Entrapment (Morelli Family 7.5)

I guess I’ve adequately sold my own depravity at this point, because he goes on to admit that Shelly jumped all over his ass when he went to bed that night and he told her about Mia’s flirting. Told me how Shelly assured him she would have a chat with her “fucking daughter” and how the next day she jumped all over Mia for trying to seduce her boyfriend.

Her 12-year-old fucking daughter.

Something gnaws away at my insides. I realize I haven’t asked the question I intended to ask, but I can’t now. I can’t find the will to speak at all.

Adrian comes into view, peeking his head inside to see if I’m done. I nod wordlessly and he calls for Alec over his shoulder.

A horrible silence overtakes the room once they’re back inside. They know me so they’re picking up my vibes, the violence I’m restraining. There’s also not much that makes me speechless. There’s not a lot that makes me feel sick to my stomach like I do now.

I need some air.

I leave Alec and Adrian in here without a word and head outside. The rain has stopped. It’s still dark. I suck a few deep breaths into my lungs, then I head to the car and grab the baseball bat under the seat.

When I rejoin the men, before Adrian has a chance to ask if everything is okay, I approach good ol’ Leroy from behind, plant my feet on the cement floor, and swing with enough force that he cries out and swings like a human piñata.

I keep at it like I really have a taste for some fucking candy.

When he starts to get too quiet, I toss the bat. Pull out my gun. Put a hand on his hip to steady his swinging body. He’s still alive, but that he’s gotten so quiet despite my continued assault makes me think maybe he won’t be for much longer.

There’s still one thing I really wanna do.

“You ever hear of kneecapping, Leroy?”

He doesn’t even groan.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan. When I do something, I like to do it right. Kneecapping is actually pretty hard to get right.” I trail my gun up his leg, pressing it into a depression at the back of his knee. “See, you have to be precise to fracture the kneecap. Not like you can’t do damage regardless, but if I say I’m gonna kneecap someone, I wanna fucking kneecap someone.”

His head hangs. His eyes are closed. Poor guy needs a little something to get his heart pumping.

So I squeeze the trigger.

A shrill scream escapes him, followed by another burst of moaning screams as the pain rips through him.

“Ah, there you are. I was beginning to think we were boring you. Anyway, that might have fractured bone, but maybe not. It’s hard to say. There are arteries and veins and nerves—it’s an imperfect science, and not something you get to practice every day, right? Especially me. I’ll confess, Leroy, I don’t ordinarily do this sort of thing myself. I made an exception for you. Do you feel special? You should.”

“So fucking special,” Adrian agrees, looking up at his bloody, sweaty, tear-stained face.

“I hadn’t firmly decided how I would kill you. I wanted to see what you had to say for yourself first. I should tell you, now that we know each other so intimately, I’m a shameless liar. Nothing you could have said to me would’ve convinced me to spare you. You and I are not alike. You see, one of the other things I hate is a weak man who can’t take responsibility for his own actions.”

I walk around so I can look up at him. “I did rape Mia. Everyone in this room knows that. You know what else we all know? That it wasn’t her fault. That I’m not some helpless asshole, lured in by her budding sexuality. You, you’re the kind of dickless fuck who blames a little girl for his predilections. I really don’t like that. Oh, wait. You’re not dickless, are you?”

Leroy is sobbing again. He understands where this is going.

I aim my gun between his legs and pull the trigger again.

Leroy howls in pain and I take several steps back as he screams bloody murder and bleeds all over the fucking place.

“Should I take him down?” Adrian asks.

“Yeah. Take him down. We need to kill him before he dies.”

Adrian snorts his amusement. “Yeah, wouldn’t want him to die before we kill him.”

“It would be a real shame.”

Alec comes over to help Adrian, but he is not happy. “You’re both fucking crazy. Are we cleaning this up?”

“Nah,” I say, watching. “Once you get this asshole down, call Xander and have him bring a crew. He’ll have to scrub the place down.”

There’s little life and no fight left in Leroy’s body now. A lot of times this close to the end they’ll get another burst, one last desperate grope at life.