Chapter 21 #2
"Contacted us online, said he was getting revenge on his slut of a girlfriend. Paid us to distribute the videos, said we could keep whatever we made from them." ViperChaos laughed, a wet, gurgling sound through the blood in his mouth.
"I watched 'em all. Could tell the slut was loving it, begging for more by the end."
The room went very, very quiet.
"What the fuck do you care anyway?" ViperChaos continued, either too stupid or too high to recognise the danger he was in. I stepped closer, my voice calm despite the rage boiling inside me.
"The girl in those videos is ours." ViperChaos's eyebrows shot up.
"What, both of you?" He laughed again. "Yeah, seems like a proper whore to me-" Logan moved so fast I barely saw it.
One moment, he was standing perfectly still; the next, he had the laptop in his hands and was bringing it down on ViperChaos's head with a sickening crunch.
The screen shattered, plastic splintering as it connected with bone and flesh.
ViperChaos slumped sideways, but Logan didn't stop.
He brought the laptop down again and again, each impact accompanied by a wet thud that filled the room.
When the laptop was nothing but broken pieces in Logan's hands, he dropped it.
He continued with his fists, pummelling what remained of ViperChaos's face until it was unrecognisable, a pulpy mass of blood and tissue.
I let him work, turning my attention to the second man, who was now pressed against the wall, eyes wide with terror.
"Please," he whimpered as I approached. "I swear I didn't know what was on those videos when he showed them to me.
I was just here to pick up some drugs, I swear to God.
" I crouched down in front of him, studying his face.
Fear had a way of making people honest, and I could see the truth in his eyes, along with the knowledge that honesty wouldn't save him.
"Did you watch the videos?" I asked, my voice quiet, almost gentle. He hesitated, just for a fraction of a second, but it was enough.
"Please," he begged, tears streaming down his face. "I didn't know, I didn't know what I was watching. Please don't hurt me. I have a kid, I have-"
"I'm sorry," I said, and I was surprised to find I meant it.
"I made a promise to a girl. No one who saw those videos gets to see anything again.
" I moved quickly, pushing my thumbs into his eye sockets, applying pressure with clinical precision.
There was resistance at first, then a sickening give as the delicate orbs collapsed under the force.
His screams filled the room, raw and animal, but I didn't stop until I felt the visceral pop beneath my fingers, the wet warmth coating my hands.
When I finally pulled back, he was still screaming, hands clutched to his face as blood and fluid seeped between his fingers.
I stood up, a strange calm settling over me.
I'd kept my promise. It wouldn't undo what had been done to Cade, wouldn't heal her wounds or erase her trauma.
But it was something. A small measure of justice in a world that had shown her none.
I turned to find several of the housemen standing in the doorway, their expressions a mix of horror and something else, respect, maybe, or understanding. And behind them, Nicholas Bale, watching with what looked almost like pride.
"Get him out of here," Nicholas ordered his men, nodding toward the blinded man.
"Take him in for more questioning. Find out everything he knows about this 'college kid' and who else might have copies of those videos.
" Two men moved forward, dragging the still-screaming man to his feet and out the door.
Nicholas looked at what remained of ViperChaos, then at his son, who was breathing heavily, knuckles split and bloody.
"Clean yourself up, son," Nicholas told Logan, his voice surprisingly gentle. "We need to move out. I told Lynch I would share what we found."
I didn't wait for further instructions. I turned and walked out of the room, down the stairs, through the filthy flat, and out into the night air.
The rain had stopped, but the chill remained, cutting through my blood-soaked clothes to the bone beneath.
I stood by the car, letting the cold clear my head.
The rage that had driven me up those stairs had subsided, replaced by a strange, detached calm.
I'd done what needed to be done. I'd protected Cade in the only way I could, by ensuring that one less person in this world could look at her and see her pain as entertainment.
It wasn't enough. It would never be enough until we found Damien McIntyre and made him suffer for every second of agony he'd inflicted on Cade. But it was something.
Logan emerged from the building a few minutes later, his face washed clean of blood but his eyes still burning with that cold fire. He joined me by the car, neither of us speaking for a long moment.
"You okay?" he finally asked, his voice rough. I nodded, the calmness still flowing through me like a drug.
"You?" Logan exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. He finally looked up at me and nodded.
“It’s a start,” he said and walked around the car getting into the other side, the door closing with a decisive bang. I nodded, more to myself than anyone else. He was right. It’s a start, but it sure as hell wasn’t over.