Killer (Savages 2)

"You weren't thinking straight, Amelia. You were grieving and that... slime took advantage of your grief. He weaseled his way in and made you think he was a good man. He's not a good man. He will use your body and then he will dump you like all the rest."

Alright. Hold up.

This wasn't about the heroin? He didn't know I knew? He was annoyed because he thought I was choosing Johnnie over him? That was, well, that was good. At least I was pretty sure that was good.

"Had no chance really. Came from trash. Of course he would turn out to be garbage himself." I felt my face twist up with an ugly kind of anger. Seeing this, Luis' face softened a bit. "I know you thought you loved Ben, Amelia. But Ben Allen was not a good man. Do you know how I know that?" I shook my head, deciding engaging him in conversation at least seemed to be keeping me relatively safe. "Because Ben Allen was dealing heroin."

"He was not!" I practically screamed, my body launching forward of its own mind only to get about an inch before my shoulders screamed and I fell back against the beam.

"Darling, he most certainly was."

"Like you're one to judge!" I spat, my eyes going huge as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Shoot. Shoot shoot shoot. I just lost whatever advantage I had.

Luis' face didn't curl in anger though, if anything he almost looked... intrigued. His head cocked to the side, a brow raised. "So he's been filling your head with his opinions now has he?"

"It's not an opinion to call a drug dealer a drug dealer. It's a fact."

Luis ignored me and went on instead. "Then please, allow me to fill your head with some other things to consider."

"Like how you had Johnnie shoot your old boss?"

"I met Ben Allen about four years ago. Pathetic drunk. Positively useless. I wanted nothing to do with him. But then I watched as you got him clean, dragged him out of his downward spiral. I saw a lot of potential in him..."

I didn't want to hear this. I had the foolish, childish desire to stick my fingers in my ears and hum so I couldn't listen. Of course, my arms were behind my back so I couldn't do that.

"He had burned his bridges with all the reputable businesses in town. He needed money. And, well, I needed someone in town who would fly under the radar. He was a very good employee. Until he wasn't..."

Oh, god. A thought I didn't want to think popped into my head.

"See, Ben had a soft spot for you. He was the one who installed all those locks on your door, wasn't he?" he asked.

There seemed to be no reason not to answer that. "Yes."

"Of course. That was stupid of him, but certainly not the final straw."

"Final straw?" I prodded.

"Yes. I can take a lot of insolence from my men. They tend to have more brawn than brain which comes in handy, but makes them too stupid to realize who runs things."

"How was Ben insolent?"

"Imagine, after all I had done for him, to threaten me."

"Ben couldn't have threatened a fly."

"Ben threatened me with the promise of a visit from his son."

"Johnnie?" I asked, too confused to care that prying was probably not the best bet. I should have been begging him to let me go or something, but, well, this was much more interesting.

"As you know, I knew Shooter from a few years back. I didn't know who he was, of course, no one really does. But then there was Ben, claiming his son was the best sniper in the country and he could take me out."

"Ben and Johnnie weren't even on speaking terms," I objected.

"Johnnie may not have been interested in the whereabouts and well being of his father, but the same could not be said of Ben. He made trips up here, you know..."

"To Jersey?" I asked, shaking my head, not quite believing it.

"Indeed. As soon as he got clean. He traveled up here to check on his offspring. And I guess he got some ideas in his head that all could be forgiven between them, all the bad blood swallowed, that he could call in a favor and have me shot from a hundred yards out no matter my location. I couldn't exactly sit around and wonder if that threat was a viable one or not now could I?"

My eyes closed and I sucked in a breath. "What did you do, Luis?"

"What needed to be done. First, he hides my supply. It used to be behind your refrigerator, darling. Then when one of my men finally got through all those locks of yours, imagine my surprise when it was no longer there. And he wouldn't tell me where it was." That was why he noticed the scuffs on the floor. It never occurred to me that if he was the one putting the drugs in my apartment, why he would point those out to me. He was just figuring things out for himself. Ben had moved them.

I felt tears tease at my eyes. "It wasn't a heart attack was it?"

"Sure it was," he said, nodding. "A heart attack brought on by inhaling a lethal dose of heroin."

"Ben. Didn't. Do. Heroin," I snapped.

"No, darling, he didn't. That was why a brick of it needed to be shoved in his face, wasn't it? I could let him play his little hide and seek games with my product. I knew I would get it back eventually. But then to threaten my life... no, Amelia, no."

Oh my god.

No.

Too much. It was all too much. I just... couldn't take any more.

A pained animal sound ripped from my throat and Luis' face softened yet again. "I know this is all hard for you right now..."

"You know nothing."

"I know you think..."

"That you're a drug dealer who killed the only person in the world who cared about me? Yeah, I do think that!"