“Go. No one is getting near him. Your mother will be here in a few.”
I nodded. I couldn’t even breathe correctly anymore. I felt like Atlas, struggling to balance the weight of the world.
“Liam, if there is a man who can get her back, it’s you.”
I had no fucking choice. How could I live without her? I couldn’t even think. Rolling my sleeves up, I walked away. I told myself over and over again that I couldn’t kill the doctor. But the line between the living and the dead was a very thin one. I would see how far I could take it before she broke; I had no doubt that she would.
Neal was already waiting for me when I stepped out into the sterile hallway. His body was as rigid as mine. No words were needed, so we didn’t waste them. Aviela came after the family. She stole our family; my fucking wife. Someone was going to die, that went without being said.
Pushing open the door to the staircase, Neal handed me a gun, but I shook it off. Aviela chose this woman as a decoy; I doubted a gun was enough to scare her. I was going to beat it out of her.
My Mel is gone. How the fuck? She took my fucking wife. She took my motherfucking wife! My mind was in a loop as we went down the stairs.
I didn’t want to think, for when I did, I felt like a failure; I felt pain and anger.
Pushing open the door, I was hit with a harsh blast of cold dry air and snow. There, begging, as she was held against the wall next to the dumpster with rats at her feet was Dr. Yang. Her lips were busted and her eyes held tears. Declan shook his head, stepping back to let me through.
I didn’t have time for this. Marching forward, I grabbed a fist full of her fake red hair. I pulled her off the wall before slamming her face repeatedly into the dumpster before throwing her body aside. I was tempted to keep going, but surely if I continued I would permanently incapacitate her.
“AHH!” She groaned, spitting out what looked to be at least three of her teeth onto the white canvas of snow. It was sort of beautiful, the contrast of her red blood on the untainted ground. I relished in causing her distress, making her feel a fraction of the pain that was radiating through my entire being. Kneeling next to her, I pulled a switchblade out of my sock and held it to her hairline.
“I will scalp you alive and then let the rats eat your fucking face, do you understand? Now, tell me everything you fucking know!”
“Ahh…” She groaned.
“Do you think I’m fucking joking? MY WIFE IS GONE!” I slid the razor across the skin of her hairline. She tried to fight, but I pulled her hair back, exposing her newly torn flesh, as blood streamed down her face and stained the snow around us.
“Please! I’ll tell you everything,” she wailed.
“Start talking before I remove your entire face,” I snapped. Either way, I was going kill her.
“All she told me was that she wanted her daughter back. I gave her my badge; she was going to save her daughter. She said that if she stayed with you, she and her son were going to die—”
“Where are they?” I roared, slicing the blade behind her ear, almost detaching it. Her blood flowed, rolling down her face and neck. I doubted her ability to see as she opened her eyes, the normal whites were saturated with red.
“I don’t know, I swear all she said is that they were going home! That’s all I know, I swear. I’m so sorry, she told me I was saving her…”
“Police!” Fedel alerted, forcing me to momentarily let her go. Dr. Yang crawled into a little ball, sobbing in the dirt and snow as the rats sniffed her blood. Looking at her broken form, I still wasn’t satisfied. She wasn’t writhing in pain and that was unacceptable.
Sure enough, down the alleyway a cop car slowed, stepping out with a flashlight. Each one of them pulled out their guns. These fools wouldn’t be the first Chicago officers gunned down in a back alleyway, and I didn’t have time for this shit.
“Is there problem here?”
“Please! Help me!” Dr. Yang suddenly yelled from behind me. Their eyes went wide, running towards her until they saw my face clearly.
“Mr. Callahan.”
“Get in your car. Drive away. You didn’t see anything. You have two seconds.”
“NO!” Doctor Yang said from behind me. “PLEASE! PLEASE HELP!”
“One,” I stated and they both nodded, ignoring her.
“Sorry for bothering you, sir,” the older of the two men said before turning around and retreating; the doctor gave a defeated cry when his car drove off.
“Kill her, and I want a list of all the properties the Giovannis held.” Wiping the blood off my blade, I headed back to my son.
Mel, I will find you. By God, I will find you.