Signs of Innocence (Soul of the Sinner - Book 4) Read online

  The bus stop isn’t far from the house. I say a silent prayer as I approach the door and I lightly knock. I don’t know how this will go, I only hope she isn’t in a bad mood or drunk. When there isn’t an answer, I knock a little harder.

  “Who the hell…” my mother yanks the door open, but she goes silent when she notices me.

  “Hi Mom” … she looks me over in disgust. My mother cared for only one person, herself.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Is it true about dad?” I ask and stare at her in disbelief when she starts to laugh.

  “Yes, he’s dead and you should thank that big goon of yours for killing him.” She adds, and I shake my head in response

  “Mom… I know your upset but…”

  “BUT nothing! Don’t come to this house and lie to me. You brought that man…that fucking criminal to this house and he killed your father. Did we not act loving enough when he brought you here?” she teases

  “Mom… can I come inside so we can talk about this?”

  She steps back and the door slams on my face

  I head back to the bus stop while fighting back tears. Why can’t my mother love me the way a mother is supposed to love her child? I want to feel protected and loved. I need someone who would kill for me. I wanted what only Thomas has given me.

  Thomas

  I didn’t get anywhere with the Deluca’s. They think that Hannah’s a liability that needs to be handled. I make them promise that she won’t be touched. Hannah is my responsibility and if she needs to be handled I’ll be the one that does it.

  Oliver offers to give me a ride back to the condo and since I have no better option I accept. It starts off as a quiet ride until Oliver lowers the radio and looks over at me.

  “You know were doing this because we look out for each other, don’t you?” he asks, and I nod

  “I trust her Oliver.”

  “She’s a beautiful woman Thomas. She has that long dark hair, blue eyes and lush ass. I get it… but we aren’t in the position to let that shit get to us. She was raised on these streets Thomas, she isn’t as innocent as she looks.”

  “Do you know something that I don’t Oliver?”

  “Hannah Cofe works at a diner, lives above a bar, doesn’t have a car or a cell phone in her name, but has $500 thousand dollars sitting in a bank account with her name.” he advises, and I tense

  I rub my temples wondering where the hell Hannah got this kind of money from

  Oliver turns back on the radio and we both sit in silence until we reach the condo. He reminds me to be careful and keep an eye on Hannah. When I push the door open to the condo, I call out to Hannah and there is no answer. I check both bedrooms and she’s gone. I can’t even call her because she doesn’t have a cell phone. Where the hell is she?

  It’s morning and Hannah didn’t come back. Were they right about her? I am making coffee when there is pounding at the door. I glance at the clock and roll my eyes wondering what the hell Oliver is doing back here so early. When I unlock the door, it’s shoved open and I am thrown against the wall.

  “Thomas Esposito, you are under arrest for the murder of Stan Irwin and Harry Cofe.” I can hear the fucking happiness in his voice. This motherfucker has been after me for years. He’ll probably get wet on the ride to the station from the thought of taking me in.

  We arrive at the station and I am shoved into an interrogation room and left for almost thirty minutes. They like to make you wait, I guess they think you’ll talk if they make you sweat for a while. The joke will be on them because I am not a virgin when it comes to this shit. I am pissed off and angry and they won’t be getting shit from me. I trusted Hannah and it’s obvious that she fucked me over.

  Detective Howard finally waltzes in with a smile on his face.

  “I am going to enjoy saying this to you Esposito. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to the presence of an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you prior to questioning. Do you understand your rights Mr. Esposito?”

  I roll my eyes and smile at him. I won’t let him get to me. I was weak with Hannah and I won’t make that mistake twice. I lean toward him and ask for a phone, so I can call my attorney. The Deluca’s have the best attorney’s in Chicago at their disposal. I will be out of here in thirty minutes and that’s only if there is traffic. It there isn’t traffic, Howards’ ass won’t even have time to adjust to these hard ass chairs.

  “I think it will be better for you if you just talk Esposito.” Howard advises as he taps his finger on the manila folder he came in with. I glance at the folder and back up to him.

