“No,” Keelan shakes his head, looking around the room as if cataloguing each piece, making notes. It’s what I would have done.
It’s now a waiting game.
“They’ll be here soon. We’ll wait outside for them.”
“Do you always use your crew to drop them off?”
“No. Each case is different, but this time I didn’t have time to set up a room before the job. Usually, I do everything myself. Betterfor everyone if I’m ever caught, I don’t want to bring anyone down with me. The less they know the better. I have a few of my crew I trust to help if I need it. We’ll do the disposal and dumping though, I never allow anyone else to do that.”
“Okay. I prefer working alone.”
Like I said, man of a few words.
I think he’s done when he suddenly asks, “Why’d you offer Aiden cleaners if you do it all yourself?”
“I only do these jobs myself. Cleaners are used for family business, we don’t always have time for those. I can take my time with these ones.”
“Understood, and they’re trustworthy?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I stand straight when I hear the sound of a vehicle approaching. “As trustworthy as anyone else in this game. We’ve never had a problem, but there’s a first time for everything.”
I wonder if Aiden knew how much his fixer worried, and if he appreciated the loyalty of the man next to me. I’d have to mention it the next time we spoke.
A dark brown panel van stops in the yard and two of my guys get out. They tip their chins at me, “Boss.”
“Lads,” I respond, but wait for them to bring the cunt they’d picked up to us. They haul him out of the van by his feet, and I bite back a chuckle when I see how they’ve got him tied up. They gagged him, bound his feet and arms then used the hog-tie method to secure him to a pole that they hefted over their shoulders and walked over to us.
“Got your delivery boss. He was a little mouthy and got a little violent with Sally, so we had to slap him around a bit. Teach him some manners when it comes to talking to a lady.”
“Thanks lads,” I say, taking one end of the pole and nodding at Keelan to take the other. “Get rid of that van and get yourselves home.”
“Aye, boss.”
We wait for the two of them to get in the van and leave before we take the cunt to the disposal room and get to work on him.
It's sweet music listening to his screams as I read down the list of his crimes and then do to him what he’d done to others. Neither Keelan nor I are gentle. We’re covered head to toe in blood.
We’re nearing the end of what we want to do to him, and we’ve got him bent over a chair, pants down by his ankles. Keelan has a hold of a hammer. Like I say, an eye for an eye, and every rapist deserves to feel what it’s like to be violated. We’ve had to rouse him a few times, as he keeps passing out from pain.
Weak arsed motherfucker.
We’d gotten tired of listening to his pleading hours ago and had gagged him again. I’d taped the pictures of all his victims to the wall and the list of his transgressions, then ticked each one off using his blood as we worked our way down the list. Rape was the last we had left.
That’s when we hear it, and freeze. We share a surprised wide-eyed look at the unmistakable noise of the front door opening and closing. Then nothing for a minute.
I’m horrified when a voice calls out my name, soft, uncertain and a little shaky, “Butcher.”
My stomach sinks to my boots when I realise Moira is here.
“The fuck man? Who is she?” Keelan hisses, his eyes wide behind his safety glasses.
Tilting my head back, I sigh tiredly. I know this is the make or break of my relationship with Moira, depending on her reaction when she sees us.
“My woman,” I reply before raising my voice, “In here, sunshine.”
Keelan jerks in surprise, “The feck man?”
I hold up my hand, “It’ll be handled,” I assure him as Moira stops in the doorway, wide eyes bouncing around the room; to the photos, to the man we’ve got bent over a chair, to me and Keelancovered in blood, Keelan with the hammer in his hands. It’s clear what we were about to do.
