Page 108 of Lord of Vice
Remaining silent, we both headed for the room where the sound came from, Konstantin keeping closer watch. I found what I was looking for, Hank eating some frozen dinner at the cheap kitchen table while he watched the news. At first, he didn’t sense our presence since he had the sound so loud.
It was interesting that the news was highlighting Rocco’s murder. Of course, I’d made certain Sylvester’s body would only be found if the reef sharks were cut open.
When he finally realized he wasn’t alone, he hung his head. “Mr. Sokolov.”
I moved around him so I could see his face. It wasn’t exactly remorse I was seeing. More like thoughts he should have known better. “Hank. You’ve been a very bad boy. You sold your soul to the wrong devil.”
He seemed hesitant to say anything, which didn’t surprise me given what he was up against. However, it was his one chance to make his punishment as painless as possible.
“You don’t have anything to say for yourself?” I asked after glancing at my counselor, who seemed amused.
“Yeah,” he said, a little more remorse in his voice. Then I’ll be damned if the bastard didn’t grin as if he’d gotten one over on me. “Now that they have you in their sights, you’ll never know when they strike next.”
I was almost amused. Perhaps he didn’t know Emiliano and his thugs were dead. I’d play along. Just for a little while. “Who areyou talking about, Hank?” He was having difficulty looking in my eyes.
He took a deep and very ragged breath. Perhaps the man was going to beg for his life after all. Yet when I noticed the twinkle in his eye, the smile on his face, every muscle in my system tensed.
“The Death Squad,” he growled. “They’re coming to get you.” He burst into a strange sounding laugh, as if he was having the time of his life.
Konstantin sucked in his breath audibly before cocking his head.
“Well, we shall see. Won’t we?” I asked, smiling as broadly as Hank was doing. “Needless to say. You’re fired.”
I walked behind him, making the decision how the bastard deserved to die.
As I pulled the piano wire from my pocket, I wasted no time placing it around his neck and jerking.
After finishing, I wiped the wire with one of his dish towels before winding it around my hand and shoving it back into my pocket. “Get a cleanup crew out here.”
“Already on it. And wearegoing to have a discussion on this Death Squad.”
“We shall see, Konstantin. We shall see.” It would seem the decision as to join the Brotherhood or not had been made for me.
As we walked out into the warm air, I realized how much I couldn’t wait to get back to Penny. Yeah, I was falling in love with her.
The thought gave me another real smile.
We piled into the car, Konstantin calling for our elite crew of men and women used to cleaning up difficult scenes. All I could think about was getting back to her. And spending time very much alone.
He’d driven about ten miles when my phone rang. It was Dima, who was in charge of the soldiers at the hospital. “Dima. What’s up?”
“I hate to tell you this, boss. She’s gone.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She slipped through the cracks. We’ve searched everywhere inside the hospital and the surrounding grounds.”
“Who the fuck took her? I want them hunted down.”
Dima huffed. “That’s just it. She was seen with a bag of items in her hand, Remington by her side heading down the stairs to the parking garage.”
She’d left me.
As the reality of what she’d done rushed into my mind, a quiet and very strange calm presented itself. “I want her found. Period.”
Two weeks later
“You’re certain,” I said to Diego. I’d finally made a call, at least deciding to meet with the Brotherhood. Given what Hank had said two weeks before, the digging I’d done and going over theinformation the Santos brothers had been good enough to send me, I’d realized that I not only owed them a meeting, but myself and my regime as well.