AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fred ignored me and Zion continued. “Aine was hit eight times with the nine millimeter bullets. Sean ten times in the back with the forty-five calibers.”
I tilted my head when he didn’t continue. “What about the forties?”
Zion pointed at me. “Exactly. Eden returned to where Sean’s car was parked. He was parked a little ways down from the restaurant. Upon the shots being fired, the only thing behind Sean, Aine, and Fred was a brick building. Eden was able to extract a few bullets from there, all matching a forty-caliber gun.”
“They missed?” Fred wondered, confused.
Zion scratched his chin. “No, and yes.” He clicked another key, and an illustration popped up. “This is Aine, this is Sean, and this is you.” The drawing was of the three of them standing by the car before the SUV had turned the corner.
“Okay.” Fred stood now as if getting closer would make everything make more sense.
Zion clicked another key and the picture changed. Now Sean was in front of Fred, and Aine hadn’t moved. “The forty-caliber bullets Eden pulled out of the building were directly behind where Sean would have been standing. This indicated that there were three shooters, and each of them had a target. By using three different bullet types, it would make it harder for police to nail a single person responsible. And while that’s clever, it’s also not, because it proves all three of you were targets, not just you, Fred.”
Fred stood stock still and I turned my gaze toward Aiden, who was staring at the screen and clenching his jaw.
“Did you find out if Arnold Blessett reported his SUV stolen?” I asked Zion.
“He didn’t.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.” Fred’s voice was a whisper. “He could just be protecting his grandson.”
“Then perhaps it’s time to pay Grandpa a visit,” I said.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Fred
As we drove to Arnold Blessett’s house in a large, luxurious—and no doubt, well-armored—SUV, my mind wandered. Zion’s presentation proved one thing I’d been wondering this whole time: I wasn’t the only target that night. Were Aine and Sean also on a list?
Whoever was behind this, they wanted to take out not just me but my bloodline…why?
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vincenzo reading something on his tablet. With him not paying attention to me, I allowed myself a moment to really look at him.
He gained nothing by killing me. If he wanted to eliminate this treaty or whatever it was called, why would he attack me alone, knowing Haven Hart would retaliate? Not because they wanted to avenge me, but to not do so would be a sign of weakness.
No, it made no sense that Lex Talionis was behind this. I may have been a shit mob boss but my gut was what had kept me alive all these years, and to ignore that would be foolish.
I wanted to contact Simon and Rush about what had gone down here, but there hadn’t been a good opportunity. Too many eyes and ears. I shot them text messages when several messages from them were going unanswered and threats of coming to see me lingered.
I couldn’t have them here in the midst of this clusterfuck. I explained that it wouldn’t be unreasonable if they showed up for the funerals and that I’d talk with them at that time. After assuring them I was protected, they relented.
“We’re here,” the driver—I found out his name was Thomas—said.
Gazing out the window at the house proved that Arnold Blessett was very much taken care of by his grandson. It was a gorgeous three-story, dark-blue, craftsman house. The lawn was well maintained, and it sat on close to an acre of land. It wasn’t a mansion like mine, but it also wasn’t something a man who worked as a train-stop janitor could afford.
“Let my people out first, Fred.” Vincenzo held his hand up as soon as I made to open the door.
He was right and I had to be safe, but I also didn’t have to like it or let him know I agreed.
“You take care of your own safety.”
He rolled his eyes but said nothing more, which was almost as irritating. As though he were above verbal sparring. As if he thought of me as beneath him. Believe me, that wasn’t something I was unfamiliar with.
All my life, people had been sniffing at my presence. I was an abomination to my father, my mother was never present even when she was physically there, and then there were people like Rush’s dad. Men who saw through the mask I put on and used it to their advantage.
Rushmore Abernathy the Second had gotten great pleasure in using my mind, body, and spirit to direct me where he wanted me. I hated how much I’d loved the sex with that man, but after the dust had settled and I’d seen that he was no different than anyone else who came into my life, I’d been sick for weeks.
Rush, his son, had every reason to hate me but instead chose to forgive me and pull me into the fold…yet I still felt like I was standing on the sidelines with him and all of Haven Hart.
