Jameson Hotel - the Dark Suite Series: Parts One, Two & Three (14 page)

“It’s not like she
can’t see you doing that, Sophia.”

“Sorry,” she
exhales. “I was a drunken fool at that age, but that was a long time ago.”

“Yep, now you’re
just a fool.” I smirk while pouring a cup of coffee.

“My brother has a
thing for two’s so twenty-two is a good age, I suppose. Do you have a job?”

“I work the front
desk.”

“You mean here?”

“Uh, yeah, I mean
here.” She sounds somewhat annoyed by my sister’s dumbass questions. “I’ll
spare you having to ask. My full name is Julia Alison
Barringer
.
I come from a middle class family and was born and raised here. I’m not much of
an outdoors person, but I like to read and have a good time.”

“Meaning what?”
Sophia asks.

“Go to bars with my
friends, hang out, drink, socialize, that type of stuff.” She shrugs. “I’ve
also never broken a bone or had a cavity. I enjoy Thai food, pretzels, and soda
water. And I’ve been working at Mark’s hotel for six weeks. Before that I
worked in a grocery store and at a bread company. I have a degree in Art
History which has proven to be useless, and I would like to start over and go
to cosmetology school.”

“You want to study
space?” my sister says. “Talk about a useless degree.”

Julia looks at me
and rolls her eyes. “
Soph
, it’s beauty school, you
idiot,” I laugh. “See, you shouldn’t be homeschooling your kids.”

“Oh.” She blushes
and waves a hand to continue.

“But I’m broke,”
Jules says. “Mark just gave me more hours and once I get back on my feet and
save a little money maybe I’ll be able to afford school again, but for now a
roof over my head and food are my main priorities.”

I place my hand on
her leg, rubbing her upper thigh in devotion. “Why don’t you get breakfast so I
can discuss something with my sister.”

“Thanks. I’ll get
you that egg you wanted.” She kisses my cheek and as soon as she leaves the
table, Sophia’s hand is on mine and
I’m yanked by her side
.

“Holy
assballs
, Mark! You love her don’t you? I’ve never seen you
under anyone’s control before.”

“No, fuck that. This
woman isn’t ruling me in any way,” I lie. “Trust me. Her little stunt with my
knife didn’t go unnoticed. I’m just waiting until we’re alone to bitch her out,
that’s all.”

“Okay, keep telling
yourself that... hell, what’s wrong with being in love? She’s beautiful, smart,
sassy, and she’s got balls. This woman is your dream
girl
.”

“I know she’s
young... you don’t have to exaggerate the word
girl
, but for her age she seems more mature than you... and me for
that matter.” I look around then lean in. “New subject. I need to ask you
something about
Dayne
. Or maybe I should ask Cove.”

“Mom! You should see
the floater
Daxton
left in the pool. It’s his biggest
one yet!”

The boys run to
their chairs and begin eating as Cove towels their hair. Sophia looks to Cove
and he nods that it’s true.

“You shit in the
pool?” I groan. “What the fuck? There’s a bathroom twenty feet away from the
water.”

“Yeah but there were
too many people in the water. Once I did it they all took off and
Xav
and I had the whole pool to ourselves.”

“So your plan was to
clear the pool?” I ask.

He nods.

“Unbelievable.” I
shake my head and bring up the front desk’s number on my watch. “A ten-year-old
is going to drive my guests away... hey, Chloe?” I speak into the watch.

“Yes, Mr. Jameson,” she
responds.

“Contact whichever
pool attendant is here and ask him to take care of the
brown gift
in the water.”

“Brown gift?”
There’s a pause. “Oh... will do,” she laughs.

I end the call and
point my finger at my nephew. “Next time I’ll make you clean it up yourself.”

“There won’t be a
next time,” Cove says, giving his son a stern look.

Jules returns and
sets two plates of food on the table, much more than an egg and French toast.
Her caring gesture generates a massive grin on my sister’s face.

“She loves you too,”
she whispers.

“Yeah, she’s sitting
right next to me, Soph. I’m pretty sure she can hear you.”

“Fine, I’ll let it
go. So what did you want to ask about
Dayne
?”

“Not now,” Cove
says, pouring juice for his kids and a coffee for himself.

“See, that right
there is the problem,” I say.

He scowls back at
me. “Not with the kids around. I just told you that, you can talk to us in
private.”

“I’m referring to
you pampering them. They can dry their own hair and pour their own damn juice.
At ten, they shouldn’t be shitting in the pool. That’s what two-year-olds do.
It’s fucking ridiculous. They’ll never be real men if you keep babying their
asses
.”

