Entrapment (Morelli Family 7.5)

Leroy starts trying to talk again, jerking his head toward his closet. “Your valuables?” Adrian guesses, his focus on the intricate knots he’s tying.

More nodding from Leroy the marshmallow man.

Nobody moves for the closet.

Adrian now has the ropes all tied to each other, halfway to hog-tied. Since there are two of us and if we were burglars I should be searching for valuables while Adrian handles Leroy the loser, he grows apprehensive. That story doesn’t check out.

Now that he’s all trussed up, Adrian grabs Leroy and pulls him close, doing his patented soulless stare. “We’re gonna go for a little ride, Leroy. We can do it one of two ways. You can walk downstairs and save me a little upper body work, or I can pistol whip you in the back of the head and drag your ass downstairs. Can’t promise I won’t cause some damage. I’m gonna be pissed, and when I get pissed, I tend not to take care. You may not even make it to the destination alive. That’d be a real shame. So, should we do it the easy way?”

Adam’s apple bobbing, Leroy nods his head.

Only when we get to the staircase, he decides to try to be a badass and attempt to shove Adrian down the stairs with his massive, saggy shoulder. Adrian does miss a step, but he catches himself on the wall and turns back to glare.

I grab our hogtied friend and yank him back forcefully enough to knock him to the ground. He scurries, but I give him a solid kick in the side for his efforts.

“Hard way it is,” Adrian states, grabbing him by the ankles and dragging him down the stairs. Leroy whines and groans along every bump. I love it. He tries to shove Adrian down the stairs and then cries when we aren’t nice afterward. What a stupid fucking asshole.

Once at the bottom, Adrian releases Leroy’s ankles. He promptly tries to wriggle away. I cock my head and watch him struggle. It’s quite sad. He rolls this way and that, but because of the way Adrian has him tied up, every movement is painful in one way or another. If it’s not hell on his joints, the hardness of his bound hands must feel like a rock digging into his lower back. The floor is hard, his body big and heavy. Every move he makes is painful. He’s already sweating like a pig and we’ve barely begun. This is fucking tragic. I expected some satisfaction out of this, but it feels like killing a three-legged dog with cataracts—so unsportsmanlike.

“Is this really the best she could do?” I ask Adrian, shaking my head. “I understand she doesn’t have a lot going for her and she’s not the most fascinating woman to carry on a conversation with, but she’s not ugly. Surely she could do better than this.”

Adrian shakes his head, checking the windows to make sure no lights came on. We haven’t been loud so it’s unlikely it would be related to us, but before we haul this asshole out to the car, he needs to make sure we have a clear path.

“I couldn’t tell you. If I liked guys and pedophilic slobs like these were my only options, I’d stay single.” Apparently getting an all clear, Adrian comes back to stand over the guy’s head. “Are you gonna keep being an asshole, Leroy? I can knock you unconscious if you are.”

Leroy doesn’t believe us anymore, so he thrashes. Even as unimpressive as he is, this waste of a person has enough instincts to know he’s fighting for his life here—as insignificant as it may be, it’s all he’s got. Some pain and discomfort would be worthwhile if it meant escape.

Of course, it won’t, but he hasn’t accepted that yet.

It’s hard for a man to accept his own end.

Adrian decides to go outside alone first so he can open the car and ditch his bag. As soon as he opens the door to slip out, Leroy tries to scream for help.

I shake my head in feigned disappointment. “You just don’t learn, do you?”

He rolls onto his side and manages to get over on his stomach, but without the use of his arms he can’t crawl away. I kick him hard in the side. He cries out like a bitch and I do it again.

By the time Adrian gets back inside, Leroy has stopped fighting and started crying. Actual tears. They could be fear, since he can wager now he’s going to die, or maybe pain. I may have kicked him too many times and busted his ribs.

No matter.

Leroy cries some more as Adrian hauls him out to the car. He cries out once for help and I punch him hard in the same side I kicked while Adrian was outside. The guy is already completely miserable. He’s making this too easy. He better not die on me before I’m ready. I will be so pissed.