Page 134 of One Last Rainy Day
It’s what none of us could pinpoint inside her because we were the ones who eventually tested it and brought it out of her.
Dom figured it out at some point and gave her the position before she earned it.
Staring back at the start of the video that set Tobias off, nausea churns in my gut at the memory of each horrific second, but I manage to tamp it down.
Our agenda for the foreseeable future is sorted.
The idea that Dom had shouldered this on his own is too much to fucking bear. We’d all condemned him for his behavior while, daily, he’d struggled in his own skin. Knowing that there were monsters like these sick fucks out there, doing these things for their own amusement, and worse...getting away with it.
But like with all things, knowing or suspecting is one thing, but Dom has always known the value of seeing to believe. I stand shaken to my core by the amount of strength and discipline he had to have mustered, even with the way he acted out.
Inhuman strength.
When our wheels touch down on American soil mere hours later, and we’re safely in the car, I marvel at my chosen brothers—both of them.
From orphans with absolutely nothing, to the men they became to this moment, I feel a sense of pride for having witnessed such a miraculous transformation—including the revolution of the woman currently at Tobias’s side. The difference between the beginning of then, to the beginning happening now, is mind-boggling. As I study them both in wait for what’s about to transpire, Tobias unlocks eyes with Cecelia, swiveling his head in my direction. After hours of disconnect from him, he’s back, and there’s onlyone fucking way to discern what’s so clearly written in his eyes. The same look that was in his brother’s years ago—Vengeance.
Tyler
Hearing the strain of my pounding feet on the treadmill of my office, I click the channel and browse through Fleet Media news stations.
Click
“...twelve trafficking hive leaders were found murdered in their homes last month, thirty additional arrests have beenmade. Authorities have reported that over six thousand children have been recovered in the last two weeks—”
Click
“The A-list is under cyber-attack today, and it’s not pretty, folks. New evidence has been circulating the web regarding several studio moguls, pop singers, producers, acclaimed actors, and even sports giants taking part in a disturbing ritual. Warning, the brief clip you’re about to see is not at all recommended for sensitive and younger viewers—”
Click
“This just in. Two military officials were discovered today, having been gunned down in their homes. Investigators at the scene reported looping video footage on every screen of the officials’ houses, including incriminating correspondence between the two officers. The two men were under investigation nearly a decade ago when charges were brought against them due to the discovery of a re-routed shipment of military-grade guns. One of which was found in the hands of Joshua Brown, the twenty-year-old who was shot dead outside aNorth Carolina auditorium on the Fourth of July. Next to Joshua’s body was a duffle bag filled with military-grade guns and ammunition, along with printed online correspondence of his plans for a mass shooting to take place later that day. Though the second suspected gunman was never found, shell casings of the same weapons were discovered during a North Carolina crime spree which led to the arrest of both military officials. Both officials were charged but found not guilty due to insufficient evidence. But in light of investigators’ new findings—”
Click
“In the last two months, numerous reports have been flooding the airwaves in what officials, government agencies, and media alike have deemed the most methodical retribution plot in US history. The common ties to each, substantial and indisputable evidence, which has perplexed authorities. Many reports have labeled this movement the ‘Smoking Gun.’
“The FBI, CIA, DEA, and other government agencies are baffled by the surge of vile acts and crimes that have been brought to light but have not been able to identify a single suspect in connection to this phenomenal string of vigilante justice. The suspects, who took it upon themselves to act as investigators in addition to judge, jury, and executioner, still remain at large. These eye-opening events have since set off a chain reaction around the country, and many have come forth in aiding these vigilantes—”
Clicking off the TV, I slow the treadmill to cool down before walking a full minute in silence, his words echoing through me.
“You would think at least one of you would understand my struggle.”
My chest cracks in recollection as I absorb the domino effect Dom set into motion a year before he died.
Though satisfied with our progress since we left France, it’s as though not an ounce of the weight has left me. It’s no big surprise why. I memorized every detail Dom left us, along with his methodical plans to both expose and dispose of the trash. It’s the amount of planning that remains the most disturbing. The painstaking detail in which he laid it all out. The amount of time he spent with this in his head. Alone. Utterly alone in it all.
Feeling the burn in my chest and making peace with the fact that I may never know peace again, I make my way to the shower.
Minutes later, I wrap a towel around my waist as I pick through more than a dozen suits, expertly tailored to fit the President’s right-hand man. Today, I’m not him, and I won’t be until my task list is complete. Mine is much longer than everyone else’s—not out of spite but because Dom knew what position I would be in at some point.
Exhaustion tries to sneak its way in, but a little over two years into Monroe’s first term, I marvel at the fact that Dom’s next gift will help us exterminate enough in DC to win Monroe his next election. As invisible as Preston’s ink might be, he’s a raven through and through.
Allowing the day to settle in, I remember my brother for who he was and what he hid.
His secrets were always kept with the purpose of being our gateway.
He didn’t just shield us from the burden of knowing. Hewas biding his time for all of us so that, piece by piece, we got everything we needed to press forward and do it in the most impactful way.
