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Beau

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Somewhere very dark

That Same Night

"You have no idea who I am. There are powerful people behind me. You can’t kill me," she protests, and I almost roll my eyes.

I’m getting too old for this kind of shit. If it weren’t a special request from Christos and Odin for me to handle everything personally, I would’ve sent someone else to do the job. "I’ve never killed a woman in my life, and I don’t intend to start now, Shelley."

I see a glimmer of hope flash in her eyes. She still believes she has a chance.

The first time I called her Shelley, when I captured her breaking into Brooklyn Foster’s family home, she looked stunned. But in the end, she understood there was no point in protesting or pretending her name wasn’t Shelley. I knew who she was, and nothing she said would convince me to change her fate. One monster recognizes another.

"If you’re not going to kill me, what’s your plan? I have a lot of money."

"Then we have that in common, Shelley. I don’t need your money."

The fear returns. "I don’t understand."

"There are fates worse than death. You should know that by now. When my friends asked me to find you, when they told me what you did to Brooklyn, my first thought was: fuck . . .this idiot is going to be the first woman I kill."

"You said you don’t kill women."

"Exactly. Besides, there’s something you need to know about me. I’m vindictive, Shelley. I believe in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." I step closer to her. "I took my time studying a way to destroy you without killing you."

I point the gun at her head, and seconds before pulling the trigger, I warn her, "It requires precision, calculation. I’m a meticulous guy. Everything I do is perfect."

"What are you talking about?"

"Say goodbye to the world you know, Shelley Edward. I hope you enjoy your eternal sleep."