"Where?"
"You won't believe it. He's been sneaking onto your family's land at the north end of the property. There's some kind of hunting lodge there, looks like he's been coming and going for a while the place is a wreck."
"Anybody else know you've cornered him?" I got dressed in the dark and slipped out the door. "No, it's just him and I here. I didn't go in yet, thought I'd wait and see what you wanted to do. You want me to call the cops?"
"Nope, I'll be right there, he tries to leave shoot him, he's trespassing." I didn't give a shit about him trespassing but it was going to work in my favor. Whatever I did to that fucker was justified.
I got there in fifteen minutes and found Tony out back of the old hunter's lodge. It was as good a place as any to hideout, no one had used the place in ages, not since I was a teen anyway.
It was on a plot of land far enough away from the main house that no one paid it too much mind and was accessible only by a little dirt road that no one remembered.
"What's he doing?"
"Looks like he's building something, this guy is weird. It's almost as if he's building some sort of nest. All he's been doing since I put eyes on him is setting up that one room as if he was planning for the apocalypse."
"Look there, he's covering the windows. I saw him bring in bags of shit but he didn't unload them so I have no idea what all he has in there."
"You did good Tony, you can leave. I'll have Jace take things from here after I have a little talk with this asshole."
He didn't bother asking if I was sure since he was aware that I knew how to take care of myself.
I waited until he had slipped quietly away before approaching the structure that though not toppling over, could do with some repairs. I could see why he chose this place. It was well hidden, off the beaten path. No one had any reason to come this way unless they were here to hunt and grandpa had changed the family's hunting grounds more than twenty years ago.
There was no telling how this deranged fuck had found the place, it was obvious he was a planner and very skilled at staying below the radar. I knew a little more about him these days than I did in the beginning. Things I was sure she didn't; like the fact that he had a brother who was doing time for the rape and murder of a teen, a brother her apparently idolized and wished to follow. Or the fact that he'd moved into the place behind hers weeks ago and had a direct visual into her bedroom and bathroom.
That last we'd only found out a few days ago and Jace was still waiting for a warrant to go in. More fucked up laws that protected him and left her swinging in the wind. But all that was about to come to an end because I had him in my sights.
I snuck onto the porch and hoped it held and didn't make too much noise. A quick peek showed he was still busy doing whatever it was he was up to, which looked like he was padding some kind of wooden box he had stashed in the corner.
I had only one chance at this. I didn't know if he was armed even though I didn't see a weapon, but I wasn't taking the chance of giving him the drop on me. I went in hard and fast with my own weapon drawn. It was evident by the stark look of surprise on his face that he wasn't expecting anyone to find him here.
"Move asshole over there." I motioned with the nine I had in my hand pointed at his head. Up close he looked like an average Joe. Like one of those nondescript people you pass everyday without notice, who keep to themselves for fear of drawing attention.
If I didn't know what he'd been up to I would've believed the harmless look he portrayed, but I knew and I wasn't fooled. I felt a little better about what I was here to do when recognition hit and he gave me the look of death. "That's more like it, I was worried there for a minute I was gonna have to hit a bitch."
He didn't like that but the gun kept him quiet. "You carrying? Don't answer I wouldn't trust you anyway." I walked over and patted him down, removing the little glock he had concealed under his jacket before tying him to a chair with some of the rope he had there.
I looked through all the shit he'd been carting in there for who knows how long, it looked like he'd been here for a while. There were syringes and vials of shit with fucked up names, but what caught my attention was the wooden box he'd been working on.
"Were you planning on keeping my wife in there you fuck, is that what this is for?" I dug through everything he had there and wondered how sick he had to be to try what it looked like he'd had planned. There was blackout paper at the windows, and the box was padded in such a way to make it sound proof.
If anyone had happened to come by here all they would see was a little hunting chest. But it was clear that he'd done his homework, because no one would've been coming by here, not for a very long time.
"She was mine first." I put my gun away and went to release him. I had to be fair after all, and it cannot be said that the champ beat the shit out of a bound man who couldn't fight back. As to his lunatic ravings, I was gonna have fun with this shit. She wasn't here to defend herself or to get her pound of flesh for the shit he'd put her through, so it was up to me.
"She doesn't even like you, do you know what she said about you?"
"You two talked about me?" Oh yeah here we go. He folded his fists and looked around the room, probably for a weapon of some sort. It was true that he was nowhere near my stature, but that mean that he had going could more than make up for it. Too bad he was too much of a coward to even try, it was my job to get him to lose his fucking mind and come at me.
"Sure we did, since the first night when I asked her about the joker in the bar. She said you were part joke, part loser, more nuisance than anything else." He grunted and took the crazy train for a hot minute before catching himself. What was really up with this guy? How the fuck could anyone let themselves get to this point unless he was nuts? In which case he wouldn't know how to plan and plot like this. I'm pretty sure that's not the norm for the insane, but some fuck was wrong with this asshole.
"So tell me Carly … "
"That's not my name." He got closer this time but not close enough. I wanted to wring his neck and be done with it, but not yet. He'd terrorized her for weeks he wasn't getting off that easy. I already knew what I had planned for his ass. Two weeks ago that would've been death, but that shit was too good for him. I want him to suffer as much as she did in her mind.
"As I was saying, what kind of brainless asshole risks his freedom for some pussy-pussy that don't want him in the first damn place? She would never have given you a second look if she didn't feel sorry for you, and then well, I came along and you became nonexistent. She couldn't even be bothered to remember your name."
"That's a lie, we were in love, the only reason she's with you is because you're some hotshot fighter with money, but we're going to get back together you'll see."
"Did your research did you? What I don't get is how you got into her place, I know she didn't give you a key, so that must've taken some work on your part." I slipped my hand into my pocket and hit the little record button as I egged him on.
The idiot smiled like we were two old friends getting reacquainted. "That was easy, I know all about making keys, it's what I used to do before." He seemed to catch himself and cut off the flow of words.
"Oh so you were a lowly key cutter, and you thought my woman would be interested in you as smart as she is?" I laughed in his face and turned my back on him, rubbing the fact that I thought very little of him in his face.
"You're just like everybody else, they all thought the same thing but I showed them." Again he cut himself off but I could see it in his eyes. I know that look, a braggart, someone who just needs that little nudge to get them spewing their guts.
"Showed who what? What can an insignificant little piece a shit like you have to show anyone?" I'm glad as fuck he never got his hands on her. The light of madness that shone in his eyes would've sent fear down the spine of a lesser man, but I already knew what he was.
"All those women, it was all over the TV, all in the news and no one ever knew, they still don't. And when I get my hands on her I'll teach her about disrespecting me." If I didn't need this fuck to keep talking I'd break his neck, but this was about more than my vengeance.