The Finish (The Eliminator Series Book 12), Mike Ryan [summer reading list .txt] 📗

room. There were two men to each side of him, and though he couldn’t see all the way behind him, he thought it was likely the same back there.

Finally, Mallette moved from the door, inching closer to Jacobs. He stood less than a foot away from him, looking down at the tied-up man. As Jacobs held his head higher to look at him, Mallette backhanded him across the cheek.

“Make you feel better?” Jacobs asked defiantly.

“No. What will make me feel better is your death.”

“So do it! Stop blabbering and do what you’ve wanted to do all along.”

Mallette wasn’t ready at that exact moment, though. He had a lot of pent-up anger that he wanted to unleash. He started pacing around the chairs as he tried to get out his thoughts.

“You know, I’ve thought a lot over the years about how we’ve gotten to this point.”

“We got to this point because you killed my family.”

“After you infiltrated my organization in secret and sent me to prison!”

“That was my job! I was a cop. You’re on the other side. That’s what happens. Was I just supposed to turn the other way and pretend you weren’t doing anything criminal? Was I just supposed to join you instead? That’s the way it works between the two sides.”

“I’ve lost too many years of my life because of you,” Mallette said. “Before prison, in prison, and since prison. You’ve consumed too much of my thoughts.”

“So kill yourself and you won’t have any more.”

Mallette chuckled. “Or I could just kill you and have the same effect.”

“Suit yourself.”

Mallette continued walking around the chairs. It seemed to have a calming influence on him, though it might just have been because he knew he was in complete control of the situation.

“Do you know how many times I’ve dreamed of this moment? How many times I’ve had thoughts and visions of you sitting before me, just as you are right now? And you know how every single one of those thoughts and dreams has ended?”

“With you killing yourself?”

“With me putting a bullet in the middle of your forehead!”

“Doesn’t sound as good as mine.”

As Mallette kept walking around the two chairs, the calm he had shown slowly started to evaporate. All he was thinking about was how Jacobs had destroyed his organization, ruined his life with a few years behind bars. And the more he thought about it, the angrier he was getting. Suddenly, he stopped right in front of Jacobs’ chair and unleashed a right hand that found its mark on Jacobs’ cheek.

Jacobs brushed the pain off. “Make you feel better?”

Mallette then delivered another punch, connecting over Jacobs’ eye. “Before I kill you, I need to get out a lot of anger and aggression I’ve felt over you.”

Mallette continued working Jacobs over for the next several minutes, beating his adversary with left and right hands that had some power behind them. It didn’t take long before the cuts and bruises formed on Jacobs’ head. Blood started trickling down his face from the corner of his eye and the bridge of his nose.

While Mallette concentrated on Jacobs, Thrower kept trying to wiggle free from his restraints. He wasn’t having much luck, however. As the situation went from bad to worse, he couldn’t see a way out of their predicament. Nobody was coming to save them at the last moment. Only Franks and Tiffany knew where they were, and they didn’t have a cavalry behind them to come in and save the day. Even if they unleashed Gunner, he’d likely only get a few people before the rest of them stopped his paws in their tracks.

Their situation seemed hopeless. There didn’t seem to be any way out of it. Not unless lighting struck from above and killed everyone except for them. And that was a little far-fetched.

After a couple minutes, Mallette finally stopped whaling on Jacobs’ face. He shook his hand, feeling some pain in it, though he really didn’t mind. It still felt good to get some of that anger out of his system. It was something he thought he needed to do before he finally finished Jacobs off for good.

As Mallette felt his hand, he took a step back. He still had a few more questions for Jacobs that he wanted answered. “So where’s Franks?”

Jacobs’ eyes were closed, and he didn’t pick his head up. “I dunno.”

Mallette’s instincts took over and he immediately nailed Jacobs with another punch. “I said… where is Franks?! I wanna know, and I wanna know now!”

Jacobs took some deep breaths and coughed, feeling the blood in his mouth. He started whispering. “Come in closer and I’ll tell you.”

Mallette looked at his men, fearing that Jacobs might have been up to something. “Just tell me.”

“I can’t…” Jacobs continued talking, but it was low and didn’t seem coherent as he closed his eyes again, looking as though he might be passing out.

Mallette moved in closer again, putting his hands on Jacobs’ shoulders, and started shaking him. “Where is Franks?!”

Jacobs’ eyes immediately opened, and he spit the blood from his mouth in Mallette’s face. Mallette took a few steps back and wiped his face. He looked back at Jacobs, who had a smile on his.

“I ain’t never telling you where Eddie is. I don’t care what you do to me.”

Mallette unleashed several more right and left hands that connected across Jacobs’ face. They had power behind them. “You cost me everything.” He continued throwing punches. “You cost me time. You cost me money. You cost me my freedom. You did this to me. You. You.” He kept throwing punches, getting angrier with each passing second. “You. You. You.” He seemed to be getting a lot of his frustration out with each punch he delivered. After a minute, he stopped again to continue his questioning. “And what about the dog?”

“He’s right behind you,” Jacobs answered.

Mallette immediately turned around, as if he were frightened that the dog was actually there. Jacobs got a laugh at seeing his reaction.

“‘Fraid of him, aren’t