PowerLess: Anti-Hero Game: Power Chain Book Three Read online

  In order to make a clean hit, planning and preparation had to be done. First, learn my target. Everything about her was important, down to how long she spent peeing in the bathroom because that could be my in.

  I had two files on my passenger seat because this particular job called for two tasks to be completed. Inside the house, a small framed woman with dark hair that had teal tips moved around the space slowly as if in pain.

  She was Royal Tyng. Her file was full of the shit they made those women’s television channel movies about.

  Royal Tyng was a woman tied to a dark world she couldn’t begin to understand.

  What began as a life full of promise would now be nothing but lost opportunity. Her single mother who came to America from Korea at fifteen-years-old couldn’t have prepared her precious daughter for the ugly side to life in the United States. In the beginning, Lee focused her life on working and going to school. Two years later, at a young seventeen-years-old, Lee Tyng found herself pregnant and alone.

  The teen mom wouldn’t be deterred, though. She spent her days working and her nights taking classes at a local college. Royal went to daycare that was subsidized by the state. The accommodations weren’t great, but Royal wasn’t in danger. When Royal was eight, they moved to Pennsylvania from California as Royal’s mom had found love with an insurance sales man who had been at a convention in Cali. He stopped at the small coffee shop where Lee was working and the rest, as they say, was history.

  It should have been the kind story books were written about. Lee had made her life in America and found herself a husband along the way who really loved her. In Pennsylvania, she was able to stay home with Royal and give her a dream childhood, for the most part. Only as the proud parents drove away from Royal’s high school graduation, tragedy struck killing them both as a truck slammed into their car after running a stoplight.

  With nowhere to go and no family to turn to, Royal moved in with Aspen, her roommate’s grandparents, who had raised Aspen from a baby. Royal didn’t get to find comfort for long there.

  Three years ago, Aspen’s grandfather passed away. It was a tough battle with heart disease, and over time he lost the battle. After which, her grandmother decided it was time to move into an assisted living facility. Her dementia made it far too dangerous to live alone. She had been on the decline but unwilling to leave her husband, who managed her care needs when he was alive. Rather than burden Aspen or Royal, Gramma Anne Kimmel decided to move to a facility so she wouldn’t be alone or hold back either young woman from their futures.

  Gramma Anne would become my perfect bait to draw Aspen out should she prove to be a challenge to get from Royal. First, I would try to get to her here or with Royal somewhere. From what I found on Aspen, she had a strong will and was very independent. She may turn those things on her roommate, therefore I needed a backup plan. Hell, I always had several contingency plans never knowing when something would get fucked up.

  Jolin wanted Royal unharmed and Aspen taken out. If Royal was around at the time of the hit, I wasn’t to hesitate. After Aspen’s demise, I was to deliver Royal to Jolin and he would handle her silence on the matter. And I’d be done.

  The man was twisted, and whatever he had in store for Royal was certain to be worse than the quick ending I had planned for Aspen.

  I’d spent hours digging, searching for everything possible, leading me here since it was what landed her in my world.

  Aspen Everly Kimmel.

  She didn’t have much in the way of family or friends, but she had this house with Royal. She had a job doing girl shit in a salon and a small nest egg. Her only ties to the community were her job, Royal, and her grandmother, who couldn’t remember her ninety percent of the time.

  So for now, I sat and watched from my car as Royal moved through the cottage albeit slow, without a single sign of Aspen. If I took her out alone, Royal and Jolin could continue whatever game he was playing with her. If I had to tie Royal up to take out Aspen, so be it. But nothing was happening as long as Aspen stayed away and she needed to get here so I could get this over with.

  Aspen’s car was gone from the driveway, and she called out from work today according to the lady on the phone from the spa who really should keep her fucking mouth shut about others. Luckily for me, she didn’t. She even said that Aspen sounded like she had a sore throat.

  If that were true, she’d be at her house taking care of herself.

