Degrees of darkness, p.97
Degrees of Darkness, page 97
Inside the room, he pushed her. She flew forward and hit the floor on her hands and knees. The door slapped shut and a lock clicked.
“No need to have our playtime interrupted.”
Crawling away from him, she turned to face him, crouched on the floor. Every inch of her screamed in pain and her head was filled with terrifying thoughts. This was it. She was going to die the same way Marie had, pregnant and alone. Cody choked on a sob. Remy wouldn’t survive; this time he would actually end his life. And that cut worse than anything Austin could do to her.
“Oh, poor Cody. No one here to save her,” Austin mocked. “Bet that coonass Cajun is still running around like a headless chicken.” He scoffed. “What the fuck did you see in that mongrel?”
She stared at him.
He moved quickly, kicking out at her body. “Answer me!”
Jerking sideways to protect the baby, she took the kick in the side of her thigh. The blow made her topple over and she sprawled on the unforgiving floor. She refused to answer him.
He grabbed her arm and yanked her upright. “Going to go the mute route, huh? Not with me, you ain’t.” His grip tightened, grinding muscles against bone.
The pain was more than she could endure and she screamed. The sound amused Austin and he thrust her against him.
“I love it when you scream.” He crushed his lips to hers.
Cody sagged, resigning herself to what was to come. She prayed she’d black out at some point and never feel anything.
I’m sorry, Remy. I’m sorry I never told you how much I loved you and that you were going to be a father, again.
She felt Austin’s hands grope and smash, but her body turned numb to the pain. When he forced her to lay on the floor, she bit her lip to trap the urge to cry.
I want to die. Now! God, just kill me before I have to suffer the horror again.
She heard her shirt rip and cold air blasted across her exposed skin. Her body went stiff with fear as he reached for her jeans.
“I expected more of a fight. Killing that prick lawyer and your bitch mother was more of a thrill than this.”
His words penetrated her locked mind, releasing it from its bonds. He killed her momma? Red-hot anger melted her frozen muscles. Cody’s eyes flared open and she grabbed his hands before they could release the snap of her jeans.
“You did what?”
His eyes sparked. “Oh yeah, you don’t know.” A malicious expression covered his face. “I killed your momma.”
He tried to break her grasp from his wrists, but she held fast, digging her finger nails into his flesh. Quickly the anger consumed her, turning her into a burning furnace of rage. He would dare mock her.
“You killed my momma.”
He growled. “Let’s have it, Cody-girl. Fight back.” He managed to free himself but had to rear up.
As he came back down, Cody clasped her hands together for a double-fisted backhand to his face. When he lurched sideways, she jack-knifed her legs to her body and kicked him in the chest. The force sent him sprawling. Free of his weight, Cody tucked and rolled up over her shoulder onto her feet, staying in the crouched position.
With a roared curse, Austin clambered onto his feet.
Rising with him, she put enough distance between them to give her time to react to any attack. The pain was gone. The fear was no more. He’d made a mistake bragging about what he did. All these years of never knowing who had killed her momma. All these years of wading through her guilt, of letting him control her.
No more. She was done. And he was going to suffer.
He sneered at her. “You’ll pay for that, bitch.”
“Not this time. You got your licks in nine years ago.” Cody lowered her chin to glare at him. “And now you’re going to be the one to pay. For killing my momma, for raping me, and for existing.”
He rubbed his cheek where she’d punched him. “And you think you’re going to be the one to do it?”
“You see anyone else here?”
“Huh, seems you managed to get a mouth on you.”
“I’ve always been this way. You were too stupid to notice.”
Her jab worked. He came at her with a flying fist.
All those months of training with Heath learning how to defend herself against a physical attack and subdue her enemy came easily to her. And this time she had more to fight for, because there was no way she’d allow him to hit her where he could do damage to the baby.
Cody blocked the blow, then ducked down and punched him in the groin. He grunted against the pain and staggered back, cupping himself. Satisfied for returning a small fraction of the injury he’d caused her, she danced to the center of the room.
