Unmistakable (25 page)

“There’s more…” Gunny says, and LT and I, both turn to look at him.

“The second in command…” Gunny blows out a breath as he looks at me “…his brother was convicted, serving back to back life sentences because of the murder of your parents.” Gunny stops talking as he looks at me, while my eyes stay glued on his. “This is nothing, but revenge on his part, Cody. That’s the intel the FBI just got seconds ago. I asked them to dig deeper, because something about him asking for you didn’t sit well with me. Now that we know, I need you to prepare your mind, because he’s gonna want to break you, and he’ll use Roxy to do it.”

My hands are fisted at my side, and the rage that’s boiling inside me triples as I try to fight the urge to pick up an assault weapon and let it rain on these motherfuckers. I want nothing, but to put a bullet to this fucker’s head just as he did to my parents. If it’s revenge he wants, I’m ready to shove it up his ass after I blow his fucking brains out. This very important piece of information just adds fuel to the already combustible status of my brain. I think, I’m close to losing my mind if I’m not already there. There are only two thoughts in my brain, one to save my love, and two, to avenge my parents. God, forgive me for what I’m about to do….

If my death is the penance in exchange for the justice I seek for my parents, so be it.

Brian pulls me aside, understanding and imploring eyes meet mine. “Cody, revenge is not yours to take. Do not taint who you are, and what you stand for because of hatred and revenge. That’s not why we’re here, man. Your parents wouldn’t want this on your hands, you got that?”

I can only offer my silence, because there’s nothing left in me…I’m running on empty. Everything good about me, about my life has been expelled from my body. While everything in me hurts, I’m finding it hard to see beyond the now, but knowing she’s in there waiting for me, I know I have to dig deeper from somewhere within me to save her. It seems everything is unraveling at a fast pace, putting everything back together seems impossible at this point.

One nod from Gunny, and everyone spreads out to their assigned positions. A slap on my shoulder is a signal for me to move, so I do. As I walk toward my destination, nothing, but pure hatred and anger runs through every part of my body. I can feel eyes on me, but I walk with a steady, confident pace. As I approach the single door that leads me inside…that leads me to her, I’m suddenly shoved from behind. The force causes my shoulder to hit the door. I hear someone cocking a gun, and suddenly, the cold end of the barrel presses against my nape.

“You make one move, I’ll blow your fucking brains out,” a man with a thick Spanish accent says.

I nod as I put my hands up. He knocks twice on the door, someone opens it, then he shoves me inside as I try to acquaint myself to my surroundings. We continue to walk, and three men armed to the teeth approach us.

“Stop right there. Search him,” the one in the middle with a goatee says.

The man behind me starts to pat me down, and I’m praying he doesn’t find my Ka-bar, my tracker, or the camera on my vest.

“He’s clean.”

Thank God, the idiot isn’t as thorough as he should be. The one with a goatee approaches me, and my gut is telling me this is the man who wants me. He’s as big as me, the same height, his arms are tattooed up, and he has a scar from the tip of his ear down to his jaw. He stops right in front of me, eye to eye, toe to toe, we’re both sizing each other up. My eyes are boring into his as he gives me a sinister smile, while I look at him impassively.

“Let’s see how tough you are, motherfucker. I’ll kill her slowly until you lose your fucking mind, you’ll beg me to kill you. But, don’t worry; I’ll let you have your moment with her, then I’ll fuck her in front of you. Is she still nice and tight? Does she scream while you fuck her?”

I’m trying very hard to reign in the beast inside, but this fucker is making it extremely hard for me. I can feel my control is slipping as he continues his tirade, while I’m imagining the different ways I can kill him. First, I’ll beat him to a pulp, then I’ll gut him like a fucking pig. Imagining the ways I want to kill this fucker is better than hearing the shit that’s coming out of his mouth.

He nods at the guy behind me and says, “Go; take him in the room.”