  Her best friend got her twisted in a world that would end up with her dead.

  With her being smart, she was more than likely trying to hide, knowing someone was coming for her. She shouldn’t have seen what she did. She shouldn’t have acted like she did. Not around Jolin.

  But now, she was my target.

  And her time was limited.

  Sitting back in the driver’s seat, the leather made no noise beneath me. As a large man, it had taken years to train myself to make little to no noise when moving. Ellen Sue used to joke that Onyx, Garrett, Paxton and I had been infused with steroids when we gained our freedom from Amos. While in the foster home, food had been limited. The amount of work we had to do kept us all on the lean side. Once it all burned to the ground though, we each seemed to gain inches in height and build.

  Looking to the console, I lifted the Zippo lighter that Pax tossed to me as I left the Manor. I wasn’t sure why he did it, and the weight of it was a reminder of the past. A past I was more than happy to leave behind me. Flipping it open, I struck the flint. The flames danced inside the car.

  Orange, yellow, red, they mixed together just like that night.

  “It’s over,” I told Onyx, who looked me in the eyes trying to search deep inside me to pull out my thoughts, but it wouldn’t happen.

  “Why would you do that, Dane? Why would you carry that weight all alone?” Paxton asked as Onyx moved from me to the front door of the old farm house as it creaked open.

  “You’re fuckin’ good with numbers, Pax. Onyx is sharp as a fuckin’ tack. Garrett is smart as fuck. We know Amos wasn’t gonna just let his free labor go so easily. Regardless of the laws. In the Amish world he owned us, no matter our ages. Now we’re free,” I explained as Garrett moved to follow Onyx inside.

  “Get that, but we all agreed no one would take the hit alone.”

  I shook my head. “Pax, get that, but there’s no hit to take. I know what I’m doin’. We light this bitch up tonight, and no one gets burned but the bastard who’s crossed more lines than I care to think about. All evidence goes up in a puff of smoke.”

  Paxton looked ahead to where Garrett just stepped inside and shook his head. Not in disgust, but like he was pushing the demons away from him. Garrett took more than any of us had, and he deserved a break in life.

  I would do it all over and over again to ensure that asshole couldn’t fuck with anyone I cared about again.

  The first thing I learned when Freeman took me into this world was never make shit personal, keeping my mind focused on the job and shutting everything else out was a must. Only once in my life had a kill been personal.

  Amos Beiler was more than personal, though. It was euphoric. It was an escape for me and the men I considered my brothers. It was freedom and the only way to get it.

  Killing before and after had only been about a job. Income, a reputation, and power kept me at it. Amos was the only exception to my personal code.

  And now Aspen would become my second.

  In my world, I didn’t attack females in any way, shape, or form, only defended myself if necessary.

  Sometimes this job got… ugly. Violent, disturbingly so. While my moral code may not have been what most lived by, I had never and would never put my hands on a woman. And I’d met some who had pushed me to want to, but I always kept my code.

  Now I had a woman who was on the top of my list. A way to get out from all the shit Freeman kept pulling and finally get away from him. One job and done.

  My goal with Aspen was simple. Find an opportunity,
put a single bullet in her head, keep my hands off of her and be done with the it. I would deliver her body to Jolin as he requested, get paid, and put this all behind me.

  It should be simple.

  Except with each passing hour, Aspen Kimmel was nowhere to be found.

  3

  Aspen

  The phone in my hand rang and rang with only the voicemail picking up. I hated messages. Now, even more because I couldn’t leave a message. The risk was too great. Every time I got the pre-recorded message my disappointment grew further. My anxiety was at an all-time high, and I had no answers as to what to do next. I called immediately again. This had happened more times than I cared to count. Royal wasn’t taking my calls, and no way was I going back home without talking to her first.

  He could still be there with her.

  There wasn’t a doubt in my mind he would be trying to catch me off guard and punish me for my assault on him. To a man like him, it didn’t matter what he was doing. Instead of seeing it as me protecting my friend, I had begun a war with him without even realizing it.

