Hard as Stone(169)
Harmony’s stomach rolled at his lewd, sick remark. “You’re a sick fuck! She was just a baby, you monster! She was a child! Do you have any idea what kind of scum that makes you? You’ll pay for what you did to all of us, Tanner, but there’s a special place in hell waiting for you for what you did to Honor and I pray I’m there to watch you die. Find some hole on the other side of the world to crawl in before it’s too late. Otherwise, Zeke and Jake are eventually going to find you and they will kill you for what you’ve done to us.”
“Hang up, Harmony,” Honor whispered frantically, pulling at Harmony’s free arm. “Hang up now!”
“You aren’t really in a position to threaten me, cunt. Your band of redneck fucks don’t have shit on my crew. I’ve already taken down one of your precious sisters. Consider Patience a warning shot. Now, tell me, who do you think I should go for next? Because I’m going to, Harmony. I’m going to keep coming until I get what I want. I’ll take every single one in that precious family of yours away from you one by fucking one,” he threatened with a vicious bite in his tone.
“I can’t give you what you want!” she yelled shrilly, her fingers tightening on the phone. “Leave us alone!” Tanner laughed cruelly again and Harmony sagged against the cement block bathroom wall. “I can’t give you what you want, Tanner,” she repeated, more calmly this time. “It’s not mine to offer. Not anymore.”
“My employer doesn’t take no for an answer, Harmony, and neither do I.” Tanner went silent for a long moment before continuing softly, his accented voice deadly as he remarked, “Our daughter looks adorable in that yellow and pink jumper, sleeping so peacefully in your bastardo’s arms. Both such easy marks. Oh, and your sister…she touches her belly like she protects something valuable. Or, perhaps I should add something a little more rewarding than morphine to your sister’s IV? Would you like that? So many possibilities, but I prefer the bullets myself. It would be such a shame if a bullet spattered any of their tiny brains against the wall, would it not? These little hick hospitals have such shit security, don’t they?”
Harmony’s knees buckled and she slid down the wall. Tanner was close enough to see her baby. “Tanner, no! Please, don’t hurt them!” she pleaded as bile rose in her throat.
“Do I have your attention now, bitch?” he snapped harshly. “Am I driving home the point that there’s not anything I won’t do. I have no love for that snot-faced brat. If I have to take her from you to bring you to heel…”
“You don’t,” Harmony interrupted frantically. “Tanner, please, God, don’t hurt my baby!” Turning terrified eyes toward Honor, she mouthed, ‘He’s here. In the hospital!’
“Ask him what he wants us to do,” Honor replied calmly, taking Harmony’s cold hand in hers and squeezing.
“Tanner, tell me what you want me to do,” Harmony demanded, nearing hysteria as she clutched Honor’s hand like a lifeline.
“I see I found the key to your cooperation,” he noted, amused by her desperation. “You and my ripe little peach – yeah, I know she’s there with you. You’re both going to go to the back corner of the East parking lot. You have ten minutes and if you alert any of those goons of yours, I put a bullet in Heaven’s pretty little head. Don’t worry, mujer, I’ll have a welcome wagon waiting for both of you. My employer is anxious to meet you both,” he returned with a sinister chuckle. “You’re in for such a treat. Diego makes me look like a good Catholic choirboy.”
“Tanner, no! I’ll come. I’ll do whatever you want, but there’s no need to put Honor through this. Leave her out of this, please!” she bargained anxiously, meeting her younger sister’s serene blue eyes.
“I’m going,” Honor said, keeping her voice low. Ignoring Harmony’s shaking head, she reached for the phone, pulling it easily from Harmony’s numb fingers. Pressing the cell against her ear, she took a deep breath. “We’re coming, Tanner. Just keep your bullets in your gun. If anything happens to any of my family, I swear to you, you’ll never get that land,” she promised before disconnecting the call.
“No! No, Honor.” Harmony shook her head quickly from side to side, her hair slapping against her shoulders. “You are not walking out of here with me. You are not going to offer yourself up to Tanner like some kind of sacrifice. Forget it!” she yelled, unsteadily getting back on her feet.