Page 127 of Lucky's Trouble

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” I end the call and reposition the laptop to where it was. “Let’s take a walk.”

“What are you going to do to me? You said—”

“I said whatever I had to in order to get the truth, and you’re a dumb fuck if you thought otherwise.” Gripping his upper arm, I pull him to standing. “Come on.”

Taking the rope and my knife, I shove him down the hall to the church gym. I flip the lights on before moving to the closest basketball hoop, leaving the prick standing by the door. He’s not going anywhere; we both know he wouldn’t make it far.

The basketball hoop itself isn’t strong enough to hold much weight, but the steel frame is, so I toss the end of the rope over one of the wall mounts and tie a noose the way Rigger taught me. This is his preferred method of killing, so I had him walk me through it.

“Please,” he begs, realizing what I’m doing. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll resign from my position. I’ll even admit to what I’ve done. Just don’t make me do this.”

“From what I understand, suicide is the same as murder in the eyes of your religion. I’ll bet your perfect family won’t like that their patriarch committed such an awful sin.” I glance around until I find a stack of chairs. Lifting one off the top, I bring it over, sizing the asshole up before adjusting the noose.

“God will know the truth. This sin is yours, and you’ll burn in the fiery depths of hell for it.” His tone turns angry as he comes to terms with his reality. He won’t make this easy on me, but he’s old and frail, and I’m. . . well, I’m me.

“My soul was promised to the Reaper long before this.” I shrug. “This is just vindication.”

“I’ve done nothing to you.”

I stalk over to him. “Like hell you didn’t. You fuck with my woman, you fuck with me. I might’ve not been around back then to deal with you, but I’m here now.”

“She’s not worth it. I should know since even at twelve years old, she was well on her way to being a slut.”

Gripping him by the arm of his suit coat, I drag him over to the setup. “You’re right about that. She’s a slut for me every night, spreading her legs and fucking me so good.”

“Stop. Stop talking like that. Not here.”

“You mean in God’s house? The same place you violated young girls with your little disease-infested dick?” I grab my knife and press the tip into the front of his pants, wishing I could mutilate the bastard. “There’s one question that’s been bugging me about the whole thing. How did you get syphilis anyway? Was it prostitutes? I can’t imagine there are very many of those around here, but Vegas is close enough.” I twist my blade, barely hanging onto my last thread of control. “That was it, huh?”

He says nothing, just holds his chin high as sweat drips down his blotchy face, but I see the truth and know I’m right.

“I get it. Raping the girls would be too obvious, so that was just foreplay.” My stomach turns as I say the words. He’s convinced he’s in the presence of evil right now because of me, but he’s wrong. It’s been inside of him the whole time; I’m just a manifestation of it. “Get up on the chair.”

“No. I can’t.”

“Get the fuck up on the chair, or I swear to god, I’ll work my way through your entire fucking family, killing them one by one.” I stare him down, not showing even a hint of a lie. “Starting with your wife. I’ll make her listen to every single one of those recordings, and by the time she’s done, I won’t even have to pull the trigger because she’ll want to kill herself.”

His nostrils flare as he climbs onto the chair, and I slip the noose around his neck. Stepping back to admire my handiwork, I understand why Rigger likes this so much. It’s about the method and preparation, the fear that builds within the victim as you go through the motions.

Until the front of his pants darkens as he pisses himself. Motherfucker.

“Seriously?” I jump back when the force of the stream sends droplets flying into the air. “Do you have any last words?”

“Our heavenly Father, I thank thee for my many blessings.” His prayer gets louder and louder as he continues, but I block him out. It’s all bullshit he thinks will bring him redemption.

“Shut the fuck up for a second. I have some final words for you.” With my foot on the edge of the chair, I give it a tap. He nearly loses his balance but regains it at the last minute. “Having Tinleigh in my life is as close to heaven as I’ll ever get. I want you to die knowing that despite what you did to her, she’s a fucking angel. You didn’t ruin her.” I allow all my rage to bubble to the surface and shout. “You hear me? You didn’t fucking ruin her!”

My words echo with the clattering of the chair as I give it a shove, and it skids across the floor. The asshole’s legs flail as he pulls on the rope, trying to relieve the pressure of the noose around his throat. His face turns tomato red, and spittle flies from his mouth as he struggles to breathe.

It’s not fast like in the movies. It takes long minutes, and I burn every second into my memory so I can replay it later, when the hints of Tinleigh’s trauma show through in her eyes.

I realize he’s not the only one responsible for what she went through. That’s why I initially planned on visiting her parents while I was out here, but ultimately decided the blowback from what I have planned here will be enough. They’ll go to their graves with the whole damn city knowing they did nothing to protect their girls from a predator. I’ll make sure of it.

When the kicking stops, when his entire body goes lax and all that’s left is a swinging corpse, a sudden urge to get home hits me. I need to feel her in my arms, need to hold her and love her, prove to her that the worst is over.

Meticulously, I gather up my things and wipe down every surface I came into contact with, even though I had gloves on. Then, I walk out of the building and trek back to the rental. In record time, I have the rental returned, the plates swapped, and I’ve checked out of the lousy motel room.

It’ll take all night to get home, and I’ll be frozen to my core, but I don’t give a shit. The freezing pain is nothing compared to what Tinleigh’s endured over the years. If she can make it through that, I can do this.

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