“Let’s get to work, boys.” Ryder looked like a fucking kid on Christmasmorning.
We made quick work of it, stripping him down and dragging his limp, naked body into the kitchen. After using zip ties to cuff his forearms and ankles to a wooden chair, I put a noose around the base of his balls. Cutting off circulation, I looped the end of the string around his neck. If he struggled, it’d gettighter.
“Wake his ass up!” Holt yelled, slapping the guy across hisface.
Ryder took his knife, slicing down his right arm. “Ralphy…oh, Ralphy. Wakey, wakey. It’s fucking Christmas and you’re about to shoot your eyeout.”
I chuckled at Ryder’s fucked upA Christmas Storyreference. “I got this.” I grabbed a cleaver from the kitchen counter—how convenient that it was just sitting there for me to play with. I pulled back and didn’t even consider stopping myself. I chopped off the side of his left hand, taking the thumb withit.
A bone-chilling wail leapt from the man’s throat and he started to thrash around. “What the fuck? You all are going to fucking pay for this. Fucking cock-sucking pieces of donkey shit.” Sweat and tears started rolling down his face as he continued to cuss and whip around. Blood sprayed all over the linoleumfloor.
“Shut the fuck up,” Jesse hissed, punching the guy in thestomach.
I spit in his face. “This is for Abel.” I put the dude’s thumb into his mouth. “Stop crying. Here, suck on this, you fuckingbaby.”
“Who the fuck is Abel?” he mumbled the best he could with his mouth full. He tried to spit his digit out of his mouth but I slammed it shut so Ryder could duct tape hisjaw.
Holt grabbed the cleaver from my hand, slashing the top of our hostage’s thigh as deep as he could get the blade. “He was our president and you shot him in the back of the fucking head like a goddamn coward. You’re a woman beater, a kidnapper, a murderer. You’re going to have to pay for what youdid.”
Ryder took his camo Gerber pocketknife out of his back pocket and slowly carved the wordsking killerandwoman beaterinto his chest in big block letting. Line by line, he slid his blade over the man’s flesh, fileting the message in deep. In that moment, I started to heal. As fucked up as it was, I was finally starting to feel at peace with what had happened to Abel. Revenge was so fuckingsweet.
“Holt, will you do the honors?” I asked, handing him the serrated bread knife I had brought withus.
“Gladly.” He looked the fucker right in the eye as he slowly started to saw his balls off. The shrill that emanated from his panic was music to my ears as his manhood was stripped fromhim.
I put the severed testicles into a plastic bag then gave them to Ryder. “I think this is going to be the perfect present for our fuckingfriends.”
Chapter 2
Sloan
A Couple WeeksLater
The three flightsof stairs up to my apartment always felt never-ending after a long night shift at the hospital. I loved being an emergency room nurse, but the long hours of being on my feet all night, running around like a chicken with my head cut off were starting to really wear onme.
Finally, I trudged up the final couple of steps, huffing and puffing. I bent down to retrieve a small box that sat on the welcome mat next to my front door before going inside. Victorious was an understatement for how excited I was about making it all the way up to my place. I threw my bag and the box down on the coffeetable.
I stripped down right there in my living room, threw my white sneakers to the side, and left my teal scrubs wadded up in the middle of the floor. I lived alone—who the fuck was going tocare?
Being naked in my place was so freeing for some reason. It wasn’t like I was a nudist or anything—I still had on my thong and bra—I just didn’t want to be restricted by work clothes one more minute than necessary. It was nine in the morning and I was walking around my apartment exposed, fixing to fill up a giant glass of wine, and sink into a tub filled with lilacbubbles.
With a full-to-the-brim glass of pinot grigio, I sank down onto the couch to open the box. I dug my keys out of my purse and sliced open the tape. The smell was what hit me first, then I saw the blood that was everywhere. In the small white box was a poorly wrapped head of a dead cat. I threw the package across the room and rushed to the kitchen sink. Hurling into the stainless steel, my mind startedracing.
How did he find meagain?
Why is this happening tome?
Why won’t he leave mealone?
I thought about calling the police, but I knew they wouldn’t be able to do anything more than what had already been done. I rushed into my bedroom and grabbed the bag under my bed. I got dressed in shorts and an old tank top before I emptied my drawers into the duffel. After doing the same with everything essential in the bathroom, I ran out the door. Ray Clyde was about to run me out of yet another home, but I didn’t know what else to do. I peeled out of my parking spot as fast as I could and just starteddriving.
I hated that I was leaving Boston. I had really started to enjoy it, especially since I was finally beginning to know the city and make some friends. I had finally found a good job that I loved, and now that was all flying out the window. Oh well—it was better to be running again than fuckingdead.
I threw my cellphone out the window when I was a few miles down the highway. I knew I needed to check my car for wires, but I needed to get some distance between me and the city before I could calm down enough to do a thoroughsweep.
“Fucking bullshit!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as I slammed my fists into the steering wheel. Tears of rage cascaded down as I fought to be able to see the road. Thankfully it was the middle of the morning and most of the traffic had dieddown.
I had no plan, and barely any money left. Where was I going to be able to go to finally be rid of my scum-of-the-earth, crazy, stalker of an ex-boyfriend? The image of the cat head in the box haunted me as I sped down the interstate. At least it wasn’t a dead dove like the last time—doves were my favorite. He knew animals were my weakness, and it seemed he was slowly going to send me corpses of every damn critter on the fuckingplanet.