Chapter Forty

Thankfully, that night at the club turned out to be nothing more than an hour or so of police questioning and closing the club early for the night. I expressed my deep sorrow for the loss of one of my customers in my club and was overly eager to provide as much assistance as I could.

Because of this, the detective at the scene deemed it to be a suicide attempt. Apparently the girl had a history of depression and drug abuse, kind of sad, actually. Fortunately, that was the end of that, and no strings were left untied.

Over the last week, one by one, Zayden has been plucking off Blake’s abusers. One shot himself in his apartment and left a suicide note. Another emailed his wife that he was leaving her, providing a confession about how he has been having an affair. He even attached a video of him committing said affair. I can’t believe the idiot had the video saved on his desktop of all places.

That just leaves one left. Slinky. It took me until literally this very second, but I’ve done it. Ivan Samson, a.k.a. “Slinky.” He was born in Rochester, New York, before moving to Chicago when he was twenty-two. He lived there until three years ago, when he very conveniently moved to Portland, Oregon. That’s a quick drive. Few hours there, a few hours back. We’ll be home in time for dinner with Blake.

I didn’t go with Zayden to take care of the other two, but according to him, their deaths were absolutely horrific, and I hoped my brother did his very best work on them. They deserve it and then some. This one is different, the way Blake talks about him. The way she flinches just slightly when he is mentioned. He was bad, maybe even worse than her stepfather was, and something about it has old habits and old instincts rising to the surface inside me.

A knock comes from my office door at the apartment before Blake peeks her head in. I shut my laptop, sitting back in my chair, before gesturing for her to come in. She quickly does, perching herself in my lap before looking down at me.

“You’ve been in here all day. What are you doing?”

“Working.”

“On?” she asks.

I run my hand up and down her back before slowly kneading at the back of her neck. She sinks into my touch and hums out a little pleasure-filled moan as I speak.

“I found Slinky.”

She tenses instantly, but I don’t stop massaging her, hoping my actions and words can ease that tension.

“I know where he is, and Zayden and I are going after him.”

“Tonight?” Zayden asks, popping his head through the doorway.

I look at him before looking into Blake’s eyes, a promise potent on my tongue.

“Tonight,” I say.

A look of something dark passes behind Blake’s eyes, she almost begins zoning out as my pressure on her neck increases enough for her to face me. When she does, she looks hollow and broken, and her words come out so empty.

“He was the worst. Jim was bad, bad in so many ways and the orchestrator of it all, but when I was there, in the moment, he was the worst. He hurt me for the fun of it, he took the most amount of time. They all made me feel less than trash, but him…” She trails off, a slight chill running up her spine. “His touch was vile.”

If I was on the fence about going, her words have confirmed it. I’m going and I’m killing the son of a bitch with my bare fucking hands. He lives alone, no wife, no girlfriend. The motherfucker is so ugly, I don’t think he could get hookers to pay him any mind. It’s the perfect opportunity to spend as little or as much time as I want with him.

I don’t likethat we left Blake alone at the apartment. We sure as hell weren’t going to bring her here with us, though, and my security system is practically impenetrable. I know she will be okay logically, but I’ll never not worry about her.

“You ready?” Zayden asks.

I turn to look at him, nodding my head.

Zayden grins widely as he opens the passenger door.

“Just like old times.”

Yeah, old times.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I regret or that I am ashamed of my past. Neither are true. Over time, the more kills added to my belt and the more time I spent submerged in the thick, murky waters of this lifestyle, the more I knew it wasn’t for me. Not the work on the ground, at least. I prefer being the eye in the sky, the reason behind Zayden’s madness.

All that being said, I still get a high from it all. The anticipation, the thrill of the hunt, the capture. The euphoric wave of victory overwhelms you. There is never a more powerful moment you will ever experience than when you take another life. It’s after that things become complicated. The guilt, the crash, the nightmares. Zayden is lucky enough not to experience those aftereffects, but I do, and it’s why I leave it to him, typically. I can confidently say, though, that I know I’ll sleep like a motherfucking baby tonight.

I pop the trunk, and Zayden lifts it fully, grabbing the two five-gallon gas cans before I grab Zayden’s special bag of toys before shutting and locking the car. We casually stroll through the upper-class neighborhood, skull masks securely in place like we don’t have a care in the world. I’ve already disabled the street cameras and every home’s security cameras on the block. We’re completely under the radar, so there is no need to sneak.

