And wasn’t sure if I wanted to.
“I don’t give a shit about money,” I said, speaking as slowly as I could. “Eight thousand isn’t enough to get me to murder someone, anyway.”
Her hands turned into fists. “I can get more. Give me some time. I can get—”
I stepped forward and grabbed her by the hair before she could finish that sentence. I leaned forward and stared into her eyes, my mouth inches from hers. The white plume of her breath misted across my lips, and I wanted to smother her with my tongue so badly it hurt.
“I don’t want money,” I said, my voice a husky growl. “I want something only you can give me.”
“What?”
She didn’t move. Like a mouse caught in a trap.
“Rumor says you’re still a virgin. Is that true?”
Her mouth fell open. Her jaw worked. Then she snapped it shut again and nodded once, pulling her hair in my fist.
I felt my cock swell and stiffen at the pure anger in her eyes.
“That’s what I want. Give me your virginity, and I’ll murder this pedophile piece of trash for you.”
Silence. Only the laughter and the vague thump of music. A car rolled down the street, going slow. It didn’t seem to notice me gripping Cora’s hair in my fist like I owned her.
Which I would if I did this.
So much could go wrong. I could end up in prison for a very long time.
But the thought of finally releasing my tension in the ultimate expression of anger was too much to bear, especially with Cora’s unclaimed body tossed into the mix. She might burn with me, but at least we’d burn for good reason.
I had few morals. I did bad things. But I believed in justice, and little Cora deserved to get her revenge.
I’d never taken a life before, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t start now.
“Fine,” she whispered, lips hanging open, “if you kill him, I’ll have sex with you.”
My grip tightened. Her jaw flexed, but she didn’t complain.
“More than that. You’ll give yourself to me. You’ll be my little toy, freak. I’ll fuck you, again and again, until I’ve had my fill.”
“I’m not going to be some fucking sex slave.” She struggled against me, but I held tight. “We have to do it one time. You take my virginity and that’s it. I’ll still pay you the eight thousand.”
I looked at her for several long beats of my heart.
Eight thousand dollars was meaningless to me. I’d grown up without money, and I’d die without it too.
But her virginity? That was important.
Only one person could have it, and that man would be me.
“All right.” I released her. She took a step back, breathing fast. “Meet me later tonight and we’ll discuss this.”
“Wait, what? No, I want to talk about it now.”
I pushed past her. I had some thinking to do. Murder wasn’t to be taken lightly. “We’ll talk more later.”
“Jarrod, it’s already past ten.”
“Meet me at midnight. There’s an abandoned lot three streets down from here. There’s an old RV in the very back.”
I didn’t wait for her to complain. I stalked off to the house, head buzzing like I’d been punched in the nose.
Cora Boyle truly was a freak.
The little space cadet had a dark secret.
She’d been hurt, and nobody believed her.
But I did. Nobody tried to hire a killer without good reason.
I’d give her what she wanted, but I’d get my fun first.
I pushed in through the front door. The bros were still in the kitchen taking another shot.
They looked wasted. Sloppy.
I grabbed a beer from the keg, chugged it, then chugged another.
I figured I’d try to make this a fair fight.
After my third, I tossed the cup aside and approached the three arrogant fucks, thoughts of Cora and murder dancing in my head.
3
Cora
I was losing my mind.
Or maybe I’d already lost it. Normal, sane people didn’t try to hire their best friend’s cousin to murder someone.
To be fair, the bastard deserved to die.
But still. Definitely crazy.
And coming to this empty field in the middle of the night only made the case for my mental stability that much worse.
It was cold, a chilly mid-December evening. The moon was bright, but the trees growing up around the property blocked out most of the stars. I stood in their shadows, moving from foot to foot, trying to stay warm. A raw stump poked out from the earth nearby, and several rusting wheels languished next to a sticker bush. I could only guess at the other trash I couldn’t see and reminded myself not to walk around barefoot unless I wanted to step on a needle.
The street was quiet. I could still hear the distant thump of bass from the party, ridiculously loud in an otherwise nice neighborhood. Addler’s parents lived in a McMansion in a development filled with McMansions, and with the exception of the expanse of deserted land I stood in, everything was pristine and white and painted and nice.