by Tim Miller
“Oh well hey fellas! I didn’t know I had company. I apologize for the lack of welcome. I’m kind of a one man show here,” the man said. His uniform was khaki and had stains along the shirt. There was a star pinned to his chest. He was trying to tuck his shirt in, but the tail still hung out the back. He was short and rail thin.
“You the Sheriff?” Bobby asked.
“Yes sir. Sheriff Randall Higgins at yer service. Now you boys are obviously not from around here. You guys feds?”
“What makes you say that?” Bobby asked.
“You just look like feds. You all just have a certain way you look, talk, and stand. Y’all can’t help it I reckon.”
“I’m with the FBI, he’s with Austin PD. We’re here looking for a girl, she’s twenty years old. She’s gone missing. We found a match book from Titties N’ Kitties in her apartment after she went missing,” Bobby said as he showed him her picture.
“Goddammit,” Higgins said.
“What?” Bobby said, trying to mask his excitement.
“Fuckin’ McDougals.”
“Who?”
“Old lady McDougal and her boys. Those two got a thing for city girls. Sometimes they a, get a bit carried away. Plus they hang out at the..uh..establishment over there.”
“Get carried away? That’s what you call kidnapping someone and holding them against their will?” Bobby asked.
“Hey, now you hold on a minute. I’ve known them boys since before they could walk and talk. You don’t be comin’ into my town and throwing around accusations. For all I know, that girl is some skank they hired and tried to rip them off. That’s been known to happen before,” Higgins said.
It took every ounce of restraint Bobby had to keep from punching this little clown out cold. His jaw clinched as his throat went dry. Despite his best efforts, he’d given himself away.
“Oh, I get it. She’s your daughter,” Higgins said.
“What?”
“That girl. She’s your daughter. Why else would you look like you was about to punch my lights out? So this isn’t even an official investigation is it?”
“Agent Kennedy is here assisting Austin PD as a courtesy,” Jack chimed in. “So yes, it’s quite official.”
“All right then. Well I apologize for callin’ her a skank. But you know how girls are these days. Always wavin’ that beaver around trying to get men to jump at it. Sometimes it backfires. Anyway, they live a bit further into the hills, in the woods a ways. I can take you up there.”
“You have a car?”
“Yeah, but it’s easier to get there on foot. There’s a trail that leads up that way,” Higgins said as he grabbed his cowboy hat off a shelf and pressed it to his head. They followed him out the door and across the road. They walked between some buildings to where the woods began. There was a narrow foot path that began up hill.
They started along the path as Bobby noted his black dress shoes weren’t ideal for trekking through the woods. At least they’d be somewhat shaded, but the temperature was already well into the 90’s.
“How far is it?” Bobby asked.
“About a half mile or so. Hope you boys don’t mind a bit of a nature hike.”
He wasn’t sure if they could trust this supposed Sheriff, but he saw little other choice at the moment. Though barely ten minutes into the walk, his feet were already hurting as well as the burning in his calves. The hill got steeper once they were further in. His throat burned dry as well. He was in fairly good shape for his age; he just wasn’t used to this kind of exertion in these conditions. The incline leveled off some after several more minutes as the trail came to an end. There was a large thicket just ahead.
“Their house is right through there just a ways,” Higgins said.
“Behind all that? How do they go anywhere?”
“They don’t.”
“So how do they get into town?”
“There’s another way in and out, but this one is the closest. The other way takes twice as long. You all can go ahead. I don’t want them to see me with you all. They can be kinda crazy.”
“But you’re their Sheriff.”
“I know, but this town is pretty peaceful. I don’t want to create any bad blood. You feds go in and shake things up and the rest of the town won’t be upset with me.”
Bobby wasn’t trusting him but Jack was already headed for the thicket.
“Come on, let’s just go Bobby. We’ll find her soon and get out of here. I’m sure we can handle it,” Jack said.
