Page 113 of Shattered Pieces

Matteo. One of Skeeter’s own fucking guys. Someone who was supposed to be a brother to him, had gone behind his back to make Rory disappear. Not only had he followed her, but he’d dragged this bitch into it and made her rat to the cops instead of doing it himself.

That still made him a rat, if you asked me.

“He was going to kill me! He said the cops would keep it off the record, and⁠—”

I slammed her face into the wall again, her hair so tight in my fist that I could feel some of it breaking away from her scalp.

“He fucking used you as a scapegoat. He never intended on you being safe. If you got killed, his secret involvement would be buried. What gun did he give you?”

When she just cried and fought me some more, I shoved her to the ground and stood over her, switching my gun for a knife. I straddled her, wrapping a hand around her throat and squeezing hard enough to make a point before slamming the knife into her hand and making her scream.

“What gun did he give you?” I repeated, leaving the knife in her hand.

“I don’t know!”

“The more you tell me, the longer you’ll get to live. The second I decide you’re no use to me, you’re dead. Fucking talk, Mandy.”

“I’ll pay you! I’ll retract my statement and say I made it up!”

“I don’t want your money. No matter what you bargain with, you’re not getting out of this alive. You really think I’d let you go after you started ratting out Matteo so fast? Nothing would stop you from running to the cops about me,” I bit out.

“I don’t even know who you are!” she insisted, crying out as I yanked the knife from her hand and held it to her throat, pressing the blade to her skin and watching as a small trickle of blood dripped down her neck.

“You don’t get to fuck with her and get away with it,” I said bluntly, not sure if she heard me properly but not caring.

“She’s safer in prison anyway!” she claimed, reaching her bloodied hand out to grab my hoodie. “He was going to take her and teach her a lesson but figured the Soldiers would do it. He had a whole plan.”

“What was the plan?”

“Him and Cliff were going to take her somewhere remote where no one would find her. I heard them talking about it one night when Matteo thought I was sleeping. They were going to tie her down and take turns with her. Cliff said he was going to fuck her with a knife when they were done so none of the guys would fuck her again.”

Nausea mixed with my fury at the thought, and I stabbed her other hand because what kind of woman didn’t at least warn another woman about a threat like that?

She was screaming again, but I was fucking done. I knew whose fault this was and that he was planning to harm Rory on top of it, so I didn’t need any more information.

“For the record? No matter where someone takes her, I’ll always fucking find her,” I murmured before sliding the knife across her throat, her hands coming up to try and stop it as she gasped and gurgled, drowning in her own blood.

I sat on top of her until she finally went still, getting to my feet and glaring down at her. I was pretty sure she didn’t even care about Matteo’s plans for Rory, even if she wasn’t being threatened.

Marco hadn’t called to let me know there was a problem, so I set to work on covering my tracks, leaving the water running, music blasting, and dropping a used cigarette butt and an empty beer bottle outside on my way out. One of the Soldiers had tossed them outside their little hideout, so I’d only been doing my community duties by picking them up for him this morning.

I drove the car to the blind spot point, setting it ablaze and climbing into the next car, doing it again at the next blind spot but switching my clothes this time.

I headed to my place next, finding Marco in the office where I’d left him at my computer.

“No problems?” I asked, leaning over his shoulder to check the cameras.

“Nope. Any small trace of you I’ve wiped, and I’ve wiped the home security system to make it look like it was switched off prior to you arriving. What did you find out?” he asked, glancing up at me.

“It was fucking Matteo. He threatened Mandy to rat on Rory, and he gave her a gun. No idea what gun, but it has to have her fingerprints on it though. When she was arrested they got her prints, so for them to still claim they have the murder weapon, they’ve obviously compared them and it was a match.”

Marco let out a low whistle. “Damn, one of Skeet’s guys set her up?”

“That’s not even half of it. Mandy claims she overheard Matteo and Cliff discussing kidnapping and assaulting her repeatedly until finishing by fucking her with a knife. Mandy didn’t even seem that bothered about it,” I grunted. “I need to dispose of the knife.”

“What now? Do we go after Matteo? Tell Skeet?”

“Let Matteo find out about Mandy’s murder on his own and see how he reacts. The Psychos knew we were handling it but we don’t need them knowing the facts, especially if they have a rat among them. Matteo might not have been the one to go to the cops, but that doesn’t make a difference to me. He’d just tell someone else who could rat on us,” I warned, making him scowl.