  “Do you know who paid me a visit last night?” he asks, and my heart starts to race as I narrow my eyes on him

  “the beautiful and very convincing Hannah Cofe. She had plenty to say and none of it was very flattering to you.” Howard recalls, and I bite my tongue in anger

  “she sat in that very seat and said that you killed her favorite boss and her adorning father. What do you have to say to that?” he teases

  I stare at the wall behind him, but never say a word.

  “Look in the folder Esposito.” He suggests as he slides the folder toward me

  When I glance in the folder I look up to see Howard staring at me. I shake my head, close the folder and push it back towards him

  “My lawyer.” I yell, and he sighs and grabs the folder.

  “Esposito… sometimes we have to pick our battles. She sold you out, just remember that.” Howard reminds me as he leaves the interrogation room and within one hour my lawyer arrives.

  The minute I leave the station I demand to be taken directly to Deluca’s. I stomp upstairs to the office and push open the door so hard it slams into the wall.

  “Where is Frank?” I ask Alex whose eyes widen as I stomp over to him

  “Hello to you too, what’s stuck up your ass?” Alex chuckles obviously not noticing I am in no mood for his bullshit right now

  “Where is Frank?” I ask this time, but slower so he knows I am in no mood for him

  “He’s not in today. What did you need?” Alex asks, and I run my hand through my beard and shake my head looking towards the ceiling

  “I’ll talk to Oliver.” I answer, and I turn to leave the office

  “Wait… I’m right here Thomas. Will you just talk to me? We used to talk all the time.” Alex reminds me and he’s right. We did talk all the time and we got in a shit load of trouble all the time too. I need to talk to someone who’s first instinct isn’t to kill. It’s a little hard for me to say that since my first instinct was to kill too, until Hannah. I guess if I would have stuck to my first instinct I wouldn’t be in this shit mess that I am in.

  “Thomas… talk...” Alex says as he pushes his paperwork to the side and leans back in his leather recycling office desk chair. There was a time when Alex was considered the boss. Lucky for all of us his father didn’t trust him enough to run things after his death and he asked Frank to take over the family business. I shudder when I think of the shit Alex has done just because he was the boss. I suppose he has settled down since he and Adele got married and she spit out his kid.

  “Hannah set me up.” I answer, and Alex sighs and then starts to laugh.

  “Didn’t we already tell you this? What happened to bring you to this conclusion?” Alex asks as he folds his hands in front of him and I glance at his newly tattooed knuckles. It takes a man in love to tattoo his wife’s name across each knuckle.

  “I was arrested, but Detective Howard doesn’t want me…he wants Hannah.” I advise, and Alex’s eyes lift in confusion

  “What do you mean he wants Hannah? Why would he want her?”

  “Let’s just say she’s not as innocent as she looks.” I whisper and his shakes his head

  Hannah

  “You have a decision to make Hannah. You can either send him to prison or I’ll sen
d you both to prison.” My brother Henry threatens, and I turn back to look at him

  “What do you mean you send us both to prison?” I ask and Henry laughs

  “What I mean my dear stupid sister is I have waited years to get rid of that old bastard. It took careful planning and preparation. There is an account with $500k with your name on it. There is also enough evidence against you to lock you away for a very long time “

  “Henry…please don’t tell me you...”

  “That I what? That I would frame my own sister?” Henry leans over and grabs me by the hair pulling me close

  “Who’s going to prison for this Hannah? You or your Mafia lover?” he threatens as I open the door and slowly make my way into the station. Detective Howard smile when he sees me approach as his eyes look back at Henry. I walk into the familiar interrogation room as he glares at me with suspicious eyes.

  “What can I do for you Ms. Cofe?”

  I spend the next hour staring into Detective Howards cold green eyes as he panted waiting for any information I would give him. I explained how Stan accused me of betraying him and how he attacked me. I wiped away a tear as I explain to him how Thomas protected me and how it if wasn’t for him, Stan would have raped me.