He spewed distasteful words at her.
“Is that all you’ve got, nasty names?”
“I’m gonna kill you,” he ground out.
She snorted. “They all say that.” She lifted her fists and glared at him. “And every dickhead who wanted to kill me ended up dead.”
Austin feinted left and she slid away. An ugly scowl replaced his pain. “You’re still a woman, and you’re weak.”
“Prove it.”
The attack came suddenly, but she was prepared. She avoided his flailing arms, bent over, and as he passed her, she slammed her elbow into his stomach. His breath whooshed from his mouth and he doubled over, grappling for her body. Catching hold of his hand, she bit it hard, breaking skin. He tore it free of her teeth, ripping his flesh more. Shoving her backward, he swung out with his better hand to slap her, but missed her as she spun away. As she stepped to the left, she snagged his arm. Twisting it around behind him, she rammed it upward. There was an audible pop and he yelled. She faced his backside, cranking his now dislocated arm higher, and kicked the back of his right knee. His leg buckled. Using the momentum of his fall, she finished off his arm by jerking it upward, which rewarded her with another yell from him.
As he fell forward, she released him. It was then she saw the pistol sticking out of the waistline of his jeans. She freed the gun, disengaged the safety and checked the chamber for a bullet, then backpedaled.
Screaming profanities, Austin crawled onto his knees with his good arm and rotated. Upon seeing the pistol aimed at his head, he rocked back on his heels and froze. He sniffed through his gasps. “Li’l bitch thinks she can shoot a gun.”
One eyebrow lifted and she let a cruel smile take over. “There’s no think to it.”
He tried to stand, but the movements jostled his useless arm dangling at his side and he stopped, breathing hard. “You’re not capable of killing.”
“Your first mistake was underestimating me, Austin.” Cody adjusted her grip around the butt. “The second was killing my momma.”
He seemed to be gathering himself again. She braced for whatever was to come.
The horrors she’d suffered at his hands swam through her head, then leaked away. She could face him with a clearer mind. The fear no longer paralyzed her.
“Only two,” he scoffed.
“Actually, there’s a long list. But the one that stands out? Your worst mistake … was raping me.”
“Not hard enough.” He blasted to his feet.
The pistol bucked in her hands four times. Austin took three steps forward, then dropped to his knees. He hung there suspended, as if held up by strings, gaping at her. Gradually, a large red stain seeped in the center of his chest. Haltingly, he touched the spot, then looked at his bloodstained hand. His entire body shuddered as he turned his attention to her. Bloody bubbles trickled out of the corners of his mouth.
With the gun still aimed at him, Cody closed the gap between them. “Yes, I have killed before.” She pressed a finger against his forehead and shoved.
Austin’s body toppled over. She heard his last breath leave him and he was no more.
Her greatest fear banished. She was free.
Chapter Twenty-nine
The gunfire tormented Logan worse than the torture Zhao inflicted. Silence descended on the room like the final curtain. Slowly, Logan brought his head up and met Anderson’s troubled gaze across from him. Gunfire meant one thing: someone had died upstairs.
“That was fast.” Zhao chuckled and slapped Logan’s bare shoulder. “Thought for sure that boy would make her scream.”
Logan hung his head. It was over. His entire family wiped out. At least Cody didn’t suffer. He could console himself with that truth as Zhao killed him.
“Get it over with. You got what you wanted. You broke me.”
Squatting down to eye level with him, Zhao shook his head. “That’s not how it works, Lewis.”
“You took the only thing I had worth living for. So kill me.”
“That will come soon enough.” Zhao backed away and spoke to his men.
Tears dripped from Logan’s cheeks and splattered on the floor. He would die with honor, no matter how drawn out Zhao made it. He would do it for Cody.
She deserved that much.
• • •
Four rapid cracks halted Remy halfway to the house. His hand shot out and stopped Steele.
“That doesn’t sound good,” she whispered.
