AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll be damned.” Styx chuckled. “And here I thought you couldn’t surprise me.”
“I still have a few of surprises left inside me.” Creed whipped out his sunglasses. “By the way, we need to be very careful how we handle the reporter. He made enough noise I had a friendly call from our local police captain letting me know the prosecutor’s office was suddenly curious all over again.”
“To be expected,” I said.
Styx shook his head. “That doesn’t mean it’s not horrific timing. With our contract the way it is with the Pentagon, we need to be prudent how we handle every aspect of business.”
Creed and I looked at each other, both nodding. Our oldest brother had always been the sense of reason.
“It’s Mother’s heavenly birthday coming up,” I reminded them.
My two brothers looked at me. The fact that after her death, our bastard of a father had tried to disguise her disappearance by acting as if she didn’t give a shit about her three children still continued to take a toll.
At least on me.
Maybe that’s why I couldn’t stand being on the estate Creed had taken over. While he’d gone to great lengths to renovate both the interior and the exterior including the grounds, spending millions of dollars doing so, the memories were still far too painful.
“One last hunt, gentlemen, although we won’t be digging a grave today. We have men to handle it for us given our status in society.”
Status in society. At least now I could laugh, very grateful he’d cleaned up the mess our father had created. The bastard had always believed he was above the law.
“I’ll drive,” Styx said, pointing to his SUV. “You just need to tell me where we’re going?”
As I climbed in, I began to study the file on Ronny in earnest. While there was no doubt our father had been little more than an animal, not a single woman or child had been on his hit list, other than our mother. Sure, he’d used what experts would call abusive behavior on his three sons, but he revered families. It was something I’d tried hard to forget given my hatred toward the man.
But it had instilled in me both the longing and the reverence toward having a real family.
A normal one.
If such a thing existed.
Sighing, I continued flipping through the file, feeling that protective side of me crawling to the surface all over again. How in God’s name had Sara and her family tolerated the horrific scrutiny, the police pounding on their door so many times in the middle of the night? I certainly knew that you couldn’t pick out a serial killer when they attempted to go about living a normal life. Many of the most famous murderers had been pillars of society, including the Boston Strangler.
No wonder they’d run.
Our father had been respected for the most part, carrying on as if he adored his family. People had no clue what he was capable of, including similar officers who’d pounded on our doors while attempting to pin one or ten murders on him.
I scrubbed my jaw, trying to make sense of why Sara had been drawn to me in the first place. Had it been because I’d exuded some beacon similar to what upon her uncle had done? She’d never read any of my writings, only listening to my lectures, but by their nature they had fallen into what many would call abysmal darkness. But it was all fiction with only a dash of reality thrown in.
I couldn’t answer that any more than I could why she was the one.
But I was more certain than ever of my dominating decision to keep her now. Was it horribly wrong? Perhaps, but no matter how many times I pretended to repent, I would never be considered a moral man.
Everything I’d heard and read made my obsession for her intensify.
“You know? I haven’t even seen the sanctuary you created for Bella and her love of nature,” Styx admitted. “Have you?” Asking me, he stared into the rearview mirror given I was in the backseat. His eyes were imploring, maybe searching to see if I could stand tolerating walking the grounds ever again.
“Nope. I never wanted to. Our mother is in heaven, our fucking asshole of a father burning in the fires of hell. Speaking of which. What did you do with our father’s body?” When Creed didn’t immediately answer, I was reminded that all three of us had been encumbered by a criminally trained mind.
“Let’s just say he was put to good use in the garden.”
Styx glanced into the rearview mirror again. Creed was a lover of the macabre and drama, often embellishing details.
Somehow, I had a feeling he wasn’t doing so with his last statement.
“And Bella knows about this?” I asked.
“To some degree. I told her enough about dear old Daddy she stopped asking questions. She’s accepted me for who I am and that’s all that matters.” Creed laughed. “She’s quite a woman. Incidentally, she wants to have the christening for your nephew at the house in a couple weeks. Can you handle it? You are going to be deemed our child’s godfathers. It was at Bella’s insistence.”
