I'd like to dedicate these 2 chapters (chapter 72 and it's extension 73) to bellevie12. Looks like I've kept my word 🤭.
Whom do you wish to see dead more?
~~~~~
"Should I buy this? Or this?" Issac asked showing the two options that Lillian had earlier listed down for Kitty through his back camera.
"Personally, the red box tastes better. But kitty likes the one in green." Lilliam shrugged nonchalantly through the screen.
"Excuse me, ma'am- personally?" Issac's voice cracked before he could fully get out the word. Humor danced on his face as he tried hard to suppress the widening smile- like the scratches of kitty danced on his shin and calves when she tried to climb on him earlier that day to accompany him to the cat shop.
"Well, it was there. And I was there. We both were next to each other and kitty was watching anime, it was right in front of me. I mean, you would try your kids food before letting them eat it, right? So yes, it wasn't bad. Don't recommended it, but don't hate it either. It was..... different from what you'd expect a cat to eat." Lillian said, focusing her attention on the laptop infront of her a bit and on her boyfriend a lot.
She didn't exactly remember the taste, but she could recall thinking bad about it either. But mainly, she wanted Issac to have a good laugh whenever he saw the cat food.
She'd read on the internet sometimes people found funny or sad memories of their significant other to associate to particular items.
"And what do we expect a cat to eat?" Issac couldn't hide the grin that stretched from one ear to the other as stumbled across 3 number candle in the mid aisle right beside dog food.
His smile widened beyond humanely possible picturing his aloof girlfriend coming to a store and actually buying it.
Her 25th birthday was coming up soon. Examining the candle closely, he thought to himself.
"Fish?"
The blunt distant voice of his girlfriend, reminded him of his mission. Whisk her away to a far away place.
"What did it taste like?"
".... meat? A bit too extreme with the salt."
"Thoughts on human meals?"
"Eh."
"Thoughts on our getaway a week or two later?" He asked, with a light frown- arising from his disappointment with the candle.
It wasn't the right color. Lillian would prefer other colors like black, blue, pink and green.
This was his first time celebrating her birthday with as a couple, and he wanted it to be perfect. Something meaningful. Something memorable.
"Riley?"
Issac noticed the conversation getting shorter and shorter as her focus was diverted to her laptop, the clicks and clacks coming from her device becoming more rapid with short rest interval. She was clearly feeling better than their conversation from the other day.
"Said they'll have Jason in court by the end of the week. She was complaining earlier you wouldn't answer her calls."
"I like my ring tone."
Before he could say something snarky, he felt a metal nozzle making sudden contact with his back bone- the coolness of the metal making the hair on the back of his neck stand up in alarm.
"Everything OK?" Lillian asked looking directly at Issac, noticing he had suddenly stopped taking.
"Issac King." The man in black who held a gun against him and stood directly behind him, murmured his name.
He wore a face mask that covered his face to protect his identity. Kinda ironic when he wielded a gun that negated others- although Issac couldn't see his assaulter's face, the way he held the gun said the man was equipped in using guns.
Issac held the phone in such a way that the man in black suit wasn't visible through the camera and his eyes wandered across the small shop to find a way to escape.
Or even discreetly get someone to notice him. But he knew, looking at the almost empty- the only other customer checking out at the moment and the other standing several aisles away- he knew his efforts were futile.
"Are you Lillian?" When Issac felt the man tilt his head to get a direct look at Lillian's face, Issac swiftly disconnected the call.
The caller's name wasn't mentioned in the call. There was just no reasonable answer than him being used as a bait to lure Lillian. And if he wasn't wrong, Riley is the person they were looking for.
"Why are you looking for her?" Issac demanded, cautiously, catching a glimpse of the shopkeeper looking at their direction with a frown. He'd hoped his expression was enough to enough to convey his need for help, but it turned futile when the shopkeeper simply rolled her eyes with a slight shake of her head before concentrating on the screen before her.
There was a rush of sudden panic inside him which he tried to quash down once he felt the nozzle being jammed harshly into his back- almost knocking the breath out of him and onto the trolley with a pain filled gasp.
If the man wasn't directly behind him, he could do better at protecting himself. He knew basic self defense and what to do when gun was involved in the play. Either to run or be careful while disarming the perpetrator.
