A Gift from the Goddess novel Chapter 123

“Rae… I do believe this guy is alive,” Zac said.

The two of us were peering into the cupboard, looking at a very tied up and very terrified looking Noah.

“Yep,” I replied.

“Right… right…. And, just to make sure we’re on the same page here, you are aware that normally I don’t see this part, right? That I come in afterwards?”

“I’m aware.”

At the sound of the conversation, Noah immediately started to squirm and plead to Zac with his eyes, hoping that he would help free him. Not that it would do him any good.

“So, what’s the hold up?” Zac asked, still confused. “Isn’t this just another Thursday for you? I’ve seen you do worse.”

He was right. This really wasn’t that abnormal of a job for me to do.

But I gritted my teeth at his question nevertheless, hating how I had ended up in this situation.

“I… can’t,” I said, deflating in defeat. “I can’t do it.”

“You can’t… do it…,” Zac repeated slowly. “And why is t—.”

“Look, I just can’t, okay?” I said, cutting him off, irritated at all the questions. “I’ve tried. I even tried again before you got over here. I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it. End of discussion.”

“…So why am I here? Just tell your dad that—.”

“No.”

Of course, Zac would suggest that. He didn’t know about every dark secret my father was hiding, only ever seeing as far as he needed to.

“…No, I can’t tell him,” I said. “…And you can’t tell him either.”

“Rae, the boss is expecting this guy dead,” he said, taking a step back to look at me. “I’m not really sure what’s going on, but you do realise he’ll find out sooner or later, right? You can’t just keep him locked up in a cupboard forever.”

“Okay, fine! Fine…,” I sighed in frustration, before slowly looking up to meet his eyes. “…Then you do it.”

Immediately, his face paled.

“What?! Rae, no! No,” he blurted out. “I don’t do that.”

“C’mon, Zac,” I whined. “It’s not that different from cleaning up. Both have a lot of blood. I can talk you through it. Here… just grab this dagger like this… and then hold it in your hand facing—.”

“Raven, stop!”

I’d been trying to get him to wield the weapon but he immediately held his hands up and stepped away.

“Just… chill,” he said. “I’m not going to kill someone.”

“Argh!”

I spun around and angrily started pacing the room, beginning to get more worried as every second passed.

I didn’t understand why this had to be so difficult. It shouldn’t be this hard. Any other day, I could have done this job with my eyes closed. Why was I struggling to kill one random man?

Who even was this guy?

A small brown wallet then caught my attention as it sat on top of a table, and I walked over to inspect it.

“Hey, doesn’t this guy look sort of familiar?” I heard Zac say behind me.

However, I ignored him as I went digging through his different cards.

He had a grocery store reward one… a rental shop… a membership to a laundromat? I didn’t even know those had memberships. But then, finally, I found his driver’s license.

“Rae… he sort of looks like that guy,” Zac continued. “The one from a few days ago. You know...—.”

“…Kennedy,” I said, reading the name on the card.

“Right. Miles Kennedy. Wasn’t he the guy from the clean-up a few days ago?”

I slowly spun around to look at Zac, my mind now racing with new information.

“No, Zac… Kennedy is this guy’s last name,” I said. “Noah Kennedy.”

And, simultaneously, we both then turned to look at the man tied up in the cupboard.

Just what was his connection to him? I’d thought that Miles was an underground businessman or some sort of gang leader. Someone who’d tried to pull a fast one over my father. Why else would he have acquired problematic documents relating to him?

But… ‘clean up’. That’s how this job had been described. Was Noah involved in whatever Miles had been up to? …Or was I sent here because he was digging into his disappearance?

…If that were true… then didn’t that mean Noah’s death sentence today was because of me? Because of my accidental lapse in control?

“…Ah shit.”

I walked over to Noah and pulled out the cloth I’d stuffed into his mouth.

Normally, I would have agreed that talking to the future murder victim was possibly the dumbest thing I could ever do… but I felt we were already past the point of no return.

“Please, let me go, please,” he immediately started begging. “I’ll do anything. Just… don’t kill me. Please.”

“You’re related to Miles?” I asked, disregarding the crying.

His face blanked for a moment before becoming confused. “What about Miles?”

But I really wasn’t in the mood for people not answering my questions plainly. I’d already had my fill of that from Kieran today.

Instantly, I crouched down to his eye level and sunk my dagger into the wall directly next to his head, causing him to jump in fear.

“I’m asking the questions,” I hissed, pulling the knife back out to point it at him. “Now. Let me repeat myself for the last time. Are. You. Related. To. Miles?”

He squirmed in fear but managed to huff out a ‘yes’, his head quickly bobbing up and down.

“How?”

“M-my… he’s m-my brother,” he stuttered.

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, already knowing I was going to hate where this was going.