“This guy’s not gonna last much longer,” Joshua grunted beside me.
I peered over my right shoulder at my third youngest son. “You want him to?”
Joshua turned those emerald green eyes my way. “We’ve been out here almost two hours.”
“He deserves worse,” Aaron grunted from my left.
“Much worse.” That was Carter, the eldest of the group.
“Fucking scumbag!” Tyler yelled, landing a vicious elbow to Morris’ face. I’m sure that one cracked his cheekbone.
“I’m just saying, we’ve all got better things to do than to watch this piece of trash take his last breath. Can we end it and go home to our wives and kids?” Joshua insisted. “He could be here all damn day.” Josh turned to me.
I slowly nodded my head. He was right. It was high time to put an end to this. I casually looked around the forested area. I knew no one was there besides us. We were on privately owned land that had been in the Townsend family for generations. I took one step, then another. The crunch of the leaves beneath my running shoes didn’t deter Tyler from continuing his torment on Morris.
“Ty,” I called.
No response as he murmured something in Morris’ ear. Whatever he said caused Morris’ one non-swollen eye to bulge open, and he began squirming again, trying to break free.
“Tyler!” I called again.
And again, he didn’t even acknowledge my presence.
Little fucker.
He was always the most hard-headed of the group, which was why I insisted that he be put in sports in the first place. Even when Deborah disagreed with me. He needed more discipline and structure outside of the home as well as inside just to keep his ass in line. Football gave him that.
“I’m going to kill everyone you love and ever thought about loving. Even your pet goldfish won’t survive once I’m fucking done with you!” Tyler growled, low next to Morris’ ear.
“Tyler Joseph Townsend! That’s enough!” I stated firmly.
Though I could only make out his profile, I saw when he blinked. Slowly he turned his head toward me. His eyes were so foggy, filled with rage and hatred for the man who’d dared to do harm to his family. I knew that look. I was the first to wear it in the family. But that was a story for another day.
“Finish him so we can all get back to our families,” I ordered.
Tyler narrowed his gaze on me, and I just knew he was itching to defy me. His eyes went over my shoulder to his brothers before returning to me. He was warring over what to do as he turned back to face Morris. His hands tightened into fists.
“Destiny, Travis, Annalise, and Tristan,” I reminded him.
That seemed to do the trick. His chest deflated a little as he pushed out a heavy breath. His hands loosened, no longer balled into fists.
“I have a guy that’ll drop him back off at the prison. Make it look like a casualty of jailhouse fight. It’s time to wrap this up.”
Tyler nodded.
I turned my back and began walking back in the direction of my other sons. I heard the final blows of Tyler’s that ended Phillip Morris’ life. Once I turned around, I watched Tyler cut the rope from the tree with the scissors he’d used on Phillip Morris earlier. The limp body fell to the ground. Tyler stepped over it and began removing his bloody T-shirt.
“Come on, bro. You need a fucking shower,” Joshua commented. “I got somewhere to put your clothes,” he stated, holding his hand out for the clothing.
Tyler nodded.
Within thirty minutes, Tyler had cleaned himself up and changed into an entirely new outfit, the clean up crew had retrieved Morris’ body and sent him on his way back to the jail, to be found the next morning, and my boys and I were on our way back to Williamsport, to our wives.
I know, I know. Pretty unconventional way for a father to spend quality time with his sons. But to know me is to understand there isn’t very much that’s conventional about me.
“Time to head home—”
“No, I’ve got another stop to make. Josh,” Tyler called. “You’ve got what I asked for?”
