The little pool of blood was about to become much larger.
* * *
I sat on a stool in front of Branson’s swaying body, patiently waiting for him to wake. In the meantime, I called to check on Kiyah.
“She’s resting peacefully. She woke up briefly and asked for you. I told her that you were taking care of business and would be back as soon as possible. Child services came by. They took Pete, but I let them know we were available for placement if they couldn’t locate extended family.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, finishing my third cigarette. I perked up when Branson groaned back to life. “I have to go. Love you. Bye.”
Branson squinted before his eyes widened in fear at the predicament he found himself in—dangling upside down over a metal basin. I shoved him and paced around the tub, watching him sway from side to side.
“I’m gonna make this quick because I’ve already wasted too much time and energy on you and I need to get back to my wife.”
“Just let me go, Grant.”
I stopped in my tracks. “I can’t let you go. At least not yet,” I said before continuing to pace. “You made a fatal mistake by underestimating my family. You thought your wealth and power would protect you, and that you were smarter than everyone else in the room.
Branson’s mouth twitched like he was trying to hold back a smile. I didn’t care because he wouldn’t be smiling in a minute.
“You watched my family, studied us, inserted yourself, made threats, abducted one of us, broke your child’s fingers just to prove you could, and nearly ended my wife’s life like yours.” I shook my head slowly and retrieved a blade from my pocket. “And the worst part? You’re not even the biggest monster in the story… I am. I became the monster the moment I discovered the burner phone and believed the texts. Killing you will never erase that mistake, and burying you will never hide my shame.”
I unsheathed the blade and showed it to Branson. The blade glinted under the glaring sodium lights and illuminated the fear in the dead man’s eyes.
“Not that you care, but Pete will be raised in a loving family, and he will never be the monster you planned to turn him into.”
I stabbed Branson in his side—the same side he stabbed Kiyah. He shouted at the top of his lungs and flailed around on the chain like a flopping fish. I kicked the metal pan aside and motioned for Casey to lower him. Ronan unchained his ankles and Branson scrambled to his feet, holding his bleeding side.
“Go. Get out of here.”
Branson laughed manically and shook his head. “I’m not falling for that. You’re gonna put a bullet in the back of my head as soon as I turn my back.”
“You’re projecting. You’ll bleed out before you make it to the main road. Go.”
Branson broke out of the barn, stumbling as he made his getaway. I gave him a two-minute head start before I pursued him. I climbed into Desi’s vehicle, turned on the ignition, and followed the long driveway leading away from the farm. It didn’t take me long to find Branson. He staggered down the muddy drive with his hand pressed into his side. The SUV came to a silent halt, lights beaming down on the dead man’s back.
This was for the woman I loved, the sisters I endured, the woman I never knew, and the innocent children who fell victim to him.
My foot slammed on the gas pedal and the SUV lurched forward. It barreled over him, and the crunch of his body under all-terrain tires was music to my ears. I smirked and put it in reverse.
The truck idled, and the finality settled in.
Thaddeus Branson Jr. was gone. The threat had been eliminated, and my family was safe.
What followed was a clean-up that lasted well into the morning. Bodies were tossed into a corral of eager pigs, gasoline was poured over blood stains, shell casings were picked up, and our clothes and Desi’s vehicle were burned.
Exhausted, we piled into Uncle Ant’s SUV, waking the slumbering man up.
“Y’all good?” he asked through a yawn, raising his seat upright.
I looked at each of my brothers, and they nodded, all except Kieran.
“You good, Little Bro?”
The corner of his mouth tugged into a smile. “I’m good, Big Bro.”
“We’re good, Uncle Ant,” I confirmed.
He drove off the property, and I never looked back. I prayed I’d never have to return to the farm.