To The End

Angel shook her head, something was dripping down her face and there seemed to be some kind of red haze across her vision as the room came back into view. There was pain, a deep and almost blinding ache that made moving her head painful and it took minutes for her vision to focus enough to recognise that she was cuffed securely to a chair and that the person standing in front of her was familiar. The beginnings of a crooked smile formed on her face as she blinked the blood from her eyes.
“Well of all the people it could have been, can’t say I was expecting you.”
“Precisely why I was able to find you. You’re getting sloppy.”
Angel attempted to shrug, the movement impeded by the tight grip of the metal. There was a chink of metal against metal before she let her shoulders relax again and looked up at her captor. This complicated things by quite a considerable degree and maybe the attempt to keep Gee safe from hurting both himself and their plans had been a miscalculation.
“So I take it you intend to kill me ? Cos really Claire, I don’t see you as a killer.”
Claire stared down at the woman who had created such havoc in her family and considered the question. She had been quietly hunting Angel and Gee down for months, keeping her activities hidden from Frank and Mikey with an idea of ending it for them and getting some measure of revenge for herself in the process. That the men she had hired had caught up with Angel while she was alone and sleeping had been rather a bonus. They had reported that a car had already been packed so they had brought that back to the ranch they had rented along with the captive and called Claire. It had been easy to get a flight out here while her husband had been busy jetting off to meet with East Coast dealers.
“I could and nobody would ever know but first I want to know where Gee is.”
“Go. Fuck. Yourself.”
Claire nodded to one of the silent men in the corner and Angel anticipated the pain to come. It would clearly not be wise to underestimate the wife of her enemy again and the nasty backhanded blow from the thug made the ringing in her head into a scream.
“I learned a lot from Mikey, both he and Frank upped my self-defence and weapons training after what you did. You really want to risk it ?”
“Please, I’ve been tortured by professionals. Get Frank and Mikey, I want to talk to the organ grinders and not the monkey.”
A flash of temper passed across Claire’s face and she pushed the chair over, aiming several hard kicks at Angel’s ribs until the other woman was coughing in pain. It was satisfying but not likely to get the result that she wanted. The thug was smiling as he lifted up the chair and set it straight, Angel now slumped over and in pain but still with that annoying grin. An idea formed in Claire’s head and she smiled.
“Frank and Mikes have gone to meet a friend of yours. I believe you left him behind in Russia.”
She watched Angel’s face intently, seeing the flicker of fear that passed over her features before the settled into a more surly stare. All traces of humour at the situation had disappeared and Angel spat blood onto the floor before looking at Claire again.
“Gates is home ? Huh, tricky little fucker.”
Claire nodded and gestured to the thug to leave and close the door. Angel watched, this was not news that was comforting. Being held by Claire was one thing but Gates was brutal, an artist when it came to the art of murder and she would prefer to die by Frank’s hand than end up playing with her former lover.
“He’s home and very angry at you. All the boys want is Gee back and you dead.”
“Gerard is fine and relatively safe. Turn the fucking television on and you will soon find out where he is.”
There was a tense pause before Claire stood and went back upstairs to the main house. The ranch was not linked to her husband but purely in her name and had been a wedding present from him. They rarely visited but it had always struck her that if you wanted to keep someone hidden and away from civilisation it was pretty much the perfect place. There were miles between the ranch and a town, nothing but a lot of dust and a few mangy cattle for close neighbours. It was ideal for keeping a hostage.
The television was large and it took a few minutes of flicking to find some news channels that would cover the next state. Claire wondered impatiently what she was looking for until a very familiar face popped up and a serious looking bimbo started talking in a falsetto that reminded Claire of Marilyn Monroe.
“Former presidential candidate Gerard Way was arrested today on murder charges relating to the deaths of Sheriff Richard Tucker and Deputy Sam Morris. The FBI would not comment on the arrest until the case goes before a judge tomorrow but did state that they would oppose any application for bail. Lawyers for Mr Way have stated that he categorically denies the charges and will be appealing to the judge for Mr Way to be freed as soon as possible.”
Claire turned the sound down a little and began to pace, trying to work out just what had happened for Gerard to now be facing federal murder charges. He wasn’t a stupid man, he might not be as careful as Frank but he would never let himself be cornered unless….
“You fucking sold him out didn’t you ?”
Angel heard the shout as Claire came down the stairs at speed, furious and ready to use any means possible to get the truth out of her prisoner. The other woman was smiling again, not that surprised by Claire’s assumption and still trying to figure if there was a way out of this before Gates found that she was basically a sitting duck.
“Not exactly. Gerard is stubborn like Mikey and won’t see sense. Listen Claire, let’s be realistic here. Frank isn’t going to just let us set up shop in the north and not come after us. I wanted to leave, go back to Europe and do business over there.”
“So why didn’t you ?”
Exasperation crept into Angel’s voice.
“Because he fucking won’t go and has got it into his head to prove to you guys that he can be just as successful as Frank. He’s taking stupid fucking risks that will end up killing us both. So I put him somewhere safe until I can clear up the loose ends and we can leave.”
Claire stared, the creeping sense of realisation beginning to dawn on her. Angel continued to check the cuffs for weak spots and map out just where the exit to the basement was. It was hot and she was thirsty but not that hungry so she couldn’t have been knocked out for all that long. That meant she was still close enough to the house to find a way back.
“You put him in jail to keep him safe ? What kind of fucked up logic is that ?”
“I can spring him when I want but that’s now down to you.”
Angel’s head drifted to one side, the stare now making Claire think that just killing the woman could see Gerard go down for the rest of his life. There was now a bargaining chip to play with and she needed to tell Frank what she had done so that he could at least try and release Gerard without needing Angel’s help. Now Gerard would have to see sense, understand that he was better off at home.
“You said loose ends ?”
Angel chuckled, his old enemies would really not like the implication for that plan when they figured it out but facing them down would be easier than finding a way past Syn. She watched Claire fight an internal battle before heading back towards the stairs.
“If Frank wants me to talk to him he has to call of Gates. Otherwise all his fancy lawyers won’t help him and our boy is gonna be staying in that cell a long time.”
“Gerard will just be added to a long list that want you dead.”
“Maybe or maybe he will figure it out.”
It was Claire’s turn to laugh, there was no way that this would look like anything than a double cross and Gerard had one hell of a temper. This had turned out to be worth the expense and she was looking forward to watching her boys destroy Angel and restore the Family to its natural complete unit. All that mattered now was making sure that she could hold onto the hostage until Frank and Mikey could come home.
“Keep that door locked and always go down there in pairs. That bitch is quick and very clever. If you fuck it up then you won’t live very long. Got it ?”
The two large men nodded, Claire inspired a certain respect now and none of the Captains wanted a bad report to get back to the boss. They would get rewarded well for guarding the woman and seeing that nothing happened to screw things up.
Claire left them guarding the cellar door and went back into the living room to retrieve her phone. Three missed calls had appeared in quick succession and two were from Frank, the other from Mikey. She dialled her husband.
“You see the news ?”
“Yes Frank, I tried….”
“I can’t fucking believe he was that stupid. I’m sending a lawyer down there and we’ve sent Gates to look for Angel. Knew that bitch would sell him out.”
Claire grinned and let him rant on before quietly shushing him.
“I know exactly where Angel is.”

Notes