Page 79 of Pure Vengeance

Knowing I didn’t have much time, I wrapped his body in the plastic, then dragged him into the bathroom and shut the door behind me to hide my handiwork. Either Matt or George would be next, and I wasn’t sure which one I’d prefer.

Not that it mattered much. They were both going to die.

Working quickly, I spread out another sheet of plastic. Just in time too. I barely made it into the shadows of the secret alcove next to the bed before Matt walked in.

“Enrique?” Frowning, he glanced at the plastic, then shrugged and moved close enough to look under the bed. He straightened, then turned to face the exit.

Before he could move, I slapped a gloved hand over his mouth and slit his throat, exactly as I’d done for Enrique. Air whistled through the hole in his windpipe as I lowered him to the plastic.

“Again, you have only yourself to blame,” I whispered as he died.

I tried to feel bad about what I was doing. Maybe some small bit of me was screaming at the wrongness, but it was more wrong to let them live. All I had to do was imagine them getting their slimy hands on another little girl. Maybe they wouldn’t stop with emotional and physical abuse either. Maybe…

My guilt faded as I wrapped him in plastic and dragged him into the bathroom with Enrique.

“One to go.” I moved faster as I laid out fresh plastic. George wouldn’t wait as long this time.

As I crept into my hiding place, I heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. The thickly carpeted hallway muffled the sound, but I could hear their conversation.

“Damn it,” George said, puffing slightly as he walked into Lachlan’s bedroom, dragging Saoirse behind him. “I should have done this myself.”

He yanked Saoirse’s arm, and I grimaced when I saw her face. She looked almost as bad as I usually did after one of my father’s visits, but I hadn’t counted her into my plans.

As long as he let her go before he got into position, everything would be fine, but I hated the thought of traumatizing her.

“Good help is so hard to find,” Lachlan replied, his voice warming me from the inside. “I’m billing them for a new bed.”

“You assholes!” George shouted as he stomped close enough to let me smell his stench. “Where?—”

Frowning, he looked at the neatly made bed, which had not a single spot of blood on it, thank you very much.

“Where are they?”

“Maybe they’re in the cage with her,” Lachlan replied. “There might be room enough for three if they’re friendly.”

“And what’s with the plastic?” George moved almost within reach, and I tightened my hand around my knife hilt.

“Be serious. That carpet is almost six hundred per square foot. Do you honestly expect me to let a filthy pet on it?”

I grinned at Lachlan’s response, but he had a point—and good taste in decorating.

Finally, thankfully, he dropped Saoirse’s arm and moved within reach. The minute he turned to face Lachlan, I slid from my hiding place.

This time, I didn’t bother to cover my victim’s mouth as I set my knife to his throat. There was no one left to rescue him.

“Hey, Georgie Porgy! Didja miss me?”

“What the?—”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence.

Lachlan

“Hey.” Natasha knelt next to Saoirse but didn’t touch her. “You’re safe now. They’re all gone.”

“Gone?” Saoirse tried to open both eyes, but the left was too swollen to allow it. “No. I don’t see them. They’ll come back for me. I?—”

The tears thickening my sister’s voice broke my heart. My thirst for vengeance already cost me my wife, and I almost lost my sister too.

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