“I’m impressed.” Bill tossed him a folder. “Everything you need is in there.”
Seth noticed the folder contained numerous files about people. Each file had a person’s name, pictures, address, hangouts, medical records, background check and criminal record. “Someone did their homework.” He flipped through the pages. “There are about seventy files in here.”
“Seventy-five to be exact.”
“I doubt all these scumbags participated in the murder of your family, so this must be some sort of retaliation against our judicial system?”
“You’re right. Karen and Emily were murdered several months ago in Dallas by a piece of shit named Richard Durban. He was with two accomplices, Jessie McNamara and Steve Alderman. My wife and daughter were going to the mall when these men chose to rob them.” He wiped a tear from his cheek. “Richard beat Karen to death and strangled Emily.” He looked at Seth with a saddened expression. “What kind of person could do that to a child?”
“An evil bastard. And how did you know they did it?”
“I have my connections.”
“I see that. And having the police on your side must be nice. I don’t blame you for not wanting them sitting in a cozy prison cell.”
“Fuck prison. I want this matter handled in a more personal manner.”
Seth flipped through the folder, stopping on Richard’s file. “This guy just looks like he’s begging to be fucked up.”
“And the worst part is, the piece of shit had just gotten out of prison.”
Seth looked through some of the other files. “So, what’s the deal with the others in here?”
Bill walked over to a window and looked out. “Karen and Emily would still be here if our judicial system did its job. Richard should have never been allowed out of prison early. He was given a twenty-five-year sentence for robbing a convenience store and shooting the clerk, but only served nine years. They released him because our prison system was overcrowded. A handful of pricks on some parole board decided he was rehabilitated.” He looked at Seth. “Our system is a fucking joke. And it’s sure in hell not a deterrent.”
Seth laughed. “You’re preaching to the choir, pal.”
“I know. That’s why you’re here.” He sat at his desk, then pointed to the folder. “Every one of those scumbags in there has committed a heinous crime against someone and were let out of prison early. I want you to fuck them up. You can do whatever the fuck you want to them as long as they suffer.”
“Let me guess. You want to make an example out of all these assholes while avenging your wife’s and daughter’s murder?”
He leaned forward and glared at Seth. “I don’t want just revenge. I want a fucking reckoning!”
Seth’s eyes got big. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
“Are you interested in taking this on?”
“What do you think?”
“And I don’t expect you to take out all of them since things change. Just get the ones you can.”
“I know what you mean. Some of these assholes will be back in jail, or moved, by the time I get my team together.”
“Team? I didn’t know you worked with others.”
“I do occasionally. And with this size project, I’ll be requiring several of them to help out.”
“Are they trustworthy?”
“Do you think I’d be hanging out with backstabbers?”
“Of course, not. And Richard and his two accomplices are priority. Unfortunately, I haven’t located them yet. When I do, I’ll have Bret send you the address.” Bill set a briefcase on the desk, then opened it. It was filled with money. “Will this cover your cost?”
Seth held his hand out, indicating no. “I don’t need your money.” He held up the folder. “You’ve already done the hard part. Everything I need to know about each of these fuckers is in here. Now I get to fuck up a whole bunch of scumbags without having to waste time researching them. But I am curious how you were able to get this info.”
“I have a lot of connections in this state, which allowed me to get a list of violent criminals that were released from prison early. Then I hired some private investigators to research and locate them.”
“I know. You hired Bobby Smith, Joe Rutherford, Henry Athey, Mike Worley and Tom Shillings.”
Bill looked surprised. “How did you know that?”
“I know everything.”
“I doubt that.”
“You’re the CEO of a software company in Dallas with a net worth of two-hundred million. You married Karen in 1991, have four kids: Darla, Nikki, Michael and Emily. Emily was the youngest and was an unplanned child, but she was the best thing that happened to you and your wife. Darla is the second youngest and is a freshman at the University of Texas. Nikki is in her third year of medical school at Yale and Michael has earned his Masters in Business at Harvard.”
“I’m glad you can do some basic research.”
“When you were three, you had a stuffed bear named Fuzzy. He wound up getting torn up by the family dog, Hanna, and your mom, Elizabeth, sewed it back together. You still have the bear. It’s locked in a briefcase in your safe-deposit box, number 325, at Bank of America in Dallas. The combination to that brief case is 4970.”
Bill had a strange expression. He had never told anyone about Fuzzy, or that he had it in his safe-deposit box. His mom had died when he was twelve and his dad died when he was seventeen. There was no one else that knew about his bear. “How do you know that?”
Seth smiled. “Just did some basic research.”
“You must be fucking psychic?”
“Maybe fuckin’ psycho.”
Bill was a little concerned. “How much do you know about me?”
Seth shrugged his shoulders. “That’s it.”
He looked at him for a moment. “I doubt that.”
“It doesn’t matter. You should have known I was going to check into you when you requested to meet with me. By the time Bret landed in Temple to pick me up, I already knew everything about you, your family, business partners, friends, and why you were bringing me here.”
Bill looked troubled.
