Page 29 of Sadistic Retribution (Rise of Phoenyxx #2)

Frost

I storm out of the apartment, too keyed up to sit still. My mind is going a thousand miles an hour. What if Killer is part of this shitstorm, somehow?

No. There is literally no way. I shake my head, pushing out the door to go outside. I need to feel the sun on my face, even though it’s chilly out today. Fall is approaching faster every day.

I walk back to the edge of the property, close to the tree line. I walk by a storage shed, noticing the door is standing wide open. I look around in confusion, not seeing any staff that could’ve opened it.

I cautiously approach, craning my neck to look inside. Holy. Fucking. Shit. There are two douchebags inside, dead on the floor. There's blood everywhere. The floors, the walls—even the ceiling. Their throats are gaping wide open, like gruesome smiles.

I wrack my brain trying to figure out who they are. They're regular Joes. I can’t recall their names. I haven’t interacted with either one. My chest freezes up as I realize there’s only one person who could have done this.

My Killer.

She's completely out of control. We must get control of her. Nothing has worked thus far. Not even Harris has been able to get through to her.

I think I know what we have to do. It's incredibly risky, but we have no other options. Our fathers will find out, and we could potentially be facing one fuck of a punishment. It's worth it. We need our girl back.

I speed-walk back to the dorm, itching to share this with everyone. I need Razor and Purge on cleanup—it’s one of their specialties.

I slam inside so violently, the door crashes against the wall, making a hole. I rush into Purge’s room.

“There are two dead bodies in the storage shed close to the tree line. Two random guys. Their throats were cut. I think Killer is responsible.”

“Wait a fucking minute... is she still in your bedroom, Harris? Go fucking check!” Synn demands.

Harris rushes out. I hold my breath. Only three minutes go by before he runs back inside, winded and panting. “She’s gone! She got out somehow!”

“Great job, Doc!” Synn yells. He looks at us, gaze narrowing. “Ghost, Trikk—go find her. Now!”

They both pale, but nod before leaving quickly.

“Razor, Purge—go clean it up. Every trace needs to disappear.” I tell them.

Purge hesitates, but Harris consoles him. “I’m taking all of this to my contact, right now. It's alright. Go find her.”

Harris leaves, and me and Synn are alone. “Brother, we have to fix this. It's time for the emergency plan to go into effect.” I look pointedly at Synn, pleading with my eyes.

“Okay, fuck. Our fathers will skin us alive. But I agree. We'll tell the others once they get back.”

“Meanwhile, I’m putting that ball into motion. It will take a while, but we’ll be bringing Killer back to us. Soon,” I say, with emphasis.

It's time. We must bring back her emotions. This is the only way.

Hunter

I get about halfway down the hallway, already hitting dial on my phone. There's a sour taste in my mouth. Shit is getting uncovered fast now. It feels like it’s going to come to a head sooner rather than later.

The line connects. “I have major updates. Multiple ones.” I go on to explain everything we’ve found and hopefully have figured out. “What do I do? The boys need to be pulled in now.”

Jax sighs on the other end. “I’m getting a damn migraine. First off, do not tell those boys anything yet. Not until we have more concrete evidence.” After taking a deep breath, he continues. “Our experts are on this. I'm going to fill them in now. We'll get answers.”

“I certainly hope so. I need to wrap up this case, and make sure the girl is safe.”

“I also need to update you on the contact the boy, Purge, made. I’m putting Maverick on it. He has the proper background. Ex-military, ex-hostage negotiator. He knows how to play the part. A meeting time and place has been arranged.”

“Is this line secure enough to tell me all of this?”

“Of course. I’m using my most protected line. When you call, there are multiple phones I can answer. I made sure to use this one.”

“I trust you. When is the meeting?”

“Today, twelve noon. It's in a random area of the city. I checked it, and it’s in an alley. There are only back doors to businesses around. I'm betting it will be in one of those.”

I think for a moment. “Any bars or dives around there?” From experience, I know these kinds of meetings start out in a place like that oftentimes.

“There’s a seedy strip club about two blocks from there. Thank you. This could help my guy find it easier.”

“Call me back afterwards.”