Bobby nodded and followed Jack who had already started through. It was hard to see ahead at all with the thick brush and branches poking out. His dress shirt and slacks were already ripped up. He couldn’t imagine how scratched up his face must have been. He paused and noticed he could no longer hear Jack up ahead.
“Jack?” he called out. “What’s going on?”
No answer.
“Jack?”
He waited a minute and slowly pressed forward. After ten more feet, he was glad he’d slowed his pace. The thicket opened up and dropped off into a sinkhole. It was only about ten feet wide, but kneeling down to look in, it was pitch black. Wherever the bottom was he couldn’t see it.
“Fuck!” He had no doubt Jack was dead. He had to have fallen right into that hole. Bobby drew his gun, stood and turned back through the thicket. This time he was running.
Chapter 14
Don screamed as Cletus hoisted him by the legs onto a pulley system. April couldn’t stop staring at his severed fingers lying on the ground. For some reason she thought they looked like little Vienna sausages. Maybe it was because she was hungry. The thought repulsed her, but she couldn’t make it go away.
Don was now naked and hanging upside down. Cletus smiled proudly at his work, though Marty had done most of the torturing. Don moaned as blood dripped from his severed finger tips.
“Come on!” April yelled. “He’s had enough!”
Marty spun around pointing at her.
“You shut the fuck up girl, or you gonna be next!” he scolded.
April wanted to say something else, but caught Herbert out of the corner of her eye shaking his head. She bit her lip and sat back.
“Can I do this one Ma?” Cletus asked.
“Now Cletus, you know what happened last time you tried to use power tools,” Ma said.
“Come on Ma. That was a few years ago.”
“She’s right Cletus. You’ll hurt yourself again,” Marty said.
Cletus kicked the table and grabbed his camera as Marty walked behind the work bench and stood holding a chainsaw. Don wiggled and screamed again once he saw the large saw. The saw looked almost as big as Marty, but he seemed to have no problem handling it. With a pull of the cord the saw roared to life.
Don screamed again, but the saw drowned him out. April screamed but no one heard her over the noise. Marty held the saw between Don’s legs moving it from side to side just to taunt the man. Finally he lowered it into his crotch, just barely touching the skin. Don jumped and wiggled as blood misted onto the saw blade. Marty cut in a little deeper, as Don’s body gyrated. He turned off the saw and looked back at the rest of the hostages.
“See? Hardly any blood. Cause he’s hangin’ upside down, all the blood is going to his head, so I could cut at him like this for a long time and he won’t bleed out. Pretty neat huh?” Marty explained.
“I’m so proud of my boys. Marty learnt this all by himself on the internet. Such a smart boy. Too bad you all couldn’t recognize that reading his book,.” Ma said.
“His book was terrible,” April said. “I’m sorry but it’s true. I’m sorry some of these guys said such mean things. That was wrong. But torturing us over it doesn’t fix it. Your next book will suck too.”
Marty’s face reddened as Don moaned in the background.
“April, shut up!” Herbert said. “Don’t piss them off!”
“Why? They’re already pissed. You don’t think we’re next? They feel we w
ronged them somehow so now they have the right to cut us up like pieces of meat. Oh, how the hell do you have the internet all the way out here anyway?” April wasn’t sure where “here” was, but was fairly certain they weren’t anywhere near anything civilized.
Marty looked puzzled at the question. He finally responded after hesitating.
“Cletus hooked it all up. He’s all good with tech stuff like that,” he said. It still wasn’t an answer, but the question was more of a distraction.
Marty fired up the saw once again and continued to taunt Don, as he would cut into his pelvis, then back out, and cut a little deeper and back it out. Each time Don would flinch in pain as he screamed. After a few tries, Don was cut open all the way to his rib cage. His stomach and intestines spilled out onto the floor, as his legs were now hanging further apart, but he was still clearly alive.
Despite her empty stomach, April began dry heaving. Some water and bile came out onto her lap as her stomach lurched. The twisted family watched and laughed as April tried to calm her body down. Don was now sobbing and crying hanging there. He had to know he’d be dead soon. She couldn’t imagine the pain he must be in.