I know they’re taking me to Roxy, and I’m mentally preparing myself, closing off the part of me that will fall apart the moment my eyes land on her face. I need to stay strong…unfeeling…cold…inhuman, because the moment I don’t…the moment I let my feelings take command of my brain, I’ll literally lose my mind. So, I mentally check out…

I check out on my heaven…

My world…

My source…

My love…

I see two men standing outside a closed door, and I know, that’s my stop. I take a deep breath while telling myself this is just another mission. One of the guards opens the door, and I get a good shove from the guy behind me. Swiftly, I scan the semi lit room, and find a man holding Roxy as if she were a baby, rocking her back and forth. As I get closer, my blood that’s been on simmer, quickly shoots to a rapid boil because the guy that’s holding her is the reason my love is hurt.

“John, you have to let me check her. How long has she been like this?” I ask with a clipped tone, trying my hardest to reign in the anger that wants to break out of me in a very violent way.

“I don’t know….” he says in a low desperate filled voice as he runs his finger on her face.

“I’m going to move her now, okay? You gotta let her go.”

Carefully, I cradle Roxy in my arms, laying her down on the floor as gently as I can while my heart is in an unbearable state of rage and agony. I know, Gunny can see what I’m seeing, but I also know, I have to tell them anyway. Vocalizing what I’m actually seeing is the most gut wrenching feeling I’ve ever experienced.

“Um, possible concussion, lacerations, and bruises on her face, pulse is strong. I need a medic on standby.”

I take a moment and look at her again, running my hand over her face, touching her lips, wishing I could kiss all her pain away, but seeing her broken like this, knowing I could have done something, I don’t think I can find my way back to her. She suddenly stirs, blinks her eyes a couple of times, and then, she lets out a gasp. She looks at me with so much love and relief in her eyes, I can almost feel myself being right there with her…how we used to be. When she tries to speak and winces because of the huge cut on her lips, my mind pulls back again….back to that dark place where I don’t feel….where I can’t feel….

ANYTHING.

“Try not to talk, Roxy. Save your energy,” I say, using a clipped tone.

She swallows twice and says, “I lo..love you….” She stops as tears start rolling down the side of her face. “I th…thought I’d never see you again. I’m ss…sorry.”

Schooling my face, I respond, “Don’t worry about it, Roxy. Relax. Just concentrate on breathing. Where are you hurting?”

“Can you help me sit up?” She asks, her eyes begging for more…more of me.

“Lean her on me, Cody,” John says…his eyes are begging too…for forgiveness from me.

I have nothing for either of them….absolutely nothing.

I slowly pull her up toward my chest as I hold her head with my other hand, while she wraps her arms around my waist. Gently, I move her toward her dad, and as I’m about to let her go, she leans back. I look at her, and she kisses my lips tenderly. I freeze, nothing…there’s nothing I can give her. I gaze into her eyes and I find myself drowning in them. Seeing the bruise on the side of her eye brings me back to the present, and once again, I pull back. It’s too painful to see, but extremely hard to ignore. The anger I feel toward her is too hard to control, and while I try my hardest to understand her, my brain just can’t make sense of her betrayal. I lower my eyes, and abruptly stand up, ignoring what just happened. Just then, the door swings open, and I stand, protectively, in front of her. Facing off with the guy who stared me down a while ago.

“Sit.” He points at the chair another person brings in.

I comply, because I don’t want to rock the boat, too early. The motherfucker’s sidekick ties my hands from behind, and as soon as my ass hits the chair, he reams on me, hitting my nose with his elbow, making me bleed. A gush of blood trickles down my face. He pulls me up and slams my shoulder hard against the wall. Fuck! The wall he picks to slam me against is the one closest to Roxy, and seeing me in this state is enough for her to lose it.

“Noooo! Stop please! Daaadd make them stop….” Roxy wails in between her sobs.

The motherfucker who just hit me looks at Roxy. The kind of look that says she’s next if she doesn’t shut the fuck up, and I am seriously, considering pounding God’s hammer on him at this moment. The guy, who brought in the chair, runs back in and yells to get my executioner’s attention.

“Jefe is here, Diego. Date prisa y él joder ya! No tenemos mucho tiempo!”

Yes, fuckers, if you want to fuck me up real good, now would be perfect, because you guys don’t have a lot of time. I’m laughing inside, because they think I can’t understand a word he just said. He should have just said it in English.

“Bring another chair in here, now!”

As his sidekick runs, getting another chair, Diego drags, pushes me down on the chair, and starts on me again. Let the fucking games begin. I can’t wait to have my go with this asshole. I’ll break every bone in his body before I slice open his fucking eye, then I’ll ram my knife down his fucking throat.

