Tiernan Chapter 18

I never expected to get a call telling me a paparazzo had laid his hands on Kynedi while she was out shopping. I knew they’d follow them, ask questions, and take photographs but not touch them. I’d been waiting to officially announce our engagement. I wondered if I had, would they have been less crazy or more? I’d sped off from our office almost before Milo could jump in the car. Finding her unharmed hadn’t cooled my temper much. After a debate and making threats to Noel, I found out the reason.

It seemed he’d been contacted anonymously and offered ten thousand dollars if he could get information out of Aisling or Kynedi. The man had said the more he bothered the two of them, the bigger a bonus he’d get. Noel got five thousand up front. The hope was he’d get Kynedi to slip up and say something that would make a big, embarrassing story.

He swore he had no idea who the man was. He had never met him, and the money was wired to his bank. I put the fear of God into him and had Officers West and Knox take him in. I decided to let him stew and then see if we pressed charges or not. I called Cody and told him to get his team to work on tracing the money. I warned him not to do it himself. He promised he wouldn’t. We’ll see. I couldn’t stay with Kyn because I had to pick up Cass, but I did have more bodyguards join them. She kept insisting on letting her go home, but I wasn’t having her hide or retreat. If she did, it would be like blood in the water with sharks. In the end, she stayed.

That had been hours ago. She was in bed asleep, and I was wide awake, wondering what this was about. Could it be merely someone wanting to cause trouble or something more sinister? The team had to unravel a convoluted path to find the source of the cash. It might take a while. I wandered the house. Cass was sound asleep like his mama. It was almost midnight. I should have been snuggled in bed with my woman, but I was too restless.

My cell phone ringing took me by surprise. I answered it as soon as I got it out of my pocket. It was Darragh. What was he doing awake? “Hey, shouldn’t you be asleep?” I asked as I answered.

“Shouldn’t you? I need you to come to the CC.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just get here as soon as you can.”

“Okay, let me leave a note in case Kynedi wakes up and wonders where I am. Be there in five or less.”

“Good,” was all he said before he hung up.

I found a pen and piece of paper in my office, scribbled out a note, and placed it on my pillow next to her. I took the entrance to the tunnels from our bedroom. It wasn’t that far of a walk for me to get to the CC, unlike others like Cathal and Alistair. They were the farthest back on the property. I was blindsided to see all the guys were there, even the older ones. What the hell?

“What the hell is going on?” I asked.

“Have a seat,” Patrick said rather than Dar. Sitting at the large conference table we had there, I searched their faces. All of them were grim. They expected trouble. My stomach clenched.

“I asked you all here to talk over something Cody called me about,” Darragh stated.

“Is it who paid Noel?” I asked.

“No, the team is still tracing that, and it may take them a while. This is something else. We don’t know how it happened without Cody knowing in advance, and he’s upset. He told me to tell you how sorry he is, Tier.”

“Just spit it out,” I said impatiently.

“It seems that Bram Farr was released from prison. He got his conviction changed to a mistrial like we wanted, but there was no whisper his case was done being reviewed. It was just done, and Cody didn’t find out until after the fact.”

“When?” I hissed.

“Three days ago,” Darragh said softly.

I came to my feet and slammed my fist on the table. “Three days! And we’re just hearing about it now. What the fuck? How?”

“It slipped through somehow. Cody is berating himself as it is. He thinks it’s all his fault, but it’s not. It’s ours for putting so much on him. He offered to resign,” Darragh told us.

Protests rang out. I didn’t want that. I was just upset and wanted Kynedi and Cassius to be safe.

“I hope you told him no,” I said back.

“I said over my fucking dead body. It’s done. So he’s got part of the team trying to see where the son of a bitch is. Farr seems to have gotten out and then vanished. The sooner he disappears, the better,” Dar added.

“Do you think he was the one who paid Noel?” this came from Daid .

“I doubt it. He doesn’t have that kind of cash, according to Cody. I think that’s a whole different thing. Whether it was just to be a nuisance or more, who knows,” Darragh uttered.

“As much as we hate this, why have all of us come here to find this out? You could’ve told Tier and texted the rest of us,” Shane stated.

