Chapter XII.
''You were right, Vera - he's got himself a lass,'' said the man sitting opposite her, slowly smoking a cigarette.
''What have you learned, my dearest?''
''I waited at the address you gave me. There was no sight of him all weekend, but today he finally arrived with the girl. He parked his car in front of the building and took a backpack from the car. They must have gone somewhere for the weekend. I couldn't see the girl.''
''What?!'' Vera stood up and slammed the table with her fist. She was furious. ''Your only task was to wait for him and find out who the whore is that he's fucking!''
''Calm down…'' he said harshly, exhaling smoke, ''…and let me finish. I decided to wait for them; I thought maybe they'd come back. But nothing happened and after 10 minutes I decided to go after them. I was already making my way to the building when he came out. And then...she followed.''
Vera's pupils dilated and he could see her grinning. ''And?''
''They talked for a few minutes, and then she hugged him.''
''That bitch! What does she look like?''
''Well, she's pretty, very, very pretty…'' he put out his cigarette, turned toward her, and started to talk.
John parked his car in front of his mum's house. With his backpack on his back, he slowly made his way toward the front door. He tried to unlock it, but his key didn't fit the lock. That was strange, he thought to himself. He tried again and again, and after many unsuccessful attempts, he noticed. The lock was not the same - it had been replaced by a new one.
''What the hell is going on?'' he said under his breath. ''MUM?!'' he called, knocking on the wooden door. No answer. He tried again, but still no answer. John was not the type to panic - his former occupation hadn't allowed him to be - but he could feel the cold sweat beading on his forehead. He moved to the window and tried to see inside. It was dark and silent - no light, no noise from the television. But the strangest thing of all was that there was no sound coming from the radio. She always had her radio on; she liked having the news and music playing, even when she was out. She couldn't imagine leaving Billy the cat all alone in that big, silent house, so she left the radio on to keep him company. ''MUM, ARE YOU INSIDE?!'' he shouted, knocking again. Still no answer, so he decided to try the back door. He climbed the fence with ease. The back yard looked the same as it had when he had left on Friday. He quickly found out that the back door lock had been replaced, too. ''MUM!'' he yelled, ''IT'S ME, JOHN!'' and then he heard it - footsteps. Someone was inside the house. He was about to the break the window when he heard the door being unlocked.
''John?'' said a shaky voice, ''Is it really you?'' When her face appeared, she looked pale and scared.
''Mum? What happened? Why did you replace the locks?'' he asked as he entered the house.
''Oh, Johnny, someone was here!'' she said, and started to cry.
''Who was here?'' he asked, and held her close. He was slowly making his way to the living room when he saw it - the room was a mess. Everything was broken - TV screen, vases, picture frames, coffee table, books lying all over the floor...
''Oh, my god - Mum, what happened here?'' He could feel anger building inside of him.
''I told you - she visited me, she threatened me, she kept asking me where you were. And when I refused to tell her anything, she went crazy! She started throwing my beautiful vases around the room, and yelling at me. Oh, Johnny - I was so scared, but I didn't tell her anything about you. When she left, I called the locksmith and had the locks changed. I haven't left the house since Friday; I've been so scared. I tried to call you, but the line was busy.'' John helped her sit down on the sofa, and she started to sob.
''Mum, breathe, OK? You're safe now. Can you tell me who was here?''
''She said her name was Sarah...Sarah O'Brien. And she told me to tell you that Vera had sent her.''
John was seeing red - that bitch had sent her people after his mum. Vera had crossed the line this time. He didn't care what she did to him, but he wouldn't let her hurt his family. ''I'll kill her!'' He stood up and was walking toward the door when she called his name, but he didn't hear her. The only thing he could hear was his heart pounding in his chest. ''Lock the door behind me!'' was the only thing he yelled back. He wanted to kill her...he was going to kill her! He started his car and sped away.
John reached his old house in 20 minutes. The squealing brakes could be heard through the whole neighbourhood. He got out of the car and, not even bothering to close the car door, he ran toward the house. He didn't knock; he just barged in, like a voracious wild animal following a trail of blood. ''VERA! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?'' He ran upstairs, but she wasn't there. He searched the whole house, but couldn't find her. ''VERA!?'' he yelled again.
''Why are you shouting? I'm here.'' She appeared in the back door, smiling like nothing was wrong.
When he saw her, he couldn't stop himself; she had always made him do things he didn't want to do, things that weren't even in his nature. John had never been a violent man, never. Not even when they had lived together and she had made him feel so, so small with her treatment of him - he had never touched her. She, on the other hand, was a completely different story. He was by her side in a second, grabbing her neck, throwing her against the wall. ''You bitch! It wasn't enough for you to fuck with my life; you had to send your fucking dogs to my mother's house?!'' He was choking her, but she wasn't defending herself at all. In fact, he could hear her laughing while she struggled for air. ''Come on, Johnny boy, do it!'' she gasped.
He was squeezing so hard that his knuckles went white but then, for some reason, he let go of her. He couldn't do it. He was many things, but he was not a murderer. She collapsed onto the floor like a sack of potatoes, trying to catch her breath. He sat on a chair near her and ran a trembling hand through his hair.
''Why are you doing this to me? Why can't you leave me and my family alone?'' he asked her.
''You know why! You have to pay for your sins!'' she glared, still having problems breathing normally.