  That pit in my gut festered. What if she wasn't answering because she was dead? What if Jolin rang the life out of her and here I was sitting in a hotel room trying to be invisible. What if she needed me?

  I wasn’t good with this shit. The unknown. The worry. Sure, we’d watched a lot of crime drama, but nothing could compare to being in the situation yourself and trying to find a way out. I didn’t have the first clue about what came next to keep myself and Royal safe.

  There were two people in my life who mattered. Royal and my Gramma. One of which didn’t know who I was most of the time. Thinking about my grandmother’s dementia and the slow deterioration of her mind hurt deeply.

  Leaving here would mean leaving both of them, but Jolin—he’d find me. There was no way in hell he’d let what I’d done to him slide. Royal said he had a lot of sway in life and could do whatever he wanted. It was another reason for her to stay away from him.

  Royal would do nothing to cure that rage, if she even tried. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe she could love it away. From his venomous eyes when I left, he would be out for blood… my blood. Right now, I had no freaking idea what my next steps should be.

  My phone rang in my hand causing me to jump. It said Unknown Caller. That fear took hold, but I beat it down. It could be Royal on the other end. What if she got away from that asshole and was calling me from somewhere else?

  The risk was too great. I loved her with everything inside of me, and I couldn’t live with myself if this call was her and I didn’t answer.

  Swiping the button, I greeted, “Hello.”

  “Aspen.” Royal’s voice was soft, cracked, and broken. Relief swept through me at the sound of her voice. To be connected to her once again after so many hours with so much turmoil, I needed this more than I realized.

  “Are you okay?”

  She ignored my question. “Aspen, listen carefully, we gotta talk fast. Go to your bank and take out as much money as you can. Don’t use any credit cards and as soon as this call is over, crush your phone and the small SIMs card inside of it, then drown it in water.”

  My mind reeled from her instructions. Since when did my best friend know this in-depth information? We’d watched the same shows and not one bit of this came to me.

  “Roy—”

  She cut me off again. “Ditch your car as soon as you can. Get on a bus or train or something, but don’t use your real name. Get as far away from here as you can and don’t come back.”

  “Royal!” I screamed into the phone, and she paused. “What the fuck is going on?”

  A soft whimper came across the line. “You were right. I shouldn’t have gotten mixed up with him and that’s my cross to bear. You”—she paused, making me think we’d lost connection so I looked at the phone noting the seconds kept ticking. “He won’t ever let that go, Aspen. Ever. And you can’t let him get his hands on you. Please swear to me you’ll hide. Do everything like I said. He’s got connections, Aspen, more than I originally thought. Don’t trust anyone.”

  My body began to shake. “Royal, I don’t have much money and have no idea how to disappear.”

  “You have to. You have to make it so Jolin can’t find you. Ever.”

  Fear like no other snaked up my spine to wrap around my neck threatening to choke the hell out of me. I couldn’t leave forever. I couldn’t live life on the run. I wasn’t that kind of woman. I didn’t have a gypsy soul. I liked Pennsylvania. I liked our home. Hell, I even liked my job. I couldn’t ask for more and yet, here I was being told I had to walk away from it all.

  “Gramma.” The word came out choked as the pain of leaving her sliced through my soul and cut me deep.

  “I’ll look after her. Do not go to her. Jolin knows about her, but he won’t hurt her,” Royal promised. “She’d want you away from here and alive.”

  “Oh God.” Tears slid down my face crashing to the comforter below me. Cutting all connection from her was impossible. I was her only family and had all control over her needs. This wasn’t something that I took on lightly.

  Not only that, I had no clothes and little money. How in the hell was I going to survive? For my job I had to use my license with my name on it. It wasn’t like I could white it out and use a different one. Shit.

  This wasn’t how my life was supposed to turn out and in the matter of hours, everything had gone to shit.