“Because that wasn’t the only thing Cody had for us. It seems he’s got chatter that there’s to be a big meeting between those involved in the kidnapping of those women. No definite date, but soon. He wanted us to be on alert and the Hounds to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. The rumor is the big boss wants to be there to talk to them. If we can crash this, we can get the head of the snake with the rest. That’s the only one missing, according to Cody’s intel. The whole reason we’re still holding off will be there. I need us all set and ready to deploy within minutes,” Darragh explained.

This was good news. As much as I wanted Farr out of the way, this was bigger and far more important. Cassius and Kynedi could be kept safe behind the walls of the compound until we had him. This energized all of us. The chatter was excited. We spent a good hour talking out our plans and preparations. The Hounds would take the lead, but several of us planned to be there as well. It was an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation. By the time we called it, it was after one o’clock in the morning. We needed to get some sleep.

I took the tunnel to the dining room entrance rather than our bedroom. I didn’t want to risk waking her. When I entered our bedroom, she was out of bed pacing. When she saw me, she ran to me and threw her arms around my neck. I hugged her.

“What’re you doing up? You should be sleeping?”

“So should you. Why did you have to meet your family in the middle of the night? Did they find who paid that reporter?” I heard anxiety in her voice.

“They haven’t. It was about a couple of other things we’ve been working on. Come sit. I have something to tell you.” I led her to the bed. Once she was cuddled against me, I gave her the news.

“It seems that Farr was released from prison. He got the mistrial declared.”

“He’s out? When?” Worry came off her in waves.

“It happened three days ago. Our guy, Cody, has no idea why he didn’t get a heads-up. The thing is, we’re having to look for him. He seems to have gotten out and disappeared.” She stiffened. I hurried to reassure her.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find him. All this means is I’d like the two of you to stay in the commune.” She giggled at me using her term. “I don’t want you to stress about him. Once he’s found, he’ll stay gone.” I hoped alluding to what we did, this soon after the mess it caused, wouldn’t make it resurface as an issue between us. She surprised me with her next words.

“As long as he’s gone and not a threat to our son, then I don’t care. It’s not like he’s ever been a father to Cass. He was always so ugly to him. Cassius was scared of him.”

“He won’t be a threat.”

As I held her, my mind was thinking of the missing women.

“Tier, there’s something more you’re worried about. I can tell. What is it? Let me share your burden. Talk to me.”

It wasn’t as if the other women didn’t know. The only reason she didn’t was the newness of our relationship and her hesitancy over how we took care of slime like them. However, this was a good time to test the waters. She seemed to accept what Farr’s fate was.

As concisely as I could, I told her about knowing of a ring that was taking women and how we’d been doing our due diligence to prove it and find all parties involved before going after them. When I was done, she was quiet and tense. I held her, wondering if I’d blown it and told her too much, too soon.

“Tiernan, I don’t know what to say other than those poor women and girls. Oh my God, can you imagine what they’ve gone through and how scared they have to be? They must think they’ll never be free or safe. I understand now why you do what you do, and the fact it has taken months to get there proves how thoroughly you do your homework to prove their guilt before you make a move. Prison is too good for bastards like that. Make them pay,” she growled.

“Really?” I asked in astonishment.

When she nodded, I had to kiss her. And that kiss led my desire to flare to life, and I got hard. Not the time for it, I thought, but I guess she was just as affected because she began to push at my clothes to remove them. Within a minute or so, we were both naked. I had her pinned to the bed, ravishing her mouth and worshipping her tits. They were so damn plump and tempting that my past fantasy about them popped into my head.

I sat up. She tried to pull me back down. “There’s something I’ve been dreaming about doing for a while. I want to see if you might be willing to let me live it out.”

“Anything. What is it?” she asked with a purr.

“Your tits are so damn lush like pillows. I’ve had this image of them in my head. Of me fucking them and coming all over your chest.”

Her moan was loud. She reached up and cupped her tits, pushing them together. “Then do it. That sounds so damn hot.”

The desire written on her face told me she wanted it. Not wasting time, I got into my nightstand drawer and got the bottle of lube I had in there. We’d used it for other play. She watched avidly as I slicked up my cock. When it was done, I had her continue to hold her tits as I slid my cock between them. I groaned at the feeling. It wasn’t as tight as her pussy, but the picture it made with the thought of what the outcome was to be made it sexy as hell.

I started out slow, but as my desire increased, so did my pace. She wasn’t left without stimulation. I teased her nipples with my fingers and kneaded her tits. When I did that, she squeezed them tighter. She was moaning and wiggling as I felt my balls tighten.

