Page 68

In the Hot Seat and Italian Ice

G randpa Wilde stood from the wooden gold-studded cream chair, making it creak, and grasped his silver and diamond cane.

He was met with a disenchanted stare from the new detective he’d hired to work the case, Steve Grey.

Over time he’d engaged many like him. Some were fired.

Some were placed on ice. Some worked together.

A team of experts was better than an individual, he figured.

“I’m sorry that I don’t have better news, Cyrus,” Detective Grey stated dryly. “Would you like me to call for your chauffeur, or did you—”

“I drove here myself today. Needed the fresh air and alone time.”

The man nodded, broke their eye contact, then looked at his laptop as if there was some pressing matter he needed to attend to.

Grandpa reached for his ivory cowboy hat that sat on the desk and placed it atop his head.

The detective was typing away on his computer, dismissing him with his behavior.

Grandpa Wilde didn’t care for his dull, no nonsense personality, but as long as he did his job, personality quirks weren’t much of a concern.

He stood there for a bit, studying the man’s face.

When he had his fill, he turned his attention to the detective’s walls covered in accolades: royal blue, gold, and pewter military medals, framed degrees from highly accredited and respectable educational institutions, and certificates detailing his vocational accomplishments with various law enforcement agencies.

He looked down at the untouched cigar that Dt.

Grey had offered when he’d first entered the office, then out the window, at the nice golf course in the distance.

How lovely everything was, including the weather.

It was almost like a taunting of sorts—a mockery of how things were falling apart at the seams.

The detective’s office smelled like cherries, cigar smoke, and a five star hotel rolled into one, only he wished to get away from there, as lovely as it all was. Perhaps it was his disappointment making him yearn to vanish from this place, and if possible, climb out of his own skin.

Oh, to be young again… to be able to do it over. I would have never let you leave, Tina. I would have paid attention. Now I’m here. In this place. Racing around town tryna find someone, anyone, that can find you…

He’d been called, told there was news, only it wasn’t the news he expected.

Tina had escaped once again. Blurry storefront videos showed a woman that could possibly have been her, fleeing with one suitcase.

A relocation, no doubt. No beginning. No end.

Just a gray fuzziness covered not only the footage, but his own life—no one could make heads or tails of it.

How she kept slipping away was beyond his comprehension.

Sure, the woman was smart and had a wicked sixth sense, but she was human after all.

Everyone meets their D-Day eventually. She was older now…

slower… but somehow, slicker. He sucked his teeth as he started to make his way out to the lobby.

A watered down, miserable farewell was offered as he closed the door behind him.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone and noticed a missed call from Francesco Sivero. His blood ran cold. Then he realized that there was a voicemail from the man, too.

Fantastic. This motherfucker wants to fight.

All of that shit blew up in his face, and he wants to blame me for it, too.

I didn’t tell him to send them boys that way.

That was all his idea, or at least someone that works for him.

I told that arrogant fucker that Kage was a gotdamn wolf!

A monster masquerading as a human being. What did he expect?

Now this… The week had been dreadful…

Word traveled fast and quickly arrived at the deadly destination: The Italians had been slaughtered on Kage ‘The Lone Wolf’s’ island.

His maniac, Texas Chainsaw Massacre fashioned grandson had orchestrated a series of grisly booby traps on his land, played earsplitting music while creating absolute mayhem, from what was described.

Organized chaos of a certified psychopathic killer.

Some of the snares he was told about would have made a bear trap seem like a warm, cozy hug.

Kage had without hesitation shot, viciously beaten, tortured and killed practically the entire posse, but let one mangled bastard live, because in Kage’s sadistic mind, he wanted that man to go and tell the tale.

Of course, that man was now missing a couple limbs and was slipping away in the hospital, but the story was told, nevertheless.

Though Kage seemed to have done most of the damage within the walls of that house of his, something happened that involved another motherfucker.

He’d had assistance—he was no lone wolf after all.

From the way it was explained, some son of a bitch sped through his estate on a motorcycle skillfully shooting at folks, and whoever it was had a woman on the back of his ride.

One of his fucking cousins—that would fit the bill.

If I were to guess, probably Phoenix. Lennox maybe, but I highly doubt he’d bring his wife with him.

She’s an attorney now, though… doubt she’d want to be caught up in something like that, but I could be wrong…

From my understanding, Roman has been out of town on business for the past few weeks, so that rules him out, and the others I just can’t imagine doing it, or being able to move that fast on a damn bike.

Phoenix used to race motorcycles and cars for fun…

he’s known for that, so he’s my number one suspect.

Maybe he’s got a girlfriend, and that was the lady?

Regardless, he felt no responsibility for the outcome.

He’d told the Italians repeatedly to never go to Kage’s property for a show-down.

They’d be choking on their words, then walking into their death sentences.

He’d urged them to learn from his own mistakes when confronting Kage, but once again, his advice went unheeded.

Grandpa looked at the missed call log again, and shook his head.

Francesco Sivero, this isn’t New York fuckin’ City or Jersey!

We play by different rules here. I have tried to explain to this man that the old ways of the world he and I grew up with are gone.

These new-fangled motherfuckers are not just killers—they are absolutely deranged, and they don’t give a single fuck about it.

Regardless, Grandpa enjoyed working with Sivero.

If their relationship was at all salvageable, he wanted it sorted.

They both had connections and assets that offered a mutual benefit.

They kept each other in the loop and looked out for one another.

Because of this shit with Kage, however, the relationship between the two men would be forever impaired, if not severed altogether, without some miracle coming into play.

Kage, the more I push, the more you put up a fight, and the more violent you become. You are completely volatile. Unhinged. The only way to control such a man was to take what he loved most.

In this case, his land.

Snatch it from his grasp to make the monster bend.

Grandpa knew how much that estate and the house he’d built on it, meant to his grandchild.

Kage owned a piece of paradise, and he’d fashioned it himself.

He’d poured his soul into it. It was a clean start for him after working back-breaking jobs for other people, for years.

Kage used his disadvantages as come ups.

He took his natural born skills in building and creating, and used it to make a profitable career.

He spent time as an apprentice for masters of woodwork, and other trades.

Even after he’d started his business, he’d humbled himself and worked at various hardware stores, just to learn about customer service and supply chains, things of that nature.

He bought books, and borrowed many texts on the home improvement industry from libraries, as well as talked to experts in the field of home construction.

He then took online business classes to learn how to be a good boss, and make sure his records were in order.

His mama had even said he took night classes in between jobs, to get certified and accredited.

He got a lawyer so he could start hiring people, reviewing contracts, bids, and writing out checks to pay employees.

And then, he had the money for land… At the time, the place was a horrid mess, so he got it cheap, but what he did with it was amazing.

Everyone seemed to want it after Kage had poured time, money, and hard work into getting it in tip top shape.

To take it away would be like putting the monster in a cage.

Institutionalizing him all over again. Putting him in his wretched little place, psychologically destroying him once and for all.

This was the silver lining, a bit of good news amongst the bad…

Lorna had in fact showed up at Kage’s doorstep, just as she’d been instructed.

The woman called him right afterwards, her voice shaking, stating that Kage had a gun on his hip the entire time, and he kept massaging it as he spoke to her…

So, suffice it to say, in her opinion, it didn’t go well, but she still wanted the other half of the money he’d promised her.

Despite her concerns, in his view, it had gone perfectly.

He sent her the money he owed. After getting it, she called him later on that same day and accused him of lying about Kage’s affection for her.

It sounded as if she’d been drinking. Perhaps liquid courage?

She mad mention that Kage had a woman, a partner, in his home. Fiancée.