Page 21 of Gash (The Skulls #13)

deep breath.

“ Are you okay?” he

asked.

“ Yeah, everything is just—yeah,

I’m okay. It just seems pretty surreal is all.”

You’re about to go and

kill a man and a woman.

A woman you agreed to

kill.

You’re going to watch him

take another man’s life.

She thought about Jeff and

Rebecca , her

memories going back to that moment in the hospital when she

realized what had been taken from her. The pain was still there,

but she could finally breathe.

Gash took hold of her hand. “Do you

want me to back away?”

“ You’d do that for me?” she

asked, turning toward him. During her doubts, Gash had parked the

car, and turned off the ignition.

“ Don’t you realize

yet?”

“ Realize what?”

“ I’ll do anything for you. Even

walk away today.”

She stared into his eyes, and knew

without a shadow of a doubt that he meant the words he said. “I

love you,” she said.

“ That’s all I need now, baby. I

don’t need anything else but those words, and you.”

But in the back of his

mind, she

knew he’d always wonder what would have happened today.

What if Jeff does the same

to another woman that he did to you?

The very thought made her cold from

the inside. She didn’t want anyone to suffer the way that she had

suffered.

Leaning in close, she took possession

of his lips. “We’re going to do this, and once it’s done, no more

thinking about the past, just the future, right?”

“ Right.”

“ Let’s go.”

They both climbed out of the car, and she

took a breath as she gazed around the parking lot. Top of the range

cars filled a couple of spaces, but for the most part, it was

vacant.

Gash popped the trunk of the car and

pulled out a bag.

“ Do you want me to hold

anything?” she asked.

“ No, I’ve got it

all.”

“ Are you sure?”

She was so damn nervous.

Gash took hold of her hand. “We’re

good.”

With their hands locked together, they

walked toward the elevator. Her heart was pounding as they started

to travel toward the top floor.

We can do this.

She closed her

eyes , and

once again she was transported back to that hospital room, and

staring at Jeff’s smug face. He thought he could get away with

everything. Murder wouldn’t touch him, no one would touch him. She

fucking hated that bastard, and Rebecca.

Her life had turned to fucking

shit.

Gripping his hand a little tighter,

she was more determined than ever before.

The elevator doors opened, and she

walked beside Gash, her steps sure.

They got to the room number, and they both

paused as nailed to the door was a single white envelope with the

names Gash and Charlotte, in fancy writing.

With Gash’s arms full, Charlotte

grabbed the envelope opening it. Inside was a folded piece of paper

and a key.

Taking out the paper, she unfolded

it.

“ Come in. That’s all it says.”

She took out the key and held it up to Gash. “This doesn’t feel

right.”

“ I know. Get behind me.” Gash

removed his bag, opened it up, and she saw several guns, and

something rolled up, which looked like some medical tools. She

wasn’t even going to think about that.

He checked the gun for bullets, and

she guessed he got it ready for firing. She wasn’t any kind of

expert on guns.

“ Grab the bag, and stay

behind me.” He took the key, sliding it into the lock.

Her stomach twisted as the door

opened. Gash entered the room, and hauling the bag on her shoulder,

she followed him.

Once there was enough room, she closed

the door, using her foot to kick it shut.

Following behind Gash, she made sure

there were several steps between them.

“ Holy shit,” Gash said,

stopping.

“ What is it?” she asked,

moving to look past his shoulder.

Charlotte wished she hadn’t. On the dining

room table lay a woman. She had been nailed with her arms either

side of her hand. The woman’s legs were spread, and she was naked.

Her feet also had nails, keeping her attached to the

table.

She knew without a doubt

that it was

Rebecca. The single birthmark on the ankle was one sign, as was the

original passport that had been stabbed into her forehead. It was a

brutal, violent, and bloody kill.

Unable to help it, Charlotte dropped the

bag, and threw up the breakfast that she had eaten that

morning.

“ Not a good sight, is

it?”

That voice had haunted her for seven

years.

Wiping the back of her mouth,

Charlotte turned toward the noise. She’d not even noticed it as she

came in. Against the fake fireplace, Jeff was bound to a chair. He

didn’t look much better than Rebecca, but he was alive.

Gash took hold of her hand, forcing

her to get behind him. “Who’s here?”

Jeff laughed. “He’s long gone now. Came in

as if we were old pals. I should have known the truth. He had a

bottle of scotch, and was talking about another job he might have

for us. The bastard hadn’t been here in seven years, and I should

have known something was wrong.” Jeff gritted his teeth and tried

to fight the restraints. “He fucking drugged us.” He started to

shout now, and Charlotte cringed as he kept on fighting and

yelling. “He made me watch what he did to her, and all the time, he

was laughing. Told me that I was going to be next, but he was going

to leave me to someone from my past. He kept her alive for most of

it. She was screaming, begging for me to help, and I couldn’t do

shit.”

Charlotte stared at the mess

that was once Rebecca, an d she felt sick to her stomach again. Rebecca

didn’t have a nice ending but a hard one, one that was fucking

disgusting.

“ Who did you work for?”

Gash asked, moving

toward him.

Jeff smiled. “You really think

that’s going to work ? I’m dead either way.”