“Oh, I'm doing better than that. My guy will be fitted with a tiny cam and an earpiece that’s undetectable. I’m having the same earpieces delivered to your office, as we speak. A set for you, and one for Purge. You'll also get access to his cam feed.”

“Fantastic! Thank you. I'll head to my office now and fill the boys in once I get back.”

This could be huge. I’m praying that we will get concrete proof that the fathers are involved. I want to bury them!

Phoenyxx

Students part as I walk by, people standing back or moving to the other side of the hallway. This kind of power could go to a girl’s head.

I'm strolling through the admin building, on my way to Augustine's office for a report. I'm sure he'll be pleased at my extra chaos.

I took care of Destiny and took control of the campus. Now I’m supposed to procure a cornucopia of illegal substances to sell to the addicts here. Essentially, I’m to supply people with what they want… for a hefty price. Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, vapes, and weapons, mostly.

But just then, I’m lifted completely off the ground, pulled lengthwise between two bodies. One grabs my arms, the other my legs. This seems familiar...

I make eye contact with Trikk and Ghost. I spit at them but miss. “What the fuck now?” I hiss through gritted teeth.

“You’re on twenty-four-seven detention—starting now,” Ghost announces. “You will be with one of us at ALL times.”

“You're out of control, Bambi,” Trikk adds.

“Fuck. You. Both! Why the hell do you even care? I was shown the truth! It was Valley you all wanted—I was just a pawn!”

“What? That's...No! Never! I swear it on everything. Who showed you what?” Trikk asks, disbelief on his face.

“In The Morgue,” I grit out. “Videos of all of you talking about it.”

“You believed that, Malishka? You know video can be manipulated, right?”

I just scoff. “Sure, whatever. It's not like I care now, anyway.”

They don’t bother replying, just carry me to the main doors, then over to the boys’ dorm. Students gape and whisper. The ones I glare at look away quickly.

They struggle to get me up the stairs. Good. Fuckers. I get carried sideways inside and am deposited onto the sofa. I shoot death lasers at them, and at Synn and Frost, who come in from Purge’s room. “Bite me, losers!”

Synn bends down, grabbing my chin hard. “You will behave and stay put. Or else.”

“Wow, that sounds familiar. Threats again?” I toss back my head and laugh my ass off. “You do realize I’m not scared of you anymore, yeah?”

“Not trying to scare you. Just stating facts.”

“Can you at least fucking feed me, oh jailers?”

Trikk stands, Frost taking his place. He goes to the kitchen, probably to make pancakes. My inner eye roll almost gives me a headache.

Trikk

I'm making Bambi her favorite—pancakes. My baby still needs to be spoiled. Harris comes in after me.

“When did you get back, bro?” I ask.

“I just got back. Listen, I'll be holed up with Purge soon. Keep everyone else out—including you. I've been ordered to only have us there.”

“Why are you bringing this to me? Shouldn't you be telling Synn or Frost?”

“You can relay it to them. I don’t have time for arguments. I figured you were the least risk of giving me shit. We’ll be going in there soon. Can't believe it’s close to noon already,” he mutters.

I nod slowly. “Sure, man, I’ll tell them.”

“I’m going to wait for Purge in his room.”

Purge

Me and Razor are finally finished with clean up duty. It was messy as fuck, but it’s spotless in there now. And the bodies are buried deep in the forest.

We walk in together after changing our clothes and burning the ones we were wearing that were covered in blood. We have a stash of clean clothes near the forest for this very reason.

We see Iskra sitting on the sofa and go straight for her.

“Iskra, thank fuck,” I say.

“You had us scared, Fiasca,” Razor follows.

She just flips double birds and looks away.

Harris comes up behind me, leaning over to whisper in my ear. “You and I have to be on your computer by noon. We'll be watching the meeting with the Dark Web contact.”

“Just us?”

“Yes, we have earpieces and will have video to watch.”

I nod once in understanding. I glance at my phone, seeing it’s a few minutes until twelve now. I stride into my room, and Harris follows me. I hear Synn question us, then Trikk’s voice.

“Trikk is telling them,” Harris says with his voice low. Whatever, I'm sure it’ll be resolved. My focus is only on this insane meeting right now.