Chapter 12
JACE
I look at the brown paper bag on the passenger seat of my truck and smile to myself. It seems strange how something as simple as buying her some vitamins can make me feel so content. I like how it feels to take care of her, it’s a duty I’m gonna pride myself on, and this is just the start. Morally, I may be all kinds of wrong. But when it comes to her, and the family she’s gonna give me, I’ll make damned sure I get everything right. I’m gonna ensure that Maddison wants for nothing for the rest of her life. Something in me has shifted since she came to town, I hardly recognize myself and I’ve barely got any work done around the ranch. This afternoon, instead of helping the others weigh calves, I lay in bed, just watching her sleep. I listened to the way she’d sigh and brush her cheek against the pillow, and for the first time in a long time, I felt complete. Unfortunately, I gotta slip out of that mindset for a few hours now. I have to leave any thoughts of my girl back at home, so I can focus on what I came here to do.
I’ve always hated coming to the city, the bright lights and all the rush pisses me off. There's too much traffic, too much noise, and too many fuckin’ people. Add to that the fact I feel a million miles away from Maddison here, parked outside Elliot Mathers' apartment block. My uncle’s been tracking this guy down for some time, and now that he’s been found it’s time for me to play my part. Mather’s has a shady history, he got out of jail two years ago and for some reason headed straight for our town. He was only there for a short time, but during that time he left his mark. He set up a cook house in a trailer on old man Fogarty’s land, he lured in young people who didn’t know better, and he drugged and raped three local girls. Things like that don’t happen in Clearwater Creek, it’s a safe, family town and men like me and Sawyer work hard to make sure it stays that way. Unfortunately one of the young girls' dads went to the law, and they got to Elliot before we could.
After Elliot got arrested, we never expected that the pro bono joke of a lawyer he had would convince a jury that he was innocent, but somehow he did. Some saw that as injustice. We saw it as an opportunity, and here I am tonight waiting to ensure that Elliot Mathers gets the kinda justice that a rapist deserves.
I place my hat on the seat beside Maddison's vitamins and slip into the black, hooded sweater I brought with me. Taking my knife and some rope from the console, I lift the hood up over my head and make my way toward the building. Once I get to the main door, I buzz for apartment 25, making sure I keep my face away from the camera.
“What ya want?” His voice crackles through the speaker and I smile to myself.
“A score.” I clear my voice and attempt to sound nervous.
“Who sent ya?” he checks.
“The guy from the pizza place, Benny, Benzo..can ya hit me or not?” I do a little twitching for the benefit of the camera
“ Benny, the big-mouthed shit-head.” I hear him mutter under his breath. “Come on up, have the cash ready. Door will be on the latch,” he answers, releasing the door to let me in, and after a quick scan to check I haven’t been seen, I head inside.
Climbing the stairs, I consider my options. This asshole deserves to suffer for what he put those girls through, two of them weren’t even legal. All three families left town after the trial went to shit. Their lives were ruined and we lost good, honest members of our community. There ain’t many guarantees in this life, but I’d bet everything I own on this bastard reoffending.
I walk down the hall of the second floor toward his door, and when I see that it’s slightly open I push it some more to let myself in.
Elliot is lying back on his couch with porn on his 50-inch T.V. and a crack pipe on his coffee table.
“You can tell Benzo from me I ain’t happy,” He tokes back on his blunt and blows the smoke into the air. “If he keeps telling everyone he meets about my little enterprise, the next knock I'll be gettin’ will be the cops.” He checks the end of his blunt when it goes out, then picking up a lighter he relights it.
“What ya lookin’ for?”
I slide the hoodie off my head and when he sees that it’s me, all that cock-sure confidence obliterates.
“I don’t think it's the cops you need to worry about, Elliot.” I kick the table out of my way so I can get to him, getting a firm grip on his throat and pinning him to the back of his filthy, worn couch.
“You thought you were gonna get away with what ya did?” I shake my head and let him see how much pleasure I’m gonna get from his suffering.
“Did ya really think we were gonna let you come to our town, and rape those girls without consequence?” I soak up his fear and laugh.
“Jace, I… I didn’t do it.” He shakes his head sternly.
“You sent a video to one of your buddies, dick-head.” I have to push the vision of it to the back of my head. “I saw it for myself. That girl was drugged, she couldn’t have consented to it, even if she wanted to.”
Elliot swallows against the arch of my hand when he realizes he’s in deep fuckin’ shit.
“If you got evidence, why not take it to the police?” he splutters.
“Because the general consensus is that prison’s too good a place for ya. We’d much prefer you went to Hell.”
“Consensus of who?” He looks as confused as he is fearful.
“Of the people who protect Clearwater Creek from cunts like you.” Taking the rope, I start to wrap it around his neck and watch his eyes bulge out the sockets.