Charlotte forced herself to move and

looked behind Jeff. The chair he was sitting on was wired up, and

she saw a countdown. “He’s going to blow up,” she said.

Gash looked toward her, then

Jeff.

“ Master and Sir do have a

way to make a point, don’t they?”

“ Master and

Sir?”

“ Yep. There’s no point keeping it

a secret, especially as he left you a note.” Jeff nodded toward the

coffee table in the sitting room. Charlotte moved carefully across

the apartment floor, and picked up the single envelope.

“ It’s addressed to you,”

she said, looking at Gash. She waited until Gash was beside her

before she glanced over at Jeff. “The countdown on the, erm, the

bomb, gave him twenty more minutes.”

“ You don’t need to whisper. I

know I’m a dead man. I’m just surprised you’re not beating the shit

out of me, Charlotte. After all, I did take your kid, and put you

in a hospital.” Jeff laughed. “You should have seen her go crazy.

It took a lot of surgery to repair the damage you did to my

face.”

“ What the fuck did you

say?” Gash

asked.

Charlotte saw through Jeff’s act. He was

terrified.

“ She was knocked up with

your kid, and taking it out of her was a damn pleasure. I was

ordered to do it, which I thought was harsh, but it was fucking

awesome.”

“ Who ordered you to do

it?”

“ Master again.”

She listened to Gash and Jeff talk.

All the time, she looked around the apartment, wondering what the

hell was going on.

“ Who is Master?” Charlotte

asked.

Gash gritted his teeth.

Jeff laughed. “No one fucking knows

who he is. He’s a mythical being.”

“ What is going

on?”

“ Tell her,

Gash.”

“ You don’t fucking talk to

her,” Gash said.

“ I’m dead anyway. It doesn’t

matter.”

“ He wants you to kill him,”

Charlotte said. “I guess getting your throat slit is much better

than being blown to bits, right?”

Jeff growled, disgust clear on his

face.

“ Why Gash? Why him?” Charlotte

asked. She looked at Jeff as he stared at her. “Why me?” This was

one big vendetta against Gash, and she hadn’t seen it before that

moment. She looked toward Gash. “Do you know who Master

is?”

“ I’ve not got a clue,” Gash

said. “He’s a ghost. No one knows who he is, or what he does. He’s

not known.”

“ Do you know

him?”

Jeff snorted. “No one knows him. Master

makes sure you know what he wants you to know, and you do what he

tells you to do.”

“ What happened seven years

ago?”

He shook his head, and Charlotte

folded her arms. “Why not tell us? You’re going to die

anyway.”

“ Look, all I know is that

there was a letter with five grand cash, a list of instructions and

a promise of more. I did what was said in the instructions, more

money was presented to me.”

“ Where does Rebecca come

in?”

“ She was given the same deal.

Cash for jobs, and we met up, hit it off, and we decided to share

the bounty that this job would take in. The object was to take down

Gash, the member of The Skulls. No reason was given, just

instructions on what to do, when to do it, and that he had to

remain alive.”

“ What about me?”

“ You weren’t part of the plan

until you were discovered to be pregnant. My boss didn’t believe

you’d be any real threat. You were fat, and Gash wasn’t known for

liking fat women. You were not expected, so you had to be taken

care of. Also, he thought it would be fun to see what happened between you

and Gash when he discovered the truth.”

“ And my unborn

child?”

“ We were there. We saw you touch

your stomach and say Gash’s name. Once you were out of it with the

drugs, we got in touch with Master, and he told us the baby had to

go regardless of who it was. Master wanted you out of the way but

not dead.”

She felt sick to her stomach. Moving

behind Jeff again, she saw that they only had ten minutes. “We’ve

got to go.”

Gash didn’t look happy. She walked up

toward him, and grabbed his arm. “We’ve got to go. Once this blows,

they’re going to lock it all down.”

She moved toward the door.

Gash stared at Jeff.

“ You’re not going to find him.

Master only comes out when he’s ready,” Jeff said.

“ Gash, leave

it!”

She opened the door, and

waited.

Finally after seconds passed, Gash

rushed toward her. He took the weapons bag from her hand, and they

rushed toward the elevator.

“ It’s going to take too

long. We’ve got to take the stairs.” Gash grabbed her hand, and

shoved the door open. She rushed down behind him, following him

down the flight of stairs. She was unfit, and not ready for

suddenly running, but she kept on running.

Minutes passed, and they ducked as the

explosion shook the building. They were two floors from the parking

lot. They picked up their speed, and rushed toward their car. Gash

didn’t take his time to load the guns in the trunk. Jumping in the

passenger seat, she waited for Gash to start the car up, and they

were driving out of the parking lot. Charlotte looked back in time

to see police cars arriving.

“ What the fuck was that?”

she asked.

“ Well, it wasn’t what I expected.

Fuck!” Gash slammed his palm against the steering wheel. “I didn’t

expect Jeff to be taken out, and I didn’t expect his boss to be

Master.”

“ Who is Master?” Charlotte

asked.

“ He’s a bad guy. From what we

knew of him he dealt with women, selling girls, and using them. He

brands them like cattle.”

“ What’s his problem with

you?”

“ I don’t have fucking clue, but

I’m going to find out.”