my face, but I grab it and move it out of the way. He struggles, but I hold him there, and silently pray that doesn't accidentally pull the trigger and alert anyone to my presence.

“Haven’t you people done enough!?” He yells.

“I didn’t do this.” I say gently to him as he relaxes. Quickly realizing who I am.

“Is she alright?” He asks as the fear overtakes his face again. “When I got the call, they said that she wasn't here, and I got so scared. I tried to call Richard…”

“She’s okay, I got here in time.” I assure him, sensing the obvious dread in his voice.

“I-I had to run home. There was a problem with…” I cut him off again. It's not going to do him any good to blame himself.

“They would have found her anyway, Emmett. It’s not your fault. I came to give you this.” I hand him an envelope. It’s a hundred thousand dollars. He won’t count it in front of me, and I'm glad, because I don’t have time. “For the damages, and for Ashia’s absence.”

“How long will she be gone?” He inquires.

“I'm not sure yet, I'm hoping after tonight only a few days as promised. But however long it takes.” I step in closer to him. “Did you get that letter from Dranan Hugo?”

“Yeah, what business opportunity is he talking about?” He crosses his arms.

“He’s going to want you to sell the building to him. I understand you don’t want to, and I’m not telling you to, but I’m afraid he’ll do much worse damage than this if you don’t cooperate. If he tries to reach out before the date in that letter, don’t respond. Just wait until the party. Hopefully I can get rid of him by then.” I look around at just the damage done to this back room, and a deep sense of regret seeps into my bones. What would have happened if I didn’t get here in time? What would have happened to Ashia if a bullet had gone astray or ricocheted and hit her? I notice Emmett looking around with me before his gaze meets mine.

“Did they come here because of you?” He asks seriously.

“I don’t think so. They were looking for Cooper and came to ask Ashia where he was. I don’t know if they thought he was hiding out with her, or if they knew he showed up to kill her but never made it out. I just don’t know. I’m waiting for word from our moles to know for sure.”

“All of this because of that piece of shit. I knew I should’ve done more to help keep her hidden, but I figured after so long and her restraining order that she would be okay. Especially once he moved to Seattle, I thought we’d never see or hear of him again.” He shakes his head lightly.

“This isn’t anyone’s fault but Coopers. He made his bed, and now he’s lying in it somewhere deep inside Hell’s walls. Dust will pay for this. I’ll make sure of it.” I turn to leave, unable to look at the scene and think of the what ifs anymore, when he grabs my arm.

“You take care of her, ya hear me? And when she’s ready to come back…” I jerk my arm away and step up to him so he can feel the seriousness of my response. No one is going to tell me how to take care of my woman.

“She knows she’ll always have a place here, Emmett, and I’ll always take care of her. But let me make one thing extremely clear. I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Even if that means she never steps foot inside this building again. You don’t ever have to worry about her well-being with me. Clear?” He then nods, and I make my way back out to the fire escape.

Tony is smart, I'll give him that. When I told him South Park Drive, I didn’t mean the street name towards the north side of town. On the southern part of town, there’s a greenery park that connects to a section of the Greenway outlined in nothing but trees and edible fruit bushes. It’s one of the most peaceful places in town, and people have started to call it ‘The Drive’, because they say it’s like taking a Sunday drive through the countryside when you walk through it. I obviously didn’t trust him enough to give an exact location over a phone call, but I’m impressed he figured it out so easily.

From the investigations the police department has put on our organization, I’m sure Tony knows that we have to use codenames and aliases to stay hidden. Carter checked for any outgoing phone or radio signals around us, and the only one he could find was mine. Tracking pings his phone at his house, and I actually appreciate the thought he put into this meeting. Perhaps he really is looking for help.

He’s here, he just doesn’t see me yet. There aren’t many differences between his DMV photo and how he looks in person. Though, I didn’t expect him to actually have some muscle mass to him. It’s not much, but definitely more than some of the other cops here in town. He came out of uniform, and in his own vehicle while wearing very bland, darker clothing to try and not raise suspicion to anyone who might see him. Though his blonde hair doesn’t do anything to help him hide in the dark. If my girl wasn’t the one that cut his bald fade, I’d think it makes him look like Forest Gump. I stand in the shadows with my hood up to avoid him from seeing my identity and wait until he’s close enough to start talking to him.

“Find out anything else?” He flinches and sharply turns as I scare him. His eyes are wide and he’s obviously paranoid. Serena was right. Pansy-ass momma’s boy. He releases a pent-up breath and clenches his fist together to gain some control.

“They’re being fucking paid.” He says with an anger I wasn’t expecting.

“Yeah, I figured that. How do you know for sure?” I say as I look around. Keeping an eye out for anyone who might be listening.

