39. Levi #2
“Well, in that case, we should probably let him go.” I look to Christian, who shrugs. “What do you think?”
“I think we should figure out if he’s lying first. Can’t be too sure nowadays. A criminal’s word doesn’t really mean as much as it used to.”
“Good point.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? You going to kill me? Over a fucking lie?”
“Is it a lie, Dale? I saw you chasing my girl. She was terrified.”
I nod once to Christian, who lets the rope go slack just a hair, dropping Dale an inch with a harsh lurch.
Dale gasps, flailing, though his arms are tied behind his back, so it’s really not much use.
“That looks uncomfortable, Dale.”
“Let me down from here. I did my fucking time.”
“You did time for drug paraphernalia.” His eyes widen the slightest bit. “Oh, yes. I went through your file. Petty burglary. Sexual assault when you were younger. Pretty much the bottom of the barrel as far as citizens go.”
He has the audacity to spit, and it lands on the side of my face.
“You don’t know shit about me.”
Gripping his shirt, I wipe the spit off my face and stand.
—Then I punch him in the dick.
Dale cries out in pain, his screams echoing in the clearing around us.
“You can scream all you want. No one will hear you. Even if they did, I’m not sure anyone would care.”
“What are you going to do to me? I’ve got a family, you know. They need me.”
“They survived without you for nearly ten years. I’m sure your absence would be a blessing for them.” I stand back from the large pit in the ground that Dale’s dangling over. Dangly Dale. Seems like a fitting nickname. “As for what I’m going to do to you? Well, I’d rather show you.”
Dale opens his mouth to say something else, but before he can, the sound of a metallic door sliding open from the pit below silences him.
Dale’s eyes go wide at the man who stalks into the clearing.
And then they nearly fall out of his head when he looks below and sees the big ass grizzly bear pacing around beneath him.
“Dale, I want you to meet Smokey. He hates men.”
Smokey grunts in response, pacing around underneath Dale like he’s a hanging filet mignon.
“That’s a-that’s—”
“A bear,” Christian finishes for him. “In case you couldn’t tell.”
I kneel back down in front of Dale, taking his chin in my hand and squeezing until he stops spinning. He sputters, struggling to breathe from the angle he’s been dangling at for the last ten minutes.
“Now tell me, Dave—”
“His name’s Dan.”
“Oh, right,” I smirk. “Doug . . .”
“ Fuck you! You aren’t going to feed me to a fucking bear.”
“Well, that depends. We’re going to play a game of Russian Roulet .
. . only with a bear. You tell me the truth, and I don’t shoot.
You lie, this revolver has one shot, and I’m going to point it directly at the line holding you over Smokey’s pit.
Whether you fall in and become a chew toy is up to you. ”
“You’re a sick fucking bastard, you know that?”
I shrug.
“Funnily enough, that’s what my girl says you are.” I grin at him, a genuine toothy grin so he can see how fucked he is. “Shall we begin?”
“Help!” he screeches the moment I stand and walk back a few feet out of the clearing. “Somebody help me! He’s going to kill me.”
I almost roll my eyes. We’re at least ten miles from any civilization. No one’s coming to save Dale.
“Smokey’s pretty hungry, Dale.”
“And pissed off,” Christian murmurs, joining me with an amused look in his eye. “You see, Smokey can’t hibernate, Dale. Not like the rest of them.”
“Which makes him a very angry boy.” Smokey huffs in response.
“Shut the fuck up and let me down from here!”
“Alright, Dale. Question one. What were you going to do to my girl when you caught her?”
“Fuck you!”
I’m so sick of this fucking guy.
I raise the gun, point it directly at the only rope stopping him from being Smokey shit, and pull the trigger.
Blank.
Honestly, I’m glad. The fun continues.
“I was hired to follow her!”
My grip tightens on the gun, and I have half a mind to shoot him where he hangs.
That wouldn’t be nearly as painful, though.
“Very good. You’re learning.”
“Please,” he whimpers. “Don’t do this—”
“Question two. Who hired you to follow her?”
“Please . . .”
With a huff, I point and fire a second blank.
“Odds are getting slimmer, Dale,” Christian calls, lighting the end of a cigarette and blowing out the smoke into the damp night. “Smokey sounds like he’s getting pretty pissed off down there.”
“I don’t want to die.”
Too bad, asshole.
“Last chance, Dale.” I step back over to him, lowering my voice and getting right in his face so only he can hear. “Who hired you?”
His eyes widen to saucers, and I think it’s at that moment he realizes he has no choice.
He rattles off a name, and it’s not the one I was expecting.
A cold chill runs up my spine at the information he gives me. I watch him speak, hear what he’s saying, but my mind can’t wrap around it.
I’ll fucking kill him.
At the same time, Dale screams in fear, I fire the shot directly at the rope. The bullet hits, and with a crack, Dale falls into the pit with a heavy thud.
All three of us step over to the side, watching as Smokey charges.
Dale’s screams are unlike anything I’ve ever heard, and the noises emanating from the pit send a shiver down even my spine.
Abruptly, the screams stop, and then in the blink of an eye, all that’s left of Dangly Dale is a few spare body parts that Smokey will take care of and a pair of workless work boots.
Christian is the one to break the silence, pointing to the hand that lies discarded off to the side.
“Need a hand?”
I shoot him a look.
“Good to see you practicing your dad jokes. Can’t wait to be an uncle.” I pat him on the back when he chuckles under his breath and head over to where the man, they call the Butcher, is leaning against a tree.
“Thank you for this.”
He’s silent, the black skull mask covering his face offering no explanation as to who he really is. They’re like this, and the only reason we’re standing here right now is because of a job I did a few years ago as a favor to them under the DEA.
“I didn’t do it for you,” he says finally.
“How the fuck did you catch a grizzly that size, anyway?” Christian asks when the Butcher pushes off a tree.
“A year ago, a zoo had scheduled to put him down because he ate his trainer. The trainer had a history of abuse.” He shrugs. “The zoo thought he was dangerous. I felt he was justified.”
And with that, he turns and walks off into the trees without another word.
Christian and I watch after him, but like the ghost he’s meant to be, he disappears into the overgrowth without so much as the rustle of leaves.
“You know, this may be a first,” Christian murmurs. “But that motherfucker creeps me out.”
I can’t help but smirk.
“He’s harmless.” I glance back at the pit where the metal door is opening, and Smokey is licking his paws. “Unless you’re someone like Dale.”
“Don’t be like Dale,” Christian says as we walk back towards the car. Unfortunately, it’s at least a mile walk, but at least we don’t have Dale to worry about. Hauling a knocked-out Dale here in the dark was a fucking treat. “Great life motto.”