The very start of what this asshole has coming to him, I think.
I walk past the entrance of his apartment building and pause several yards away under a broken streetlamp. There, I inhale the last of my cigarette before stamping out the butt on the wet concrete. Josh climbs the stairs to his building, and with a savage streak of pleasure, I notice that he moves rather gingerly up the steps.
I wait there for several more minutes until I see the lights turn on in his apartment. Second floor, three windows from the right. A tight smile spreads across my lips. As it always did, my patience was about to pay off.
We were in for quite a night, him and I.
____________________
A little less than an hour later, I’m locking the large deadbolt on the potting shed door. Taking Josh tonight was almost tooeasy. He hadn’t even bothered to lock the front door to his apartment.
“Ahhhhh!” a scream sounds out behind me but is muffled by a thick strip of duct tape.
“We’re going to be here for a while, Josh,” I reply turning over my shoulder, “so you might as well get comfortable and shut the fuck up.”
I glance out the window of the potting shed, knowing full well that not a soul will be out here. Not at this hour in the rain, and not this far from the city. I let my eyes fall for a moment on the lush garden out the window, and across the multicolor blooms that grace the small plot of land. My mother’s garden. Her one safe haven amidst the darkness and chaos of our home.
For good measure, I check the security camera footage on my phone one last time. Carefully, I watch the feed from both the Bronwin and Pearson front and back doors. With an errant pang of guilt, I swipe over to the interior cameras as well. Kat is standing in the kitchen, dressed head to toe in her usual black, bent over the stove, cooking herself some actual dinner.Huh, I think,that’s new.She checks her phone before quickly laying it face down on the counter. Seconds later, she picks it up and checks it again.
Waiting to hear from me, angel?I wonder.
I’m about to text her when a muffled yell sounds from the man behind me once again.
“Ahhhhh,” Josh screams in protest, this time drawing out the choked yell for as long as possible.
“That’s enough,” I bark at him, pocketing my phone and sighing. Katherine will just have to wait.
I roll my neck as I approach the man bound to the table, and I give his lower leg a hard pat.Josh yanks on the heavy silver chains binding his wrists and legs, fruitlessly.
“You know what, Josh?’ I start, “I think I actually tweaked my back dragging you into my trunk tonight. You’re such a fuckinginconvenience.”
My hand grasps an old pair of pliers, with rust twinging the edges of the rubber handles. I lift them up to show the pitiful excuse for a human laying on my table.
“Now, Josh,” I drawl languidly, “I want you to tell me why you attacked Dr. Pearson the other night.”
Josh’s scrawny form writhes beneath the chains and he turns his head away from me. Without warning, I seize one of his hands and grip a fingernail with the pliers. I yank hard and the nail pops free. The muffled scream pierces the air around us. I roll my shoulders and rip the tape from his mouth.
“Why did you attack her?” I ask again.
Josh pants in clear pain, but presses his lips together in a firm line, clearly telling me I can fuck right off. Unfortunately, that won’t do. That won’t do at all.
Pluck.I remove another nail. This time, unencumbered by the duct tape, his scream reverberates loudly throughout the shed.
“Ready?” I ask calmly.
“Fuck OFF,” he spits at me.
Pluck.
Scream.With force, I slap the duct tape back over his mouth and round the table.
“Alright I get it. I’m sure you had your reasons. But the thing is, youreallyshould have thought twice before attacking Dr. Pearson. That was a really fucking stupid idea, man.” And I let a low chuckle escape my lips as I go on. “I mean, of all the stupid ideas you’ve had in your pathetic fucking life, that honestly might have been the worst one.”
He moans loudly, a piteous sound muffled behind the tape.
“Well? Don’t you want to know why?” I ask in a whisper as I lean in close.
Josh’s eyes dart around my face, betraying his growing fear. He bites and spits under the tape, thrashing from his spread-eagle position. The heavy chains jangle and thud against the polished oak of the table.