“My dad does stuff
for us because he loves us,”
Daxton
says. “We’re not
babies, you asshole.”

“We’re
badasses
,” Xavier chimes in.

Those words send
shivers down my spine like they where just spoken by my father. I stare into
Xavier’s dark eyes and swear my dad’s hiding inside of that child.

“Leave them alone,”
my sister says. “Boys, eat your breakfast, please.”

I pull out my wallet
and place a hundred dollar bill on the table. “Well, I have a question for you
badasses
. Who was
playing games with the flashlight on the deck, and why?”

“Mark, I said stop.
We told them about the
hunter
in the
woods. The gunshot was an accident.” She winks.

“I wasn’t playing
games. I was warning you about the man,”
Dax
says.

Cove crosses his
arms and listens, totally perturbed by what he’s hearing. “You didn’t tell us
that. You said you heard a shot and that was it.”

“You didn’t ask me
what happened before the shot,” he says. “I was just shining my flashlight in
the water of the pool when a red light started fighting with mine. I saw the
big guy in the woods. His light went all the way up to my stomach then
disappeared.”

“Jesus Christ,” Cove
mumbles.

“Then, Uncle Mark
came outside and I flashed him because I saw the red light under his deck.
Those red sights are in our video games. I knew the man was going to shoot.”

“He saved your ass,”
Xavier says while leaning back in his chair. “You
gonna
pay him?”

“No,” Cove says in a
stern voice.

“You’re a good
bodyguard,
Dax
.” I hand him the hundred-dollar bill.

“
Fuckin
’
A.” Cove tosses the money back in my face. “
Daxton
and Xavier, take your plates, we’re going upstairs.”

“Dad, I want to stay
down here.”

“Now!”

The boys scramble
off their chairs, grabbing their plates and walking out of the room.

“Don’t you ever give
my kids money and call them bodyguards. You fuck. I’ve had enough.” He takes
his coffee and paper then motions for Sophia to follow.

She ignores me, but
says goodbye to Jules before following Cove out of the room.

“So that’s your
family?”

“Yeah, but don’t be
fooled by what you just witnessed. We really do love each other.”

POMPOUS

T
he front page
of the local newspaper has a brilliant story about Jules’ ex-boyfriend, Roland,
along with information on the bum that’s been arrested for the crime. I caught
a glimpse of it in Cove’s hand before he took off from the breakfast table. I
was finally able to read it on my own when Jules started her shift.

Two killings in one
week and I got off scot-free on both. The homeless guy was covered in evidence
and
Dayne’s
disappearance will go unnoticed for
eternity. His brother and sister don’t give two shits about... but damn it, I
keep forgetting about the woman at the motel.

She’ll need to be
dealt with at some point.

Dayne’s
murder can be ignored, but who knows if this
woman has family and friends who care. This is when things can get tricky. It’s
a problem my father often ran into. If you kill someone, you have to make sure
there’s not a group of people lining up to find out what the fuck happened or
why their son or daughter disappeared. And if a problem arises, make sure you
can pin the crime on someone else. My dad taught me that the older the person,
the fewer problems you’re likely to have. Kill an eighteen-year-old and the
entire town is on a manhunt, kill someone in their thirties or forties and it’s
the immediate family who are concerned, but kill a sixty-year-old with no wife
or kids and you’re pretty much in the clear.

I’d say by the size,
shape, and hang of that women’s tits, she’s in her thirties, which means her
parents are probably still alive and she may have siblings. That sucks. I also
noticed she had a flabby stomach, but no stretch marks, so no kids.

I’m wondering if
she’s still at the motel or if she took off when
Dayne
didn’t return. I’ll check to see if the Datsun’s in the lot, maybe even knock
on the door and introduce myself if she’s still around.

But that will have
to wait ‘til I finish cleaning and covering my boat. There’s still some blood
on the stern and the quicker that’s taken care of, the better. It will take
part of the morning, and will give me plenty of time to think...

It’s a dark summer night; no moon or stars are visible as I
look up to the sky through the window of my father’s car. I’m nervous. I must
have fucked up again or he wouldn’t have dragged me out of bed at three in the
morning. I haven’t a clue what the fuck’s going on, and with him, it could be
anything.

“You meet my new house whore?” he asks while
pulling the car into a dirt lot.

“No,” I whisper. “She nice?”

“If you mean a good fuck, then yeah, she’s
got a nice cunt. She’s a moaner too, unlike the last one who never said shit
when
Dayne
and I fucked her. I’ll never waste my time
with another one of those.”

