The howling turned into a scream. “The bitch was of age!” Darrel yowled. “She paid her John.”
“That’s not how I heard it.” I broke his index finger. “Either way, she didn’t deserve that.”
Middle, ring, and pinky followed. The sausages were stubby enough that I was able to damage them without any unnecessary touching.
“What gives?” Darrel whimpered. “Yousell drugs. Half the block is on them!”
If the locals bought substances outside my turf and used them when they came home, that wasn’t something I could actively change. We would offer services, make help available, and make sure they didn’t buy them within our territory. At the end of the day, that was all we could do for the lost souls.
As for my darker side of business….
“I provide party libations to clients. I don’t feed addicts—and we don’t rape women who need help.”
His thick wrist cracked.
“You’re getting off easy. You know that, right?” I threw his damaged hand back at him. “I ought to work you over for days for what you did to the McKinney twins. But your slovenly ass wouldn’t survive it.”
Their ma should never have had to see her babies like that. Good kids with decent grades and bright futures. And she would have to relive walking into the living room to see her dead son and daughter every time she closed her eyes.
That was how we got wind of the scheme. That a local shop was selling lethal doses to school kids. I sent extra rehabilitation resources to the junior high and high school, but now I was stopping the source.
“No one sells on my turf without my permission,” I barked.
The order wasn’t for the breathing dead man. It was for the soldiers standing around. The lads would drink; they would talk. Word would hit the streets, and the warning would be understood loud and clear.
This was McDonagh territory. While we did all sorts of heathenish, irredeemable things on a daily basis, we had a code.
“After you deliver the message, wait six hours and wipe the gang out,” I ordered, standing up.
Darrel crouched, shrinking into himself. The fetal position was not ideal. The bastard wasn’t going to make this easy for me. Growling, I kicked him over. There was a split second where he laid sprawled on his back like a roach, stuck because of the exoskeleton. I lifted the machete over my head and brought the blade down with all my force.
It cleaved through flesh and sinew, and for a moment stuck on the bone.
Darrel convulsed, already dying.
I ripped the blade free, lifted it again, and this time, the head came off. Spitting my disgust on his corpse, I threw the blade next to the body. My part was done. Lawmaker, judge, executioner. I did what had to be done. Now it was up to the crew to clean up the mess.
Walking back into the front of the shop, I paused before rounding the counter. It wasn’t the baubles and gems that caught my eye. There was a pretty little 10 mm locked on the back counter.
Something about the pistol called to me.Yes…that might do.
My wife had a vicious streak. Where it came from, I had yet to discover. But since I recognized it, since I didn’t want her to feel trapped, perhaps I could do something to show her she had a place in our world. She never had to fear me, and if she was armed, she wouldn’t feel like she was trapped. Defenseless.Scared.
I plucked the pistol from the shelf. The plastic lock that prevented the chamber from shutting was gross and yellow. But it didn’t detract from the sleek black beauty of the weapon. In her slim, delicate fingers, it would be stunning.
Turning it back and forth, I jerked my chin for one of the lads. “Find the keys.”
“On it, boss.”
While most women carried 9 mms for self-defense, the 10 would poke a bigger hole. With a hollow, jacketed round, Gabriella could stop anyone coming at her.
It’s perfect.
A savory scent hit my nose the moment I walked through the garage door. After dealing with the stench of evil, being forced to inhale the aroma of death spritzed with the tang of blood, and then having to scent the leather from my truck and fuel from a spill in the garage, the smell from the house was heaven.
The men patrolled the property but had set up their base of operation in the third bay. They even talked about putting up a command center to view the cameras. Since the garage wasinsulated and heated, it would be ideal when the New England winter hit.
A sinner with blood on his hands didn’t deserve to step foot in this hallowed hall.
