Training the Swan
Chapter Forty-Five—The End of the Barrel
Senior
It had been three days since the explosion occurred, the one that sent my already spiraling life into a tailspin. On nearly constant rotation was the news feed of me threatening to kill Charles Swan, the encounter at the funeral and Isabella's shooting. Occasionally, one of the broadcast's remembered that my son was dead, murdered by his wife, but it was already old news.
What everyone seemed to focus on was me, and because of that, my world was crumbling around me. A life that took me years to build. To give me more than what my past could let me have. After my parents died when I was child, Phillip and Morgan's family took me in and saved me from a terrible life.
However, it wasn't an easy one. We were barely a step above poverty level and though we learned to live off the land, I needed more. I was a small lad back in my youth and it was my larger cousins that protected me, aware of my intelligence and because I was family.
By the time we finished our schooling, I already ran several scams and successfully lined our pocket with money. The problem was that it got me noticed by some unsavory characters that wanted a cut.
I remembered that day clearly, sitting in the corner of the pub, Morgan and Phillip watching the men who dared threatened me. By the end of the meeting, I had taken two lives with a gun and a knife. The following day, I managed to turn their men into mine and had another chunk of business meant to line our pockets.
It wasn't until my dear aunt and uncle were killed in retaliation that we realized we were no longer safe at home. After we hit the bastards, killing all twenty-eight members, including all children and women, we left for the states.
It wasn't easy to establish oneself in a place that seemed to have territorial bosses everywhere. We even considered damn Kansas, but a fanatic religious group had made it clear we were not welcomed there. Florida was where we finally managed to find a place to dwell and do business.
After a few years, I wanted more. Money was no longer enough. I wanted to be top dog, to have the power and respect that came along with it. It took a while longer but after careful searching, I was able to find the perfect place of my rebirth.
A small city in Arizona had lost several city buildings to a massive fire, including a hospital and city hall where birth records resided. It happened close enough to my original birth and with some amazing forgery by Morgan, I was James Adler of Arizona, an American citizen, born and raised. Orphaned at a young age—those records were also lost in a fire—adopted by a lovely couple who later died, leaving their entire estate to their son.
With some more careful maneuvering, I earned my invitations to some of the most political and influential people of the state, including Debra's father. The rest was history, and that life I created was falling down around me. No one was taking my calls any longer; I had no idea if the FBI or local authorities were moving in on me soon.
I scrambled to my safe, opened it to grab my paper files, pulling out my shredder. I knew that I'd have to burn it, too. I stuffed six hard drives and several usb drives into a small incinerator that Morgan had installed months earlier.
The familiar click of my wife's heels sounded behind me. I swirled around, my jaw dropping at the gun in her gloved hands. My eyes snapped up to hers, finding them red-rimmed from crying. She'd been like that since the funeral.
She didn't cry for my son, but for Isabella and Ellie.
The twinge in my chest, I ignored easily, knowing it was nothing. After the bomb, and a trip to the hospital, they found I was simply in shock. My heart was perfectly fine. I knew that, too, but the situation called for some distraction from what I had threatened to do to the man minutes before the bastard was killed. It hadn't helped.
"Debra," I hissed. "What do you think you're doing?"
She merely smiled, one that always got my blood going. God, she was beautiful in her triumph. She had won, I knew it, and so did she. From what I learned since she tried to leave me, she had a nice little nest egg somewhere, with upwards of two million dollars. She would be able to live on some tropical island comfortably for the rest of her life—the bitch.
"I'm not doing anything," she murmured, setting the gun on the desk. "I'd make sure to grab all the video surveillance footage you have in storage, too."
"What do you want?"
She fluffed her hair, and smiled. "That was Alyssa on the phone, you know my friend at City Hall. The press conference is about to start." Before I could protest that I didn't plan to watch it, she turned on the television.
An FBI agent, Garrett something, stood behind a podium as he started to speak. I recognized Phoenix's mayor, the police chief and the newly appointed Medical Chief Examiner Carlisle Masen, standing behind him.
