Chapter 41
Blake
My truck bounces over the rough terrain, the body in my backseat jostling over every rock, every tree root, every hole and dip and branch. When I hit a particularly rough spot, muffled groans emanate from behind me.
Skye just started on this construction site, and the land has barely been cleared, remnants of the forested area littering the ground, even as I follow the dirt path created by all of his equipment.
When I reach the site, I throw the truck in park just as my phone vibrates. Digging it out of my pocket, I find a text from Tracy.
Sunshine
Can we talk tonight?
My body immediately tenses even more than it already is, my hand twitching, fingers tapping against the back of my phone.
Something must be wrong because she’s supposed to be out having fun with Whitney tonight.
I had texted Whitney earlier, practically threatening her life if Tracy didn’t have some fun and then make it home safe and sound.
Me
Everything ok?
Adrenaline courses through my veins, worry igniting fire in my blood.
Maybe her appointment didn’t go well? Or maybe she’s worried about Lucas?
She shouldn’t be, because that’s an issue I’m about to handle.
Thankfully, she responds before my brain can run wild with all the possibilities of what could be bothering her.
Sunshine
Everything is perfect
I let out a sigh of relief. No one and nothing gets to hurt Tracy. Her tears are for me only, and I’ll fucking destroy anyone else who tries to pull them from her.
Me
I’m taking care of an issue, so I might be home late, sweetheart
Sunshine
I’ll wait up *heart emoji*
My heart thunders, my fingers shaking the slightest as I type out my response.
Me
I love you. We’ll talk tonight
Silencing my phone, I throw it in the passenger seat, take a steadying breath, and will myself to keep some semblance of self-control so tonight doesn’t turn into even more of a bloodbath than it’s already going to be.
Getting out of my truck, I go to the back, whip open the door and grab onto the squirming body laying across the bench seat. I yank the man from the cab, his body landing with a thud as I let him fall to the ground and slam the door shut.
I cut the duct tape binding his ankles together, my blade slicing through tape and fabric and nicking skin, the sweet sight of blood blooming across the shallow cut.
I move to his shirt next, cutting it away from his body and exposing the expanse of skin that’s about to become the nexus for all my pent up aggression tonight.
More muffles come from underneath the fabric bag over the man’s head as I grab his tied arms and haul him back up to his feet. He tries to fight, his feet stumbling as I drag him over to the excavator.
Gripping his forearms, I lift them above his head, hanging him by his bound wrists on one of the bucket’s teeth. The bucket is tipped up, just enough to keep the body in front of me from sliding off the tooth as he dangles, his tiptoes barely touching the ground.
Leaving him to struggle, I go back to my truck, grabbing everything I’ll need to rain hell down on the man who hurt what’s mine.
Dropping the supplies in front of the dangling body, I kick out his feet, dirt and debris flying as I force his wrists to take all of his weight.
He struggles, scrambling to get back onto his toes to take some of the strain off his arms. More indistinguishable sounds come from under the hood as I grab it and rip it off, a wide-eyed Lucas staring back at me with a look of confusion on his face before it’s quickly overtaken by anger.
Grabbing a corner of the duct tape over his mouth, I tear it off in one quick pull, the adhesive pulling his skin as he screams.
“Fuck!” he yells, dangling like an offering before me. He twists his head to the side and tries to rub his mouth against his shoulder. “You’ve lost your fucking mind!”
Reaching down to grab the tool bag, I pull out an electric drill and case of drill bits.
“And I suppose you think you’re the sane one?
” I tsk as I walk over to him, opening the case of bits to make my selection.
“Is that what sanity looks like, Lucas? Stalking a woman, destroying her home, and photographing her without her consent?”
He spits at me, narrowly missing my face. Dropping the case, I reach out, grasp his throat and squeeze. He struggles as he tries to twist away from me, so I increase pressure. When his face starts to turn red, I let go.
He pants, trying to catch his breath as I grab the drill bits and pull out the smallest one: the one-sixteenth inch. Putting it in the drill, I pull the trigger, the tool spinning to life and sending a thrill through my body.
Tonight, Lucas pays for his sins.
“Do you know what I do to people who cross me, Lucas?” I ask, circling him and dragging the stationary drill bit over his flesh.
“I destroy them. I ruin them for life.” When I’m in front of him again, I press the drill to his bicep, the muscle pulled taught from the position I have him in.
“And the day you started targeting Tracy, you crossed that fucking line.”
I pull the trigger, the drill bit spinning to life and ripping through flesh as blood seeps from the wound.
Applying more pressure, I push the bit into his bicep, the metal tearing through tissue as Lucas screams, spittle flying in my face.
I keep the trigger compressed, holding the bit in place as it spins and tears and ruins the muscle, leaving behind a perfect, bloody little hole when I pull the bit back.
