“Mm no. Maybe we’ll fuck you though. Would you like that? Would you like to know what it’s like to be fucking raped? We can make that happen. Gotta be a broom or bat around here.”
His eyes widen as much as they can, and he coughs, spitting up more blood.
“Who else?”
He shakes his head until Stealth smacks his face. “Talk and we’ll put you out of your misery.” Then he leans in very close. “Don’t talk and we’ll drag this out until morning.”
Benicio seems to weigh his options for a minute before he finally, very softly says, “Just us.”
“If you’re lying,” I say, “we’ll find and kill every person you care about.”
He shakes his head urgently. “Not lying. Just us.”
Stealth looks at me and I nod as he presses the gun to Benicio’s temple and pulls the trigger. When I look up, Carnage is beating the holy fuck out of his target, and it’s obvious the man is no longer alive. I hurry over to intervene, talking my brother down.
“You’re good, man. You got him.”
“I hate rapists. I fucking hate them,” he snarls, kicking his target one last time before slumping into my arms. “Want to kill them all.”
“I know.” I stroke his hair, holding him to me. When Carnage is triggered like this, it can take him a while to come back down. “But you got this one, and we’ll get the women some help.”
After another minute or two, Carnage releases me and nods. “Thanks, man.”
“I got you. Always.”
Carnage is covered in blood, which makes him even more intimidating than he normally is. I find some paper towels on a table and hand him some of them.
“Clean up. We’ll get the women out.”
Stealth is already rounding up some of the women we found when I walk back to Cowboy. He’s still at his post, but he’s pale and trembling.
“Who manages this place?”
“Ri-Richie and Benicio. No one else.”
“Okay. These women need help. Someone needs to call and get them a doctor. Are you gonna do it? Because if I do it, this whole place is burning to the ground by morning.”
“I’ll do it.” He pulls his phone from his pocket.
“Hold up. Here’s how this is gonna go. Get the women out and to safety. Then do whatever you want with the dead bodies back there. Richie and Benicio are no more.”
“W-what should we tell the cops?”
I shrug. “I don’t give a fuck, but don’t even think about trying to identify or describe us. You won’t succeed in anything but putting a target on your own back. Got it?”
He nods. “Got it.”
I return behind the curtain to find all the women propped up on the couch. Some of them are crying, some are so out of it they still don’t know what’s happened. Stealth and Carnage are draping blankets and clothes over them.
“We gotta go,” I announce. “They’ll get the women some help.”
The three of us dart out the back door and head to our cars. Before we take off, Carnage grins. “Thanks for the help, boys. See you back at the house.”
Stealth chuckles, removing the silencer from his gun as I drive off, the sound of sirens already in the distance. “Some things never change. Carnage is still a wild one.”
“Yep. This is the first time we’ve done something so public though.”
“No one will say anything in a place like this. It’s full of shady fuckers. At least we helped those women out tonight.”
“Agreed. Carnage hates it when we find stuff like that. We all do, but it’s especially triggering for him.”
“Yeah, his target never stood a chance. Carnage makes it hurt too.”
“Damn right he does.”
I finish the drive to the house, but as soon as the adrenaline from the night wears off, my thoughts immediately return to Bouche. I wanted more of him, and maybe I can get some Saturday night.
I know I need to be focused on finding my target, but the longer I drag this out, the longer I get to stay in Bouche’s world. There’s no way we could have something lasting, so I need to enjoy this for as long as I can.
And that’s exactly what I plan to do.
