Chapter 23
REED
My heart thumps hard in my chest as I pace back and forth.
“Reed, can you sit down or something. Fuck. You’re going to wear a hole into the fucking floor.” Kalix says, sitting on top of the kitchen counter.
“I’m getting impatient. The fucker should’ve been here by now.” We’ve been sitting in the dark at a condo that Johnny has off campus.
After dropping Lexie off this morning, Kalix and Isaac met me at my place, and we did a little research on the dumb fuck.
Turns out he is a trust fund baby.
Apparently, there have been more than just Lexie’s instance of him drugging women but somehow he’s gotten off with just a slap on the wrist each time. Until he messed with what’s mine.
He’s not going to get away so easily this time.
“It’s fine, man. Like I said earlier, I got all day.” Kalix pulls out a cigarette and puts it between his lips before lighting it. “Want one?” He asks lifting the cigarette box.
I stop pacing and join him. I take a drag and check my phone again waiting on Isaac’s warning text and of course nothing.
I check my tracker app and see that Lexie is still at her apartment. I wonder what she’s doing. I could text her and ask, but I don’t want to get too distracted from the task at hand. I’ll just put a reminder in my phone to put up a camera as soon as possible so I can keep an eye on her.
As soon as I pocket my phone, it dings.
Pulling it out there is a text from Isaac.
Isaac:
Landed.
“He’s here.” I say to Kalix.
I snub my cigarette out on his marble counter top and lean against it.
“He’s not going to take you seriously if you keep swaying back and forth like that, fuckhead.” Kalix says to me and I freeze, only realizing that I’ve been rocking back and forth in place.
I punch him in the arm and he laughs.
“I might be a tad anxious.” I shrug.
“No shit.” Kalix says, shaking his head.
Five minutes later, we both still when we hear the lock turn. The door swings open and the light flicks on. The dumb fuck kicks his shoes off by the door, not even bothering to look behind him or around the room.
He haphazardly tries to shut the door but it meets resistance.
“Hi.” Isaac says as Johnny looks up at him and pushes his way inside, shutting and locking the door behind him.
Johnny’s standing there with his hands out, “Dude, what do you want?”
Isaac leans his back against the door and crosses his arms.
He is completely unaware of my presence as I quietly push off the counter and walk up a foot behind him.
Isaac pushes off the door and slowly stalks towards Johnny, making him back into my chest.
“What the…” He says as he spins to face me.
It’s black and blue around his eyes from where I broke his nose and his lip is swollen and busted.
He throws his hands up and tries to back up but Isaac's body prevents that from happening. “Fuck man. You already broke my fucking nose.” He says nervously. “I told you I’d stay away from her, and I’ll keep my word. ”
I cross my arms and tilt my head, giving him a smirk.
“Well, you see, Johnny Boy,” saying his name sarcastically, “that’s just not going to suffice.
” I drop a hand to my waist and grab his broken nose with my other hand, while he yells out in pain.
“Kalix, tape please?” I say over my shoulder as Isaac holds him in place.
I hear Kalix’s boots hit the floor and the sound of the duct tape being unraveled and torn. I let go of fuck face’s nose long enough for him to try to tape his mouth shut, while he’s screaming and flaying around. “Where’d you put the zip ties?” He asks me.
I pull them out of my pocket and Isaac spins Johnny around in place, while he’s trying to kick and get out of his grasp, so that I can fasten the zip ties around his wrists. Kalix grabs one of the kitchen chairs and drags it to the middle of the room.
I grab Johnny by the hair and drag him towards it before yanking his pants down, leaving them around his ankles and shoving him into the chair. “Kalix, make sure he can’t move.”
Kalix starts to tape him to the chair while I grab my backpack, and unpack my tools. When I was snooping through Lexie’s apartment, I found her wax pot. A quick search on the internet and one video tutorial later, I think I could be a pro at this hair removal shit. I wonder if she’d let me wax her?
I plug it in and pour in the little wax beads.
“What the hell is that?” Isaac whispers over my shoulder.
“Hair removal wax.” I smirk at him and his eyes widen briefly before he chuckles.
“Oh, fuck. That’s going to hurt like a bitch.” He says, grimacing while tugging on his gloves.
It was Kalix’s suggestion to wear gloves so we don’t leave any fingerprints behind.
While waiting on the wax to warm up, Kalix lights a cigarette. I watch as he pockets the lighter and takes a couple puffs before turning to me. “Want to play?” He asks, holding up his cigarette.
Shrugging, I say, “Sure.”
Isaac turns the radio on blaring Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana to drown out the sounds Johnny’s about to make.
Walking up to the man that’s tied up, I tilt his head back by pulling his hair with one hand and hovering the cigarette over his face with the other. I act as if Johnny is a kid and I’m playing the airplane game like a mother would to feed her child.
I place the lit end of the cigarette between his eyes, and Johnny starts to cry. “Awe, guys… Looks like we have a tough guy that can’t take what he dishes out.”