Cellar Door (31 page)

His Invasion

I watch them a lot now and I honestly can’t decide if I do it to learn their schedule or if I just enjoy watching them have sex.

Well, would you look at that, he’s doing it again—locking his hand around her throat. The guy’s a sexual asphyxiation aficionado – who knew? He is clearly into controlling everything about the woman—even the air she breathes belongs to him. I could easily be jealous, but that’s okay. He may control her life but I’ll control her death.

I waited until the early morning hours because I know their guard will be down. People look for monsters under their bed at night—the early morning hours hold the promise of a brand new day and people tend to be at their unsuspecting weakest. I’m going to enjoy making him beg for her life. Talk about control, oh yeah, I’m going to have it.

I forge through the thicket before I can change my mind. The first thing I do is open my bag and take out the wire cutters and cut the phone lines. It not only takes care of the landlines but the security system as well. I lick the suction cup on the glass cutter and stick it firmly on the sliding glass door. It makes an annoying scratching noise as it cuts a perfect circle that pops out when I give it just the right amount of pressure.

I know they’re still upstairs in bed or I’d be more concerned about the sound of the glass being cut. Surely it’s amplified in my ears due to the intense adrenaline dump I’m experiencing. I’m a little jittery as I reach my hand through the hole in the glass and, with a swipe of two fingers, unlock the door and quietly slide it open.

So fucking close. I’ve waited so long for this moment and now finally it’s here. I didn’t originally plan on her superhero being a part of it, but since Liam’s stay in jail was brief he’s an added bonus. I’ve got a score to settle with that son of a bitch anyway, for leaving me knocked out in an alley so some drunk could go through my pockets. It was degrading to wake up like that; it’s only fair that I return the favor.

I’m going to enjoy taunting them both, more than any of the others. And I mustn’t leave Lance out. Imagine how that pompous son of a bitch would feel if I called him to taunt him with the fact that I killed his beloved twin. The thought gives me an idea…maybe I really should include him. Perhaps I’ll make him listen to the sound of the bullet entering his brother’s brain.

The quiet sounds of the early morning assure me the two people still lounging in bed have no idea I’m standing right outside their bedroom door.

My heartbeat quickens as I think of the screams of terror that will soon fill the air and obliterate any peace that they have found here.

Liam

I know that sound. Even before I open my eyes. It’s the sound of my Glock being pulled back to put a bullet in the chamber. We made love and fell back to sleep and now I’m wishing like hell we hadn’t. The son of a bitch is here in my house.

His voice sounds like a kid bragging about some fucked up mistake he’s made, with no thought of the consequences of his stupid decision.

“Now, this here gun is a Glock 41 automatic, ain’t that right,
doctor
?” He’s deliberately talking like a backwoods hick, but I don’t think the son of a bitch is stupid. Crazy, yes, but not stupid.

“Now, this here is the trigger safety but we won’t be needin’ that. You got you a tactical gun, like what the police carry. I see you went for the thirteen shots. You know they got a ten-shot optional.”

This crazy fuck is making me nervous as he toys around with my gun, lightly tossing it from hand to hand, testing its weight. I had taken it out from underneath Madonna’s pillow earlier, and I’m mentally kicking myself in the ass for not putting it in the drawer. My mind’s racing, trying to figure out whether he triggered the alarm when he came in.

“I bet you’re wondering if I triggered that security alarm when I came in. You really should have had Urban Elite hard-wire that baby rather than going old school with a landline. Really, Liam – snip, snip, you’re dead. Nobody’s going to hear you scream way out here. Well, except for me. It’s just you, me, and that pretty little thing asleep in your bed. Damn, she can just about sleep through anything, can’t she?”

I hope she stays that way until I can get my hands on him and squeeze the air out of his worthless lungs. I have no intention of letting him live—we’d be looking over our shoulders the rest of our lives if I did.

“Hey, I got an idea,” he says with glee. “Let’s call brother dearest and see what he thinks about our little group. Bet he gives me the respect I’m due now. Seeing as how that landline of yours has been cut, I’ll just call him on my cell.”

He sets the gun on the dresser next to him but it’s still out of my reach. I wonder if he’s been paying the guard again because he seems certain they’re going to let him talk to Lance. I watch in disbelief as he dials the number.

Madonna

I struggle to keep my breathing normal as I listen to the musings of a madman. I have no intention of being fuel for his fire. He wants to breed fear and I refuse to give him the pleasure. It isn’t me he wants to terrorize, anyway, it’s Liam and Lance.

I listen as he talks to the person who answers the phone.

“Hey, Lieutenant, this is Holmes. Take that cell of yours to Lance and I’ll make it worth your while on my next visit.” The man isn’t happy to hear from him, judging by his next words. “Just fucking do it and you’re back on payroll.”

His next comment is directed at Liam. “Imagine how he’s going to react when he finds out I’ve got you looking down the barrel of your own gun.”

Once again Liam says nothing. I know his strategy is to not talk so the situation doesn’t escalate out of control. When Greg – I guess that’s what I should call him -- begins speaking into the phone again, I know the guard has handed his cell phone to Lance.

“I thought you might like to know that I’m sitting here with that bitch you wanted to kill. I’ve decided that today is her day to die.” A sadistic laugh rings through the air as he makes his next statement. “And guess what? I’m going to kill the bitch with your brother’s gun.”

Liam

It will be a cold day in hell before I let him or anyone else kill my woman, much less with my own gun
.

“What the fuck do you mean, you don’t believe me?” he rants, his voice becoming high-pitched, just shy of shrieking. “He’s right here!”

He shoves the cell phone into my hand and crosses his arms over his chest, huffing like a petulant child who insists Daddy tell a non-believer that Santa Claus really
is
real.

I know that, without me saying a word, my brother knows I’m on the phone. You can’t spend nine months in the same womb and not be bound, no matter how many years you spend apart. That’s why I continued to search for him as long as I did. I could
feel
him out there somewhere, waiting for me.

“Liam.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“First chance you get…you kill that motherfucker.”

“Yes. He has me here at his mercy,” I answer flatly.

Greg grabs at the phone and I resist the urge to pull it away just to piss him off.

“Yeah, so I guess I’m the better man,” he snaps. “I get the girl
and
your brother. Serves you right, asshole. Not quite as dumb as you thought, huh?” With that he ends the call triumphantly and directs his attention back to the bed.

“What the fuck, man? Does she take sleeping pills or something?”

“She has a prescription of Ambien. She’s needed it lately.” I’m lying because I’m well aware she’s feigning sleep.

“Because of me,” he purrs smugly.

You must be so fucking proud.
Right now, keeping her safe is all that matters so I don’t respond. Then…he drops a bombshell.

“You know, your own brother helped me set you up. It’s amazing what you can do with a vile of semen and a turkey baster.”

“Then why are you even here? You know I’m going to be put away—probably rooming with my brother, for God’s sake. One of us will end up killing the other—so why are you
here
?”

“Hey, hey,” he starts waving the gun around. “You! You left me in a fucking alley and I woke up with some drunk going through my pockets! You don’t humiliate me like that and get away with it.”

What he does next causes my heart to drop down to my fucking balls and for the first time…I. Am. Afraid.