Entrapment (Morelli Family 7.5)

I shrug, opening the side door and sliding inside. “You only live once.”

“You live a lot longer if you bring sober men to help you work.”

“If this limp-dick, out of shape asshole kills us, we deserve to die,” I state.

Adrian’s head rocks to the side. “That’s true.”

“Who are we killing?” Alec asks cheerfully.

“Some dickhole named Leroy,” Adrian explains.

Alec climbs in beside me and reaches for his seatbelt. “What’d poor old Leroy do?”

“Got handsy with a twelve-year-old,” I state.

Alec’s dark eyebrows rise in surprise. “We’re playing vigilantes now? Is this like when we used to play Batman and you assholes always made me be Alfred? I don’t want to be Alfred.”

Adrian doesn’t hide his faint amusement. “We’re not doing good deeds. The twelve-year-old was Mia.”

“That makes more sense,” Alec acknowledges, nodding his head.

“And Alfred is awesome,” Adrian adds.

“It’s boring to be Alfred. I could have been Robin!”

“I didn’t need a Robin,” Adrian states. “I had it handled.”

His head lolls back against the seat. “Are we killing this guy or just fucking him up? You guys are assholes, you could have told me to change clothes. This is a new suit.”

“Your suit will be fine,” I assure him. “We’ve got the guy handled; you’re just coming along for extra assurance.”

“I don’t want to be Captain Obvious, but wouldn’t it have been better to bring Vince on this mission to avenge his girlfriend’s honor?” Alec asks. “I know he doesn’t like you right now, but he wouldn’t like this guy either. Killing him together could’ve been a bonding experience.”

“I don’t want to bond with Vince,” I mutter. I still want to drown him in a toilet bowl, but I don’t add that.

“Maybe you should run a train on Mia and bond that way.”

“Jesus Christ,” Adrian says as Alec busts up laughing.

“Yeah, he’s fucking drunk. Oh well.”

“I’m fine. I’m good. I got this,” Alec insists.

By the time we grab supplies and get to Leroy’s place, Alec is passed out in the car. Adrian shakes his head as he walks around back to grab his bag. “This is why I never let him be my Robin,” he states.

I crack a smile as I climb out of the car. “Maybe you would’ve defeated me more often if you’d have brought a sidekick,” I suggest.

“Nah, you cheated. You would’ve just lured him over to your side and defeated me from within.”

“Hey, it’s a solid strategy,” I inform him.

“All of your strategies were pretty solid,” he says, throwing a length of rope over his shoulder. “Unfortunately, you’re a better villain than I am a hero.”

I give him a slap on the shoulder, drifting away from the car to check out the points of entry on the house. “Don’t feel bad. I’m a damn good villain.”

Closing the back of the car as quietly as he can manage, he hoists the bag on his shoulder and comes to stand beside me, looking at the house. “At least we’re on the right side of things tonight.”

I nod, then glance over at him. “On that, we can agree.”

Adrian reaches into the bag for his black leather gloves and pulls them on. “How should we play this? Good cop, bad cop? Give the asshole some hope before we rip it away? I’d kind of like to hear him ‘fess up to his crimes.”

“You don’t think Shelly lied?”

Shaking his head dismissively, he says, “No, I just want to hear him say it.”

I don’t personally give a single fuck if he admits it. He made his way into my crosshairs and now I just want to torture, terrify, and kill him. But if Adrian wants an admission of guilt, I can get it for him. Nodding once, I say, “All right.”

It’s the perfect time of night for this. The rain has slowed down but there’s still noise as it pelts the homes. The houses on this street are piled one on top of the next so the neighbors are close. That’s really my only concern, and even that’s a mild one.

Leroy’s most recent girlfriend ditched him a month ago. He doesn’t have pets or a roommate. He does have an eight-year-old daughter, but she lives with the mother, not him. I’m uncomfortable that he even has visitation rights. If Mia was 12 when he had sexual interest in her, 8 isn’t so far away.

No matter. This is Leroy’s last night among the living, so if he’s left a trail of victims behind him, that trail ends here.

Stupid asshole shouldn’t have touched Mia. Of course, when he did, she was a little girl without even her mother’s protection. No one could have predicted she’d ever have mine.

Surprise, motherfucker.

Getting into the house is easy. The challenging part may be getting him out of the house without waking the neighbors. Normally we could just knock the guy out, but I don’t want drugs in his system tonight. I want him awake and fully experiencing every one of his last moments.