Chapter Text
Panic, panic and confusion are the only two things Beth feels when she opens her eyes.
Darkness clouds her vision and she hears the low rumble of an engine. She shuffles around a little discovering her hands are tied in front of her, huffing she tries to kick her legs out, panicking when they don’t move, she tries to pull her feet apart but feels rope dig into her ankles.
Beth feels the car slow, it sounds like they’re driving over gravel when the car comes to a stop and she feels her breath quicken, she isn’t sure what she should do, her hands and feet are tied, she has no idea where she is.
As the trunk begins to open she makes the last minute decision to slam her eyes shut, willing her breathing to slow, relaxing her body.
1 week earlier
Beth smiles at him when he settles down next to her on the bench. She’d decided to meet him at the park for this, with her kids like old times, for the sole reason she doesn’t know how he’s going to react but it’s going to be bad. A crowded park with her kids a few feet away seems like the safest option.
“Whatchu wanna talk about?” Rio asks, eyes grazing the park.
Beth takes a deep breath, fiddling with her fingers as she watches her girls on the monkey bars. How did she get here? She can’t believe she’s having to have this conversation, but kind of also wishes she’d come clean much earlier, even better, wishes she’d been able to call the whole thing off, have him be none the wiser to her ever ordering a hit out on him. Using a hitman that clearly had a screw loose, that seems to be not the slightest bit interested in carrying out the hit but has instead taken an intense interest in her, has turned out to be more of a nightmare. To the point she isn’t sure she feels safe, finds herself triple checking she’s locked her doors, it’s what’s led her to this very moment.
“I did something” Beth starts slowly, eyeing him cautiously.
Rio turns to her, relaxing back into the bench, a knowing smile on his lips. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“We… I put a hit out on you” Beth says so quickly that she stumbles over her words. “I tried to call it off a couple of times but it turns out hitmen are actually quite unreliable and then…”
“Was wonderin’ when you was gonna tell me” Rio cuts her off.
Beth’s head whips to the side so fast she feels a twinge shoot through her neck. “What?”
“You really think i didn’t know ma?” Rio huffs. “He wasn’t exactly discreet, my guys got a hold of him weeks ago, didn’t even touch him and he was singing like a bird”
Beth blinks at him in confusion, anger bubbling under the surface. “Then why…”
“Paid him good, threatened his family, tol’ him to let you keep thinking he was gonna do it.” Rio shrugs.
“Doesn’t seem much like a hitman ma, guys a creep where you even find him?” Rio chuckles before turning his body to face her when he’s met with silence.
“Wanna tell me why you did it?”
Beth swallows, eyeing him defiantly. “I didn’t think I had any other choice”
“Always a choice Elizabeth” Rio shakes his head.
“I…” Beth starts before her children catch her eye.
“Hey don’t pull on her legs like that she will fall on top of you and you’ll both get hurt” she shouts.
She turns back to Rio to find him regarding her with an odd look in his eyes, he soon snaps out of it when he notices her staring.
“So you were justifying trying to kill me, again” Rio prompts, motioning for her to continue.
“I cancelled the hit” Beth offers meekly.
“Is that right? We all good then” Rio clips back sarcastically.
“You just said you knew what I was doing, you were never in danger” Beth retorts angrily, hands flailing.
“Doesn’t change the fact that you still hired someone to take me out” Rio fires back, voice low and gravelly.
“I never would’ve gone through with it” Beth mutters. “Besides he’s completely fixated on me now, he…”
“Yeah that’s not my problem” Rio shrugs, cutting her off as he feigns boredom.
“Was him stalking me your idea then?” Beth asks remembering that Rio said he told him to act like he was still going to carry out the hit.
“Beating people up over salmon , leaving things on my porch, the cameras I found in my room...”
“What are you talkin about?” Rio interrupts, eyebrows drawn deep in a frown, anger and annoyance put aside at her words.
“You didn’t tell him to give me earrings? Take me to dinner? I thought the camera might’ve been you but it was pointed right at my bed” she trails off.
“You found a camera in your bedroom?” Rio scowls, pulling his phone out.