“Anything wrong?”
He stood up. “You kind of caught me off guard.”
“I can sense you’re worried.”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re not. You feel you’ve made a mistake getting me involved. Perhaps it’s because I might drag your ass into my hellish world.”
“You’re just a lot more perceptive than I would have ever expected.”
“I haven’t gotten away with this shit because I’m insane or careless.”
“Do I have anything to worry about?”
“Nope. You’re a decent man and your wife was a good person.”
It looked as if a heavy weight had been lifted off him. “Okay.”
Seth stood up. “If it’s a reckoning you want, it’s a reckoning you’ll get.” He held the folder up. “I’m going to take this and make these assholes wish they were never born.”
Bill tossed Seth a piece of paper. “Here’s a list of hired hands that will assist you.”
Seth shook his head. “Thanks, but I don’t need them.”
“This is a huge task, even for you and your team. You’re going to need all the help you can get.”
Seth smiled. “My crew will be plenty sufficient.”
“Okay. But these men have been trained to handle the worst-case scenario.”
“And mine have been trained to pull intestines out someone’s ass and jump rope with them. And that’s after they’ve done some real fucked up and sadistic shit to them. I’m talking so sadistic that it would make Satan jealous.”
Bill had a strange expression.
“That’s what you wanted, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then that’s what you’ll get.”
Bill walked around the desk and shook Seth’s hand. “I appreciate what you’re doing. If you need any resources, jus
t let me know.”
“Will do.”
Bill walked Seth out. Bret was in the plane ready to take him back to Temple. When Seth got in, Bill noticed Bret moved out of the pilot’s seat and Seth sat down. He shook his head as his Piper Meridian took off down the runway. Its wings were swaying side to side while the wheels slightly bounced on and off the grass until it was airborne.
The Crew
When Seth got home, he bought a 37-foot, motorized toy hauler off Craigslist. He took it to a warehouse he owned to make some modifications. He gutted the back of it, only leaving the bathroom, lined the walls and ceiling with soundproofing material, then covered it with three-quarter-inch plywood. He installed shackles along one wall and mounted pegboard and cabinets on the other. Next to the bathroom he installed a large upright freezer to keep bodies in during the trip. He cut escape hatches in the top and bottom of the RV, then mounted gas and smoke canisters underneath the frame. Towards the front of the cargo area he mounted two stainless steel, autopsy tables side by side. He installed a large mirror above one of them and an X-ray machine above the other.
Seth was in the process of loading the cabinets with tools and supplies when his phone rang. He noticed it was Barry Muller. He answered, “Brown’s auto shop.”
“Uh… I think I have the wrong number.”
“Who you lookin’ for, pal?”
“Seth.”
“What are you trying to pull?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know this is Barry. Why you calling me?”
“Just seeing what you’re up to.”
“Do you have the cops listening in or something?”
“I wouldn’t rat on you… I mean, I wouldn’t do it again. I was just wondering what you’ve been up to.”
“You know, same ol’ shit. So, what’s up? You have your freedom now. Why you calling me?”
“I’m bored. I wanna come hang out.”
Seth didn’t respond.
“You still there?”
“Yeah.”
“So, what do you think about me coming back?”
“Coming back because you miss hanging out with the most awesome dude on the planet, or is it because you miss fucking up scumbags?”
“Both.”
Seth was skeptical. “All you did was bitch and moan the entire time. What’s the deal?”
“I’ve learned a lot from you and want to continue to be a part of it. I think what you do is important. Society needs someone that’s willing to make these lowlifes pay for what they do.”
“Sounds like you’re blowing smoke up my ass.”
“I’m not fucking around, and this isn’t a scam.”
“You know what will happen if you try to fuck me over.”
“I wouldn’t do that. And yes, I know what the consequences will be.”
“If I agree to this, you’re going to have to wear an explosive collar around your neck for peace of mind.”
“I don’t have a problem with that. I’ll prove to you that you can trust me.”
“Alright. I’ll give you a chance. And actually, your call couldn’t have come at a better time. I was just given an assignment that I could use your help on.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t go into detail over the phone, but this high-profile client wants to get some payback against a whole shit load of scumbags. In fact, his exact words were, I don’t want revenge, I want a fucking reckoning.”
“Wow! That sounds fucking awesome!”
“Sure, in the fuck is. I’ll contact you in a few days with the details.”
Barry was excited. “Fucking A! I can’t wait.”
Seth hung up, then went back to loading the RV. He filled the cabinets with medical supplies and drugs, and hung larger tools and weapons on the pegboard. When he was done, the back of the RV looked like a small torture chamber. There was still enough room in the cargo area that he could haul a small vehicle, or several motorcycles.
A week later, he drove the RV to Corsicana, Texas and parked at an RV park. Around 3 AM, he unloaded a black, 1985 Toyota 4x4 with a camper shell from the back of the RV, then drove several miles to a residential neighborhood where Barry lived. He parked down an alleyway, unloaded a two-wheeled dolly from the truck, then walked to Barry’s house. Seth shook his head when he noticed the backdoor was unlocked, thinking how the idiot was still clueless. He found Barry sleeping on the couch snoring like a bear. He injected him with a tranquilizer, loaded him on the dolly, then took him to his truck.
