Eighteen #2
“I canceled him,” Russo said. “For what he did to you.”
Now I was confused. I thought the Canceled Killer wanted to punish me. Make me pay. Not try to impress me.
“Back to our game,” Russo continued. “Kiss. Marry. Kill. Who’s it going to be?” I glanced at Jude. His brown eyes flickered with fear.
“It’s still you,” I said, glancing back at Russo. “I still want to kill you.”
“Wrong answer.” He shrugged. “Guess again. Or do you want me to guess for you? I will.” He pointed his gun at Jude and his eyes widened. “Eeny… meeny… miny…”
“No!” I drew his attention away from Jude. “Please,” I added.
“All right. You got me. We can skip ahead in this game. You kiss Spider-Man. You kill Jude. And you… marry me.”
“W-what?” I blinked fast. This, I was not expecting. The man wanted to marry me? Since when?
“You and me together forever. I’m getting out of here tonight, and you are coming with me. We’re meant to be together. Do you want me to get down on one knee? I will, if you shoot Brother’s Best Friend.”
I glanced at Jude. He hit me with puppy-dog eyes. No way could I ever kill him. He saved my life. I saved his.
“No,” I said.
“But he’s what’s wrong with the world,” Russo declared.
Jude’s eyes widened and then flicked to me.
“Because the world has devolved into cucks and betas. When real men walked around, we didn’t have people thinking they could get away with what they do.
They’d be shot on sight or strung up. Men got weak and cat ladies got loud and society went to hell. ”
Russo was making a speech like a Bond villain with his own podcast, and so I inched closer to him, cutting the ten feet between us. Because James Bond knew what the bad guys didn’t: It’s hard to track a threat and rant on your soapbox at the same time.
“People started complaining about the patriarchy and toxic masculinity when it was strong men who kept the world together, who kept us from falling into chaos in the first place. That’s the problem with the world.
Daddy left and he never came back home, and now the world is run by weak little boys and girls who aren’t strong enough to make the hard decisions. ”
“Daddy left?” I scoffed. Another small step. “Please. The patriarchy is a scam. It’s not about protecting society. It’s about controlling society.”
“Society needs control. Or we’re all back in the jungle.”
“Predators kill for food in the jungle,” I pointed out. “Not sport.”
“It wasn’t for sport. The mayor stepped out of line,” Russo growled.
“And so did they.” He flashed his gun at both of them.
“None of them have the right to touch you.” He sucked in a breath.
“I’ll kill anyone who touches you. You… are…
mine.” His blue eyes glowered at the men restrained at the kitchen table.
He looked particularly maniacal in this light.
“I heard you got suspended from the force,” I said, drawing his gaze back to me. “Stalking your ex-girlfriend? Should I be jealous?”
Russo’s mouth thinned into a line. “We don’t need to talk about her.”
Another step. “Why not?”
“Because she’s a stupid bitch who didn’t appreciate what she had.” He sounded small and petulant. “You take a girl out and show her a nice time, and then she just… ghosts you?” Russo looked incredulous. “I took her out twice, and she doesn’t return my calls?”
I blinked fast. “You stalked a woman who wouldn’t go out on a third date?” She wasn’t even a girlfriend. That was an acquaintance at best.
“She owed me,” Russo said, eyes a thundercloud of entitlement and rage.
I glanced at Jude. His eyes were wide and telegraphing the message This guy has lost it.
“And I owe you, too?” I was trying to understand the psychosis.
“Yes,” Russo said softly. “You can’t just leave without saying goodbye. You let me think you liked me, and then you left Chicago just like that. Were you ever coming back?” His voice was a high whine.
Wow. For a guy who talked about being tough, he sure got his feelings hurt an awful lot.
Two feet separated me from the barrel of Russo’s gun.
“You’ve got to see it. We’re meant to be together,” he continued.
“We’re the same. You’re just too scared to admit it to yourself, kid.
Think about how great it would be if you let yourself off that leash you’ve been holding on to so tightly.
Rules. Laws. Society. It doesn’t concern people like us. ”
I heard an urgent murmur from Jude. I met his scared gaze. Jude was my conscience. I knew what he’d say.
We need the rule of law. We need due process. If people started taking matters into their own hands, we really would be mired in chaos, and innocent people would get hurt.
Jude didn’t need to worry. No way was I joining forces with this crackpot.
“Murdering people is wrong.” I couldn’t believe I had to spell this out.
“Unless they deserve it,” he corrected.
“Really? What about Olga Duncan? What did she do to deserve it?”
“Who the hell is Olga Duncan?” Russo asked, genuinely baffled.
“The first Canceled Killer victim. Right here in Lake Sanguis. I guess you’ve been here before?”
Russo still looked puzzled. “I never came here before this week.”
Maybe Russo’s mental illness went deeper than fixating on women who rejected him. Did he have a split personality, too?
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Russo said. “Kiss… marry… kill?” He flicked the barrel of his gun from Mateo to Jude and back again. “Or, you know what? Let’s play a new game. Kill… kill… marry? I think I’ll start with Brother’s Best Friend.”
I met Jude’s gaze. No. Absolutely not. I stepped in front of the barrel.
“Martyrdom doesn’t look good on you, kid,” Russo said, shaking his head. “Move.”
“Tell me why you got sloppy. Why did you use a lemon from the grocery store for the mayor? But not for Gordon Allen?”
Russo flashed me an unreadable smile. “Curiosity killed the cat,” he teased.
“Good thing I’ve got nine lives.”
I lunged then, incorporating Irene’s favorite Krav Maga move to disarm an attacker. Grab the barrel of the gun and twist. His gun went clattering to the ground.
Admiration flashed in Russo’s eyes.
“Nice play,” he admitted. “But still a bad decision, kid.”
Then he took a swing.