Chapter 25: Chapter Twenty Five

“What did you find Louie?” Julian asked.

“Nothing. The place was ransacked: chairs, wall, mirrors, and the beds were all destroyed. Whoever did that was one angry son of a bitch,” Louie snapped.

They were outside of Gregg's house pooled in the back of a black van listening to Louie’s report. From the look on the young man’s face when he entered the van Andy knew deep down something wasn’t right.

Louie was fuming. His sweat-sheened face screwed up like he swallowed something bitter.

“What do you think happened here?” Julian asked looking at him for answers.

“I’m betting it’s those same bastards that kidnapped your family,” Vane growled.

“Why would they kidnap Gregg’s wife? This makes no sense.”

“Kyle.” Andy’s soft tone silenced the men for a few seconds.

Andy thrust his name so far from his mind he wished he could forget it completely. Gregg’s call history was proof Kyle had everything to do with what has been happening.

Kyle had to be the reason behind Gregg’s betrayal. That had to be it. Andy was so confused, all he wanted to do was find Annie and their son. He prayed no harm would come to them because if they were he didn’t know what would become of him.

“I think he sent his men to abduct Gregg’s wife,” Julian said.

“Why?” Louie asked glancing at their faces.

“You’re a slow one,” Vane mocked.

Louie scowled at him and flip him off. He mumbled something intelligible under his breath.

“To get Gregg to bring the money to him. It worked and Gregg betrayed us,” Andy said.

“In the worse way possible. He could have told us; we would have helped in any way we could.”

“Yes, he could have, but he didn’t.” Julian stared at a misty-eye Vane.

“You think I don’t know that!” Vane shouted.  Veins bulging around his temples.

Andy knew it took a lot of willpower for Vane not to reach across and throttle Julian.

“I lost my best friend—my closest friend. He—he didn’t have to let those men die—such gruesome deaths.” Vane continued. He cleared his throat to clear the hoarseness from his voice. “Nix was unrecognizable—his face—something sliced it clean off his head. What are we going to say to his little girl? She’s only six years old,” Vane whispered.

Andy’s heart squeezed at the thought. Words were lost on him for he knew what Gregg did was unforgivable. Andy felt responsible for their deaths. Guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders. What did he ever do to Kyle? Deep in his mind, he knew he didn’t have all the facts and maybe Kyle was innocent.

He couldn’t even place all the blame on Gregg because he was one who reached out to Gregg for help. Andy didn’t know how he would have reacted if he’d been in Gregg’s shoes. Would he have allowed the men to die? Betrayed his friends? He could not even answer the questions raging in his mind. Andy knew deep down he would do anything for his family—Anything to protect them.

“Maybe he didn’t have a choice. Maybe they threatened to kill his wife. For all we know, she’s probably dead by now.”

The voice snapped Andy from his thoughts. Refocusing his gaze on the slight body in the corner Andy almost did a double take; he’d forgotten the computer genius was present in the van with them. Andy blamed it on the man’s quietness.

“What do you know, Scrappy? How can you say that? What Gregg did was wrong.”

The man sat up straight, his huge Adam’s apple bobbing. His neck was so scrawny, one flick of Vane wrist would snap him in two. And from the look in Vane’s eyes, Andy knew he thought the same thing.

“My name’s Denielo, and I’m not saying what he did was right—I was there, remember? But maybe we shouldn’t paint him the bad guy just yet.”

Vane growled and attempted to spring from his seat.

“Enough!” Julian sent his fist into the side of the van with a deafening bang. “This behavior makes us no better than Gregg. We are a team—yes we lost a few of our members but they knew what they were signing up for. Our job has always been dangerous, but that doesn’t give us the right to fight with each other. We will have our time to mourn when everything’s over.”

Julian’s narrowed eyes snapped to Vane. “You need to get a grip of your emotions, man. I am sure everyone here is hurting. I get that you lost your best friend—Nix was my friend too,” Julian shook his head, “Gregg messed up—big time, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad person.”

“That’s what I was trying...”

Julian’s murderous glare jerked towards Denielo so fast his mouth slammed shut. “You shut the hell up and get back to that computer and find out everything you can on what Gregg did for the past two days.”

Silence descended across the van at Julian’s words. Andy knew Julian meant business. “What do we do now?”

Julian sighed. “Was there anybody in the house when you got here? Anyone lurking about that might look suspicious?” He asked Louie.

“No, I checked. The house was empty for some time now. I spoke to one neighbor, and the man told me he heard strange noises coming from the house.”

“Did he say when?”

“No. I doubt he remembers-- if any of it were true. He was so old and frail... possibly has dementia. He kept forgetting who I was.”

