Chapter 62 Broken Promise
They were ten minutes from the cabin when Elena spoke.
"I'm coming with you."
Pierce's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "No."
"I need to face him." Elena's voice was firm. "He almost had me killed, betrayed you. I deserve to look him in the eye."
"Interrogations aren't..."
"I don't care what they are." She turned to face him. "I'm tired of being protected from the ugly parts. If this is your world, if I'm choosing to be with you, then I need to see it."
"You don't need to see this."
"Yes I do." Elena's jaw was set. "I'm coming. Either you take me or I'll find the location myself."
Pierce looked at her, conflict written across his face. Then he swore under his breath and pulled out his phone.
"Marcus, change of plans." He said. "Elena's coming."
The secure facility was a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. It was isolated, windowless, the kind of place where no one would hear any screaming.
Elena's stomach twisted as they pulled up.
Pierce turned to her before getting out. "Last chance. You don't have to do this."
"I know." Elena opened her door. "But I'm doing it anyway."
Marcus met them at the entrance, his expression uncomfortable. "Boss, I don't think.."
"I know." Pierce cut him off. "But she's already made up her mind."
He nodded, and they walked through the empty warehouse toward a single lit room in the back.
Pierce stopped Elena at the door, his hand on her arm.
Elena grabbed his wrist before he could open it. "Promise me something."
"What?"
"You won't kill him." Elena's eyes locked on his. "No matter what he says, no matter what happens...you won't kill him."
Pierce's jaw clenched. "Elena, I can't..."
"Promise me, Pierce. I need to know you can... that you won't..." She struggled to find the words. "Just promise me."
Pierce looked at her for a long moment, then slowly nodded. "I promise, to try."
Elena let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and Pierce opened the door.
Xander sat tied to a metal chair in the center of the concrete room. His face was swollen, one eye nearly closed, blood dried at the corner of his mouth. His expensive suit was torn and stained.
He looked up when they entered, his functioning eye focusing on Elena. A bitter smile appeared on his damaged face.
"Well, well. You brought your girlfriend to watch?" His voice was rough. "How romantic."
Elena forced herself to meet his gaze. This was the man who'd sold her location to Rodrigo, who'd set the trap that got Derek shot.
"Start talking." Pierce moved between them. "What do you know about rodrigo's operation and where is he?"
"Still with this?" Xander laughed, then winced. "I told your friend Marcus already. I'm not telling you nothing."
"You're going to tell me everything." Pierce's voice was cold. "It's just a question of how long it takes."
"Torture me all you want, Diego. I'm a dead man either way." Xander spat blood on the concrete. "At least this way I die knowing I didn't betray Rodrigo."
"You already betrayed everyone else." Pierce stepped closer. "What's one more?"
"The difference is Rodrigo pays better." Xander's eye flicked to Elena. "He also doesn't pretend to be something he's not. Unlike you, playing house with the doctor."
"Where is he operating from?" Pierce's voice was harder now.
"Somewhere you'll never find him." Xander leaned back as much as his restraints allowed. "He's three steps ahead of you, Diego. Always has been."
"Then he won't miss you when you're dead."
"Probably not." Xander's bloody smile widened. "But at least I'll die knowing I didn't roll over like a coward."
"You sold out your crew for money." Pierce's voice was sharp. "That's the whole definition of a coward."
"I made a business decision." Xander's voice turned mocking. "Something you'd understand if you weren't so busy playing hero for your little girlfriend."
Pierce's hands curled into fists. "Watch your mouth."
"Or what? You'll kill me?" Xander laughed. "We both know you're going to anyway. So why don't you stop pretending you're better than the rest of us and just...."
"Tell me about Rodrigo's suppliers," Pierce said, cutting him off. "His distribution network."
"Why would I tell you anything?"
"Because if you cooperate, you live." Pierce said.
Xander's laugh was bitter. "You really think I believe that? I know how this works, Diego. I've been doing this as long as you have."
"Then you know I keep my word."
"Your word?" Xander's voice dripped with contempt. "Your word means nothing. You're a killer, a thug. Your father's son in every way that matters."
"My father's dead." His voice went dangerously low.
"And you're just like him." Xander's functioning eye locked on Pierce. "Tell me something, how many people have you killed, Diego? Ten? Twenty? Do you even remember their names?"
Pierce's jaw tightened but he didn't answer.
"That's what I thought." Xander looked at Elena. "You see what you're choosing? A man who's killed so many people he can't even count them?"
Elena's throat was tight but she held his gaze. "I know who he is."
"Do you?" Xander's smile was cruel. "Do you know what he's capable of? What he'll do when he's pushed? Because I've seen it. I've watched him torture men for information. I've seen him put bullets in people's heads without blinking."
"Enough," Pierce said.
"Why? Because the truth makes you uncomfortable?" Xander's voice rose. "She should know exactly what kind of monster she's sleeping with!"
"I said enough!" Pierce grabbed Xander by the throat.
"Go ahead!" Xander choked out. "Prove my point! Show her exactly what you are!"
Pierce's hand tightened, then he released Xander and stepped back, breathing hard.
"You can't do it, can you?" Xander gasped, laughing. "You promised her you wouldn't kill me and now you're stuck between what you are and what you want her to think you are."
Pierce's hands were shaking with rage. "Last chance for you. Tell me where Rodrigo is."
"Go to hell." Xander spat.
"Tell me!" Pierce's voice rose.
"Never." Xander's smile was vicious. "You're going to lose, Diego. Rodrigo's going to kill you and her and everyone you care about and I'll die happy knowing I helped make it happen."
Then Xander's hand, somehow free from the restraint, reached down to his ankle and brought out a knife.
Elena saw it happen so fast she could barely process it, he lunged toward her and she froze.
The gunshot was deafening.
Xander's body jerked backward, a red stain spreading across his chest. The knife clattered to the concrete floor.
Pierce stood frozen, gun extended, his face a mask of shock and horror.
Xander slumped in the chair, blood pouring from the wound, pooling on the floor under him. His mouth was opened, trying to form words, but only blood came out.
Then his head fell forward and he went still.
Silence crashed over the room.
Elena couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, all she could think of was the blood, so much blood spreading across the concrete in a dark, growing pool.
Pierce had shot him, had killed him, hight in front of her. After promising he wouldn't.
The gun was still in Pierce's hand, smoke curling from the barrel. He stared at Xander's body, then slowly turned to look at Elena.
Their eyes met.
Elena saw the exact moment he realized what he'd done. The color drained from his face.
"Elena..." His voice was hoarse. "He had a knife. He was going for you and I didn't..."
Elena's eyes went back to Xander's body. The blood,the stillness, the reality of death right in front of her.
She opened her mouth but no words came out. Her throat was closed, her chest tight, her entire body frozen.
Pierce lowered the gun, the movement mechanical.
Elena just stared at him, at the gun in his hand,at the blood splattered across his shirt, at the man she loved who'd just broken his promise and killed someone right in front of her.
She stood frozen, unable to speak, unable to move, unable to process what she'd just witnessed.
Pierce stood with Xander's corpse between them, the gun in his hand, and the devastating silence of Elena's shock filling the space where words should be.