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Wait. There was too much pink in that place for those guys to be teaching some fucker a lesson. Holy shit. That was a girl’s apartment.
“Jas! Who is that girl?” I asked. I was pretty shaken by now. “Who sent this?”
“Fiona,” he said, the words cutting like steel. “That’s Fiona’s place.”
“Fiona the card girl?” I said in disbelief. The pert, red-headed firecracker?
All I could see were the backs of the motherfuckers; one guy had his fist raised high, and I reached for Jasper’s phone as if I could stop him before he smashed it into sweet Fiona’s face.
The room went silent as her screams reverberated in the room, then a sickly gurgle, and Fiona went quiet. Her head fell to the side, but all we could see of it was her mass of ginger curls falling to the floor. The monsters had her pinned to her couch.
“Get up, Fiona,” I cried. “Please get up.” It came out as a sob even though I knew that sledgehammer of a fist had put an end to Fiona’s life.
Sweet, funny, wisecracking Fiona, who made everybody’s day better when she shot us her toothy grin, who kept the customer’s happy with her saucy comebacks when they propositioned her in exchange for their drinks.
“Why?” Jasper said. “She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Fiona had taken more of a beating in those few minutes than I’d endured in any of my professional fights. But what had she done to deserve it? In answer, Jasper spit out, “I’ll find those motherfuckers and cut them to ribbons.”
But just as he was about to shut down his phone, the ham-fisted butcher reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade and flicked it open. The steel blade glinted in the track light over Fiona’s body.
“What the fuck is that bastard going to do now?” Terry muttered, almost mesmerized now by the action on the phone.
“Holy shit, no,” we screamed as one as the crazy fucker reached into Fiona’s mouth. He grabbed her tongue with one hand and sliced it clear out of her head with the other.
But Jesus Fucking Christ, that wasn’t the worst of it. Fiona wasn’t dead. She came to life, letting out a horrible scream I will never forget, a sound more animal than human. Then she gagged on the blood filling her throat and lurched in her final death move and collapsed. Thank God, that horrible act finished her.
Jasper growled. “It’s a goddamn message. They cut her tongue out which means she knew something she shouldn’t, or someone thought she did. This is war.”
I still felt sick at the brutality of Fiona’s death. I didn’t know her well, but I’d been in the family long enough that I knew pretty much everybody at least a little bit. “You think this is related to the poker games?”
All three sets of eyes swung to me. I shrugged it off. My question was legit. “What?” I said. “If it’s game-related then the women are safe and if not…”
“Shit,” Virgil barked and snatched his keys off the table. “I’m headed to the casino to check on Maisie.”
Jasper nodded even though Virgil was already out the front door and turned to my brother. “I need to update Ma on what happened.”
Terry nodded. “Call me if you need anything, I’m going to check on Kat.”
“I’ll come with you,” I told him since I had no place to be and no one to check on. I tried not to think too hard about that fact as I followed Terry out of Jasper’s place.
It was located at the far end of the Ashby compound, and we had to make our way over to Kat’s house. The drive was short and silent, Terry’s jaw clenched with worry for his woman.
“Kat will be fine,” I told him. “She’s safe on Ashby property.”
“I know goddammit, but until we find out who killed Fiona and why, she’s not safe. Period.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Vanessa
“Don’t break the door down, Terry, we’re in here.”
Kat shot me a worried look as Terry rushed into her living room, interrupting our girls’ night with wine, cheese and our feet up on her couch.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her blue gaze bouncing between me and Terry, her brows dipped low with worry.
“Well?” she said when he didn’t answer fast enough.
It took me a minute to recognize the person trailing after Terry.
“Emmett,” I said like a shy teenager. “It’s good to see you again.” I hadn’t seen him much in the week since Kat left the hospital. I’d been busy nursing her back to health and tonight was part of my TLC duty.
A slow smile spread across my face as he greeted me. I put my feet down to make room for him on the couch, but Terry growled at Kat.
“We need to talk.” His dark tone meant business. “Privately. Please,” he added.