  Detective Howard sighs and I can tell he is getting bored with the conversation. I guess this isn’t what he wanted to hear. “Is this all you’re going to give me Ms. Cofe?” he asks

  A few minutes later Detective Howard is escorting me out and I walk back towards a smiling Henry. I wonder how much he would smile if he knew I didn’t betray Thomas. I made him sound like a fucking hero and he is none the wiser.

  “Did you tell him everything?” Henry asks, and I nod.

  “Good he should be arrested before the day is over.” He advises with a smug look on his face and I realize that even though he escaped our parents, the blood still flows through his veins.

  Thomas

  The Deluca’s and Oliver have a spur of the moment meeting. I listen quietly as they plan on eliminating a woman for the first time ever. None of us want to do it, but we have no other option.

  “How do you want to handle this Thomas?” Frank asks, and I turn to see each of them staring at me. They all caught me daydreaming on the job. I was thinking about the woman who burned a place in my cold heart, Hannah.

  “What was the question?” I ask as Alex sigh and Oliver narrows his eyes at me

  “I said we don’t normally eliminate women. Since you are tied to her, how do you want us to do it? Do you want her to suffer or should we take her out fast?” Frank asks, and I can feel the sweat staring to form on my forehead. I lean over placing my elbows on my knees and glance at Frank’s eyes as I give him my answer. “I don’t want her to suffer.” I confirm as Frank nods.

  I don’t even stick around to hear how they’ll do it. All I know is before the day is up Hannah will be dead. I push open the back door to Deluca’s as I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Oliver following me with concern on his face. “What the hell do you want Oliver? I am in no mood for your shit.” I growled as Oliver walks with caution towards me.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asks and as I stare at him. Why is he asking me this shit? He never liked or trusted Hannah to begin with.

  “Did it sound like I wasn’t sure about it?” I sneered at him and he tilts his head as his eyes close

  “It actually did Thomas. The Thomas that I know would want her to suffer. He wouldn’t give a shit if she cried, hell he would want her too.”

  I never cared for the stupid rule that woman shouldn’t be hurt to begin with. Any woman that steps into a man’s world, knowing that world is filled with crime should face whatever she gets. I am not sure why I am holding a different standard for Hannah?

  “I guess I have changed.” I griped as I turn my back to Oliver and run my hand through my beard

  “When this goes down, you won’t be able to change your mind Thomas. Once she’s dead, there is no coming back from that. You need to make sure you can live with it.” He reminds me and my eyes close at the thought of there not being a Hannah. I shake off the thought and refuse to think about it. That woman witnessed me kill two people and fucked me over. I trusted her, and I can’t let myself remain weak over her. I turn to Oliver and brace myself to look stronger than how I feel.

  “Get rid of her.” I whisper and start to walk away before Oliver grabs ahold of my arm

  “That’s the thing Thomas. We talked about it before you arrived. If you want Hannah eliminated and it’s what you really want. You’ll have to do it. She needs to be dead by Midnight.” He tells me as he leaves me wondering how in the hell will I kill her?

  Thomas

  It didn’t take long to find Hannah. I grind my teeth as I watch her take her groceries into that bar. She has a few bags, so she must not be planning on going out for a few days. I stare at her as she nods at the fucking drug dealers that are still standing on the sidewalk and squeezes past them. One of them turns and watches her as she goes in and my blood pressure rise. That fucking bastard was checking out Hannah’s ass. I take a deep breath as I think of ways to gouge out his eyes, so he’ll never be able to look at another ass again.

  My head falls back onto the headrest realizing how stupid I sound. I am sitting here waiting to kill her and getting mad at someone for checking out her ass? Why am I having problems with this? I am not doing my first kill, but Hannah is difficult for me. I could go up to her apartment, kill her and carry her body out the front door. These guys are probably so high, they wouldn’t even notice. Or I could sit here and hope that she comes out and I could kill her drive-by style. At least if I did it as a drive by she wouldn’t know it was me that did it. I guess that is the hardest part for me? I don’t know if I can stare into her beautiful eyes and take her life.

