Page 76 of Mine to Keep

“Daddy Koda,” they cry. “Daddy Koda!”

“Little one! Baby boy!” I shout as I try to reach them. But I can’t. They’re leaving me. They’re?—

I wake with a start, crying out at the sharp pain in my ribs. I look around, seeing I’m still on the couch. Sweat drips down my brow and my heart thumps wildly in my chest.

Fuck, I need to get back to them. I need them. They keep the nightmares away. They keep me safe.

I can’t live without my boys.

twenty-seven

payback’s a bitch

From my seatin the sitting room, I see the man enter his home and make a beeline towards his kitchen. He opens the refrigerator and pulls out a beer, cracking it open and taking greedy pulls of it right there in front of the open fridge.

When he stops chugging, he wipes his mouth and lets out a long breath, saying, “Who are you and why are you in my house?”

I grin. I figured he’d know I was there. He might be old, but he’s still sharp.

“Nice to meet you, Director.”

His back goes ramrod straight, the hand holding the bottle tightening. “Viper.”

“In the flesh.”

I click the light on just as The Director turns around. He looks exactly how I suspected he’d look—older with graying hair and wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, dark eyes with no emotion, and a no-nonsense air. He looks like a man that deals in death and doesn’t give a fuck about collateral damage.

He tips the bottle up to his mouth and stares at me. “Who’s your friend?”

Olivia leans forward with a grin, her dark brown fro framing her face. “Oh, Director, you don’t remember me?”

He starts and his eyes grow wide. “Nyla,” he breathes.

“Not anymore. You can call me Olivia. My real name, not that bullshit you assigned me.” She rolls her eyes. “How you been all these years? Scared I’ll rat you and The Void out?”

“Of course not,” he scoffs, “you’re loyal.”

“Not after you tried to have me killed, I’m not. I should have blown the whistle on your bitch-ass years ago.”

“Well, you didn’t,” he says, rounding the kitchen counter to come into his sitting room. “So what now? More empty threats?”

I smile and straighten up in my chair. I let him see the HK in my hand. His eyes zero in on it and I recognize the look of a man that thinks he can still get out of this. “Nah, no more threats. You’re being retired, Director. Or should I just call you Jake?”

He bristles. “You will show me respect, Viper or?—”

“Shh, shh, shh,” I say, motioning with my gun. “That’s enough of that.”

He looks at the pictures over his fireplace. “What happened to my family?”

I turn around to look at them, not worried about taking my eyes off The Director. Olivia has him in her sights.

“Beautiful family. Do they know what kind of monster you are?”

“I’m a monster?” he scoffs again. “You’re my deadliest asset. And Nyla was right behind you. Guess we’re all monsters.”

“Yeah,” I say, “but I know what I am. Does your wife know who you are? Your kids?”

“Of course not. To them, I sell insurance.”