Page 45 of Sinners' Appetite
“He attacked Nikki at the club she works for. I thought it was a random thief—so I killed him. Jeremy told me it was Justin.”
“Holy fuck. I wondered why I haven’t heard from him in a few days. He usually stops by to ask for money, or a ride somewhere.”
“I didn’t actually mean to kill him. He had a soft skull.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. He’s useless. I know what he did to Nikki last year.” she says in a sympathetic tone.
We drive for another half hour until Jessica points ahead to a road we’re approaching on the left. “Down this road. It shows some sort of building down here. I’m not sure what it is though.”
“We’ll have to find a place to park and then walk the rest of the way, so nobody sees us.” I say, pulling off onto the road. As I drive ahead a little further, I spot what looks to be an overgrown driveway, so I pull in and park the car behind an old abandoned shed.
The three of us get out of the car and Jessica checks her phone again. “He’s still there. It’s about a half hour walk if we walk through that section of woods.” She points to the treeline not far from where we’re standing.
“It’s getting dark. I’m not sure that we’ll be able to see much while we’re walking,” Jeremy warns.
“We don’t need to see anything. We have the map,” I reply, reaching into the passenger’s side door to grab my gun from the glove-box.
“You just drive around with that thing in your car?” Jessica asks.
“It’s America. Of course I do,” I shrug. “Are we ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,”
“That’s it. That’s the building that the map shows. He’s in there.” Jessica points ahead to the building in the distance.
“How do we approach it without being spotted?” I ask.
“At this point, I don’t really care if they do,” Jeremy says.
We walk closer to the building, and as we approach from the backside, we hear a vehicle nearby. Seconds later, the headlights are visible though the trees from where we’re standing.
“We have to hurry. The girls must be in this building somewhere.” I reach into my pocket and grab my gun, loading it quickly before peeking my head around the corner of the building.
The vehicle parks and turns off. Within seconds, I see a man and woman step out and walk toward the front.
“There has to be a different way in,” I suggest.
“I’ll go check around the side,” Jessica says. As she turns to walk away, I grab her arm and pull her back.
“It’s not safe for you to be wandering around by yourself. We have to stick together.”
“Let’s go then!” Jeremy impatiently whispers.
We slowly walk along the backside of the building and Jessica peeks her head around the side. “There’s a window,” she confirms.
I creep along the side, signaling for them to stay put. When I get to the broken window, I lift my head to the edge and peek in, unable to see much of anything inside aside from boxes at first. Then, I see movement.
I turn my head toward Jessica and Jeremy, motioning for them to join me. When I look back through the window, I see the man and woman sitting down on some old chairs, their eyes fixated on something that’s not in my view.
“She’s a beauty, Theo,” the woman says.
The man nods his head. “She looks stronger than the last one, dear.”
“Only one way to find out.” She laughs.
Just then, I hear someone else speak. “So, did you bring the full payment?”
“Of course we did,” the man confirms.