Bending down, I pick up the fake rock that he purchased online six months ago before grabbing the spare key. Zayden snickers and rolls his eyes as I put the key into the lock, turning it easily before pushing the door open. I allow Zayden to step in first before I follow, closing the door quietly behind me. We wouldn’t want to wake the sleeping prince just yet.

I head upstairs while Zayden takes one of the gas cans, emptying the contents all throughout the bottom floor. The house is lavish for someone who comes from a shitty background like him. He lives off a trust fund and gambles away more than he can afford. He currently owes an obscene amount of money to several gangs, including the Italian Mafia and the Chinese Triad. One of whom will be pinned for what happens here tonight, and all of whom will get off scot-free because no one will miss this piece of shit.

Navigating through the home is easy since I memorized the layout. The architecture is quite beautiful, it’s a shame it will be burned to a crisp by the end of the night.

Pushing open his bedroom door, I find him face down on his bed, snoring his life away with a tray full of coke and a meth pipe beside it. Lovely.

I slowly begin setting up, pulling out each tool and placing it on his side table so that Zayden and I can have our pick.

Zayden steps into the room the next minute, shaking more gasoline on the ground as he does.

“Did you start the gas stovetop?” I ask.

“All five burners,” he says happily.

“How do you want to do this?” I ask.

“I’ll let you take the lead, brother. In honor of your comeback.” He snickers.

I roll my eyes, but I take him up on his offer, walking up to Ivan before rolling him onto his back. The fucker is so out of it he doesn’t even wake up. I scoff before turning to Zayden.

“Rope.”

He makes quick work of handing me the rope, slicing through half of it as he begins tying up the legs while I take the wrists. To make things even easier, Ivan has a four-poster king-size bed, and each pole makes tying him up that much easier.

Eventually he rouses, and I’m honestly tired of waiting for this asshole, so I give him a nice little wake up call. My fist drives into his cheek, shattering the bone instantly as he screeches awake.

“AH! What the fuck! Who are?—”

His words die on his tongue when he looks between Zayden and me. His strung-out eyes then look at his tied-up legs and hands. He strains against the rope, which only forces it deeper into his skin.

Fear instantly fills his beady black eyes before he looks back at me, or at least my mask.

“W-who are you? What do you want?” He quivers.

“We’re friends,” Zayden says, his smile audible through the mask.

“Friends? I don’t know you guys,” Ivan says.

“Friends of Blake,” I supply.

He looks confused as he shakes his head.

“I don’t know any Blake. You got the wrong guy. I swear!”

“She was nine when you first met her, she used to scream and cry ‘no’ as you raped her. Ring a bell yet?” I grit through clenched teeth.

Understanding dawns across his face as he begins bucking against his restraints and screaming, “FUCK! I’m sorry! That was a lifetime ago. I’m a good guy now!”

Zayden lets out a chuckle, and I deliver another hit, this time to his mouth. His lip busts apart, instantly seeping blood as Zayden comes on the other side with his knife, sinking the blade through his palm and effectively pinning his hand to the headboard. He lets out an animalistic squeal that has me actually smiling. Oh yeah, I’m gonna enjoy this.

Zayden and I destroy him,piece by piece. There isn’t an inch of him left that hasn’t been stabbed, smashed, removed, or severely broken. He pissed himself when Zayden took out his eyes, and he passed out after I took a dildo wrapped in barbed wire, Zayden’s idea, and shoved it into his ass. I was pissed off that he passed out because I really wanted him to experience every rip, tear, and ounce of pain, just like Blake had to.

He’s finally coming to, and there isn’t much left to do to the piece of shit except to finish this. Zayden takes the remainder of the gasoline, dumping it onto Ivan and forcing him to cough and spurt. He shouts and screams, but since we took out his tongue as well, he can’t speak.

I turn to pack away all of our tools, leaving the dildo inside of him as a parting gift of sorts, before Zayden leans down into his face, speaking loud enough for his blood-filled ears to hear him.

“See you in hell, fucker.”

With that, we turn and walk out of the room, making our way down the stairs and out the front door. I turn around, lighting up the cheap Zippo I bought at the gas station before tossing it inside the hallway. The fire catches quickly, and I watch as the trail of flames races up the stairs, all the way to Ivan’s bedroom.

We move so that we are at a safe distance from the fire as we begin to hear Ivan’s screams. They’re fucking music to my ears, and I wish I could stay and listen to his dying breath, but a neighbor will surely see the fire soon, and I want to get home to Blake. So, we get in the car, reeking of gasoline and covered in blood, before I start the car and drive off.