"As of this morning, we can confirm that the four bodies found in the limo, rented by Charles Swan on the day of…"
"I don't want to watch this," I growled.
Debra whispered, "I want to know if you killed my granddaughter."
"I did no such thing."
"Dr. Masen has confirmed, using dental and medical records that the bodies were of those we speculated to be, Charles Swan, Renee Brandon-Swan, Alice Brandon, and Elizabeth Grace Adler."
"Oh, Ellie," Debra cried, her hand lifting to wipe tears from her face.
"We are currently exercising all means to find the ones responsible for this crime. We are taking every tip and lead into consideration and should have the suspect in custody soon."
She turned it off and dropped the remote on my desk. "Alyssa said that Judge Edwards has signed the warrant. They'll be here within the hour."
I groaned and ran to my computer and checked the security footage from outside. It would be sooner than an hour, they were just outside the gates. I dropped a stack of files in Debra's hands.
"Help me then," I said, pushing her toward the incinerator.
"No." I turned in time to see her drop what I'd given her on the floor, sending papers flying everywhere.
"What are you doing? We don't have time for this."
Her face was impassive and said, "There is no 'we.'"
"Then why are you still here," I roared, grasping her arms tightly. "Just go, you fucking bitch." She shook her head, looking back at the desk to the gun. "What? Do you think you can reach it and kill me?"
She shook her head again. "Your son is dead. Your granddaughter is dead."
"I had nothing to do with Ellie! I told you."
"You may have not ordered the hit on them, but all this started with your son. With Bella coming home, they're all dead because you taught your son your values."
"What do you want from me, Debra?" I shook her hard, watching the perfect coif fall apart. "Tell me."
"You'll never survive in jail." She stomped on my foot with her heel, forcing me to let her go and howl in pain.
"You crazy bitch!"
"I came here to give you a way out," she hissed. "You will die in prison, if someone doesn't move on you before the damn trial. If they don't, you will suffer at the hands of other inmates the second they learn you killed a child."
"I'll find a way."
She only laughed. "It's over."
"I will leave the country."
"There is nothing left for you."
I shook my head and settled in the chair behind my desk. "Leave me."
"Can you imagine what it felt for that little girl to burn in that car?" I wasn't fucking heartless. The scene had given me nightmares since it happened. "They're all dead because of you. The FBI will be knocking down your door in ten minutes. You could spend the next thirty years in prison and suffer worse abuse than I have. I suppose you do deserve that."
I dropped my head in my hands. "Just go, Debra."
I heard the click of her heels again, and she stopped at the door. "For what it's worth, I loved him like he was my own when he was younger. Before you let him hurt me like you did."
"I know."
Debra
I knew James continued to watch me as I moved through the house.I walked down the hall, nodding to my lover for the last twenty years. Jonathan had been servicing my family before I was forced to marry James. He followed me, despite the fact that he could not offer me much. I would've never survived the abuse if it hadn't been for him.
He was taller than my husband was, lanky but strong as an ox. The few times that James had been too drunk to remember anything; he had saved me from the worst of the abuse. With salt and pepper hair and a soft but commanding demeanor, he was nothing like James.
He grabbed the last of our things and walked beside me, out the front doors. Several cars were coming up the driveway; two agents immediately stopped us from placing our things in my car.
As they took our bags to search them thoroughly, they asked us questions, but neither of us said a word. Suddenly there was a pop of a gunshot that came from inside the house, instantly putting everyone on alert. Several men rushed inside my home, armed and ready for battle.
They would not find any. Confirmation came in under a minute later, one of the radios squawked with the news. "We have a man down, with what looks like a self-inflicted wound to the mouth. The senator is dead."
Jonathan secured me in his arms, whispering in my ear, "It's over."
My entire family was dead or at least the police thought so, because I knew in my heart that Isabella and Ellie were alive and well. I hoped that one day I'd see them again.