“Aww, I think I hurt the poor baby,” Marty said. “He’s all crying.”
“Yeah, he don’t sound so tough now. Do ya? Mr. Moneybags?” Cletus mocked.
“Please? I’m sorry,” Don whimpered.
“This guy ain’t no fun no more. Go ahead Clete,” Marty said as Cletus pulled a large knife from a sheath on his belt, knelt down and cut Don’s throat. Blood sprayed like a geyser as Don gasped and twitched for a final time before going still. There had been very little blood earlier, but now it was pooling all over the floor, running through the floorboards.
“Come on boys. This has been exhausting,” Ma said. “Let’s go take a break. I’ll fix you boys some snacks. You sure earned it.”
“Sounds good Ma!” they both exclaimed as Marty sat the saw down behind the bench and they filed out of the shed. April waited to make sure they were gone while surveying the room. Brenda was still staring off into space. Nancy hadn’t said a peep since earlier. She was just sitting there, looking rather casual considering the situation. April couldn’t help but wonder if the woman had something wrong with her before they grabbed her.
Once she was sure they were gone for a while, she looked to Herbert.
“You ok?” she asked.
“As ok as I can be,” he said.
“My dad is an FBI agent. I bet he’s looking for us.”
“I hope he hurries up. No telling which of us will be next when they come back.”
“Yeah I know.” April looked around. “I can’t feel my hands at all. They went numb a while ago.”
“Same here. I been trying to work my way loose, but that just made it worse.”
“God we are so fucked. We need to think and fast.”
“I know. I been trying to think but they seem to be pretty good at this. I’m sure we’re not the first.”
“I have one idea, it’s a long shot, but it can’t hurt at this point,” April said.
“What’s that?”
“You’ll see. If it works, they won’t see it coming.”
Chapter 15
Bobby tore through the thicket, his gun in hand. More like the thicket tore through him. Thorns and branches slashed his face, arms and clothing. Once he reached the trail, Higgins was nowhere in sight. He ran along the trail, which was now downhill for him. He saw the white of Higgins hat just through the trees. He stopped and fired two shots.
As far as Bobby was concerned, deadly force was more than justified here. The man had just killed a police officer and tried to kill a federal agent. He was not getting away. The shots missed, so Bobby continued his pursuit. After another twenty yards, he lost his footing and fell face first. Dirt and rocks pressed into the side of his face as he pulled himself up. Looking at his feet, the sole of his right shoe was coming off, which is what had tripped him.
He kicked off both shoes and kept running. The end of the trail was just ahead. It seemed like the run back took far less time than the hike up the trail. He came out of the woods and was standing on the road in the town. Higgins was just ahead going into the strip club.
Bobby walked to the club door and slowly pushed it open. He stepped inside with the gun out in front of him. The music had stopped and it was dark. Fuck. Whatever was going on, Bobby had no doubt most the town was in on it. He’d suspected as much from the start. They all seemed just a bit too paranoid and, well, crazy for his taste.
Feeling his way along the wall, he got to the main club area. He could hear some voices whispering to his right. Not wanting to take risks, he turned and fired a shot. A woman cried out and there was a thud as a body hit the floor.
“Desiray!” a voice called out. It sounded like Skeeter. “Shit! Desiray! You mother fucker!” Bobby had hit a stripper. It wasn’t the first time he’d shot someone. He’d shot and killed a few people in his career. Most of them happened during drug raids or while serving warrants while taking fire. He hadn’t felt bad about any of those as his life was in immediate danger. Though he didn’t feel bad about killing the stripper. As far as he was concerned, he was in immediate danger, and so was April.
“You done fucked up now Fed!” Skeeter called out. “I know where your daughter is. Yeah! You heard me. I’m gonna kill you, then I’m gonna go take my turn fucking her ass so hard her asshole turns inside out!”