''How many times do I have tell you? Nobody could have saved him...nobody, you hear me?! Not you, not me!''
''But you promised me you'd keep him safe...you promised!'' She slowly stood up and walked toward him. ''But you didn't! And remember, Johnny boy, you WILL pay for your sins. I loved him so much, and you took him away from me. He was the only one in this world who understood me and truly loved me. And he killed himself because of you!''
''Vera, stop it.'' He stood up and shook her. ''Just stop this madness of yours. Let me get you some help...let me help you,'' he pleaded.
''Oh, yeah - like you helped get me into that loony hospital, huh?'' she yelled and shook off his hands. ''Look what they did to me!'' she pointed to her leg. ''I'm here all alone, locked in this house like a wild animal. I'm the one who got hurt, not you. You're free, and you can do whatever you what with your life. But I won't let you! You hear me?! I WON'T LET YOU!''
''Vera…I tried to help you. I did my best. But what do you expect? I don't love you any more. I haven't for a long time, and we both know that you don't love me. So what's the problem? Just sign the damn divorce papers. You will get the house, I'll give you money, I'll give you whatever you want. Your sentence ends in 5 months...5 months and you'll be a free woman.''
''Ohh, Johnny boy, you are so innocent sometimes. Don't you get it? I could sign the papers, I could sign them today, right now…but I won't," she said, her eyes glinting with anger.
''Why not?''
''I lost the love of my life because of you. I married you to make your life miserable, but you ran away to the army. When they said that you'd been hurt in action, I prayed and prayed that you were dead. But nooo - you never did do what I wanted. So I tried to ruin you with your painkillers. Yeah, you heard me!'' she added, when she saw the way he was looking at her; he was in shock. ''I was drugging you the whole time, Johnny boy, doubling your dose, slipping it into your food and drink. But then your mother had to step in and get you to rehab, that old bat. And then you had to hire that lawyer of yours and he managed to put me in the loony hospital.''
''You attacked my mum, you killed her cat and left its body on her door step, and don't forget you tried to hit me with the car. You should be thankful - the court could've easily put you in prison, but I said no. I asked them only to help you, to get you the proper professional help you needed,'' John replied, looking at her.
She started to laugh, ''Well, thank you for that, Johnny boy, thank you very much.''
''Look, I'm getting a divorce. I texted my lawyer this morning and I'm seeing him tomorrow. The papers are already prepared. Even your lawyer advised you to sign them. I already told you - you'll get everything.''
''Everything but my revenge, hmm? Ohh, no. Johnny boy. I won't sign those papers, not in a million years.'' She grinned. ''I'm not happy and I won't let you be happy either.''
''I'm already unhappy,'' he said, with sadness in his voice.
''I heard something else.''
''What are you talking about?'' John asked.
''Well, I heard you got yourself a pretty, young lass.''
He started to panic. How the hell did she know about Anna? He had been careful...or at least he thought he had been. ''Oh, really?'' he said, trying to mask his fear.
''Don't you dare lie to me! I told you the other day - her cheap perfume was all over you. So I ordered my people to watch you. Care to guess what they discovered?''
John was looking at her in shock; he couldn't believe what she was saying. The only thing he was able to think about was Anna's safety.
''No?'' she said, when she saw the expression on his face. ''I know where she lives, Johnny boy…and more importantly, Thomas does, too,'' she added coldly.
When she mentioned that name, John's face lost all its colour. She had sent Thomas after her?! He knew Thomas - he was one of Vera's oldest friends and one of the leaders of the London Mafia. His price for hurting and killing people, no questions asked, was loads of money and a sexy young man who would spend the night with him.
''And he is there right now,'' she slowly added, grinning like a fool.
''WHAT?!'' John yelled and stood up, starting to run out of the house. He could hear Vera's cackle behind his back, but he didn't care - he had to get to Anna. He jumped into his car and sped away. While driving, he dialled her number, but the phone just kept ringing.
''Come on, pick up! PICK UP! PICK UP!'' He was speeding through the city, but he couldn't care less. ''Anna, dear - just PICK UP!...FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!'' Anna didn't answer and, for a second, he thought the worst - that maybe she was dead already, maybe Thomas had already gotten her.
He was only a block away from her flat when he saw a traffic jam ahead, but he couldn't wait. He jumped out of his car and started to run toward her building like a maniac. He ran and ran, not giving a damn about his knee. He finally reached it, and the stairs were killing his knee, trying to force him to stop and rest, but he kept going until he reached her door. It was locked, and he started to bang on it, shouting her name.
''ANNA! ANNA! OPEN THE DOOR! ANNA!'' Tears was streaming down his face.
And then the door opened and she was standing before him, wearing only a towel around her body, her hair all wet. Before she could say anything, he quickly pulled her into his arms. He embraced her with such force, she was taken aback.
''John, what is the matter? Did something happen? Is your mum all right?'' She had been taking a bubble bath when she had heard him yelling at her door.
''You are alive!'' He finally let go of her, looking at her confused face.
''Of course I'm alive you, silly beggar! Why shouldn't I be?''
He was so happy she was alive and all right. He really had thought she was dead. The tears were still streaming down his face when she dried them off with her hand.
''John? You are shaking - come in.'' She closed the door behind him, and led him into the living room.
He sat down on the couch next to her and said, ''We need to talk.''
beta: annambates :))))))))))))))))))))))))))
thanks for R&F&F