“Here it comes. I’m going to give you a pretty pearl necklace, Leanbh ,” I growled seconds before I began to shoot my load.

I aimed it so it laid a perfect circle around her neck. She moaned and shook. She was having an orgasm along with me. When I stopped coming, I prolonged hers by plucking her taut nips and rubbing my cum into her skin. Eventually, she went limp and closed her eyes as she sighed.

This was just act one. I scooted down and thrust her thighs apart wide enough to allow me to lay between them. Her pussy was soaked from her release. I dove in and hungrily lapped up her cum. She was back to moaning and pleading with me. Mostly, it was begging me to let her come, then when she did, pleading for me to stop, that she wasn’t able to take it. I wanted her to come for me until she was exhausted.

After she’d orgasmed three times, my cock was hard again. Raising up, I twisted her until she was on her belly, then I lifted her to her knees. I wanted to take her from behind so I could go deeper and play with her ass. She knew what I wanted: the tease. She wiggled her ass at me, causing me to smack it twice. She whimpered.

Gripping her cheeks hard, I spread them enough to watch my cock slide into her pussy, and it allowed me to spread her cum over that sweet, puckered hole. I still had a tad of the lube on my fingers, so my digit easily worked its way into her asshole. We’d played like this several times, and she loved it. So much so that she’d even let me use a small dildo on her a couple of times. She was adventurous in bed, even though she hadn’t much experience with most things before me. I adored introducing her to new stuff and helping her explore her sexuality.

Kynedi took my cock and finger without difficulty. She was up on her hands and knees, and as I stroked in, she was thrusting back to drive both in deeper and harder. The grip around my cock was insane. I was pounding her at a good pace when she cried out for me to stop. I did and asked in concern.

“Am I hurting you?”

“No, it’s terrific, but I think we should do something different,” she panted.

“Like what?”

She had her head turned so she could see me over her left shoulder. Her eyes were bright with lust. “Why don’t you see how that cock of yours feels in my ass? We’ve been playing. The other things have felt so good once we get going. I want to know how your cock feels in there,” she purred.

To say she shocked me would be an understatement. I hoped we’d get to that point in the future, but I didn’t think it’d be this fast. My cock jerked in excitement at the thought. She giggled and clenched her pussy around it.

“It feels like he’s all for it. Come on, why are you hesitating? I thought you wanted that.”

“I do want it, more than you know, but you’re just getting used to our play. I don’t want to rush you or anything.”

“You’re not rushing me. I want to try. Please, I’m burning up. At least let us try,” she begged.

Withdrawing slowly, I got off the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“If I’m doing this, I want to get you better prepped. I’m not going far,” I promised.

I went to the closet and came back with two dildos. One was thicker than the other. She lay there watching me. To give her a rest, I put pillows beneath her belly to lift her ass. Applying lube to both dildos, I set them aside.

I started out using my finger again and then applied another. She hissed and tensed, but she took them. I waited for her to call a halt to it. She didn’t, so I kept going. When I’d stretched her enough to take three fingers, I picked up the smallest dildo and slowly worked it into her ass. She hissed a couple of times with it. I stopped and asked if she wanted me to quit several times, but she kept saying no. Once I got it all the way in, I gently fucked her ass with it.

It was so damn hot watching that and picturing it was my cock. I remained hard and dripping with need. I let her get used to it before switching to the bigger one. She had me stop and let her rest once during its insertion, but she took it and soon was moaning in pleasure as I fucked her with the bigger one once it was fully in.

A few minutes later, I knew it was time. I couldn’t last much longer. Removing the dildo, I tugged her to the edge of the bed so her legs were hanging over the side. I applied lube to my cock, then spread her cheeks and notched the head to her ass’s entrance. The feeling when I got just my head inside was incredible. I’d had anal sex before, but this felt different.

I took my time working myself inside. I paused when she asked, and I took my cues from her. The tightness made me want to pound her ass, but I didn’t. When I finally was all in, I paused to gain control of myself and to let her get used to me. I ran my hands up her back and then down as I kissed her spine. She shivered.

“Do you want me to pull out, or can I have this ass?” I growled.

“Tell me what you want to do to that ass,” was her husky reply.

“What I want to do is hammer it until we both scream and come. What I’ll do is fuck it

gently and make us both come. It’s unbelievable, the feel.”

