Chapter twenty-Two
Chapter twenty-One
Rodney’s
Childhood
Home
Six A.M.
What he wanted to do was get this done. He was sick of dealing with this. These women had ruined a perfectly good life where a mother, father, and child were happy. They went to court, lying.
Because they were whores.
His father would never do anything like that, and he knew it. When he heard his mother talking to his father’s attorney, all of those years ago, and the details…
They.
Broke.
Him.
So, he became a monster.
There was no way his father, a dedicated teacher, had preyed upon those girls. There was no way he did any of the things that those girls said.
How did he know?
When his mother died, he found her journal, and in them, she had written about the court hearing.
Rodney didn’t remember those moments.
He didn’t remember much about his father, other than him coming into his room and tucking him in at night. He’d lay there with him, and after Rodney fell asleep, he’d leave.
The man was the best father, and he’d been murdered in jail because of liars.
Now, the one here was a thief.
She stole his father from him, and Summer Crito was about to pay for what she’d done.
He was about to do his father justice and finish this.
Once.
And.
For.
All.
So, he began torturing her.
With a cattle prod, he poked her through the cage she was locked in. It was one that was built for dogs. Well, they’d all been bitches, so that was appropriate.
PERIOD.
Watching her body jolt, jerk, and shake as he poked at her gave him such joy.
It was payback, and nothing less.
It made him want to carry on with this kind of fun. Torturing horrible people seemed like the best calling in life. To say that he was tempted to hurt them more, violating them, would be the absolute truth.
But not these whores.
They.
Were.
Foul.
When the woman screamed into the gag, and finally passed out, he put the prod down and enjoyed.
Oh, he was angry.
Very.
Angry.
Kicking the cage, he let some of that rage out.
“The inmates did horrible things to my father. One of his friends in jail said that the guards let the inmates hurt him all of the time. He was tortured, and it’s all your fault, too. You stole my father from me, Summer. You stole him from my mother, too!”
She didn’t move.
Instead, she lay there, trying to recover from the torture she was experiencing. The last thing she remembered was the shadow standing over her bed.
And then, this.
“Why did you girls lie? I found her journal, and I know that all of you came on to him. You lured him into those sex acts against his will. Then, you turned on him to not get into trouble. My mother said he was loyal, but weak. You monsters found a weak man and exploited him! It cost my family everything!”
Going to the counter, he began getting his things ready. In the middle of the living room, he’d set up the torture chamber. Since no one thought about his dead father, and their once happy home, they’d never find him here.
On the stove, not far away, there were five kettles boiling. When she was dead, he’d put her in the tub, and burn her skin off—like had happened to his father.
Only, he’d been alive at the time.
They were lucky he was merciful.
She’d be like a peach he was planning to can, and her skin would peel off from the burns.
As he stood there, he felt the weak one trying to push through, but Rodney wasn’t letting that happen.
“Hush, child. You’re not in control here. I am,” he said, laughing like the monster he’d become. “You were the kid, and now, I’ll be the man.”
Picking up the cattle prod, he headed back to the cage and tapped it on the metal bars.
It jolted with electricity, rocking through her naked body.
“You were a whore, just like the others. You were liars. I’m going to enjoy showing the world who you are. They might not figure it out, but I know what you were,” he said, holding it to the cage for a good minute.
She screamed into the gag, as her body did a sick, jitter dance right before she passed out.
Then, and only then, did he open the large dog crate and pull her out by her bound ankles.
Dragging her to the table, he hoisted her onto it.
It.
Was.
Time.
“Okay, Summer. Let’s revisit that time fifteen years ago. It’s been a long time coming. Scream for me, whore.”
And she did.
Much to his satisfaction.
* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *
Outside
Moving Through The
Trees On The Reservation
As they moved in the darkness, the sun just kissing over the top of the horizon, it didn’t take long to get there.
Honestly, it was likely a much better idea to call backup, but since this was the reservation, that meant calling Callen.
With Ethan, he wasn’t sure that was a good idea. So, Gene opted to do this with just the three of them.
If the reservation police found their rental, hopefully, Ethan’s brother would get them off the hook, because they were running amok on tribal land.
That was for sure.
“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” Dannie asked as they wandered through the trees in the barely lit morning light.
He pointed at his man.
“You can take the Native off the reservation, but you can’t take the Rez out of the Native,” he offered. “He can navigate here. He grew up here.”