  “Focus!” Royal snapped, bringing me back from my thoughts. “You have no options right now. Do exactly as I said. I’ll stuff a duffle full of clothes and necessities. Inside, I’ll add all the cash I can muster and a burner phone. We’re gonna have to rotate through them as we use them. No regular patterns, Aspen. Ever. I’ll leave the bag on the tree line behind the house. Come and get it when it gets dark. I’ll make sure all the lights are off outside, but make sure you’re ready to leave once you get that duffle. Do not approach the house, and if anything looks off or feels off, run and don’t look back.”

  My mind spun with what was happening around me, and I couldn’t process it. How could one action flip my world to unrecognizable in an instant?

  “Is he really that bad, Royal?” I asked, knowing the answer but needing to hear it to give me the strength to leave everything and everyone that I knew.

  “Worse, Aspen.” To have her admit it, while I wanted to hear it, made my heart sink further. “That’s why you need to go and not look back. I have to go, we can’t risk staying on this call longer. Night fall, come and get the bag then leave. No matter what I say or what you feel do not come home again. Love you, honey.”

  “Wait! What about you? Come with me,” I urged, wanting her away from this slimy fucker too.

  Cries could be heard with her words telling me this was killing her just as much as me. I hated that for her. Hated that for me. Hated that for us.

  I was worried about her injuries. The man cut her and yes, I knew better than to ask because it would only make it harder to leave.

  “I can’t. If I come with you, then he’ll really search for you. If I don’t and stay here, there’s a chance that after time he’ll let it go. He’s not going to let me go, Aspen. I can’t give you more than that.”

  “You’re lying.” I knew it instantly. Knowing her since we were kids, it’s something both of us could tell just by the tiny inflections in each other’s voices.

  “He’s powerful, Aspen, and has money. If he finds you, he won’t just kill you. He’ll make a statement with you, and you don’t want that,” she paused, “I don’t want that. I can’t live with that.”

  Something about her words had my feet marching over to my purse and filling it with the contents on the table. It was one of those times that having a large purse that was really a bag came in handy. It was time to get moving and stop thinking. Nothing would change. If I was going to get out of this mess, the only thing to save me would be time and distance.

  I grabbed the plastic bag wit
h the toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and a few other things inside it. Something clicked inside of me. Survival. I didn’t know I had a survival mode button, but we learned something new about ourselves every day and this was my lesson.

  “Right. Can you put in my small wooden box from Gramma?” It was really the only thing I had of any value to me. Inside were special items that reminded me of her and Gramps. Whenever I opened it, it still smelled like her—the her she was while I grew up. It also had their wedding rings in it, priceless, something that I’d never get back.

  “Yeah. I’m so sorry, Aspen.” Her sobs came in louder, but I didn’t have time to deal with that. I loved her with everything inside of me, but now, there was an asshole trying to get me and that wouldn’t happen. She wasn’t the only one who was sorry, but regret didn’t get anyone anywhere in life.

  True, I had no clue what I was going to do, but I’d figure it out, because no way was I going to be dead for trying to help my friend.

  “Love you,” was all I said as I hung up the phone. Clicking through, I found three numbers that hadn’t been memorized and jotted them down on a piece of hotel notepad paper.

  It was time to put the steps in motion to disappear. I fought back the tears threatening to spill over because this wasn’t the time to cry over things I certainly couldn’t control.

  Opening up the back of my phone, I pulled all the cards out of it and stuck the SD card in the small pocket of my purse, wanting to keep the pictures on it. The SIM card, I laid on the floor in the bathroom and took my shoe to it. Since it was a tennis shoe, it didn’t go well. Therefore, I found a small nail clipper from the bottom of my bag and began to snip it down the middle.

  This task took a bit, but as soon as I was through, I dunked it in the sink I had filled with water pushing it down a few times to make sure the water destroyed it. My luck I probably had one of those phones that could withstand water for a period of time. I couldn’t risk any mistakes.