Orion opened the cargo door and together we hoisted him into the van before peeling out into the darkness of night.
“We’ll take him to the service road junction out behind the quarry,” I instructed while binding his ankles and wrists with heavy-duty cable ties.
“That’ll take about twenty, twenty-five minutes. How long does that chloroform shit last?”
“Anywhere from fifteen minutes to half an hour, but don’t worry. If he starts to wake up, I’ll hit him with another dose.”
Fortunately, our captive remained silent for the rest of the trip, as did Orion and I. Small talk is a little tough to generate when you know you’re about to bludgeon a man untilhe’s unrecognizable to his own mother.
Once we reached our destination, we dragged Boneyard out of the van, stripped him to his bare ass, and tied his limp body, upright, to a nearby tree, and waited for him to regain consciousness.
“We should put our masks on now,” I said.
“I get keeping me anonymous, but why areyoumasking up? He’s already seen what you look like.”
“To keep his blood out of my face,” I replied. “Grab the toolbox from the van, will ya.”
A few minutes later, Boneyard began to stir.
“Looks like our friend is waking up,” Orion said from behind his mask.
“My head,” Boneyard moaned. “My head hurts.”
“You hit it pretty hard on the asphalt,” I said. “You’ve got a nasty gash on the left side of your scalp. It’s bleeding pretty good. You’ll need stitches, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that right now.”
“What the fuck is this?” Boneyard asked, struggling in his restraints.
“This is court,” I explained. “And I’m your judge, jury, and fucking executioner if I feel like it.”
“That mask don’t mean shit, Goldilocks. I know that’s you underneath.”
I lifted the mask and put a finger to my lips. “Shhhhhhhhhhh.”
“You’re a dead man,” Boneyard said. “You too, whoever the fuck you are,” he shouted at Orion. “You’reboth fucking dead.”
“Shut up and listen to me very carefully,” I said. “It’s time for you to come to terms with your current situation. You’re naked and tied to a tree out in the middle of nowhere at one o’clock in the morning. The guys who tied you up are wearing masks and have big-ass knives.” I unsheathed my Kukri and held it to his neck.
“Wha-wha-whatever you want, man. I’ll give it to you. I fu-fucking promise,” Boneyard sputtered out.
“I know you will,” I replied. “Because, what I’m after tonight is justice.”
“Ju-ju-justice?” Wh-what the fuck are you talking about, man? I don’t even know you.”
“That’s true. You don’t know us,but we know you and we know what you did.”
“Wh-what are you talk—”
I held my hand over his mouth and shook my head. “No, no, no. We’re not doing that. We’re not gonna stand here all night while you try to talk your way out of this, Delbert. That’s your name, right? Delbert Fisk?”
He nodded.
“Good,” I said, removing my hand from his mouth. “Now, let’s try this again. You’re a rapist, isn’t that right, Delbert?”
“Come on man, please just let me go and I promise I’ll—”
I reached down, grabbed the index finger of Boneyard’s left hand, and cut it off with my kukri. Boneyard screamed as blood spurted fromhis hand.
“One more chance, Delbert. You are a rapist, aren’t you?”