“I was leaving when the mayor finally left Chief Brantley’s office. He said ‘make sure you rein in your officers, Bruce. I’d rather Hugo give us cash than headstones.’ I never thought the Chief would be so low.” He shakes his head in disappointment, but I’m not dumb enough to stop doubting him right off the bat.

“You’re a better man than most, if you're not with them.” I see the anger visibly show on his face from that comment. His face turns red, and he grinds his teeth. The unsteadiness in his stance changes drastically, and he looks strong as stone now. He’s truly offended and upset at the accusation I made.

“What?” He almost yells but catches himself so he doesn’t draw attention. “If I was with them why the fuck would I ask for your help?”

“A trap. False information. Anything really.” I say as a matter of fact, which only irritates him further.

“I wouldn’t do that!” He looks around when he notices how loud he’s being. “My family has protected this city for…”

“Five generations. Yeah, I saw that too.” He truly seems to be taking this seriously and really is concerned about what is happening. Perhaps he is trustworthy.

“They’re looking for you. Everywhere. You've got to be careful. I knew the Chief wanted to crack down on finding you guys, but I never understood why we were focusing more on you all than Dust. Now, it makes sense.”

“Don’t worry about it. We can handle ourselves and your shitty police force.” He walks up to me slowly but is smart enough to stop before he can get too close. “No offense, of course.” God, I wish he could see the smirk on my face. He eyes up and down the Greenway before continuing.

“They’ve got third shift dispatch split. Half working day, half still working night. Chief fired Glenda, the lead dispatcher on first shift, then fired everyone else throughout the day.”

“Anyone who had a problem following orders today.” I state the obvious to make sure he’s keeping up.

“Exactly. Glenda told me that the Chief came down and gave an order to ignore any calls relating to second street, all the way down to twentieth. She told him no, that they’d filter through them like always.” He makes a ‘duh’ like gesture. “He fired her on the spot and took over for an hour before the third shift lead could get there. The dispatchers were texting her left and right before they were terminated about the car chase, then when the first call came through of the gunshots at Cut Me Down, Glenda called me as soon as she heard. Why would he do that? Everyone could see the chase?”

“The gun shots weren’t from the chase. They were after Ashia.” His face gets sterner than before as the worry takes over his features. He seems genuinely shocked.

“What does Dust want with her?”

“Cooper was working for them, and they think she was either hiding him or killed him.” His eyes widen and bulge.

“Cooper Siezly? He’s dead?” He says with genuine shock.

“As a door stop. But that was me, not her.”

“When did he get back? I was keeping tabs on him. I thought he was in Seattle?” He was keeping tabs on Cooper? And texting her every week to check on her? I really don’t like this guy.

“He was, until the leader of Dust gave him the territory.”

He places his hands over his head and paces.

“So, what do we do?” He says, almost in a panic.

“Now that Cooper is out of the picture, the leader is here and fighting back. I’m handling it tonight and hoping it shuts them down for a while. I have sources that will tell me if it gets them off of Ashia or not, and for now, that’s my main concern.”

“What are we going to do about the PD?”

“Lay low. Be yourself. If you're too compliant, they’ll know something is up. If you say too much…”

“They’ll get rid of me.”

I nod in agreement.

“Exactly. So as unfortunate as it is, there’s nothing we can do right now. I’ve got my guy locating who in the state government we can contact when this is settled, and Dust is taken care of. Let the state figure out your precinct.”

“I can’t just do nothing.” He throws his hands up in defiance.

“Do you want me to kill your Chief and half the police force? That’s the only way we’ll slightly get ahead here.” He steps back slightly and shakes his head. “That’s what I thought. For now, just keep me updated on anything you think I should know. Just text it to Ashia’s phone. Do you have any information on that Adrien kid that does the podcast?”

“Yeah. We questioned him once when we were looking for you. We thought since he knew so much, he must work for you, but he’s just an innocent kid. What do you want with him?” He narrows his eyes.

“That’s not your concern.”

“He’s just a kid!” He yells, and I step out a little closer to him. Just so he knows who the fuck he’s talking to.

“I have no interest in hurting kids, but I need to be sure that Ashia is protected and he’s not going to go try and sniff his own way into trouble. If he goes snooping around in the wrong places and gets caught, Dust will not hesitate to kill him. Send me his info. Now.” I demand and turn to leave.

“What are you going to do?”

“Get back at Dust.” I reply without stopping, taking large strides back towards the car. My need for retaliation is reaching a boiling point, and the need to release this rage is overwhelming.

Word about Dust going after Ashia got around DH, and every last one, except for our moles, called and ask to join the job tonight. Every single one of my people have families, and if it’s one thing you don’t fuck with, it’s family. I may pay them well, but that doesn’t matter to them. We protect each other and care for another like a family. A lot of them are my family, but we’ve never all come together like this. Even Mel left the baby with her husband to come out.