The shots were so close together, it was probably one gunman. He rolled his shoulders to adjust his Kevlar, then nodded his chin at the house. “We keep going.”
Steele shook her head. “This is far as I go. I helped you get here. That’s it.”
“You’re not backing out now. You’re part of this whether you like it or not.”
“And that’s exactly why I stop here. Going further makes my association to this whole mess public. I kept my ties to my father and what he did in Vietnam out of my life here in America. I managed to start over and I won’t ruin all of that because of him.”
Remy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Steele would risk the lives of three people to keep her precious reputation intact. If every second of Cody’s life weren’t on the line, he’d beat the crap out of this woman.
“If you’re sending me in there alone, knowing what your father is capable of, then you’re calling in backup.”
“The last thing we need here is more cops. That won’t stop him. Hell, it’ll make things worse.”
Remy grabbed the collar of her shirt and yanked her close. “Either you call in backup, or I shoot you.”
Twisting his hand away, Steele threw it back at him. “I don’t take orders from you, detective. Go ahead, shoot me. You and I both know you won’t be able to explain that away.”
“Try me,” he growled.
Steele sighed, and then pointed at the house. “Shooting me only alerts them that you’re here. I don’t think you’re emotionally stable enough to walk in there and stop my father. Think straight, LeBeau, or he’ll eat you alive.”
“For knowing all his secrets and strengths, why are you hanging back? You could end his hold on you. Start over without his presence lingering.”
“It’s not like that. I already had to start over, I won’t do it again. Might not look like it to you, but I worked my ass off to get this lieutenant’s position. I won’t risk it for some half-crazed old man with so much blood on his hands he could turn the Yang River red.”
Disgusted with her cowardice, Remy leaned away from her. “But you’d add to those bloody hands by not stopping him.” He moved ahead. “Sounds like you didn’t deserve that lieutenant’s spot,” he tossed over his shoulder.
When no rebuttal came, he huffed in anger and hurried forward. Let her rot. Damn it, if he had to save his wife alone, then so be it.
Cody was all that mattered.
• • •
Cody stared at Austin’s lifeless body and wanted to hurl. But there was nothing left to throw up.
Okay, you need to get your freaking head screwed on straight. You’re not out of this yet.
She turned away from the body and tiptoed to the door. Eventually Zhao would get suspicious that Austin didn’t return to the main floor after the gunfire. Someone was bound to come up here and investigate. And she needed a plan.
Removing the clip from the gun, she counted her bullets. Crap! It was only a ten-bullet clip, so she was down to six. Four men, plus Zhao, were left. And there was no freaking way she could hit each man with one bullet and make it count. Not with bullets flying back at her.
She was screwed. So very screwed.
Think-think-think-think.
Cody glanced back at Austin’s body. Could she use it as a distraction? She couldn’t lift that much weight, not after the hell she’d been through, and doing something stupid like that could cause her to miscarry. She was already at risk after the accident and abuse she’d suffered since arriving here.
She checked her torn shirt and grimaced. Well, she wasn’t going out there half-naked. Her gaze slid back to the bloodied rag on Austin. No way was she wearing that. Sighing, Cody gathered the ends together and tied a knot at the hem. Better than nothing.
Unlocking the door as quietly as she could, she turned the handle and controlled the opening. She’d been so terrified by the mishandling Austin doled out to her, she didn’t recall if the door squeaked or not. The hinges hadn’t made a sound so far.
Below, someone called out in Vietnamese. Cody froze, listening. Hurried footsteps echoed from the main floor, and then sounded on the stairs.
So much for hoping they’d wait it out a bit. She leaned back and let the door swing open on its own. Holding the pistol down in the ready position as Heath had drilled into her, she waited for the person to top the stairs and walk toward the room. One man would be taken out. Cody counted to five, then broke from her hiding spot, lifting the pistol at the same time.
The surprise on the guard’s face was short-lived. Cody shot him in the chest, hoping she hit his heart, and was moving past him as he fell to the floor. Her bare feet padded down the hall as shouts came from below. She breached the top of the stairs and chanced a peek over the railing.