The next morning, Barry sat up on one of the autopsy tables with a steel collar around his neck. His face was sore and swollen and his head was throbbing. His vision was blurry as he tried to focus. When he noticed all the torture devices, he jumped to his feet. His equilibrium was off, causing him to stumble around. He was running into things as he looked for an exit in a panic. When he found a door, he quickly opened it and started to run, but the sun blinded him. He wound up losing his footing on the steps, causing him to fall on his face. He started crawling across the ground like a wild animal trying to escape.
Seth was sitting on a picnic table drinking coffee. “What the fuck are you doin’?”
Barry paused as he looked at Seth. He was sitting next to a woman and two men. The woman looked like Stevie Nicks around the age of forty. She was wearing black leggings and a black wool trench coat. There was a large black man in his mid-forties. He had a bald head and thick mustache. He was wearing black sweatpants and a gray hoodie. He reminded him of the actor Ving Rhames.
The other man looked to be in his late thirties and was average in size. He wore blue jeans, a long sleeve denim shirt that was untucked and a ballcap with the Tony Lama logo on the front. His hair was brown with some gray, and it was cut short. Seth was wearing blue jeans, a black western shirt tucked in, brown boots and a black cowboy hat.
Barry looked around, noticing he was at an RV park, and there were some people staring at him. Seth motioned to him. “You’re making an ass out of yourself. Get over here before someone calls the damn cops.”
He stood up and brushed himself off, then walked over to the table and sat down. “What’s going on?”
“You said you wanted to help me with this assignment, so here you are.”
He looked at the others. “Who… Uh…”
Seth nodded towards the woman. “This is Missy. My better half.”
Seth nodded towards the man wearing the ballcap. “This is Wyatt.”
Wyatt reached out and shook his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”
“I hope it was all good stuff.”
Seth nodded towards a black man. “This is Kenneth.”
Kenneth laughed. “I’ve heard of you too, John Bobbitt.”
Barry looked at Seth with a strange expression. “What?”
“Yes, they know I cut off your dick. But don’t worry—they know it got sewn back on and it works… sort of.”
“That’s kind of personal.” Barry looked around. “And where in the fuck am I?”
“A few miles from your house.”
“Why does my head hurt?”
“We all went to a bar last night and you got fucked up.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“I’m sure. You were wasted.”
He felt of his face, noticing his left eye and lips were swollen. “What happened to my face?”
“You went fucking crazy and started grabbing everyone’s crotch and saying you wanted to suck them off. You got your ass kicked a few times.”
“No way! I don’t believe that!”
“We got grossed out and left your ass there after you sucked some dude’s dick, but early this morning, a truck load of homos dropped you off here. They said you were an awesome bottom.”
His eyes got big. “What?”
“Apparently, they pounded your ass all night.”
He looked nauseous. “Oh my God! I hope you’re jus
t fucking with me.”
Seth laughed. “I am.”
Relief overcame him. “Thank God! You had me worried for a moment. So how did I get here?”
“I drugged you while you were asleep and brought you here.”
“Why in the hell did you do that?”
“I didn’t want to risk you tellin’ the cops I was coming.”
“I told you I wasn’t going to rat you out anymore.”
“Better safe than sorry.”
“So, what happened to my face?”
“Uh… You got dropped when you were unconscious.”
“Dropped?”
“Shit happens.”
“That’s fucked up.” He grabbed his collar. “And what the hell is this?”
“The explosive collar I said you would have to wear if you wanted to come back.”
“I see you didn’t waste any time putting it on me.”
“Like I said, better safe than sorry.” Seth lit a cigarette. “And what the fuck was that all about when you came out of the trailer?”
Barry shrugged his shoulders. “I kind of had a flashback and thought all that shit in there was for me.”
“You should have known better than that.”
“Why?”
“For starters, you weren’t tied up.”
Kenneth laughed. “And your ass wasn’t naked.”
Barry glared at Seth. “True. I forgot you like to strip dudes down.”
Seth smiled, sensing some hostility from Barry. “That’s the sarcasm I’ve been missing.”
Barry looked at Kenneth. “And how do you know Seth?”
“He helped me fuck up an animal murdering prick.”
“Oh.” He looked at Wyatt. “And how do you know him?”
“About a year ago, we took a road trip together.”
“Road trip? For what?”
“Just did some stuff.” Wyatt didn’t trust Barry and didn’t want him to know anything about him.
“So, are y’all just hanging out or something?”
Seth stood up. “They’re helping out with this assignment.”
Barry started feeling uncomfortable. He thought he would be the only one working with Seth. “You haven’t even told me what the assignment is.”
“I’ll explain it once we’re on the road.” Seth looked at his watch.” It’s 8 AM. We need to get rollin’.”
The complete “A Glimpse into Hell” series - 5 books, 195 chapters, 1700 pages, 600K words of pure gore Page 156