But the man wasn't in front of him- rather the opposite- and that was the only way he'd learnt to disarm another effectively. The phone in his hand vibrated violently and the ring tone he'd specially set for her jammed in the room.
"My boss wants the whore, little guy. If you let us have her, we will let you go."
Pressing the off button of the phone- he silenced his phone's cry for attention- clutching his phone in his hand through silent anger. "I rather die before I let you touch a single strand on her head."
The shop chimed, another customer entering the shop. The clutters of the crowd stopping as the door closed behind her.
Please don't come in. Please leave. Please. Please. Closing his eyes, he changed the words like a prayer in his head, clenching the solid metal in his hand like an item of prayer- hoping they could magically hear his desperate pleads and chose to turn around and walk out the door, like they never entered the store in the first place.
"They always say that." Another man uttered with disdain and something else..... something else that likely meant to instill fear in him, before moving forward. With a solid grip on Issac's wrist, the man tried to pry his fingers of his phone.
Internally heaving a sigh and a silent plead for strength from the skies to overpower the two steroid men, Issac used all his force to bring his heel down on the other man's foot, and opened his palm to let the phone fall to the other open and awaiting hand.
He heard the man let out of soft yelp in pain- not clear whether it was completely out of pain or shock or a mixture of both.
Before giving either of the men the time to think, he moved- his wrist tightly squeezed by the firm hand, now slightly loosened his hold of the wrist.
Adrenaline rushed through his veins.
Sheer adrenaline supported his action that he wouldn't have orchestrated for the life of him in a normal situation- where he wasn't being held by a gun or the love of his life' life threatened.
Using the second that took for them to overcome their unanticipated shock to his advantage, he brought his sports shoe covered foot where the sun doesn't shine for the other man who held the gun.
But before he could actually go through with it, he fell on his side in a heap. A gun shot rang soundly in the shop. Issac's eyes squeezed shut as his hands- the other one freed on his hustle to the ground- instinctively rushed to one particular place in the lower left side of his abdomen.
His hands felt wet, sticky even.
It didn't hurt for- he didn't know how long, all he knew was there was a liquid oozing out of his body, if anything it was the gun that startled him.
But when the adrenaline washed off, unbearably blinding white pain hit him at once that almost made him pass out from pain.
Groaning, he turned on his back biting his lower lip. His face was deathly pale, the place where he had been shots moments earlier felt like he had someone drill a hole through his body. Like thousands of bees lived in him and were triggered at once by something, resorting to stinging him to calm themselves down.
His pain couldn't be explained in words. It felt worse. The blood in his hand. The dizziness. His side twitching as if it could push the intruding thing out. It felt worse than it looked.
Waves of pain washed over him within few short spans- he feared he wouldn't even live to see his women safe and secured.
With the face of Lillian in mind, he lifted his heavy head off the ground. The world started to spin and the men looked blurry- only two silhouette hovering at a distance. Crouched down or something.
Too out of it to even know he didn't even hear the men shooting the shopkeeper and the other customers dead once they realized somebody had been shots.
He wanted to talk. Divert their attention from whatever it was they were looking at, but he could only let out breathy cough filled with blood. He choked. And gagged.
He moved his hand around, too in pain to form a coherent though in his head, feeling the sticky ground now drenched with his blood beside him for his phone.
If he was going to die- he should atleast get the chance to see her for one last time. She wouldn't. He can't let the last time she saw his face be of him swimming in his own blood.
He muttered.... just enjoy strength... to delete her number. He'd see her one last time. And erase her existence from his phone.
Just reality wasn't nice. By a long shot.
As he hicupped, choking out a cough, his mind drifted off to the darkest pitch of darkness he'd ever seen. With a daunting realization, he laid his head to rest.
He didn't have his phone on him.
~~~~~~
On the other side of town, Riley stood outside Jason's place at a distance- waiting for her crewmember to show up, which they did in not more than 10 minutes.
It didn't take long for Riley to barge inside Jason's mansion alongside Sean and Ethan- who made their way to their destination as soon as they could after getting their hand on the court order.
The security guard didn't want to let them through but the letter they held in hand forced him out of their way- albeit reluctantly.
"Let's split up." Ethan suggested once they were in, looking to cover up more space in shorter time, making the other two nod in agreement.
"Kiara is willing to testify, by the way." Sean said as he pulled his gun out of his belt he tucked into for a short duration.