“Fuck!” Lucas yells. His chest heaves as blood runs down his arm and starts to create a trickling stream down the side of his torso, eventually soaking into the waistband of his jeans.
“That was one,” I say. “How many pictures did you take that night, Lucas? Was it forty-three like you left in Tracy’s apartment? Or did you take more than that?” I lift the drill in front of his face, showing him the blood and tissue fibers covering the bit.
He smirks. “I’ve got hundreds, Blake.” His smirk turns into a malicious grin. “And video. Kill me, and they’ll end up all over the internet. So, think carefully about what you’re going to do tonight.”
That urge, that wicked, dark urge to break something, comes back tenfold, my fingers tapping against the handle of the drill at his threat.
He laughs, the sound unholy in the still night air as my headlights illuminate him in an eerie glow.
“For such a fucking cunt, Tracy sure gets my dick hard. I can almost understand why you kept her around. Watching you string her up like that in the woods… I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fucked my hand to those videos this last week. ”
I snap, slamming the bottom of the drill into his face. Blood pours from the cut on his brow and down his cheek, dripping onto his chest and creating yet another stream of red on his body.
The sick bastard grins. “What’s your plan, Blake?” he sneers, no fear on his face despite his current situation. “You think you’ll get away with this?”
Bringing the drill to his abdomen, I press the bit in right above his hip bone.
“My plan? I’m going to leave you out here like a bloody pin cushion, and you’re not going to do anything about it.
Maybe the animals will get to you before you get help, maybe not.
But if you survive, you’re going to destroy those photos and videos, you’re going to pack up and leave the state, and you’re not going to say a word to anyone about what happened tonight.
You will never talk to Tracy again. You will never think about Tracy again.
Because if you do, what happens next will make tonight look like a fucking quilting party. ”
“You pussy whipped fool. You’re really choosing her over me? Your best friend? The one who helped you build your fucking empire? The one who has had your back every step of the fucking way!” He swings, his body pressing into the drill bit.
I compress the trigger, just enough to start rotating the bit slowly and break the surface of his skin. “The day you questioned my judgment about Tracy was the day you lost my trust,” I tell him. “And clearly, I was right in my decision to get rid of you.”
I pull the trigger back all the way and push the bit into his stomach, just deep enough to tear through skin and abdominal muscle without hitting organs.
Blood pours from the wound when I pull the bit out, and Lucas screams in agony as I move to his thigh and drive the bit in without hesitation this time.
I press down hard through muscle until I hit bone, and then I press down some more.
“Fuck! Fuck! Please!” Lucas screams, tears running from his eyes now. “Stop! Jesus Christ, stop!”
The drill comes to a halt as I release the trigger and pull the bit from his thigh, bone chips and tissue getting caught in the grooves of the metal.
I wipe the bit on my finger, collecting a tiny bone fragment to show Lucas. “You know, these bits go through bone just as smoothly as wood,” I tell him, inspecting the little white fragment. “Like butter.”
“Please,” he begs, his body shaking. Sweat coats his skin and his legs go limp, forcing his arms to take the brunt of his weight again. “I swear I’ll leave her alone,” he pleads. “I’ll leave and never go near her again.”
“Odd,” I tell him, wiping my finger off on his jeans. “I don’t believe you.”
I grab his ear in my fingers, pull it out from his head, and press the bit into the middle of it, driving it through the thin cartilage in a second.
Lucas screams, his head falling forward when I release his ear.
My body hums, adrenaline coursing through me as I press that bit in over and over again, making holes in his arms, his legs, his torso.
The thoughts of how he violated Tracy’s home, how he violated the sanctity of her body, play on repeat in my mind as I make him pay for every single minute of pain he caused her.
When he’s a blood-soaked mess, I drop the drill back into my tool bag and grab the excavator keys. Starting it up, I tilt the bucket down and he slides off the tooth, landing in a broken pile on the ground.
Approaching him again, I kick at his abdomen and push him onto his back. He coughs, bringing his bound hands down in front of him in a sad attempt to cover himself. Squatting down, I grab his wrists and free them.
“Look at me,” I tell him, reaching for his chin and forcing him to face me. When he opens his eyes, I say coolly, “If I ever see you again, I’ll fucking kill you. Don’t take my generosity tonight for granted.” Releasing him, I grab my tool bag.
“You’ll fucking pay for this!” he yells, staggering to his knees.
But I don’t pay him any mind. My threat was clear, and knowing Lucas, he’ll heed the warning if for nothing other reason than his own self-preservation.
I don’t look back, getting into my truck and throwing it in gear. Following the dirt path in front of me, I drive back to civilization and to the only thing that matters: Tracy.