The Joy of Revenge

CHAPTER 147 Douglas Xavier It was almost seven-thirty. The girls were probably done with dinner and on their way to Cohen Mansion.

After taking one last look at myself in the mirror, | exited my office and headed to my car.

Lou’s white van had already left for the mansion while most of my men were in another big room watching the feed from the CCTV cameras we set up at the OI’ Barn.

“X, I'm on my way to Cohen Mansion,” | heard Link say through my earpiece. “Highland Oaks is quiet, but word on the street says people will be assembling here after the wake.” “I'm about to leave myself. You have your needed to see all angles of the house.

camera on?” | asked as | entered my car. We “Yes. Dina’s already h ooked up to my feed,” he answered.

“Good. I'll just see you at the mansion then,” | replied, driving out of the warehouse.

Recon work. It was tedious, but we couldn't afford to go in blind.

The gas station incident was more than enough to make everyone realize the importance of homework.

Questioning Douglas earlier maderealize that Pete operated using an intricate network with small cells seemingly working alone, yet part of a much larger operation. Pete was smart, but he was arrogant and egotistical.

| was hoping his insolence would be the key to taking him down, but the ba stard was slick.

My infuriating sister's laughter followedas | headed straight to the basement of the warehouse. Once inside, | immediatey saw Douglas ‘s dirty clothes thrown into a heap in one corner, as well as droplets of blood leading all the way to the bathroom..

While carefully avoiding the blood on the floor, | tiptoed to check the bathroom. There was dirt residue as well as leftover blood all over the wet floor and walls. The s on ofa bit ch was bleeding bad.

1/6 12:08 Thu, Apr 41 CHAPTER 147 Douglas “Beaufort, he’s bleeding profusely,” Sam greeted me. “I called the Doc and he’s digging the bullet out from Douglas ‘s arm. | got Max grabbing a bag of blood from the clinic. Doc says he needs a blood transfusion.” “Is he conscious?” | asked.

“Yes, but barely,” Sam said. “I'd usually let scu mbags like him bleed out, but needed answers. Hell, | want answers.” you said your | walked in and saw Douglas lying on a sleeping bag as the Doc tended to him. Douglas ‘s skin was pale from blood loss and he was obviously in pain, shivering and wincing while the Doc operated on him. He was naked underneath the sleeping bag except for a gold necklace around his neck.

“Doc, sorry to interrupt, but | need sanswers,” | apologized. Doc nodded his head without looking at me, focused on the bullet lodged in Douglas ‘s arm. “Douglas, | want to know how you get messages out to your boss.” “The old man drives out until he gets cell service,” he murmured in an accent.

“Does he ever try to contact you?” | asked. He nodded his head.

“He drove by the gas station and had a meeting with the old man in his car,” he answered.

“When was that?” | asked.

“About a couple of months ago. He needed younger women,” he said.

“How does he pick up the girls?” “He sends a white van every Friday night at nine. Those friends of yours were supposed to be delivered tomorrow. | don’t know what happened, but his order changed. He only wants blonde hair and blue eyes.” “Do-you ever ride out and send messages?” “We aren't allowed outside. If we try to exit the basement without the call from the old man or the old woman, they'll shoot us,” he answered, wincing in pain. Sam scoffed at his answer. Douglas wasn’t being honest.

“Old woman?” 2/6 12:08 Thu, Apr 4d CHAPTER 147 Douglas kidnap, then we eat. If not, we starve. | haven't eaten in two days,” he mumbled before passing out.

So, Pete rarely contacted them, but they had a delivery scheduled for tomorrow. I'll send someone to tail the van. It might lead us to Pete.

“Patch him up and give him something to eat when he wakes up, | instructed the Doc. Sam quickly bent down and placed handcuffs on Douglas, then took the necklace off of his neck.

“Beaufort, | have a small request,” Sam said followingout.

“What is it, Sam? Don’t tellyou've fallen in love with a stray?” | asked, turning around to face him.

“No, it’s nothing like that, although he does reminda bit of myself when | was nineteen,” Sam answered, pulling out a garbage bag from the supplies on one of the shelves. “You do remember my story right?” “How can | forget? Don Domenico believes you are one of his best handpicked talents,” | said. Sam had a dark past and was fortunate enough to cross paths with Sebastian's father. After a bit of training, he enlisted and cback a tightly wound killer.

“Yeah, Don Domenico helprealize my full potential in a way. But my tours in Africa and the Middle East madecold inside,” Sam said, walking to the heap of dirty clothes on the floor. “There's something about Douglas that doesn’t add up and | want to keep him alive, maybe use him as bait.” He pulled the garbage bag open and began placing Douglas ‘s dirty clothes inside. “In the trailer, | noticed the rage in his eyes when someone mentioned the gas station blew up.

Now, all of a sudden he’s telling us a different story. He's probably related to the old man and woman. First of all, he doesn’t look like he’s starving and second of all, his necklace is made of gold. He took the necklace out of his pocket and raised the pendant to the light. “It has the markings of the Angels of Darkness.” | peered at the pendant and noticed a small diamond in the middle of the emblem. He was important somehow.

“Do you think he has a tracker on him?” | asked. He nodded his head.