“You’ve had anal sex before. Is it different?”

“Hell yeah, you’re making it so hard not to go wild.”

She gripped my cock harder, tearing a deep, long, drawn-out groan from me.

I smacked her ass and ordered her, “Stop.”

“No. What’re you waiting for? Take it. Do what feels the best.”

“I can’t, Dia , I can’t,” I muttered, barely holding onto my restraint.

She shattered it when she scooted away from me, pulling my cock almost free, then she thrust back hard and fast. The shockwave it sent through me was so intense my breath caught. Growling, I slid back and then stroked back inside to bury myself again. She let out a scream, but it was one of bliss, not pain. Taking her at her word and praying she’d call a halt if it were too much, I set up a pace that began slower and gentler, but it didn’t last long. In no time, I was pounding her ass harder than I planned for her first time as she wailed for me to do it harder.

My legs were shaking, and I was teetering on the brink of an explosive orgasm when she froze, let out a guttural wail and clasped around my cock like a noose, and came. She clenched over and over, causing me to detonate. I bellowed as I pumped a load into her ass and damn near passed the fuck out. It was that good. Never had it been like this with anyone. When I could move, I eased out of her and lay next to her. She was slumped on the bed.

“Are you alright?” I asked as I rubbed her back and hips while I regained my breath.

“I think so. Not being able to feel my legs is normal, right?” she whispered.

I laughed. “I think so. Did you like it?”

“I did. It hurt, sure, but once I got used to the painful part, it began to fade, and then the good part kicked in. I may not be able to sit tomorrow, but it was worth it.”

“I’ll help you sit. Give me a few minutes to regain my ability to walk. Then I’ll put you in the tub to soak. Thank you for trusting me.”

“Always, Tiernan, always.”

???

It took Cody two days to track down Farr. Where Cody’s team found him wasn’t where I thought he’d be, but when you thought about it, after years in prison, it made sense. The truth was Farr missed his check-in with his parole officer and dropped out of sight to get laid. Yeah, he’d been found staying at a motel that catered to those who wanted to pay for sex.

While prostitution was illegal, and we ensured it wasn’t happening in our territory to the best of our ability, it still was a big business. He’d gone over into Georgia and found one set up by a pimp in an old motel. Everyone in the area knew not to stay there, not that you’d want to, and only those looking for sex came there. If you had the money, you could rent time with the women for as long as your money lasted. It seemed Farr had enough, somehow, in the bank so that after he got out, he didn’t waste time finding this place. Hell, maybe he knew about it from before his incarceration, for all we knew.

It was hard to wait until dark to make our move. There were likely to be more people around, but the kind who frequented a place like that didn’t want the cops nosing around, so we weren’t worried they’d call them. He was only one man, so the ones going in were me and Milo. We’d be met by a few others, and they’d transport him to the place we were to carry out the deed. It was in the Brunswick, Georgia, area, which was right on the coast. When we were done, his body would be taken out to sea, and he’d become chum for the fish and sharks.

To prevent being recognized, we went in dressed head-to-toe in black with our faces covered. There was nothing anyone could recognize about us or the vehicles we brought. Although, being dressed this way in August had us sweating our asses off.

“Reminder. Never go after assholes in the summer. Only fall, winter, and spring,” Milo joked as we slithered toward the motel. We’d gone in wearing earwigs so we could stay in contact with the others. Chuckles came over the earpieces.

“Yeah, we’ll get right on that,” Alistair snorted.

“I should get extra pay for this,” Milo muttered back. He grinned and winked at me.

“Are you going soft on me?” I asked, just to tease him. He was far from soft.

He gave me an affronted look. “I can’t believe you would hurt me like this, Tier. Wait until I tell Kynedi you’ve been picking on me.”

I shoved him. “You say shit to get my woman on your side, and you’ll be the next one to disappear,” I warned him.

All he did was chuckle softly. After that exchange, we went silent. We were close to our target. Cody told us that Farr was in room twenty-two. How he knew, I have no idea, but I trusted his intel. Cody also said the last sighting showed he was in there with one woman. I hoped that was still the case. Subduing more than two of them would get tricky.

Reaching the door, we scanned the surrounding area before breaching it. The damn place was a dump, and the doors were flimsy, so one good kick with a booted foot was all it took to get inside. It tore half the door frame off. We expected Farr to yell and there to be noise and a scuffle. What we got was barely a murmur and snores.