"That's nice." Riley replied with a distant look. Maybe she was just being paranoid. But it was too quiet. And too easy to get into the house. And the house was empty- not unclean but along the lines of unoccupied and looked desolate, abandoned. "What caused her change of mind?" She asked as an after thought, pushing the load of bullets back into the gun.
But before Sean could formulate a reply a loud crash of something heavy- something made of glass- breaking on the floor in one of the closest rooms made the trio share a look.
There was someone in the room. Casey? Jason? Or even better, both?
As if they could reach each other's mind, they took cautious steps towards the room where the sound came from.
Sean pressed the gun against his lips- motioning them to stay silent when his ears perked up- catching frequency of multiple human voices talking at the same time, almost like they were arguing.
"You shouldn't have messed with my plan like that." The overtly familiar voice caught the attention of Riley- who scrunched up her face with a look of disdain shoving back the gun she held in her hand back into the hostler with a grumble making Sean shoot her a glare and press the gun he held against his pink lips- motioning her to zip it with angered eyes.
"You were going to get me killed." The mother of the brat shrieked out- in an failed attempt to get the women to see her point.
Riley clicked her tongue in disdain before pushing the door open.
"What the-" two voice said simultaneously. One was a voice right next to her- hissing at her in alarm as he held the gun up to aim at whoever he was aiming at and the other from across the room as an exclamation of shock- who jumped up from the sofa he sat on in shock with hands making their way over his head.
"FBI, hands where I can see them." Ethan said in a firm tone, pointing the gun at the scarfaced man.
It was confusing which one shocked Riley the most, seeing the mother and daughter duo at Jason's place or the scarfaced man.
"You." Stephenie snarled out, pointing her finger at her, enraged.
"You know them?"
"Unfortunately. What are you two doing here?"
"It's all your fault." Claiming in an outraged tone Stephenie pushed forward and made a lousy attempt to grab Riley's hair- who merely sweeped her foot under hers before she could get the chance, making her back kiss the ground with a loud thud along with a loud and enraged wail.
"Back off, this is abuse of power." The older women shrieked out, rushing over to her daughter's side but not before pushing Riley out of the way.
'How insufferable.' Riley thought to herself in annoyance, tics forming on her temple. She muttered an apology to Sean- whom she feel against, the corner of her lips kicking up in indignant.
"Do you have a warrant?" This time it was the scarface man who yelled out in a rough tone like he was on an edge with his hand raised to his shoulder level.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Riley tried to cool her temper down- something which was fundamentally destroyed by the two most despicable people.
Even seeing her kidnapper in real life didn't get that strong of an emotion from her.
For some time, the room was covered with noise that made your head hurt. With Stephenie and Nancy shrieking and Ethan approaching scarface with calculated steps, explaining his Miranda rights and such.
"Something's wrong." Riley mumbled to herself. Her chest felt tight all of a sudden, like something was going to happen in an instant. She rubbed the middle of her chest, trying to alleviate the invisible knots and tightness hopelessly.
"What?" Sean asked, throwing his head over his shoulder with a puzzled look- diverting his attention from the other two women who cursed at Riley and spewed things that made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever.
"Something." Riley trailed off, turning on her heels to look analyze the room- something she didn't get the chance too right after storming into the room. There was something she was missing. Something....
It was like a blurry picture. Something she knew and could recognize in better resolution. Something so close to her, so familiar she could point out the error in just a glance. But it was so foggy she couldn't pinpoint what exactly- which further aggravated her. Putting her in an even fouler mood, rising her irritation from seeing the banshee duo.
The ringing of a phone made everyone in the room to divert their attention to the only female and most despised FBI officer in the room.
"Excuse me." She mumbled, fishing the phone out of her pocket.
A wave of dread mixed with relief washed over her when she was the callers ID.
Casey.
She wanted to heave a sigh of relief. Tale a deep breath and let it back out into the world, but it was almost like a hand gripped her neck- squeezing it, almost suffocating her from the inside.
Throwing a troubled look at Sean, she answered the call- but kept silent when there was a nagging feeling inside her that kept growing, telling her something was off.
Extremely off.
Her intuition were proved right when there was a sudden panting from the other side, that didn't sound like Casey.
She looked over at the side where Ethan pinned Paul's hand to his back.
Jason.
That was the only right answer.
And looking over at the two women that fought with the now irritated Sean.
It didn't sit well with her.
