He holds his hands up in front of him, unbuttons his shirt, and slips it off, handing it to me. I set the shirt in my lap and begin taking my cufflinks off. Then I roll up the sleeves of my own.
“I don’t have a wire,” he tells me.
I laugh in his face. Then I pull my knife out, stabbing him in the gut twice before pressing his shirt to his stomach to staunch the blood flow.
“You just stabbed me,” he whispers.
I lift his face so that he’s looking at me and not at the blood that’s now turning his shirt red.
“I’m going to kill you tonight. I’m going to hurt you until you eventually pass out from blood loss, but then I’m going to wake you up and feed you your own fucking cock until you choke on it before taking your dead, lifeless body into the desert, where the fucking wild animals will fight over what’s left of you!” I roar as my hand on his jaw tightens to the point that both pain and understanding fill his eyes.
“She told you,” he says.
I lean forward until our noses are touching. “Yeah, she told me,” I say, and I then lean back enough to elbow him in the face.
His body slumps forward, and I wipe my hands off before turning away from him to look out the window. I was raised to do this. Every cell in my body knows exactly what needs to be done, all of them preparing for what’s to come, and when it’s over, I know I’ll go home to my wife and tell her that she never has to be afraid again because I slaughtered her demon.
I roll my window down as soon as we pull up outside Dino’s. His front door opens and he steps out onto the porch. Dino is about three hundred pounds, six seven, with a bald head. As soon as he realizes who it is, he swings his shotgun up to rest on his shoulder.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” he says, looking at the occupants of the car.
“It’s been a while,” I confirm.
Dino has a house in the desert on two hundred acres. About fifteen years ago, he had bomb shelters built into the ground around his property. These shelters are soundproof and safely enclosed, the perfect place to kill someone and take your time doing it.
“I need a room tonight,” I say, getting out of the SUV and walking over to the porch.
“Sure thing.” He greets me with a handshake and waves for Pika to follow him. “I’ll lead you guy out,” he mutters, getting onto a four-wheeler while I walk back over to the SUV and climb into the front seat.
“This place is fucking creepy,” Aye mutters as we drive through the desert.
Every once in a while, we drive past a part of the sand that has a red light sticking up out of the ground, the light signifying that the room is occupied. There is only one reason to come here.
After driving for about thirty minutes, we come to a stop, and Dino gets off his four-wheeler, and I meet him at the door of the shelter.
“You know the rules. You’re locked in until you call. There are clothes and supplies inside, and make sure you leave your keys in the car so I can have someone come out and pick it up.”
“Got it,” I mutter.
He opens the door and the smell of cleaning supplies hits my nose. I inhale one last breath of clean air before walking into the room behind Pika and Aye, who are carrying Thad.
“Call when you’re done,” Dino says, shutting the door and locking it behind us.
For the next six hours, I tortured him until he couldn’t even hold his head up on his own. Then I cut off his dick and shoved it down his throat like I’d told him I would.
Call me evil, but when I walked away from his lifeless body, I felt cleaner.
There was one last piece of shit in the world preying on the innocent.
When we arrived home, I went to our room and got into the shower before getting into bed with Myla. The moment I lay down, her body curved against mine and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
“It’s done,” I tell her.
Her beautiful eyes close open, and she leans forward, pressing a kiss to my chest. I gather her closer to me, and with her wrapped in my arms and my hand on her belly, I feel my son move for the first time.
“He moved,” I whisper in awe, waiting to see if I can feel him again.
“He’s been doing it all night. It’s almost like he’s trying to tell me that it will all be okay,” she whispers.
I exhale a long breath. “You have nothing to fear now, makamae,” I tell her.
She nods her head against my chest, and I wait, listening as her breathing evens out before following her off to sleep.
Chapter 16
Redemption
We’ve been home from Vegas for three weeks, and I know it may make me a horrible person, but knowing that Thad is dead and can never hurt me or anyone else again makes me feel lighter. I still felt bad for my parents when they called to tell me that he had gone missing. I know they were heartbroken over the loss of their son. I wanted to tell them the kind of monster he was, to make them understand they shouldn’t morn his loss, but I know that, in the end, it didn’t matter. He had paid with his life for his crimes. I even got up enough courage to speak to my brother Royce, and even though the conversation was awkward, it felt good to talk to him.