Yeah, he said it to make Ethan laugh, but he didn’t. Someone was moving through the trees, heading in a direction with purpose and focused on the task at hand.
“If you say so,” Dannie offered. “I hope we don’t get shot,” he admitted.
Yeah, him either.
“It’s not far,” Blackhawk said, sliding down a hill, and into a ditch.
Ethan knew where they were, only because he and Callen had run wild here for many years. He knew the cabin, now that he’d seen it on the map.
It was small and simple, but it drew Natives to this area. They liked seeing how others lived. Curiosity, even then, killed the cat.
Back then, though, when he was a small child, it wasn’t the killer’s family who called it home.
It had been a nice older woman, whose husband had died, and she eventually followed. She let the Native kids play with her dog and get snacks when they were hungry.
“Where?” Gene asked, trying to get his bearings.
While he trusted his man, this all looked the same.
He shared.
“Once we climb out of this ravine, the house is one hundred feet that way,” he stated.
Well, that worked for them.
They moved, following Ethan, and when he reached a tree, they saw that he was right.
Lo and behold, they found the house.
Behind it, under a badly torn tarp, there was a cream-colored sedan.
The one that had been used to shoot at Gene yesterday. Someone was keeping the evidence handy for them, and they appreciated that.
“How do you want to do this?” Dannie asked.
Gene already had a plan.
“You’re going to take the front, since we’re in the back. Make sure no one comes out, and if he does, stop him without getting yourself hurt. We know he stabs the ladies, and he took shots at me with a powerful gun.”
He nodded.
“Got it.”
“Quietly,” Ethan stated.
The man rolled his eyes and headed away, slipping to the side of the house so he could crawl to the front.
Ethan and Gene waited for him to get into position by the front of the house, at the corner.
Then, it was their turn.
Moving toward the house, they heard screaming coming from inside. The windows were closed, so that woman had to be really freaking out.
Gene stood up and peeked into a window. Then, he ducked back down.
“He’s got her tied to a table. He’s heating something up. Likely letters to burn into her tongue. So he’s killing her soon.”
That meant he was up to bat.
Crawling up the back stairs, he checked the knob, and it was locked. Pulling out his wallet, he grabbed the paperclips in there and worked them into the lock.
They both heard the very quiet click of the lock opening.
Thankfully, there wasn’t a deadbolt because they took longer.
Gene touched his lover’s arm.
“I love you. Don’t get shot, or stabbed,” he said. “I’m going to be bitchy if you do!” he whispered in his ear.
Oh, that wasn’t what he was planning.
Honestly, he wanted to get this woman safe and get out of here. Coming home sucked.
Big.
Time.
Ethan could safely say he’d not be back until Hell froze over. That’s how much he hated it here. What he wanted was to be home in their bed, in their condo.
“Just have my back,” Ethan whispered, knowing Gene wasn’t supposed to even be there, so he couldn’t try to apprehend this person.
Gabe would kill them both.
At his words, Gene knew one thing. He was absolutely going to have his husband’s back.
Bet.
On.
That.
When they opened the door, thankfully, it didn’t make any noise, and they were able to sneak into the mud room off the kitchen. Peering around the corner, they saw him grabbing the woman around the neck to choke her out.
He was going to burn something onto her tongue while she was alive.
They had to stop that.
“FBI, Rodney,” Ethan said, stepping around the corner so the man saw him.
He jumped.
And when he turned, he began laughing.
Hysterically.
Then, he started clapping like the true nut he was. From where he stood, gun out, watching the man, Gene made sure to keep it trained on the lunatic.
It wasn’t a big kitchen, and Ethan was pretty damn close to the man.
From the table, the woman jerked at her bonds, trying to get free.
“You figured it out. You found me before I killed the last one. Aren’t you smart?” he asked. “You scared me when you came to the school, but I was pretty sure I had you fooled.”
Yeah, this dude was a nut.
Focused on Ethan, he began moving closer.
“I wanted to hurt them all because they took my father from me. He loved me. He loved me so much.”
Gene knew that he couldn’t shoot him. He was carrying a gun that he wasn’t allowed to have, and getting shitcanned would mean Ethan was working alone in the FBI.
This was beyond a pickle.
This was a bad time to be on the injured list.
Moving so that he was a target too, in hopes the man wouldn’t focus on Ethan, Gene stepped out.