No, more specifically the two women being there didn't sit well with her. Two people who knew her real identity.
Her true identity...
Fuck! He knows.
"Lillian." He harshly breathed her name into the phone- like it was painful for him to hold himself back. "Or... should I say Riley?"
"Jason, if you harm a single hair on her body-"
"I was just talking to our dear friend- Ms. Knight, about out another mutual fried who was hiding under her daddy's roof." His tone was filled with mock surprise. "For weeks you played me for a fool. Weeks! Wouldn't it be a fitting punishment if I kill the woman you were parading around to be? Tell your brother he'd been moaning his 'sister's' name. Or were you a dirty slut you were deepthroating your own fucking brother."
"Jason." Riley growled out, hands balled into fists.
"I'm doing you a favor. Think about the dirty looks that will be casted your way when your incest relationship gets out."
Riley wiped the sweat of her eyebrow with the back of her thumb. He though Issac was with her, romantically.
She'd never been more grateful of this whole mess and identity swap more than she'd been now.
What favor was he doing? That she didn't know, but had thought it was along the lines of her and her team being rewarded for being able to take him down.
"And this bitch." Jason clicked the safety of his gun, pointing the gun at the woman on the floor adjourned with a right red hand print mark on her face with his housekeeper standing by the door as she stiffly informed him of FBIs presence. "If you want her alive." He sneered. "I want the FBI to protect me on my way to the airport, where I'll made my way to my private airplane with my private pilot. Flying away from you, everything. Like a free man."
"Right, cuz raping women can be so easily be erased."
"You're punishing the wrong man. I didn't lay a single hand on any of the women."
"Trading and auctioning them does not make you a saint." Riley bit out.
"You're logic is flawed. I never directly traded or participated in any auctioning. You're getting annoyed." He sighed out. "So what's it gonna be?" He deadpanned, the gun not moving an inch away from her nose- which flared with hateful tears streaming down her face.
"You-" before Riley could tell him to shove it, a loud familiar sound of a gun- something she'd gotten accustomed to hearing from her years of service as a law endorsement officer.
"Oops looks like my gun accidently slipped. Did I mention our mutual friend is with me? Currently bleeding from her shoulder, but fine nonetheless. If you do not do as I say, you'll never get the chance to see her fucking face again."
Riley's face scrunched in distress, unsure whether he was telling the truth or not. She didn't hear Casey's cry of pain.... but Jason wasn't one to issue an idle threat either. Biting down on her lips hard enough to draw blood, she contemplated her limited options.
She should save her friend.... shouldn't she?
Jason wouldn't make it past any country's port without being handcuffed and sent his way back to his homeland. He was a wanted criminal.
His imprisonment would simply be delayed and he'd be punished with increased intensity- if that was even possible.
"Do not listen to him." Casey wheezed out- her tone filled with pain.
"OK."
"OK what?"
"OK. FBI will protect you." The language she spoke her whole life sounded foreign, when she said those words. Going against everything she stood for. It was one thing to agree to it, it was whole another thing when she was made to say the law enforcement department- which was formed to protect civilians against criminals- would give protection to a criminal. Sharp jolts of humiliation hit her.
The chuckle she'd heard from the other side had her digging her nails into her palm- wanting to punch the man through the phone.
But recalled it was for the greater good.
"Wise choice. That's why King's would never top the business world like the Black's. You know, I never pulled my investment out of your brother's resort. Didn't you want it to happen desperately. " With that the call disconnected.
Riley let out a heavy sigh, when Sean and Ethan looked at her.
Jason pulling his investment wasn't necessary per se. Her dad wouldn't let anything happen to Issac's passion, so that wasn't what bothered her.
'That's why kin-' 'brother.'
Wait. A. Minute.
Her eyes widened a fraction as sudden haunting realization dawned on her.
He didn't get her confused with Lillian at all. Not a bit. He knew Riley was the sister.
Doing her a favor wasn't what she'd thought it was. Not in the least.
With 'doing her a favor by getting rid of dirty looks', he meant keeping Lillian and Issac's relationship a secret.
And what better way can someone keep a secret than by trusting a dead man.
"Fuck fuck fuck." Her frustration echoed through the room as she clutched her head, her temper and volume raising with every repetition.
"What?" Someone asked.
"Issac and Lillian! I can't reach Issac. Lillian's phone is busy. God!"