Lying in the bed naked was Farr. He was the one to murmur as he blinked up at us. Lying next to him asleep were two women. Neither moved when we entered. A glance around showed us why he was staring at us, dazed and out there. Cocaine was on a mirror on a table with a razor blade next to it, along with marijuana joints. When we got to the bed and hauled his ass off it, his eyes told me he was high, and no doubt so were his companions.

“Put some fucking pants on,” I growled to him.

He fumbled and staggered and almost fell a few times while he pulled on his shorts. While Farr got dressed and I kept an eye on him, Milo was filling in our team on what we found. Along with the cocaine and joints, there were empty beer and liquor bottles all over the room. It stank of weed, alcohol, unwashed bodies, and sex. It was disgusting. I worried we’d catch something just from being in the room.

Once he had on pants, so we didn’t have to look at his pathetic flaccid cock, I zip-tied his wrists behind his back and pushed him out the door. The women remained there sleeping. As I pushed and prodded him to where we had the car and the others waited, Milo scanned for trouble. We were armed, but we’d prefer to get out of here without hurting or killing anyone. It took longer than expected due to Farr’s slow, shuffling walk and his constant tripping over nothing. By the time we got there, I was beyond ready to end his sorry ass.

For the final part, all three of my brothers insisted on coming. In addition, we had Finegan, Alistair, and two Hounds with us. The latter two would be the ones to dispose of him when it was done. I didn’t need any help taking care of Farr, but the rest were here to watch the show and to ensure we weren’t caught.

It was over an hour’s drive to Brunswick. Being as late as it was, the traffic was light. The place we were going was an old fishermen’s hut that had access to a dock and the Atlantic Ocean. It was used to launch a small fishing boat that took tourists out for sea fishing. The owner was someone who would look the other way if there was extra blood spilled on the floor. And with as much fish that had been cut up in there, it wouldn’t be noticed.

We’d gagged him for the ride and threw him in the back of the car Milo, Finnegan, and I were in. The others followed in a van. Pulling up to the building, there were no lights or people around. We didn’t waste time hustling him inside. This time, he was carried in by a Hound. Inside, the smell of fish was intense, but it was better than smelling Farr’s stinking unwashed ass. He was dropped on a chair that Alistair pulled to the middle of the room, next to a table used for gutting, descaling, and cutting up fish.

Farr was blinking up at us in confusion. A small light was all we turned on. With him seated, I walked over and ripped the duct tape off his mouth. I did it fast so it would hurt as much as possible. He yelled, “Son of a bitch! What the hell do you guys want? Who are you?”

“What I want is for you to cease to use up precious air that belongs to good people. Bastards like you shouldn’t be allowed to get out of prison. However, the mistake made by the law will be rectified by me,” I told him.

“Who the fuck are you? You don’t know anything about me,” he hollered.

“Oh, but I do. Your name is Bram Farr. You’re thirty-two years old. You’re a piece of shit who beat his girlfriend over and over. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, you tried to sell your own son because you thought he wasn’t perfect enough,” I snarled. Saying it made my anger burn hotter.

He shifted his eyes around the room and then back to me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I never beat my girlfriend, and it was all lies that got me sent to prison. She was cheating on me and thought telling lies would get me out of the way.”

His blatant lie pissed me off. I couldn’t hold back the punch to the face I gave him. I only did it once. I had plans, and beating him to death while he was tied up wasn’t part of it. But it did feel good to see the blood on his busted lip.

“Kynedi wasn’t cheating on you, and you most certainly did abuse her, terrified your son, and tried to sell him. They had proof. That’s why you were sent to prison. Only due to stupid mistakes did you get a mistrial, but no worries, I’ll be correcting that.”

“How do you know Kynedi? And what do you mean? Do you think beating me is going somehow to change things?” he asked, kind of sarcastically.

“Yes, I know Kynedi and Cassius. Let me tell you something. Those two are two of the greatest people in the world. Kynedi is smart, loyal, hardworking, a great mom, and beautiful. Cassius is smart, fun, and a delight to be around. You had them, and you were stupid. Instead of hurting them and trying to get rid of Cass, you should’ve cherished them, but I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Oh yeah, and why is that?”

“Because your colossal fuck up left them free, and I’m the guy who has them now. And I can promise you that I’ll never do what you did or let them go.”