“What does she taste like? What makes her scream? Does she like sucking cock? Oh, I’ll let her suck on this,” he says, as he grabs his fucking dick. “I’ll let you watch, too.” He sneers at me and walks toward
her
.

I want, so badly, to turn around to see what he’s about to do to
her,
but I can’t. I can’t even say her name, not because she doesn’t mean anything to me…far from it. For my own sanity, at least until the Calvary comes to save the fucking day, I need to be functional. To achieve that, I have to be detached from my own heart…from
her
…from
us
. This could very well break me, the last straw to completely push me to that dark place where coming back is impossible. She doesn’t scream this time…she just whimpers. I don’t know what’s worse, hearing her scream, knowing she can’t take anymore, or her whimpers, knowing she’s taking every pain in silence.

Diego’s sidekick drags in another chair, and this, Diego, asshole pushes
her
on the chair, making sure to give her bad shoulder a hard grip, standing behind
her
.
She
winces in pain, and tears…her never ending tears leak and slide down her face. I, instantly, look past
her
…through
her
, but hard as I try, there’s no amount of disconnection, detachment, disengagement that can erase, block, or cut off the horrific…blood-curling scene happening right before my eyes.

Diego runs his filthy hands on her arms as he glides his nose on her neck while he looks at me, wearing that fucking sneer I’ll erase from his fucking face in less than ten minutes. He stops on her breast, fondling…squeezing…denigrating what’s mine…touching the body I’ve worship with my hands...feeling the soft perfect ivory flesh my lips has tasted…inhaling her scent that intoxicates me in the most delicious of ways. My lips start to twitch, because of holding all the rage…all the fury, is eating me up like acid. It melts and corrupts everything in me, turning me into this monster I don’t want to be. How can I possibly not turn into one when my love sits rigidly straight, looking at me with eyes full of courage to fight as her tears of pain, of fear, of disgust flow at a steady pace, while my own just want to break free, so as to share her pain…my arms ache to hold her, but…I.CAN’T.

“Have you fucked her in the ass? No?” He mocks me. “I’d love to break her for you. Are you up for that, huh?” Diego slides his hand from her shoulder and cups her jaw, tilting her head up as he plants his fucking lips over hers.

The next thing I know, he jerks back and yells, “You bit me, bitch!” Then, he slaps her across the face and pulls her hair hard to the side, putting her neck at a very painful and awkward angle.

My eyes swing back, to her, and seeing blood streaming down the side of her lips, just about makes me snap. She doesn’t sob or cry hysterically, she just continues to whimper. She’s suffering in silence, thinking it’ll help me see that she can hold her own. What she doesn’t know is that my heart is already in a state of mourning. It’s mourning everything beautiful and whole about
her
….about
us
. The misery my heart is in right now, is beyond what my mind can comprehend. It veils my heart with pure blackness. Absolute hatred flows through my veins, the current so strong, it’s enough to push me to lose sight of
her
…of
us
.

Suddenly, I feel someone grabbing my Ka-bar from inside my boot and cutting the rope that binds my hands. With all the scuffling, no one pays attention to John. Thank God! A surge of hope sparks something inside me, prompting me to focus on my next move.

“Hey, motherfucker. You want to take your shot at me? Or, are you too much of a pussy?” I start taunting Diego, needing him to redirect his attention.

He turns to face me, wasting no time I head butt him, which catches him off guard. I punch his stomach three times, then knee his nose. He falls to the floor, and I turn around to grab my Ka-bar from John. When I turn around to face Diego, he’s ready and swings at me, hitting me square on my jaw. I swing my right hand and slash into his stomach, causing him to scream in pain and fall on the floor again, not wasting a second, I jump on him, putting my knife against his throat.

“I’m going to kill you! You piece of shit!”

With a quick glance to my right, I see John’s protective stance over Roxy. He’s got her hiding behind his back. A momentary sense of relief flows through me, knowing that during my scuffle with Diego, John had the sense to grab Roxy. Just when I’m ready to slit his throat, the door opens, and two men run toward me. They grab and drag me away from Diego. He stands up clutching his stomach, then hits my head with the butt of a 9mm. The two bastards are trying to hold me up as my head falls forward.