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“Ani? What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Mark… He went on a two-day bender. When he got home, he started accusing me of awful things. He claimed the baby wasn’t his. He beat me.”
That’s it. The man is dead. I wasn’t sure I could actually give Apollo the green light to actually kill a man. It had all sounded good in theory, but being faced head on with deciding whether a man lived or died. But now…the fucker is going to die.
“Where are you? Are you at the house? I’m coming to get you.” I’ve offered to do this repeatedly and Ani always says no. She always refuses. I’ve even considered just showing up and not giving her an option, but I know my sister. She’s stubborn, and if she says no, then her answer is set in stone. But this time is different. I’m not four hours away. I’m close, and I’m coming. “I’m on Heathens Hollow now. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Get your stuff ready.”
“The baby…” she continues and breaks down into a sob. “I lost the baby.”
It was as if Mark had the ability to reach through the phone and beat the shit out of me too. I fell back against the chair and let out a winded gasp.
“I’m calling the police. Do you need an ambulance?” I somehow got the words out, but I’m not sure since I still couldn’t inhale a breath of air.
I can hear her cry on the other end. “No. No. Don’t call anyone.”
“Where is he?”
“Sleeping off the bender. He should be asleep all day. Please don’t call anyone. Don’t.”
“Will you leave with me?”
There’s a pause.
“Apollo and I are here at Olympus. Can we come and get you? Please, Ani. Please. Apollo and I won’t allow anything to happen to you. I promise.”
There’s still silence on her end other than the occasional hiccup and sob.
“Ani?”
“Yes… Come and get me.”
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Apollo
I kill alone.
I’ve never had a partner. I’ve never even spoken of the exact time and method of when or how I’d kill someone. Solo. I’ve always been solo.
But there was no way I was going to leave Olympus Manor without Daphne. Even locking her in a cage wouldn’t have worked, because my hysterical wife was determined to rescue her sister with me.
We rode in silence for the entire ride. I wasn’t sure what to say or what to ask. The little she told me through her shaking and tears was enough to know the man needed to die. And if she hadn’t looked me in the eyes and said, “Kill him now,” I would have done it, regardless.
“The trailer’s up this dirt road,” she says, pointing to a washed-out path that isn’t passable by vehicle.
“Can we make it on foot?”
“I think so. I’ve only been here once. But I remember it not being too far up in the woods.”
The rain coming down is going to make the hike up the path muddy and uncomfortable. I want to tell Daphne to wait in the car, but her sister doesn’t know who I am, and me arriving alone most likely won’t go well. Daphne doesn’t give me time to consider any other options, because she hops out of the car and starts running into the trees. I have no choice but to get out and chase after her. I don’t blame her for her sense of urgency. If it were my sister up there, I’d be doing the same.
Fortunately, the muddy path is actually more of a driveway. It doesn’t take us long to reach a trailer the color of piss. Ani must have been looking out the window, because she walks out the door with a blue Adidas duffle and enough bruises on her face to match the bag perfectly.
I clear the distance between us as fast as I can, take the bag from her, scan her face and head for severe injuries that require any immediate first aid, and then hand the bag to Daphne when I feel her sister is safe enough to travel. “Go down to the car with your sister and wait for me.”
Ani looks over her shoulder at me. One of her eyes is already swelling shut. “You aren’t coming?”
“I’m not coming.”