“So what is this place?”

We step out of the car and he takes me inside
a building that’s under construction.

“It’s one of my new casinos.”

“No shit?” I reply. “Another one?”

“No shit.” He whistles, signaling for someone
to come out of the darkness. A moment later, his bodyguard
Dayne
shows his face. “I didn’t bring you here for a tour, Mark. You’re here to do
your part for the family business.”

I stop dead in my tracks, worried about what
the fuck he means. When I saw
Dayne
, I thought my
father brought me here to rough me up, but he could’ve done that back at his
mansion. Yeah, that really crossed my mind. I wouldn’t put it past him to break
my face. But then I notice a guy behind
Dayne
... no,
two men actually. Blindfolded, on their knees, with their hands tied behind
their backs.

“What the fuck, Paul?”
Dayne
approaches with a grunt. “Why bring pussy boy here?”

“He’s going to take care of this one. It’ll
be a good initiation into the adrenaline-charged side of the business.” He pats
my back. “You ready?”

My heart pounds in excitement... and fear. He
wants me to kill for him? My hands shake and my legs feel like Jell-O. Deep
breaths
, fuck, don’t
wuss
out.

I’m in my mid-twenties and this is the first
time I might have a chance to make my father proud, as long as I don’t fuck up.
Shit, I can’t believe I’m about to do this. I’m choked up that he brought me
here. He must trust me. This is a step in the right direction in our
relationship.

“I don’t want you to speak. Don’t argue, talk
back, or open your goddamn mouth for any reason,” he says. “Do what I say and
nothing more.”

I nod.

Dayne
takes out his gun, but my
father shakes his head and picks up a shovel instead.

“I already dug the hole,”
Dayne
says. “We can pile them both into it, no need to dig a second.”

My father ignores his comment and motions for
us to follow him over to the men.

Fuck. As we get closer, I recognize one of
them. He’s my father’s top porn star, a guy I’ve fucked myself, just a young
stud who my father refers to as his ‘Star.’ What the fuck did he do? He’s just
a kid, nineteen, maybe twenty, whimpering, and pleading for his life. This
would be easier if I didn’t know him, but maybe that’s why my father brought me
out. It’s a test. Except the other guy isn’t familiar, so maybe it’s not. If I
can kill him first as practice then the one I know won’t be as difficult.

The older guy’s face is already beaten to a
pulp and he has a broken arm, probably from
Dayne
.
He’s also quiet, apparently accepting his fate, just waiting to be put out of
his misery.

My father hands me the shovel and I stand
behind the two men. “This is your special night. I promise when it’s over your
cock will be harder than the first time you got laid.”

“Please don’t,” Star begs. “Paul, I’ll do
anything you ask, anything, please!”

“I’m not the one doing shit. You know I don’t
like getting my hands dirty. Watching is a hell of a lot better anyway. You’re
begging the wrong person. I’m not the one going to take your life away.”

“Please don’t do this.” He starts to cry.
“You can do anything you want to me and I won’t complain. I’ll be your slave.
I’ll suck you off anytime you want. I won’t talk back. I won’t...”

“Oh shut the fuck up!”
Dayne
kicks his back and he falls forward, sobbing in the dirt.

My father raises his hand for
Dayne
to stop then turns to me. “So you’ve got these two
assholes in front of you. This one.” He points to the guy with the broken arm.
“He created his own porn site using my company name, it’s a clone of my
business. He’s been raking in the dough... my money... he’s a fucking pirate.”
My father spits on him. “And that one.” He points to Star. “I’m just tired of
his mouth, nothing more.”

I nod again, staying silent as requested.

“So here’s the plan. We’ve got this grave dug
and I’ve got a cement crew arriving at six in the morning to pour a slab of
concrete in this spot. It’s your choice whether you want to put them in alive
and fill in the hole with dirt or...”

“Don’t!” Star shouts and then tries to move
away on his knees.
Dayne
takes out a roll of duct
tape but my father stops him from taping his mouth. He’s totally getting off
from the kid’s pleading words.

“My handsome little Star, are you scared?”

“Yes,” he cries. “I’ll never complain again,
Paul. I’m yours. You own me.” He continues to inch away. “Take me back to your
place. I don’t care what you do just don’t kill me. Take me home and fuck me if
you want and I won’t complain. I’ll be good. Anything but this.” He falls onto
the rocky dirt and vomits in complete duress. “I love you, Paul,” he sobs. “I
love you.”

