“You’re looking forward to this, aren’t you?”
I nod, grinning.
He shakes his head and sighs, looking over at Holden. My oldest brother is cleaning his rifle, contemplating my twisted moral compass.
“The same rules apply that always have. We only kill him if we have no other choice. Tonight, we’re just going to scare him.”
“Does that mean I don’t get to enjoy it? Even a little bit?”
“No, Duke. You don’t get to enjoy it. Especially when we have the fucking sheriff breathing down our necks after not one, but two bodies were fucked with!” Cash’s eyes bounce between us. “Can someone explain to me that brilliant plan?”
The front door bangs open and slams shut before heavy footsteps reach the kitchen. Sam looks scary as fuck with his bow in one hand and his face painted to match ours.
“Sorry I’m late. Dolly was tied—never mind.”
All three of us groan.
He smirks as he leans up against the bar. “What’s the plan?”
Three sets of eyes look over at me. I hold back the smile this time, so they don’t all turn against me and think I belong in a mental institution for enjoying this night.
It’s not that I’m glad I have to commit a crime tonight. It’s that I enjoy justice being served, even if what he actually deserves is to die.
After this, I want Dallas to be able to wake up and enjoy her day without having to deal with an abusive co-parent hell-bent on ruining her life and endangering her kids while the state of Texas does nothing to stop it.
“He’s headed here now. I sent him several baiting messages from an untraceable phone, attempting to draw him here.”
“What kind of baiting messages?” Cash asks.
“They’re from a girl named Skylah. She’s this brunette who matched with him on a dating app and wants him to take her hunting on her grandfather’s land.”
Three pairs of eyes blink at me.
“And … he might think she’s fifteen.”
“The fuck?” Holden mutters.
“I thought the fake pictures I found online looked older, but when he asked if she was in high school and seemed to hope the answer was yes … I went with it. He asked to meet up right after I gave him her age.”
Sam groans, shaking his head. He reaches for the bottleof bourbon on the counter and takes a swig before handing it to me. “Here’s to ridding the world of another fucking pervert.”
I lift it to my lips and take a long, slow swig before passing it along to Cash.
“Amen, brother.”
I’m crouched down in the bushes, my rifle clutched tightly in my hand. Bright headlights are approaching. I wish I could see inside the vehicle.
My fists clench tighter when I see that it’s a red truck.
Bingo, motherfucker.
Finding out that Matt prefers them younger didn’t surprise me, but it did make me want to puke on the side of the road.
I don’t know how to tell Dallas or if I even should. She already thinks her ex-husband is a jerk, but him actively planning to meet up with an underage girl solidly lands him in the scum-of-the-earth category. I don’t know if that fact is something she can handle right now.
The place I asked him to meet up with “Skylah” is at the mile marker between FM 1453 and Sandhill Road. I told him it wasn’t far from the house she lived in and had to sneak out of.
What’s a grown man doing meeting up with a fifteen-year-old at ten p.m. on a deserted road? Nothing good.