  I have been waiting for Hannah to come out for over one hour. I stare at the door as a clean-cut guy wearing khaki’s walks into the bar. He doesn’t look like he belongs in place like this, but who am I too judge? He has dark hair that has a part down the side. I roll my eyes wondering how in the hell do these dealers manage to pull in every type of customer?

  Ten minutes later the guy walks out of the bar and holds the door open…for Hannah. I sit up as I watch them walk down the street and he has his hand around her arm. He’s touching her, and I feel my heart starting to pound in fucking anger. Hannah looks at him and he says something to her as she nods. I shake my head as I drive slowly following them. The farther they walk, the angrier I get. Hannah hasn’t been out of my bed long enough for the sheets to cool and she’s already hooked up with some other guy? She was playing me from the start.

  They walk into a restaurant and luckily, they sit right in front of the window. I pull my gun out and place it on the seat as I watch them. They eat and talk while he continues to touch her hand. When they are finally done, they walk out of the restaurant and head back towards Hannah’s. The guy takes Hannah by the arm and they walk into an alley. I pull over to the side and park as I get out of the car. I want her to see the pain in my eyes as I pull the trigger. Wait a minute, why would I feel any pain? I can do this… I can kill her, and I’ll be glad when it’s over. I increase my pace as I get closer and closer to them. Hannah turns around suddenly, and her eyes widen as she looks at me and notices the gun.

  “Thomas…what are you doing?” she whispers as I slowly lift the gun and point it towards them

  “What the fuck does it look like?” I ask tilting my head between the two of them

  The Khaki wearing motherfucker looks between me and Hannah and shakes his head. He starts to question why I am not in jail and I chuckle looking back at Hannah. She talked to him about me being in jail? I guess he was part of her plan to set me up for killing her father?

  I narrow my eyes as my gun darts between being pointed between the two of them. “Thomas look at me!” Hannah pleads and my eyes narrow as I glance at her. Is she being serious right now? The guy starts to laugh a
nd teases Hannah that she sure knows how to pick them.

  “Who is this little fucker Hannah? And More importantly will you cry when I kill his ass first?” I ask and his eyes narrow as he finally decides to shut the hell up

  “This is my brother… Henry. Can you please lower the gun, so we can talk Thomas?” She cries, but I don’t lower it, I can’t.

  “Was he in on it Hannah? Did the two of you actually kill your own father and set me up for it?” I surmised and Henry chuckles

  “We? Hannah is not smart enough for that. Besides you shouldn’t make yourself out to be the innocent victim. We would need a fucking telephone book to go over everyone you have murdered. Especially poor Stan… you know Hannah will be standing on the unemployment line for that one.” Henry smirks and for the first time my gun is no longer pointed at Hannah and my sole focus is on him. When he looks at me and smiles, my finger moves, and I shoot him in the chest as Hannah screams and falls to his side.

  “Henry!” she yells, and I lower my gun staring at her. “Thomas, you can’t let my brother die, please help him!” she cries as I shake my head staring at her. I sigh before I kneel beside her and place my hand on hers as she stares into my eyes. What the fuck is wrong with me?

  I am driving seventy in and out of traffic while Hannah cries in the backseat. She has every reason to cry since her brother is dying in her fucking arms. I couldn’t leave Hannah in the alley while her brother laid there to die. The way she looked at me just rocked my soul. I didn’t even have a second to think before I ran to get my car and drove it into the alley putting him inside. I called Oliver telling him to get a doctor and meet me at the Deluca warehouse. He is going to have a shit fit when he sees Hannah is still alive and I am having a Deluca doctor repair her brother.

  Oliver’s eyes widen when he sees a crying Hannah sitting in the backseat as we carry Henry’s ass into the warehouse. We lay Henry on the bed that is in the office as Doctor Rogers goes to work to save his life. Hannah cries as she holds his hand and Oliver’s eyes narrow on me as he points towards the door.