Now I feel like shit. Killing the asshole
that stole money from my dad is one thing, but killing someone because he
mouths off is another.

“Star,” my father whispers, hovering over
him. “Your pal
Dayne
has a roll of duct tape in his
hand. If we tape your mouth and you puke, all that steamy chunky fluid that
comes up from your stomach will get stuck in your nose. Then you won’t be able
to breathe. You’ll suffocate, just like if my friend puts you in the hole and
covers your face with dirt. If I were you, I’d shut the fuck up.”

“You own me, Paul,” he whispers with a
tremble.

It’s interesting that he never says ‘Let me
go.’ The poor kid’s got Stockholm syndrome or something. If I were in this
situation I wouldn’t act like either one of these men. They’re both pussies.
I’d fight to the very end. Even on my knees with my hands behind my back I’d
think of something, like biting into one of their dicks and not letting go. My
head would be at the perfect height to do that sort of damage. I’d leave my
teeth marks in their cocks forever.

My father sets his finger over Star’s lips
and whispers something in his ear then stands unemotionally and turns back to
me. Damn, I wish I knew what he said.

“Your other choice is to kill ‘
em
before you bury ‘
em
. It all
depends on how much you think they should suffer.”

I motion for
Dayne
to hand me his gun, but my father cuts in again. “No, you’re not thinking,” he
scolds. “Try another weapon, like the one in your hand.”

My father frowns and I take it as a sign that
I’m a moron. I just made my first mistake of the night. A gunshot would have
the police swarming in a matter of minutes and I can see the disappointment in
his eyes as he crosses his arms and waits. Fuck. Think, Mark, think. What will
be the best way to do this? Maybe I should just bury him? No, too easy. I’ve
got a gut feeling my dad wants something more from me, besides the shovel. I
need to surprise him.

Crackling sounds leave the mouth of the man
kneeling next to me. He’s struggling to breathe and I think he has a collapsed
lung.

I’m sweaty and my heart’s pumping out of my
chest. My father eggs me on with a smile and a wink.

I can do this.

I drop the shovel at my father’s feet, shove
the suffering man into the hole, and jump on top of him.

“Whoa,”
Dayne
says.

The groaning stops when my hands tighten
around his neck. I’m going to silence this guy and show my father I can do it
with my bare hands, not a fucking shovel. He’s going to love me.

“I love you Paul,” Star says from above.
“Please don’t hurt me.” His voice fades.

Shit, why won’t he shut up? He’s going to
ruin my moment.

“Watch me,” I whisper, gripping the man’s
neck. “Watch me.” But when I turn to look at my father, he’s gone. The fucking
bastard walked away. “I’m doing this for you!” I call out.

Dayne
looks into the grave and
shakes his head. My dad’s not coming back and he left his shithead bodyguard to
watch, like I need a fucking babysitter. I’m killing a man for him and he
fucking took off. I’m pissed.

“He’s dead, let go of him,”
Dayne
says.

The blindfold conceals the man’s eyes, but
his split-lipped mouth is open like a fish. I missed it. The guy died in my
hands and I failed to notice because I was so goddamn focused on pleasing my
dad.

“Fuck,” I whisper. I felt an adrenaline rush
at the start, but it quickly changed to disappointment. Next time will be
better. Strangling a guy isn’t very satisfying, I know that now, but maybe a
knife or a gun will leave me content.

And where the hell did my father go? What an
asshole.

“I wouldn’t go over there,”
Dayne
remarks after I climb out and head toward my father’s
car. “Get back here and fill in the hole. Trust me, Paul always gets off from
this type of shit then he enjoys a good fuck. Don’t interrupt him when he’s
with his boy toy.”

“What?” I look at
Dayne
then to the car. The bastard would rather be with Star than me? To hell with
this, not now, this is MY moment.

I walk to the opposite side of the car, only
to see my sick father holding the back of the kid’s head and forcing him to
suck him off. That’s right, he’s the disturbed one here tonight, not me. I only
strangled a guy; I’m not a fucking rapist.

“What the fuck?” I put my palms up, raising
my hands in the air. “Just like that? You left?”

“I told you to keep your mouth shut.” He
pushes Star away and tucks his dick in his pants. The blindfold’s still on when
Star hits the rocky ground with a groan.

“Are you proud?” I whisper. “Say something to
me. Tell me that you...”

My head is slammed onto the hood of his car
before I have a chance to finish my sentence. Fuck, he can be so brutal. I want
his power... I want to be just like him, yet I hate his guts.