“Well, that’s a dead end,” Vane muttered.

“One’s things for sure: Gregg’s son’s safe,” Andy added.

“Yeah, I sent a man out to keep watch over him at his Grandma’s.” Julian turned to Andy. “Why would your best friend do this to you?”

That question kept ringing in Andy’s ears. “I honestly don’t know.”

“Hey, guys?” Denielo called out.

“What?” Vane barked.

“I got a ping on Gregg’s phone; I know where he is.”

*********

Kyle paced the ground in front of her like a caged jungle cat. His hands stuffed in his pockets and a vicious sneer plastered on his face.

Annie stayed huddled against the bedrail, her heart still pounding against her chest. Tears still streamed silently down her flushed cheeks while her nails dug into her palms. It has been exactly ten minutes since Mika had taken Reon away. Kyle said nothing since he’d slammed the door. He didn’t even cast a look in her direction.

The anticipation of what he’ll do to her worked on her fragile nerves. The silence was sickening. Bravery was not her thing, but she had no choice but to put her fears aside and face the monster of her problems: Kyle Tanker.

“Are you just going to keep prowling about like the bastard you are or are you going to say something?” Annie spat her voice laced with venom.

“Tsk tsk. Now, I’ve heard you call me bastard more than once and I may say I’m anything but a bastard. My father might have been a foolish drunk who beat his wife and son daily. If it’s any of your business, he married my mother.”

“I don’t care, you are nothing but a slimy bastard. If you expect me to feel sorry for you, you are dead wrong.”

“Oh, no Rayanna, I don’t want you to feel sorry for me I want you to pay for what Andy did to me.”

He moved closer and bent just enough to whisper in her ear. Annie recoiled, her body froze in absolute terror. Chills raced down her spine when he spoke. “I snapped the facker’s neck, and that was the last day he put his filthy hands on me.”

Annie’s eyes widened in horror and she jerked away from him. He straightened up and smiled wide. If the devil had a long-lost son, Annie would bet on her life Kyle was him. “How could Andy ever have you as a best friend? You’re pure evil.”

“I know, but Andy was an exception, and I accepted him as a friend and looked at what happened. It blew up in my freaking face!”

Annie jumped. “What did he ever did to you? He loved you like a brother. He sent you to rehab to h-help with your addictions. He...”

The look that came over Kyle’s face was almost enough to send her diving under the bed. His lips peeled back. Crocked teeth bared and his bulging eyes bloodshot.

“That’s exactly why I hate him!” he screamed.

Holy shit. Kyle was a psychopath. Annie inched away until her back hit the wall bringing her to an abrupt stop.

“I didn’t say I wanted to go to rehab. I love drugs. I love money and I facking love to see blood spilling.”

“Then w-why did you agree to go?”

“I grew tired of his whining so I went—I planned to stay three days at the stupid center just to please your boyfriend. It seemed like a good idea because I had to lie low for a while.”

“That’s just crazy you agreed to spend three days in rehab just to hide out. I don’t see how Andy betrayed you. You lied to him. You agreed under false pretenses.”

“Well, I am never willing to let unknown persons whisper nonsense in my ears and deny me my drugs,” he laughed, “and I needed a place to hide.”

“You’re a sick man, Kyle.”

“Thanks. Now, shut the hell up and let me finish.”

“Coward.”

He made a grab for her hair and jerked her head back. His finger tightened, ripping a few strands from her scalp. Annie cried out as the fiery pain lance through her skull.

“Don’t interrupt me.”

He let go and her head snapped back crashing in the wall with a loud thud. Stars and black dots danced in her vision for a moment. She grabbed her head and groaned. When her eyes cleared up, she glared at Kyle. She wasn’t letting him see any more of her tears. “That’s all you can do? Beat a helpless woman?” she taunted.

“Shut up!”

Annie knew she was playing with fire but she couldn’t help herself she carried on. “You’re a coward. A fucking nobody. You will die a gruesome death you Jackass.”

Her brain was too late process anything, her head was whipping to the side, her face stinging from the backhanded slap he dealt her. Her lip split on impact. Annie bared her teeth at him then spat blood on the ground where he stood.

“I see you have a blazing fire in you, that’s good—I will take care of it when I end your life in the presence of Andy.”

Her face was killing her and her mouth throbbed but she got the words out. “Do your worse.”

A harsh laugh burst from his mouth. He eyed her. “I’ll be back then you’ll know exactly what your boyfriend did to me. The hell he put me through in that place.”

______________________________________________

Vote and Comment 👇

Don't forget to share THE BETRAYAL with your friends❤

Thank you guys so much for reading.

And I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.