Page 108 of Beneath The Truth
The man backhanded him and Heath coughed, blood bubbling up onhislips.
“Thesaferoom.”
“I don’t know how togetin.”
“Bullshit.You inspected the whole fucking house before she got here.Don’t lietome.”
Another punch, this time to the gut, left Heath doubled over.I shut my eyes and turned away.I had asked him to check out the house before I rented it, just to make sure it wasn’t too good to be true.But the safe room wasn’t something I’d mentioned, nordidhe.
“Stop.Just stop,” Iwhispered.
Carlos wrapped his arm around me and closed his fingers over my throat.“Oh no, we haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.And you and I are not even close to done.We’re just gettingstarted.”
My breathing shallowed as Carlos put pressure on my windpipe.“Is he alive?”I whispered.“Just tell me ...did you ...pleasetellme.”
I tried to control the shivers racking my body, but I vibrated againstCarlos.
“Control yourself, or I’ll do itmyself.”
His voice once again came from the video.“You’re going to be selfless for once in your life and save your sister from me rather than cover your own ass?I’m shocked.I never expected in the choice of her life or yours, that you wouldchooseher.”
“What do you mean?”Heathasked.
“It’s simple.You give me the safe room override and I let you walk out of this room alive.I get her and that brain I’m going to put to work.Then you gettolive.”
“That wasn’tthedeal.”
“No, it wasn’t, but since you didn’t hold up your end of the bargain and take out all the Hennessys when you had the chance, things havechanged.”
“They were never together.After wiring the house, there was no way to take out the rest to make it look like anaccident.”
Realization slammed into me like a runaway freight train.Heath killed Mr.Hennessy?And had agreed to kill the others?That couldn’t be possible.My knees buckled, and I clawed at Carlos’s grip as I fell.He yanked me back up, my lungs burning and my entire body shaking as tears coursed down mycheeks.
No!Why would he do it?Howcould he do it?The man on the screen covered in blood looked like my brother, but the man I knew wouldnever...
“It was no accident that you threw your sister at him either.Did you think by pushing them together he could protect her from me?A Hennessy, of all people?The fucking family that has cost me millions?And now you’llalldie.”
“Fuck you, asshole.You used her to keep me in line, and I did what I had to do.There were noguarantees.”
“And you can’t trust a dirty cop who steals money from the carteleither.”
I fought for another breath.Stealing money from the cartel?For what?The remaining shreds of hope that my brother was innocent withered and died onebyone.
In the video, Heath took another fist to the face, and my stomachlurched.
“Fuck off.I needed the money.Fucking greedy pigs.You got more than you’ll be able to spend.It was getting seized anyway.You were never going to see itagain.”
“Greedy pig?No, that’s you, you piece of shit.You should’ve known better than to gamble with money you can’t repay.Should’ve known better than to fuckwithus.”
The backhand that struck Heath across the face was more of an insult than anything, but I stillflinched.
“Where is he?”I asked, the words sticking in mythroat.
Carlos twisted my head so he could look me in the eye.“What?You don’t want to see the good part?”He turned me back to face the TV as a knife flashed in the goon’s grip and slammed into Heath’s hand, pinning it to the arm of thechair.
I projectile vomited on the floor for the second timetoday.
Carlos flung me away from him, and I landed on my knees.“Disgusting.”He snapped his fingers, and one of the men in black suits disappeared into my dad’s kitchen and returned with a roll of paper towels.Carlos snatched it from him and shoved it at me.“Clean upthemess.”