“If you have them, why bother with me?”

“Because you’ll always be someone they worry about. I won’t have them watching over their shoulders for the rest of their lives, wondering if you’ll crawl back into their lives. I keep what’s mine safe. And that means you have to go.”

“Go? You can’t mean to kill me!” he exclaimed. Finally, he was starting to come out of the haze and get a clue.

“Why not? You’re a woman abuser and a child trafficker—scum of the earth in my book.”

“You can’t do this! You’ll be arrested and thrown in prison. Let me go, and I promise they’ll never see or hear from me.” There was an edge of panic in his voice.

“I can and will do this. We’re careful, and that place we just took you from, there’s no one there who gives a damn if you live or die. Your body will be taken out to sea, and you’ll become food for the fish. Kinda ironic, isn’t it? He’s going to sleep with the fishes,” I joked, causing the others to laugh at the quote from an old Mafia movie.

Farr was anxiously watching me. He appeared somewhat puzzled, but then I saw it clearly. I wondered if he’d know.

“Hey, wait a minute. I know who you are. You’re one of those rich guys, the one who’s supposedly part of the mob. A, let me see, wait a minute, I know the name… O’Sheeran, that’s it! How the hell did Kynedi end up with you? She’s not your speed.”

“I was blessed to meet her and Cassius through a program I started. They’re my everything. We’re engaged. Soon, we’ll be married, and we’ll have more kids. You’ll be a forgotten memory.”

“More kids! What if they turn out like the first one? It’s her fault I had a defective one. Her genes fucked it up. I should’ve had a good son instead of that freak. If she’d just let me get rid of him, everything would’ve been great. I beat the bitch, but she was stubborn.”

The sneer on his face, along with the ugly words, was it. I’d done enough talking. I wanted this over with so I could go home to my family.

“Cut him loose and let him up. It’s time to end this. As much as you should be given no chance, it’s your lucky day. You’ll get a fighting one.”

“Tiernan, what’re you doing?” Alistair asked. I knew if our earpieces were still on, I’d hear it from those back home, but we’d shut them off after we acquired Farr.

“I’m having a fight. I need to practice. Someone, give him a knife and stand back.”

“We can’t do that. If you get hurt, your family will kill me,” Alistair protested.

“Tiernan, stop and think,” Aidan said.

“I have. I know I can take him. He thinks he’s such a big man. Let him prove it. If I can’t protect my family from the likes of him, then he can walk.”

They argued and even threatened to tie me up and deal with him themselves, but I refused. Finally, they gave up. He was released and given a knife. I knew exactly what he’d do when it was given to him, and he didn’t disappoint. He lunged, but I easily evaded him.

A part of our training in self-defense and offensive fighting was in knife work. We were taught the proper way to stab others and how to avoid being stabbed ourselves. My long sleeves would protect my forearms if he slashed at them. I had a hard guard piece on them. I toyed with him and let him think he got close several times as we circled each other. In reality, I was the one to land the cuts. They were slashing rather than stabbing. They hurt and bled a lot, but they weren’t life-threatening. We’d been at it for a while. He was growing angrier as each attempt of his failed.

“Finish him. We need to get this done and the guys back before too many people are up for the day,” Shane told me. I knew he was right, but I wanted to do more. It was a shame to end it so soon.

I lunged at Farr, and this time, I stabbed him in the side. He screamed in outrage and pain. When he tried to stab me back, I disarmed him. It was too easy. I could’ve done it in the beginning, but I needed my satisfaction first. I threw the knife out of the way so one of the others could dispose of it. That’s when I let my true skills show. When I was done slashing and stabbing, he was bleeding from numerous spots. One was fatal but a slow death from a gut wound. I grabbed him and brought him close, and as I stared him down, I buried my knife up under his ribs, piercing his heart. He hit the floor and was dead within moments. I felt nothing as I watched his life leak away other than relief.

After it was done, the Hounds wrapped his body and took it to the boat waiting at the end of the dock. A similar thing was done with some men who came after Aisling not long ago. They’d take him out and then return the boat to its home in Florida. The others sprayed down the shack to rinse away the blood and went the extra step of adding bleach.

When we left, it smelled the best it had in years. I was told to strip and change into clean clothes. The bloody ones were bagged up. We’d burn them along the way. We had an ideal spot to do it that wasn’t far. We just didn’t want to stick around here. One task down, one more to go.