What the hell. Every bad guy needed one. Right?
Maybe I was being too flippant about what we’d just done. While I’d never had any affection for bullies during any portion of my life or career, I’d only actively taken a stand against one once in my life.
Other than while serving in the Marines.
This felt entirely different. As if I’d turned a page, suddenly becoming the person I’d fought so hard to prosecute. Even worse than the acceptance of what I’d just undertaken was that I felt no guilt in doing so.
I had to wonder what kind of man that made me.
CHAPTER 14
Hudson
It was kill or be killed.
That was something I’d heard from one monster who’d waltzed into my courtroom. When asked by his attorney why he’d taken the lives of four individuals, two of which had been innocent bystanders, that had been his answer. He’d made the statement as if everyone sitting on the jury would understand.
His look of surprise when the verdict had been read and he’d been found guilty on all counts seemed out of place. At least to me. However, his world was and theirs would always be different. It was the survival of the fittest, only the strongest and most ruthless men and women surviving.
Some monsters were a product of their upbringing. Some longed to please whatever master they’d attached themselves to. Even social media had a solid influence. All the experts and the thousands of studies on human psyche had arrived at the same conclusion.
Everyone had a dark side. The difference was in the makeup of our moral code as to how far we’d be willing to go over the line. Not only with heinous crimes, but also with any of a dozen sinful proclivities.
Sex.
Drugs.
Women.
Torture.
That left me questioning whether my moral turpitude had someone gotten skewed by sitting in the courtroom, trying to comprehend the minds of both criminals and the jury.
“Your witness is inside,” Chase said as soon as I climbed out of my truck.
“She has a name. Valentina.”
“You know it occurred to me that by using their names, we’d find ourselves getting too close.”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
He suddenly appeared uncomfortable. “Because we might not be able to save them all.”
His words were more hard hitting than I could have imagined. Was he right? Yes. But not this time. I would do everything in my power to keep Valentina safe.
“I assume she followed orders.”
He chuckled. “She did. She even took the back roads to get here. We weren’t followed.”
“Good.”
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” He glanced at the duffle bag I was holding, the end of the bat sticking out by over a foot.
“Are you going to tell me why you sent backup?”
“Because you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s obvious.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “You mean you didn’t believe I would go through with keeping her safe.”
