Chapter Twenty
C ross threw her uncle over his shoulder in a fireman hold and headed around back. Lorelei followed to where the loading dock was located for deliveries. A woman stood there, smoking a cigarette, watching them with a carefully blank expression. Panic flooded Lorelei, that they now had a witness to their retribution.
“Mabel,” Cross said. “Can you open the inventory room?”
“Sure thing,” the woman said. She ground out her smoke with the toe of her shoe before pulling out a set of keys.
Cross followed her, not looking perturbed in the least that this Mabel could be a witness to their soon-to-be crime. Mabel unlocked a door and when Cross entered, he flipped on the light switch. The harsh fluorescent light overhead highlighted every punch her uncle had received.
“Need a zip tie?” Mabel asked.
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
Lorelei watched until the woman disappeared around the door.
“Is she going to tell?” she asked.
Cross dropped her unconscious uncle like he was a sack of potatoes. He impacted the floor with a sick thud.
“About?”
“Him.”
Mabel returned and held out a few zip ties. Cross took them and tied her uncle up.
“You’re not going to rat us out, are you, Mabel?” he asked her.
“About what?” Mabel shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Boss.”
“Expect a bonus, Mabel.” Cross winked at Lorelei. “I’m going to run Lorelei home and I’ll be back with the SUV. This asshole is coming home with me.”
Moments later, Lorelei held onto Cross as they raced home.
He didn’t linger. Kissing her on the lips before leaving once more, this time driving the SUV. Unable to sit still, she paced through the house until Cross returned. He pulled into the garage and cut the engine. Then he grabbed a tarp and spread it out before he pulled her uncle out of the back. He was moaning, which meant he was beginning to come around, and let out a grunt when Cross dropped him onto the tarp.
“Wake up, asshole,” Cross said, tapping her uncle’s cheek.
Slowly, the lids raised as far as they could go since both eyes were black and swollen. Cross grabbed some duct tape and slapped a piece over her uncle’s mouth.
“Good to see you’re with us once again, although very shortly you will be departing the land of the living.”
Her uncle tried babbling under the sticky tape.
“You can’t say no. This is nonnegotiable.” He pointed to her. “You fucked up her life, and now you’ll pay with yours. Only she can grant you a pardon. And I don’t think she’s going to do that.”
When he looked at her, she shook her head. Her uncle deserved all the pain he was about to receive.
Cross walked over to the tool bench and rummaged until he found what he was looking for. A set of pliers.
“Sweetheart, can you get me a knife?”
Her uncle started freaking out. Lorelei smiled at him and went to fetch the sharpest knife they had. When she returned, she held it out to Cross.
“Thanks,” he murmured, then headed over to her uncle, who was trying desperately to inchworm his way to safety. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Cross stomped on his back, forcing him to lay belly down. Then he slashed the Achilles tendon on the back of each ankle. Her uncle screamed, although it was muffled, and tears ran down his face. Satisfaction filled the last part of her battered heart. This man had done atrocious things in his greedy quest for money, and with each cry, more of her pain was released.
“Lorelei,” Cross said, and she looked at him. “I plan on making him suffer, but I’ll understand if it’s too much for you to stomach.”
“No,” she said, her voice warbling as it tried to remember the cadence she once had. “Hurt him.”
And Cross did exactly that. He sliced his way up her uncle’s body. Not going too deep that he might die quickly from blood loss, but just enough to make it extremely painful. He cut off one ear and burned it with a lighter right under her uncle’s nose, so he had to smell his own charred flesh. Cross used his booted toes to turn him on his back. With the tip of the knife, he carved the word FUCKER on his forehead. Adding those same type of slashes to his front, Cross stopped when he got to the groin area. Throwing her a sly grin, he cut the material at the pelvis and then used the pliers to pull out her uncle’s shriveled penis.
Realizing her uncle had passed out, Cross slapped his face but the man refused to wake up. Cross rose and pulled down the zipper on his jeans to piss all over her uncle’s face until he revived.
“You don’t get to faint, asshole.”
Cross finished and put himself back into his jeans. Then he resumed where he’d been, namely using the pliers to grab hold of her uncle’s dick.
“This is going to hurt,” he said viciously.
With one quick, downward motion, he severed the member. Once more, her uncle had passed out. Lorelei held out her hand for the knife. Cross studied her for a moment, then held the handle side to her. Avoiding the puddle of urine, she spit on her uncle’s face and his eyelids fluttered.
“This is the end of your life, Uncle,” she choked out. “I hate you. I hate you so much that sometimes I can’t breathe. You are vile and I hope you burn in hell for eternity.”
She placed the knife at the base of his throat and slowly sank into his flesh. Gurgling bubbled up as she severed his windpipe and esophagus. When he stopped moving and fell silent, she knew she had exorcised her final demon.
****
P ride filled Cross as he watched his savage woman destroy the man who had destroyed her. She was glorious, and it took his breath away. Lorelei had gone from someone afraid of her own shadow to a bad-ass warrior. When she stepped back from the dead man, he took the knife from her. Blood dripped down, coating her hand, so he dipped his finger into the serum and then painted stripes over her cheekbones. Still in the grips of vengeance, her chest heaved as she breathed heavily. Fire blazed in her eyes.
“It’s okay now,” he murmured. “It’s over. Your monsters have all been slain.”
“He can’t hurt me anymore,” her underused voice warbled. “Why do I feel so good about killing him?”
“Because evil has many levels, and avenging your family, avenging yourself, is a deliverance long overdue. He can’t hurt anyone anymore.”
“I hope he burns in Hell.”
“He will.”
As if her marionette strings were cut, she slumped in his arms. He lifted her up and headed inside. He’d take care of the body later.