Two of Zhao’s men were running to the steps. Taking a deep breath, she aimed the pistol and pulled the trigger once. She winged the first man closest to the stairs. The second skidded to a halt, but she’d already lined up and fired on him, hitting him in the face. Number two collapsed as number one made another attempt up the stairs. Cody adjusted her stance and fired again, this time catching number one in the chest. He stiffened, then fell backward, crashing to the bottom of the steps.
“Cody!”
She swung the pistol toward Zhao. He had a gun pressed to Daddy’s head and his last remaining man held another to Heath’s. Her heart thundered in her chest at the predicament.
“My, you are full of surprises.”
“Not as much as you’re going to be if you don’t let them go.”
Zhao laughed. “Damn, Lewis, she’s just like her mother. Full of spit and vinegar.” He turned serious. “I’m not letting them go. As I see it, I’ve got the advantage. You’ve got ... what ... two bullets left? You could try and shoot me, but then your friend dies. You can shoot my man, but then your father dies.”
She swallowed hard at the challenge. “You’ve lost, Zhao. Give it up.”
“I haven’t lost anything. Either way you play this, child, I still win.”
She looked to Dad and then Heath, and her hands began to tremble. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t risk either man’s life just to kill Zhao or his guy.
“Come on, Cody! You can’t leave me hanging like this. Who’s it going to be? Daddy? Or your pretty boyfriend?”
Chapter Thirty
Remy entered by way of the back door just as, he learned from the conversation, Cody opened fire on her captors. Passing through the kitchen, he hid around the corner separating the kitchen from what used to be the dining room. He chanced a peek into the room, assessing the situation quickly, and hating everything about the setup.
Anderson and Logan were badly injured and being held at gunpoint by two Asian men. Cody was nowhere to be seen. And there were two bodies on the floor, neither moving. His wife’s death count was now up to three as far as he could tell.
“Clock’s ticking, Cody. Make up your mind.”
Remy moved away from the wall, keeping to the shadows, and positioned himself to see into the room better. The man speaking must be Russel Zhao, Steele’s father. He was the one next to Logan and looking up.
“Would you shut up?” Cody barked from somewhere above.
She must be on the second floor, possibly the stairs Remy could just see at the edge of the perimeter. There was no way for her to see him or know he was here. And with Anderson’s back to him and Logan’s face blocked by the other man, Remy had no means to get any message that help was here.
All that was left was to shoot someone. But who? Both of the gunmen were ready to pull their triggers, and if there was a shot … Remy couldn’t chance it. Logan, Anderson, or both would be killed. Reality said Cody was just as much at risk.
A floorboard creaked, putting Remy on alert until he glimpsed bare, dirty feet coming down the stairs. Cody emerged, and the sight of her bloodied, bruised face, and torn shirt set his blood to boiling. Training his Ruger on Zhao, Remy made the decision. Now that he had a visual on Cody, he could catch her attention. If she’d just take her eyes off those damn men for two seconds. Surely Anderson would have taught her to be aware of her surroundings?
“I’m through with waiting.” Zhao swung his gun toward Cody. “I’ll just kill you and then finish them both off.”
Panic flared on Cody’s face. Remy tensed to move when a door slamming against a wall stopped him and Steele stole into the house.
“Father, stop.”
Zhao’s gun hand lowered a fraction and he cocked his head to the side. “What are you doing, Ha-Lien?”
“Putting an end to your evil path.”
So, she had a change of heart after all. How far would she take it? Remy used her distraction to slip into the room.
“You would betray me, child?”
“The only thing I’ve betrayed is Mother’s memory. She didn’t want this for you, for me.”
Inching along the wall, Remy kept an eye on Zhao and his man—who were both focused on Steele—while trying to catch Cody’s attention. The last thing he needed was for her to give him away, but he had to make eye contact with her. He did, however, manage to get detected by Anderson. His partner lifted a single finger, alerting Logan. Both men looked at Remy.
