Page 85 of The Villain

A juvie intakes list, Evangeline Lane, aggravated assault. She was arrested at home. The cops noted that her parents looked relieved to see her go. She confessed.

Evie owed and she paid.

I pace away from the computer and end up prowling the house in a rage.

I try to find some sense of calm but it’s just out of reach. When I’m done I’m looking the fuckers up. They’re going on a list. Mine.

I’ll know them from the inside out so I know just where to hit to make it hurt. I’m going to take everything from them. Once they’re broken mentally I’m going to physically torture them for as long as I can stand to look at them. Then I’m going to kill them.

A weight drops from my shoulders. That’s done. It’s going to happen. The plan is starting to roll. I can move on.

I drop back in my chair and open a new search for the one name I have.

James Enderson.

A giant front page article of the former star football player accused of sexual assault. There’s a big picture of him and a young girl who looks like the poster child for innocence. It’s an open and shut case. Rape kit. Sympathetic cops. They don’t even mention that this is the second time he’s been accused. Like Evie slipped through the cracks without anyone noticing. Her name is nowhere on this.

I want him to scream while he dies.

Two years. That’s how long he got in jail for rape. One count, not two. Two fucking years. The urge to destroy everything in the room is almost overwhelming.

I take a break to calm down. Shower. Get in pajamas. Make a tea.

Then like a sore tooth I go back to it.

James fucking Enderson marries a rich girl. It improves his image. His past is virtually forgotten.

Two years later he disappears. No trace.

The gossip columns say he ran off with a lover. The wife supports the claim. She has a new boyfriend before a week goes by. She didn’t report him missing, his parents did.

He’s gone.

I lean back in my chair, frustrated.

The second allegation didn’t include any other names.

I stick with the one I’ve got, determined to track the piece of shit down.

No hits on anything after his disappearance. Birth date, social security, bank ID, driver’s license. None of it has been used since the date of his disappearance.

The guy is dead, no two ways about it.

I fiddle with my figurine to release some tension as I debate.

Tera’s voice starts echoing around my head and I close my eyes in realization.

“She’s a super villain, Shade…”

Evie killed him. Without me.

Whatever she did to him wasn't enough. I don’t care if she kept him in a bunker for three years torturing him. It wasn’t enough. She didn’t know I was out here waiting any more than I knew to look for her.

I want to shake her. Ask her why she didn’t wait for me. It doesn’t make any sense and it isn’t fair to her. This anger and helplessness needs to go somewhere.

I open a tab for missing persons and cross reference them with the high school yearbook.

Four other names match up in the algorithm. All four football players. One stayed in town, like Enderson. Two were in Georgia. The last in Maryland. All missing without a trace.

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