Convict (Sin City Salvation 2)

Pulling to a stop, I unchained the youngest man first. He was probably in his early thirties. Old enough to know better by any stretch of the imagination. I waved him forward with the pistol I’d taken from his own hand when I’d caught him with his pants around his ankles. He moved along reluctantly, marching forward until I told him to stop.

I tossed him a shovel and pulled up a lawn chair, lighting up a blunt while I gestured to the ground. “Dig.”

As I’d expected, his eyes darted around as he considered his options. But they were few and far between out in this wasteland. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Just like Birdie’s nightmare.

“C’mon, man,” he pleaded. “I have a fucking family.”

“You got kids?” I feigned interest as I released the smoke from my lungs.

“Yes. Two girls,” he answered.

“Huh,” I muttered. “Are they older than the one you were trying to fuck tonight?”

His lip curled in disgust. “I care about those girls. It’s not like you think. When you say it so crudely—”

“That’s because it is fucking crude.” I leaned forward, my eyes cutting over his face. “You’re a filthy pig who doesn’t deserve to call himself a man or a fucking human at that. Now shut your mouth and dig.”

I flicked the ashes from my hand and watched as he got started. His heart wasn’t in it, and he was sobbing like a goddamn baby after just a few shovelfuls. He was coming to terms with his fate, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t last much longer.

He proved my theory correct when he dropped the shovel and bolted into the fading light of the desert. Without hesitation or thought, I aimed for his back and pulled the trigger. He crumpled to the ground, and just like that, it was all over. And so the process continued as I dragged two more out and forced them to dig a hole wide and deep enough for their final resting place. It took most of the night before the task was complete.

When I lined them up and forced them to kneel, I realized just how much of an animal I was. I felt nothing but vindication when I pulled that trigger. The loss of their lives was no loss at all when I covered them over and left the evidence behind, driving off into the darkness. I didn’t know what that said about me.

I’d seen death. I’d been accused and imprisoned for it. But committing myself to it in the name of the only righteousness I believed in, I was finally free. Fuck what anyone else thought. For Birdie, I’d do it every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

“This is a nice little place you’ve got here.”

Brentwood snapped his attention to me and froze with his hand still on the light switch. He looked like he’d seen a ghost, and I wasn’t surprised. This cabin was out in the middle of nowhere, and I doubted he received many visitors.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing in my house?” he demanded.

“It seems we have a common interest,” I answered. “But I think you already know that, don’t you, you sick fuck? Your shrine is a level of disgusting I don’t even know how to touch on.”

His face blanched as he glanced toward his bedroom where all his dirty little secrets were exposed. Items he’d stolen from Birdie when she was younger. Her pajamas, her dolls, and even a lock of her hair. But that wasn’t the extent of it. He’d been watching her for months, as evidenced by his extensive journal entries detailing every encounter. His perversion was the kind that could only be cured with a bullet.

“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” he muttered as he moved for his weapon, but he shouldn’t have bothered.

“I’ll take that.” Kodiak appeared in the door behind him, cocking his .45 and digging it into Brentwood’s scalp.

“Fuck you,” Brentwood snarled as Kodiak pried his weapon from its holster. “Do you even realize what the fuck you’re getting yourselves into here? Fucking with a cop? You’ll go down for life.”

“Will we?” I arched a brow at him. “The way I see it… your reputation won’t be so shiny once they tear this place apart.”

Brentwood’s eyes pierced right through me. He wanted to murder me and take what belonged to me. Kodiak didn’t trust that I would keep my cool, and he was right to come with me. As it stood, I wanted to destroy Brentwood with my bare hands. I wanted to beat him bloody and cut his dick off and then shove it down his own throat until he choked on it. But that couldn’t happen.

“How did you even find this place?” Brentwood asked as Kodiak ushered him inside and shut the door behind them.