“You're gonna feel real bad about what ya did, Elliot, and that guilt is gonna be too much.” When I’m confident that the rope’s got a good hold, I tie it in a knot and use it like a leash to drag him on his feet. Now, I just gotta find somewhere to hang this fucker. There's a huge metal pipe that runs across the apartment ceiling that I’m sure would hold him, and I grab one of the chairs from the table and hold him steady with one arm as I force him to stand on it. I toss the loose end of the rope up and over the rafter with my free hand. Doing this alone won’t be easy, maybe I should have brought Sawyer, after all.
“You can’t be serious. You're not gonna…”
“Kill ya?” I laugh at him again as I throw the rope over a few more times so it's got some grip, then I wink at him as I test the strain.
“I’m not just gonna kill ya, Elliot, I’m gonna really fuckin’ enjoy it.” I kick the chair from under him and take the strain of the rope, watching his panicked eyes widen and his legs kick out. I make sure the last thing he sees as his breath runs out is the satisfaction in my smile. Keeping the rope in my hands, I lean down to pick up the chair, stand up on it, and secure the rope around the rafter so this scene will pass as a suicide. I’d say a few words for the fucker before I left if I could think of anything good, but seeing as I can’t, I lift my hood back up and leave him swingin’.
Once I’m back in the truck, I take off my gloves and place them on the dash, scrubbing my hand over my face and letting the adrenaline settle. Every time I take a life I get a rush, I don’t know if it’s the same for Sawyer, but I’m certain that it’s unhealthy. Tonight, knowing that I ridded the world of another of its dangers, knowing that I just made it a safer place for Maddison MacKenzie to live in, gave me an even greater sense of achievement. I lift up my phone and when I see I got a message from her I smile to myself as I open it.
Is it crazy that I miss you?
Damn that girl, and the way she makes me feel. Damn her for getting in my head and for giving me the kind of thoughts I’ve been having these past few days.
I jump when my cell starts to vibrate and when I see my uncle's name flashing, I click to answer.
“It’s done,” I assure him, starting up the engine and heading back toward the lock-up where we keep the van.
“Was it clean?”
“About as clean as I could get it. I left him swingin’ from a pipe in his apartment.” I don’t feel an ounce of remorse. I never do because every man I’ve ever killed has deserved to die.
“I’ll let Eli know. Don’t forget to change the license plates back on the van,” he reminds me as if I’m some kind of amateur. “And Jace…We’ll talk about that girl when I come over tomorrow.”
“Ain’t nothin’ to discuss,” I tell him, making sure he hears the warning in my tone.
“Like I said, we’ll talk tomorrow.” He hangs up before I get the chance to argue with him.
It’s way past ten when I eventually get home, and seeing Maddison sitting on the couch, waiting for me, gives me a real good feeling.
“Where did you get Chinese food from, around here?” She leaps up with excitement when she sees the containers I’m carrying.
“I had to go to the city, it might need heatin’ up. I got these while I was there too. I guess it will keep the town folk from gossiping.” I hand her the pharmacy bag and head straight for the kitchen to dish up.
“How did you know that this is my favorite?” She claps her hands together as I open up the boxes.
“Call it intuition. It’s my job to get my girl what she needs.” I pull out two forks from the drawer and she laughs at me.
“Jace, you can’t eat Chinese food with a fork.” She snatches it off me and replaces it with the set of chopsticks that I’d usually toss in the trash.
“I can’t eat with those, my hands are too big, and it’s fiddly.”
“It’s fun, and it makes the food taste better.”
“That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. I can stab my fork into this kung pow pork, scoop up that egg fried rice, and it’s gonna taste exactly the same as it does coming off those sticks.”
She silences me when she rams a piece of pork in my mouth using her dainty fingers to control the sticks.
I stare back at her in shock and when she shrugs her shoulders cleverly, I wanna spank the sass right out of her.
“So, where did you go tonight?” she questions me, and I instantly feel the smile drop from my face. I don’t wanna lie to her, but at the same time, I can’t tell her the truth. Maddison doesn't come from the same world that I do. If she knew who I really was, there’s no way she’d wanna stick around.
“Just some job for my uncle,” I tell her, grabbing myself a beer and a bottle of water for her
“I’d offer you one but…” My eyes drop to her stomach, and knowing she’s potentially growing something of mine inside her makes me smile again.
I feel like Jekyll and fuckin’ Hyde.
“I figured.” She rolls her eyes. “And while you were out, I did some research too. You were right about the vitamins, and there are foods we should both eat too. They call them superfoods.”
“Will you be cooking these superfoods?” I check with a cocked brow, and when it earns me a jab to the ribs from her elbow, I wrap her up in my arms.
“I told you, I’m learning. You and the boys are going to be impressed with the recipes I got from that channel. First thing I’m going to do after breakfast tomorrow is venture into town and stock these cupboards up.”
“On superfood?” I stare at her, noticing how her excitement radiates the whole room.
“On superfoods,” she confirms.
“Careful, sweetheart, you almost sound as keen as I am.” I shake my head and get back to figuring these fuckin’ sticks out, and when she takes them out of my hands and straddles my lap, I look up at her in confusion.
“I am,” she promises me, kissing my lips and sliding her arms around my neck.