“Yep, that’s why I'm using a blocker,” he answered, gesturing at the antenna of the GPS signal blocker hidden behind a container of bleach. “I already have the men on the lookout.” “Cristos said K iki took a smartphone behind the counter,” | mentioned. “Do you think they can be tracking it?” 3/6 12:09 Thu, Apr CHAPTER 147 Douglas “It’s possible,” Sam murmured, thinking. “He knows too much for someone who's working against his will. And that statement about not being allowed out... He has so much dirt on his shoes for someone who isn’t allowed outside.” Sam picked up Do ugl as ‘s sneakers from the floor and showedthe bottom of the shoes. It was true. There was so much dirt stuck in between the grooves of the outsole.

| took a sip of my coke. F uck. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. Joy and my sister needed to head back to New Salem now.

| wanted to kill him, but Sam may be right... he could be of more use to us. “Have that necklace scanned, then tell everyone we're on red alert status. Close the gate and seal off the premises. Also, have someone head to the lake to throw away those clothes. Lastly, tell Doc to give Douglas a scan. If he has a tracker inside of him, take a scalpel and pluck it out.” “What about Domenico and Primo?” Sam asked.

“I'll warn Cristos before we leave, so he knows what to expect, then I'll have Max take point.” “I'll stay behind while you get the girls to safety, Sam said. “I'll drive out as soon as | know there isn't a threat.” “Thanks Sam,” | replied, patting him on the shoulder. “By the way, any word on the driver who crashed into Nicole? Has he talked yet?” in “The driver said he was called to fulfill a promise he made to his friend, Luis Villegas, behalf of his son, and as a gesture of good faith, he was paid a nice sum of money,” Sam said. “We looked into the manifest of the airline he took. He calone. He probably didn’t want to split the dough with anyone else.” “Did he meet with Luis’s son?” | asked.

“No. He got the call from Capo Ba stone De Vega Everything he needed was waiting for him once he got off the plane. We tried calling the number De Vega used, but it’s off. Must be a burner,” Sam replied.

In other words, the driver was no longer valuable.

“Kill him and bury his body beside Cris’s,” | instructed. “We don’t need him anymore.” “You got it.” In New Salem, the details of Theodore Cohen’s wake greeted us. After loading my my sister's 4/6 12:09 Thu, Apr 4 CHAPTER 147 Douglas luggage drove of the trunk of Joy’s Mercedes-Benz and giving them last minute intructions, they to the Old Taylor House to get ready for their dinner date with Liam.

Surprisingly, | found Link shopping for groceries at Bo's.

“Bo, I've been looking for you,” he said loudly. “I heard that you're the go to man if ever | need something delivered. | was wondering if | can order schampagne. I'm having a homewarming party within the week.” “Whatever you need, Mr. Murphy,” | said. “This way please.” | gestured for him to followto my office amid the curious stares.

Once the door to my office closed, he voiced out his frustrations.

“I've been trying to get a hold of you since noon,” he grumbled. “Where have you been?” He sat down on one of the chairs in front of my desk.

In Mandan. | lost contact with Chip and Virtue and was about to send a search party them,” | answered. His demeanor changed abruptly.

“Dear, Lord. What happened? Are they okay?” for “They got into smess with sof McDowell's friends, but they're fine. So, what do you have for me?” | asked, hoping it wasn’t another problem.

“Tomas Martin is going to spend the night at Highland Oaks. | wanted to know if | should intervene,” he said. “I have a very strong feeling Liam is going to make him sign a deed of sale. He visited Lisa Murdock this afternoon and asked for the number of her real estate attorney. He also asked for the number of her mystery caller. | got the details from Chef. He was there when Liam paid her a visit.” “Do you have an idea where Tomas Martin lives? Link nodded his head.

“He lives along the lake in Southeast, Mandan... in one of the million dollar homes on Lakeshore Drive. He actually wants Ford and Norma to move in with him temporarily, but Ford isn’t allowed to leave New Salem just yet. | called the DA and asked him to reconsider, stating Ford's life is at risk, but the DA won't budge and according to him, the judge won't either. The DA's furious at Ford for sexually harassing his daughter.” you “Since have the information we need, you don’t need to intervene. We want Liam to get hold of the pharmacy.

Once it is under the Cohen name, Joy will inherit it once Liam dies,” | HTC non foinand Sam later at the OI’ Barn.” 5/6 12.09 Thu, Apr 4 CHAPTER 147 Douglas “Nah. The townsfolk are angry at the Martins. I'll be going straight hafter Cohen Mansion to keep watch,” he said, standing up.

“Here,” | said, handing him a button camera and a silicon case. “I think you know what you have to do.” He smiled.

“I sure do,” he replied, turning towards the door. “Before | forget... | got Nicole's mom to-sign for a transfer. The doctor you sent for is already preparing everything.” “Good work,” | said. “Nicole has valuable information. | want our doctors to bring her back good as new.” It was a steep climb to Cohen Mansion after passing the guard house. As | finally drove through the gates, | noticed there were many cars already parked on the grounds fronting the massive art deco mansion that stood proud on top of Prairie Hill.

| parked my car beside a dark pickup truck and walked out, carrying witha sympathy gift basket and sflowers.

“Hey, Bo! Nice to see you here,” a familiar voice said.

| grimaced.

It was Noah.

Chapter Comments Katherine Payne so they are bringing her back for information and then going to kill her? VIEW 1 COMMENT 8