“What’s this emergency that made you drag us out in the freezing cold?”
She took a deep breath then opened her purse and removed several folded sheets of paper. Handing them to Eric, she said, “A friend of mine sent this to me. He works with law enforcement, so he’s going to share this with the detectives.”
“Share what?” Eric said, taking the papers from her. “What the hell is this?”
“Your court schedules, your sentencings, your convictions, and your mistrials.”
Eric looked at her, puzzled. “Why are you giving this to me?”
“Why are you protecting the Deadly Demons Nomads? Look at your record—most of your mistrials had the Nomads as defendants. When they have been convicted, you gave them community service or deferred sentences. Eric, you haven’t sent a Nomad to prison in the last two years, and yet, you’re all over the Insurgents for crimes they haven’t committed or ones that aren’t a big deal. Why?”
“Is this what this goddamn rendezvous is all about? You want to protect your boyfriend’s dirt bag gang?”
“No,” she said in a soft voice. “I want to understand the disparity in justice, that’s all.”
“What are you trying to say? What are you accusing me of?” Eric’s face turned red as he screamed at her.
“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m trying to understand what your connection to the Deadly Demons Nomads is.”
“We’re his supplier, fuckin’ cunt.” Viper’s icy snarl cooled down the tension between the cousins. Both Cara and Eric whirled around at the sound, Viper’s narrow eyes shining like sleet in the darkness.
“What are you doing here?” Eric yelled.
Cara whispered, “You know this guy?”
Eric hung his head, mumbling something inaudible.
Viper smirked. “He knows me well, sweetheart. We’ve been doin’ business for a while now, haven’t we, Judge?”
Eric grimaced. “Leave her out of this.”
“Out of what? Eric, tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Go on, Judge. Tell her what the fuck’s goin’ on. And I’m not leavin’ her outta shit. The whore wanted to be involved, and now she’s very involved.
“Eric?” Cara stared at him.
Eric covered his face with his hands, then Cara watched as he removed them, a scowl replacing his concerned look. “You couldn’t keep your goddamn nose out of this, could you, Cara? I begged you. I told you to back off. I fucking warned you to stay out of this, but you couldn’t do it, could you? Now there’s nothing I can do. Nothing.”
“What are you talking about? Are these guys paying you big money? If you needed money, you could have come to me or my dad. I would’ve helped you. What possessed you to go to them of all people?”
“You think this is about money? This has nothing to do with money! If only it did, life would be a lot simpler.” Eric turned away from her.
Cara moved toward him, but Viper put his foot out and tripped her. “Stay where you are, bitch.”
“Why are you involved with these guys? Tell me now, Eric.”
Shaking his head, Eric mouthed the words, “I can’t.”
Viper sneered, “Enough of this bullshit. You wanna know why the judge here came to us? He had a craving so bad, sweetheart, nothing could satisfy him except young, pretty things. He needed us to feed his hunger.”
“That’s enough, Viper!”
“You don’t fuckin’ tell me shit, sicko.” In one long stride, Viper was in front of Eric, grabbing him by the neck and squeezing. Eric gasped for breath. “You got that, asshole?” Viper’s eyes blazed as he pressed tighter around Eric’s throat.
“Stop it! Leave him alone!” Cara rushed over and pounded on Viper’s back. Viper released Eric only to backhand Cara. Falling backwards, she landed on the plank floor, her lip cut open and bleeding. She wiped her mouth and glared at Viper.
“You’ll be punished for that, and I’m going to enjoy every second of taming you, slut.”
Eric, bent over, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. Viper shoved him against the wall. “You fuckin’ said you’d take care of this slut, and you didn’t. I’ll do the job you weren’t man enough to do.” Facing Cara, Viper said, “Your asshole cousin isn’t a man. He’s nothin’ but a perverted wimp, who gets off on playing with and cutting young pussies. He’s not even man enough to get his own bitches. Yeah, that’s right, sweetheart. Your upstanding cousin is the fuckin’ Mountainside Strangler. How’s that for a family tree?” He laughed without mirth.