Thanks to them, we’ll hit them even harder than expected. We have two warehouses here in town without girls in them, two outside of town, and we have enough tonight to rescue the twenty girls we found earlier. All five are getting hit, with at least thirty Dust members, as well as Dranan’s new home. Carter has been surveying the house since I left, and noticed a pattern of six guards in and six guards out. They rotate in shifts, pairs switching at the same time, sixty seconds apart. Which is kind of smart, except for the fact that they’re fucking with us. So far, he hasn’t seen any proof that Dranan is actually there tonight, but if I can’t get to him, I’ll show him what he has coming.

Looking at this expansive home makes me sick. The all-white stone and brick mansion is too pure for someone as evil as Hugo. But, I suppose drug money is paying well these days, because according to the real estate records Carter found, he paid nine million for it. He’s trying to back track and find out how he purchased it, but it most likely won’t lead us anywhere. The transaction said it was cash, and I doubt someone like Hugo has a bank account to keep his illegal earnings in.

I have three snipers positioned around the mansion, four including myself. But I'm not high up on the nearby buildings. I'm right across the street, waiting on the ground with my team. Once Carter accesses the camera system, we’ll have ninety seconds to do what we need before they cycle through and reboot. That’s plenty of time. We’ve already tied their bodies to the stakes, ready to drag them out. The six from today gutted, rearranged, and hung out to dry. But Cooper’s decomposing body made things a little difficult. So, I have a special plan for him.

Carter signals us a go, and I’ve had my first target in my sights for ten minutes. Moving swiftly, but precisely, I shoot all three mother fuckers in the head. I love watching them drop, it’s like I blew their minds with my skills. The thought of that makes me laugh and takes me back to the night of the concert. When things settle down, I'll have to tell Ashia my pun. With her dark humor, she’ll enjoy it.

Once the other three signal that their targets are down, I motion for us to move in. With three people on each of the bunnies from today, they drag the stakes out onto the large, centered driveway. Absorbing the sound of the wooden stands dragging across the concrete in victory. At the end, it loops around a grand, three-tiered fountain. A perfect statement piece, and I’m honored to be able to make it even better.

They place each man evenly around the fountain while I drag the guest of honor by a noose around his decaying throat. Reveling in the feeling of dragging this disgusting, vile, waste of a life around like a dog. I hope whatever hell he’s in, he’s watching from below in anguish.

Once I get to the end of the driveway, I walk up the long staircase toward the front door. Still dragging his lifeless body and listening to it thump against the luxurious, brick stairs like a base drum. Above the front door is a balcony overlooking the long concrete path, and I know this is the perfect place for him. I throw the rope over the top, looping it around the wrought iron railing, and once the rope falls back down to me, Aaron and I pull down together. Hoisting the dead weight up so it can be seen from the street. We anchor him, and he hands me our normal spray paint. Grinning about as wide as I am. Walking halfway down the steps, I stop to turn and write ‘I fucking killed him’ before signing the normal DH calligraphy.

Aaron then hands me one of the bottles we created, and I’m the first to light and throw a Molotov cocktail. Signaling the others to throw theirs and lighting the house on fire. I watch as the expensive, opulent home goes up in flames. We slowly retreat, smelling the beautiful fire pit we created mixing together well with the decaying bodies we left behind. I interact with our coms through the piece in my ear. Feeling the tingling excitement for the firework finale.

“Blow them.” I hear one explosion from afar, and that just signals that the other three warehouses also went up in flames. Each team leader signaling through the coms to confirm, and the fifth will be in a matter of minutes, once the girls are out and safe. This will cease their production for a while, and it’s only the beginning.

A part of me wishes I could stay and watch the chaos ensue, but most of me wants to get home to her. I feel like a part of me is missing when I’m not near her, but this was necessary. Not only to show that she didn’t kill Cooper, but to warn him not to fucking come near her again. Due to the number of warehouses popping up in the past three weeks, something is coming. I’m not sure what, but a part of me feels like we’re about to find out, and not in a welcoming way. It has to do with wanting to buy the businesses. I know that. I feel that in my gut, but what it’s for? I’m not sure. My mind is on edge with the possibilities of what we could be dealing with.

I need to get home. I need to inhale her and hold her to try and calm myself down. Beg her to forgive me and reassure her that I’d never let anything happen to her. Make her see that I’m still the man she’s let in, and that the monster I unleashed today would never be turned on her.

I can’t show up tomorrow feeling like this. Not when it’s so important for both of us. I can any other time, but our little get away is about the three most important women in my life, and I need it to go perfectly.