Flames

“Well, what the fuck do we have here? What in the fuck of hell happened to your face?”

Tim eyeballed Liam, who was leaned up against the stairs. “Jesus Christ Almighty alive, I feel like we should get Layla back down here to help us sort these asshole fuckwads out.”

Lucas rushed up behind him and knelt down. “Drag his sorry ass back here with us. No one dies until I’ve had my fun.”

Heath and the others had rounded up every single last person they could find and then took them to the back of the underground area.

“Shit on me, man…” Tim stared at Paul’s body as Lucas smiled.

“Too bad I wasn’t able to do it,” Lucas said, kicking the dead man in the ribs. “Good fucking riddance. Get him in the room with the others. Show them their future.”

Wanda and Billy were seated together. Wanda was passed out on Billy’s shoulder. All of them—including ones none of them knew—were bound and gagged.

“Colt, nice to see you.” Lucas nodded. “Remember, fellas. No killing until we’ve had our fun.”

“What about the police?” Lyle asked.

“Perkins is handling the law enforcement part. We’re handling the vigilante justice part.”

“Y’all are some sick fucks,” Ron said, referring to the traffickers.

He had escorted Sylvia out of the underground area and had told Gretchen to take Layla and Sylvia to the hospital.

“We can clearly fucking see that there have been more people here and don’t you worry—this is personal. We already have some of your cronies back at the house and they are ~talking~.”

“That means”—Heath chuckled—“you don’t have to, and we can get this out of the way. I’ve brought some tools, but I certainly will not be putting my effort into pieces of shit like you all. My torture is painful, but it’s quick.”

“Bro, you ripped out some guy’s tongue last year,” Lyle reminded him.

Heath sighed. “God, what a fucking amazing memory.”

Lucas kicked Colt in the face. “That’s just because you talked to her.”

“Damn, Foster.” Tim laughed. “Just because he talked to her? Well, what about when he hit on her?”

Another kick.

“Or when he touched her?”

Another.

“Or when he fucked her…”

Another and another and another.

“Lucas!” Ron bellowed. “Let him live at least a few more minutes. I need to get some licks in too.”

Tony was staring at Paul, who’d been propped up next to him.

“Are you fucking crying?” Heath asked the older man. “Tell me you’re not.”

Tony shook his head.

“He’s crying, my guys.” Heath laughed. “You know, I don’t really give a diddly fucking damn that he was your kid. Maybe—~maybe~—if he was a lost soul caught up in this I might, but he was just as twisted.”

“Should we call this one Cheeky?” Tim poked Liam in the face with the board he’d taken from the floor next to where they’d found Liam. “I want to. I’m going to.”

“Where are the others?” Lucas asked.

“Perkins said they’re out in the ring, but those guys are going straight to the clinky dink!” Tim said, pulling up a chair and settling in front of Larry. “What should I do with this fuckface?”

“Leave him for me,” Lucas growled.

A few more of Lucas’s men came in, their arms full of different devices.

“Perkins know about this?” Tim asked.

“Know what?” Heath winked.

Lucas would have killed them all, all of these people who didn’t deserve to breathe again, but he focused on the ones who’d hurt his girl—his little hippie.

“This is my favorite part,” Lyle said. “The part where we don’t give a fuck what you say because you were dead five minutes ago.”

Moans and some grunting were heard throughout the room.

“Looks like Cheeky’s pissing his pants, bro,” Tim pointed out. “What? Something wrong? Going to meet the devil soon, motherfucker. If only I could be there to see them torture you for all eternity.”

“If you get lucky, maybe you’ll be his punisher in the afterlife,” Heath joked.

“I am a saint, asshat.” Tim guffawed.

Lucas was pacing. He needed to get the hell out of there and back to Layla.

“Shall we begin?” one of the other men who’d joined them asked.

Lucas nodded, stopping in front of Colt. “Fingers and toes first. Then ears, eyes, tongue…”

“Then their dicks!” Lyle smiled. “What about this bitch?” He pointed to Wanda.

Lucas took out his gun and shot her in the head. “Done.”

Billy screamed behind his gag as his wife fell into his lap.

“Begin,” Lucas said. “Don’t touch Larry or Liam. I’ll take care of them myself.”

***

Gretchen had taken Layla and Sylvia to the hospital under the protection of one of the officers on Perkins’s team.

“I need him! Please!” Layla said over and over again as they washed her and redressed her after taking her vitals and letting Shelly sit by her daughter’s side. “What’s taking so long?! Where’s Dad?”

Gretchen smiled. “Perkins said if anything dire happened, he’d call me.”

“What if something’s happened to all of them? What if Perkins is dead?”

“Honey, calm down,” Shelly said, looking over at Sylvia, who was being tended to by Gretchen now. Shawna and Devon had stopped by, but they were only privy to a few details.

“He’ll be fine. Lucas will be just fine, darlin’,” Shawna reassured Layla.

She wouldn’t be okay until she was in his arms again.

***

Lucas sat down in front of Larry, who was showing little to no emotion.

“How could you do this? For how long? How many people?” He removed the gag, and Larry shrugged.

“To as many people as I fucking wanted to.”

“Gimme the blowtorch,” Lucas commanded, not turning around but keeping his eyes on his uncle’s.

Larry squirmed. “What the hell are you going to do?”

“I am burning you, dumbass.” Lucas chuckled. “And I’ve got a long time before all of this is over, so I can go real slow along this flesh of yours.”

Liam, not looking great at all, fell to his father’s side, groaning.

“Layla sure did a number on your face there, cousin.” Lucas grinned. “I’m sorry for Courtney and the kids, but they don’t deserve you—unless they knew about all of this?”

Liam shook his head as Lucas ripped the gag out of his cousin’s mouth. “Mom didn’t know either.”

Lucas nodded. “I kinda figured. You were always a suspicious little cunt.”

“Bro, I think this one’s dead already,” Heath called from across the room. “Don’t you fucking die on me, Colt! I’m not done with you yet.”

“He’s passed out. How many fingers did you take off?”

“I don’t know…” Heath counted, “One, two… Oh! Five… Never mind.”

Lucas turned back to Liam and Larry. “This will not be slow and it will not be pleasant. You will scream, you will cry, and you will beg me to stop, but I won’t stop. You will think of Layla the entire fucking time I’m doing every damn thing I’m about to do to you.”

Lucas lit the torch and smiled. “You’re already dead.”

***

“As much as I love to sit around and chat, we gotta get this show on the road,” Lyle said as the men tossed Wanda and Billy into the room at the place in the woods.

“Firefighters on the take? What’s up? Can we set this bitch on fire and watch it burn or what? I’m hungry,” he continued. “Where’s Perkins?”

A black sedan pulled in and out stepped Perkins and a few of his men. “They’re dead?”

Lucas nodded. “Go in and see for yourself. Want to arrest us? Go ahead and do that too.”

Perkins shook his head. “I keep my word. We got a shit ton of evidence and a lot of cold cases are popping right now. My colleague found out his daughter was killed, buried in the woods somewhere around here.

“You know the rules. Do it. Make it look like an accident, but we’ll let the world know what they’ve done.”

Lucas sighed and turned to his men. “Light it up, boys.”