Bobby aimed in the direction of Skeeter’s voice and fired another shot, but missed. He took a couple steps, but stopped when he heard someone rack a shotgun. There was no mistaking that click click! sound. He dropped to the ground just as the blast went off. The shot missed him cleanly. He rolled to his right and fired three shots in succession and heard a body hit the ground again.
“Ah! Fuck me! Fuck!” Skeeter screamed.
Bobby ejected the magazine in his weapon and inserted a new one. He stood and slowly walked toward Skeeter. As he got closer, his foot stepped on the shotgun. He bent down and picked it up as he continued.
“You gonna kill me now asshole? You shot my fucking kneecap off,” Skeeter said.
“Good. And I just might.”
Bobby was right in front of Skeeter. There was a wall to his left. He reached up and felt along the wall until he found a knob. As he turned the knob, one of the lights came on. It wasn’t bright, but enough he could see Skeeter wasn’t kidding. His left knee looked like it had exploded. Bobby took a step forward and pressed the butt of the shotgun onto Skeeter’s knee.
“Fuck man! That shit hurts!”
“Where is Higgins and where is my daughter?”
“I don’t know. I was just fucking with you. Ah! Shit!” he screamed as Bobby pressed harder on the shotgun, twisting the butt into his wound.
“Too late for bullshit. I tried to be nice, but you wanted to do it this way. Try again.”
“Ok, ok. There’s a trail out back, goes through the woods and uphill. It’ll take you right to the folks that have h----Fuck! Shit! Fuck!”
Bobby lifted the gun and slammed the butt into his knee. This dumbass just tried to send him back up the trail that almost got him killed. Was that their all-purpose bullshit they give to get rid of outsiders? Part of him wondered if they hadn’t thrown April down that sink hole, but he couldn’t think about that. It was becoming clear he’d get no useful information out of Skeeter.
“Take a look at me dumbass. I just came from there. My friend fell in that fucking hole. Nice try though,” Bobby said as he holstered his gun and picked up the shotgun.
“What’re you doin’?”
“What was that you told me earlier? About wanting to fuck my daughter until her asshole turns inside out?” Bobby pointed the gun at Skeeter’s head. The toughness and defiance had left and was replaced with fear.
“Shit man, I was only fuckin’ around. I honestly don’t know where she’s at.”
“Well, that’s too bad for you I guess
. And you know what else? I didn’t find your joke very funny.” Bobby moved the barrel of the gun around Skeeter’s body and stopped while pointing shotgun at Skeeter’s crotch. “But just for good measure, I’m going to make sure you don’t fuck any girl’s assholes, or anyone for that matter.”
“Shit, no! Dude!” Skeeter cried out but Bobby pulled the trigger as the shotgun blast struck Skeeter square in the groin. Blood and tissue sprayed as Skeeter screamed and rolled around. Bobby had never heard a man’s voice go so high in his life. It was almost humorous. Higgins was still wandering around somewhere.
“Don’t worry,” Bobby said. “You’ll bleed out in a couple minutes.” He doubted Skeeter could hear him. The big man was still rolling around holding what was left of his sack. Bobby racked another shell into the shotgun and headed toward the back of the club. Someone in there knew where April was, and he was going to get it out of them one way or another.
Chapter 16
Herbert had no idea what April was planning, but the sick redneck family came back into the shed. Herbert noticed April had either passed out or was acting like she had.
“Come on boys,” Ma said. “I wanna play with this one next!” She was pointing at him. His heart almost stopped at Cletus bent down and cut his binds loose. Acting on instinct, Herbert tried to run, but Cletus grabbed him and threw him into the table. Herbert’s nose crunched into the huge table, snapping his head back as everything went black.
When he awoke, he was laying strapped face down onto the table. His clothing had been removed as well.
“What’s going on?” he cried out. His nose throbbed while his head pounded. After a few seconds, he remembered being thrown into the table.
“It’s playtime,” one of them said. He couldn’t see them as they were all behind him.
“April! You still there? April?” he cried out but there was no answer. He didn’t know if she was still passed out, or if they’d killed her.