I cupped the back of her head, stroking her hair.
"If you really want to help. There's someone we need to have a conversation with," I said.
"And by conversation you mean…" She looked at me questioningly, but without flinching.
"I mean whatever ends up happening," I said. "Possibly a long, slow, painful death."
Leif punched the air. "Hell yeah. I need a bit more leather for a new pair of boots."
Sable stared at him. "You… For real?" Her voice squeaked a little.
He grinned. "Cupcake, you have a lot to learn."
If that didn't scare her off, I suspected nothing would.
I glanced at my watch. "It's only a few blocks away. We're going to have to hurry to catch up to Woody."
"Yeah, we can't let him have all the fun without us, can we?" Leif asked.
"Absolutely not," Sable agreed.
I wasn't sure if she knew what she was getting herself into, but it didn't seem like she was backing down.
"Let's go and unalive some people then," I said, offering her my hand.
CHAPTER 21
SABLE
"What did they do?" I asked on our way there. "I mean, if we're going to do something to them, shouldn't I know why?"
"Of course you should," Forrest agreed. "The man we're going to talk to was a security guard at a house for women with disabilities."
I winced. "Please tell me he didn't…"
"He did, or at least he tried to." His eyes flashed with anger. "He was caught before he could go too far, and fired. Because there was insufficient evidence, he was allowed to walk."
"That's horrible," I said. My stomach twisted. What was it with some people? They were sick. "What else?"
There was definitely more to this story. Did I want to know? No, but I needed to.
"I found evidence of his previous employer," Leif said. "Similar deal. He's really good at not being caught."
"Until now," I said.
"Until now," Forrest agreed.
"That must have been frustrating," I said. "Knowing someone has done horrible things but not being able to put them behind bars where they belong."
"That's why we started doing this," Forrest said. "Because it's not okay. Too many people get away with too many things."
"How long have you been…doing this?" I asked carefully, as we walked past a group of people waiting for the light to change so they could cross the road.
"A couple of years," Leif said. "We met through mutual acquaintances. Figured since we had the same mission in life, we might as well join together and help each other."
"Same with Woody," Forrest said. "Met through mutual acquaintances. He can be a loose cannon, as you know, but he's as committed to this as we are."
"When he's not trying to kill me," I said dryly. "I hope he's not too committed to following through on that."
