Page 34 of Provocation (Den of Deception #3)

‘Stay in the car.’ I say again to Daisy but get out before she has a chance to reply,, throwing on my ski mask.

As I get to the backdoor, I hear a muffled scream from inside.

He’s already here. I’m too late.

I push it open and enter the kitchen, going through to the restaurant.

‘We told you what would happen if you didn’t pay,’ Farley is snarling at the owner.

The balding man whimpers from the floor, one arm clutching his face where blood leaks onto his shirt, and the other around his daughter.

‘I don’t have the money yet! It’s too much!’

‘Not my problem,’ Farley sneers. ‘Hell, it ain’t even yours now.’ His beady eyes fall onto the girl who’s sobbing next to her father. ‘It’s hers. Get up!’

Farley grabs the girl by her long brown hair, hauling her flush against him and licking her cheek. She squeals and tries to pull away, but he just laughs.

He notices me and snorts. ‘Finally. Beat the shit out of daddy while I deal with this,’ he tells me.

He shakes the girl and holds her face up to look at her, a glint in his eye.

I don’t move, my mind whirring, trying to find a way out of this that doesn’t blow back on Shade, Mav, and Daisy.

I shake my head at Sal, furious that he’d put his daughter in danger like this. I put my hand in my jacket pocket for my gun, but it isn’t there!

Fuck! It must have fallen out in the car.

‘Not my little girl,’ Sal pleads. ‘I’ll do anything. But you leave her out of it.’

‘Too late for that,’ Farley snarls, ripping the girl’s button-up shirt open to reveal her white tank top.

She screams and before I know it, I’m tearing her out of Farley’s grip and pushing him away from her.

‘Leave her alone,’ I growl. ‘She’s just a kid!’

He looks surprised for a split second before he grins nastily. ‘You little fuck!’ he grinds out.

His gun is in his hand and pressed to my head before I realize he’s even moved, and I register my own shock that he was that fast. I underestimated him. Now, I’m going to pay for it.

‘No one tells me what to do,’ he breathes. ‘I’m going to kill you. Here. Now. In this fucking pizza place. Your brains are going to be all over the walls, you piece of shit!’

He pulls back the hammer, and I swallow hard, my life flashing before my eyes. Daisy is at the forefront. How long will she stay in the car? Will she run? Will she come in here when she hears the shot? God, I can’t let this happen. I have to do?—

The sound of the gun firing and the accompanying scream from the girl has my entire body clenching, but there’s no impact. I’m alive, I realize after a moment. It’s Farley who thuds to the floor next to me, surprise in his rapidly dimming eyes. I look up, expecting maybe Sal but it’s not.

Daisy’s there, standing behind where he was at almost point blank range. My gun, the one that I thought was in my jacket pocket, is in her hands. She’s looking…bemused.

Then, she winces at the gun and shakes her hand before she lowers her arm and stares at Farley. His eyes are open and unseeing. A puddle of blood is expanding on the floor around his middle.

‘Is he dead?’ she asks quietly.

I nod, not sure what else to say as I get to my feet and walk to her slowly. I take the gun from her hands, and she lets me have it.

‘Fuck,’ I whisper, looking at the dead man and glancing at Sal and his daughter who are looking as shocked as I feel.

It’s the old man who shakes himself and gets to his feet first. ‘Janey, go get the trash bags and the duct tape.’

She nods and disappears into the back.

‘Son, I’m guessing your boss ain’t gonna like this.’

I shake my head at Sal and glance at Daisy who hasn’t moved.

‘This your girl?’ Sal asks.

‘Kormak can’t find out,’ I hear myself saying. ‘He’ll kill her.’

Sal nods in my periphery. ‘No one from around here will say a word, but the body needs to disappear. You understand?’

‘Yeah,’ I whisper, blinking. ‘The body. Yeah.’

‘Can you do that? You got a place?’

I nod. ‘I have a place.’

The tunnels in the club lead right to the river. It won’t be difficult to get him there.

I grab the trash bags from Janey and Sal helps me wrap Farley up.

I tell Daisy to stay inside, and I run out to the truck, moving it so that the tailgate is as close to the back door as I can get it. When I go back in, Daisy is sitting at one of the tables with a slice of plain cheese pizza. She’s eating like she didn’t just kill a man.

But, then, this isn’t her first time…

I stare at her until Sal nudges me and gestures to the body that’s now wrapped in black plastic. We pick him up and carry him through the kitchen, out the back door, and put him into the truck bed. I close it up and Sal goes back inside.

He uses sawdust on the wet blood, shrugging when he sees me watching. ‘Keep some of this around for kids’ birthday parties,’ he says as he sprinkles it down. ‘Someone’s always throwing up.’

‘Right.’

He side-eyes me. ‘What are you gonna tell your boss?’

‘That I got here and he never showed.’

Sal nods. ‘I’ll drive his car out to the boonies tonight.’ He glances at Daisy who’s still sitting at the table eating. ‘I don’t have the money.’

I nod. ‘You and your daughter keep what my girl did between us, and you don’t need to worry about it.’

He nods as he sweeps up the now red sawdust into a pile and then asks his daughter to get the bleach. ‘Go,’ he says to us.

Without another word, I approach Daisy at the table.

‘Come on,’ I say quietly.

She stands, bringing her crust with her and we leave. I think that the night will suddenly feel less surreal once we get out of Sal’s, but as we climb into the truck, it all actually feels worse.

I message the guys to meet us outside the club.

‘We still need to go to the lab at Richmond U,’ Daisy says, looking out the window.

‘You still want to?’ I ask carefully.

‘Still needs to be done.’ Her face is blank.

‘Right.’

We’ll just drive around more with a dead body in the back.

We go a few more minutes down the road, and neither of us talk. But I keep replaying everything over and over in my head. Daisy just stares out at the dark trees.

‘I told you to stay in the truck,’ I finally say.

‘If I had, you’d be dead,’ she says, not looking at me. ‘Can you stop the car, please?’

I do as she asks, pulling over onto the side of the road. She opens the door as soon as the truck is stationary and gets out, noisily throwing up by the front wheel.

I get out and circle around to the passenger side to find her wiping her mouth. She looks up at me.

‘I had to do it, didn’t I?’ she asks quietly.

I nod. ‘He was going to kill me like you said. You saved me, Daisy.’

‘Okay.’

She gets back into the truck and so do I.