“I spent weeks hiding, waiting for the police to find the man who attacked me. I kept telling myself it would be over soon, that they’d stop him before he hurt anyone else. Before he found me again.”
His voice was rough and shaky.
“But he did. He took me from my home, tied me down in a hunting shed, and… and told me what he was going to do to me before he killed me. I really thought that was it. I thought I was going to die there.”
He exhaled. “Thankfully, I was rescued by a band of brave and courageous men. If they hadn’t come when they did… I wouldn’t be here today. They saved my life.
“So… why have I asked you all to join me on this call here tonight? You are all the mothers and fathers of someone the Valentine Killer took. And I think it’s only fair that, together, we decide what happens to him next.”
Gavin stepped aside. A floodlight snapped on behind him, washing the area in harsh white light and revealing the Valentine Killer bound to a wooden pole a few feet away.
“This is the man who murdered your sons. The monster who tore your families apart and left nothing but grief behind,” Gavin growled, his fists clenched at his side.
Every part of him screamed to rip the man to pieces—to wipe the smugness from his face and make him suffereven a fraction of the pain he’d inflicted on so many others.
“The question before you tonight is simple,” Gavin said, his voice low but steady. “Do we turn this man over to the authorities? Let the justice system decide his fate and lock him away in a prison somewhere—assuming that he doesn’t get off on some sort of technicality or loophole?”
He paused, staring into the tablet, more focused than ever.
“Or… do we take matters into our own hands and give him the justice so many of us have secretly imagined?”
Gavin glanced toward the bound man before looking back at the screen. “We’ve decided to put it to a vote. Completely anonymous. No names, no pressure—just your conscience. Each of you can choose what you believe is right.”
The man behind him cursed at Gavin. Calling him a slut and a weakling, who had no right to judge him or anyone else in this world.
Ignoring the monster behind him, Gavin glanced over at Marcus, who nodded back at him with his support.
“Before we get started, I wanted to give each of you an opportunity to speak or ask questions. Your faces have all been blacked out, and your voices are disguised by a voice modulator. Your questions and comments are completely anonymous. Now, do we have anyone who would like to speak?”
There was a click on the line as someone played around with their phone.
“Umm, yes. I am victim number three’s mother.”
“You don’t have to identify yourself,” Gavin quickly stated.
“No. No. I want to. I want that piece of shit to know how much pain he’s caused me and my family.”
The woman paused. Her voice cracked as she took a moment to compose herself.
“For the first few weeks after Jacob disappeared, we had no idea what had happened,” the woman said, her voice trembling. “There was no phone call. No text. Nothing. He went out one night and just… never came home. At first, we told ourselves it had to be an accident. Maybe his car went off the road. Maybe he’d slid into a lake somewhere. We searched everywhere. We walked the streets, called hospitals, begged for answers. Anything that might tell us what happened to our son.”
She paused, sniffled, and blew her nose before continuing.
“Then, the unspeakable happened: The police found his body.” Her voice faltered. “And everything broke. Our bright, beautiful boy was gone, taken from us without warning, in the most brutal way imaginable.”
She swallowed hard, fighting back tears. “Sometimes, at night, I lie awake and wonder what he was thinking in those last moments of his life. Was he scared? Was he in pain? Was he calling out for his mom?”
Her voice cracked as sobs overtook her. Gavin waited quietly, giving her the space to breathe, knowing every person on the call carried the same kind of loss—the same unbearable emptiness left by the man bound behind him.
After a moment, she spoke again, softer now but filled with something colder. “I can honestly say there hasn’t been a single night when I haven’t imagined what I’d do if I ever faced the man who took my son from me. And for me… it’s simple. Kill the bastard and make it hurt like hell.”
Gavin nodded into the camera. He could feel the woman’s pain and knew exactly how she felt.
Behind him, the killer laughed and cursed, reveling in their misery as he taunted them with details of the murders he had committed.
Turning his head, Gavin nodded to the man standing next to the Valentine Killer and watched as he—wearing a mask to hide his identity—punched the killer in the gut, causing him to slump forward, gasping for air and ending his tirade.
Gavin said a mental thank you to Nikolai, who was gallantly guarding their prisoner, unbeknownst to the viewers online.