“Stan did, he was fixing my broken drawers'' Beth explains, thinking about the old but beautiful chest of drawers she and Ruby found at a thrift store a few weeks ago. Movement to her right catches her attention and she watches as his fingers quickly type something before his phone is back in his pocket.
“Find any more?” he asks, eyeing her children.
She follows his gaze, shaking her head. “He had a look around and didn't think so… just the one aimed at me” she watches him purse his lips.
“What else?” Rio asks, rocking his jaw
Beth’s sighs but continues when he sends her a look.
“Ruby said Stan had his police buddy look into them and he thinks they’re like a webcam linked to a surveillance site” she adds quietly.
Rio pulls his phone out at an incoming text, quickly firing a message back before he looks up at her. “Micks gonna do a sweep”
“I can take care of it” Beth protests.
“Oh yeah how’s that going?” Rio fights back, sighing with exhaustion.
“You still have it?” Rio asks. “The camera” he adds when her brows furrow in confusion.
Beth nods, eyes following him when he stands up.
“Gonna need it” he nods, casting one last look her way before heading towards his car.
1 week later, 40 minutes earlier
Beth sits in her car, looking up at the house before back at her phone. She’d received a text message from an unknown number with a pin to this address and was immediately met with confusion as to why it wasn’t at the usual place, also as she’d just seen Rio this morning and he didn’t mention a change in meeting place, although she’s not surprised that he or Mick would spring it on her last minute.
“Hey now”
Beth startles, whirling around, her back flush against the sink as he just smirks at her.
“I may not have much in this house but I still have a doorbell, use it. Or if that’s too much you could always, you know, knock” she deadpans.
“You’re just a ray of sunshine this morning ma” Rio remarks, eyebrow raised as he stalks over to her, keeping the island between them.
“Sorry” Beth sighs, shoulders slumping. “I overslept this morning and then Danny spilled Emma’s cereal everywhere…” she trails off motioning to the few stray cheerios decorating the counter, her cheeks flushing pink as he just watches her in amusement.
Beth clears her throat. “Why are you here?”
Rio’s face drops as he tucks his hands into his pockets. “Came to see if you’d heard anythin’ from our mutual friend”
Beth drops the towel onto the counter, hands on her hips as she huffs. “Not since the last time you asked”
“Yeah gonna need you to get on that”
“I’ve tried he doesn’t answer” Beth squeaks. “I thought Mick was trying to track him down, has he found him?”
“Mick will see you tonight for my cut, yeah? You can talk all about it then” Rio shrugs
Beth eyes the house warily before clicking onto the unknown number text thread, thinking that she should probably save Rio’s number again or at least assign a gun or skull emoji, the thought makes her snort. She eyes the house again before typing “I’m here?”
“Inside”
Beth rolls her eyes, slipping out of the car and locking up, shoving her phone into her coat pocket before heading up to the house. Beth knocks on the door, eyes scanning the quiet neighbourhood, sidestepping to the left she peeks through the window but doesn’t see anything. She knocks again getting impatient before deciding to just test the door handle.
Twisting the handle she finds it unlocked, glancing back at her car she tentatively pushes the door open and quietly walks into the dark house, wishing she hadn’t worn her boots with the heel on as they clack loudly on the wooden floor when the door slams shut heavily behind her, casting a deafening echo throughout the room. She hesitates by the door as she can barely see two feet in front of her. This was a bad idea.
“Hello?”
Turning, she faces the door, reaching around blindly for the handle, pulling on it only to realise, it’s not budging. Beth frantically twists and pulls on the door handle, it rattles incessantly and… none of this makes sense. She’s just about to start banging on the door when a throat clears somewhere behind her.
Beth freezes, a hand still pressed against the door as she forces her feet to shuffle her around. Her eyes flit around the room, beginning to think her mind is playing tricks on her when she hears soft footsteps coming towards her. Swallowing harshly she watches as a faint silhouette stalks towards her, shape becoming more defined with each step, she swivels round to try the door again, pulling on the handle desperately when a cloth covered hand is placed over her mouth.
Beth begins to struggle, her scream muffled as the hand presses harder against her face. She feels her body go slack and her eyes go heavy when a voice cuts through the fog, her eyes widening as she recognises it.
“That’s it, that’s it” Mr Fitzpatrick soothes.