The Vigilantes Collection

by Lake, Keri

  As the video went on, the scenes seemed to worsen.

  In the next, she’d been tied naked to a bed, while two in pig masks poured buckets of what looked like blood onto her. The girl screamed and choked, covered in thick red blood that made it impossible to see her face through the mess.

  My pulse hammered, muscles stretched thin with the tension running through them.

  I imagined being in that room with them, and what I’d do to those pigs. How I’d turn them inside out until they were coated, like the girl, in their own blood. Spasms of pain struck my skull as my jaw locked with anger, and I fast-forwarded again.

  One of the pigs held a meat cleaver propped to her neck, while he raped her from a side-view angle, her face and hair, coated in blood, turned away from the camera.

  I slapped my hand over my eyes, my fingers digging into my temples, as I paused it a moment to collect myself. What I’d seen so far would haunt me the rest of my life, and I knew the worst was yet to come.

  I kept on. I didn’t know why. Couldn’t get through about eighty percent of it, but maybe I wanted to be inside Nicoleta’s head. To understand her better. The rage was fuel, exactly what I needed to help her avenge the poor girl’s murder, as I’d struggled to go after Kenny earlier, not having established any personal connection to Eden. Up until that point, I could empathize with Nicoleta, but it wasn’t enough to help her kill.

  The video had stoked my wrath. I not only wanted to avenge the girl, but to make a fucking spectacle of it. I wanted the dirty pigs to suffer and plead, just as she had.

  In the next scene, the girl had been cleaned up, the blood no longer staining her skin, and as the camera panned past her, over the river and the moon’s reflection glistening across its surface, I knew I’d finally reached the end.

  The part of the video that’d undoubtedly fuck me up.

  Hands bound in front of her and a blindfold over her eyes, the girl stood naked on the dock. Her bronze skin glowed against the long blonde locks of hair that fell around her shoulders, and she visibly trembled, looking vulnerable and terrified. A large steel anchor had been tied to each of her ankles, by what looked like faded white nylon rope when the camera zoomed in, and sat precariously close to the water’s edge.

  My body mirrored hers, the tightness in my chest clamping down on my lungs.

  The camera stayed in place as both pigs approached her from either side, shrinking her size between them. The pig on the right, carrying a fifth of alcohol, smashed the bottle against the anchor behind her, and both laughed when she screamed. The only sound either of them had made throughout the video.

  Then one of the men removed her blindfold.

  No. Fuck, no.

  My heart caught in my throat.

  I blinked hard, staring down at the screen, trying to determine whether, or not, I was seeing something that wasn’t there.

  I couldn’t fucking breathe. Lungs locked up. Skin crawled with panic.

  I knew those eyes. Had studied them long enough to be certain I’d never mistake them.

  Nicoleta stared back at the camera, her amber eyes bloodshot and filled with tears. She pleaded with the pigs to release her, the sounds of her begging scraping along my spine like glass. A lamb bleating at the approach of predators.

  A nauseating dread settled deep inside my gut.

  One single emotion outweighed every other—grief. Soul-crushing, heart-wrenching agony.

  The world spun around in my periphery. Fast. Too fucking fast for me.

  I bent forward, and vomit poured out of my mouth in a burning torrent of acid. Round after round, I emptied my stomach onto the pavement.

  Straightening to a stand brought me to a dizzying state of suspension and disbelief. Like a nightmare from which I couldn’t wake. I lifted the phone in time to see one of the pigs kick the anchor that yanked her backward into the water. The scene blurred as my eyes filled with tears, while the two pigs stared over the edge of the dock, presumably watching her sink into the depths.

  No, not my Nicoleta. Not my girl.

  The only fucking ray of sunlight in my life, eclipsed by a lie. A crime so heartbreaking, it was a wonder she hadn’t been locked up for insanity.

  A cold black rage palmed the back of my skull, and my hand balled into a fist at my side. An ache blossomed deep inside my chest, and rubbing my hand over it did little to abate the numbing effect that spread to my limbs.

  I opened my mouth and let the fury rip through my chest on a string of curses, in a voice that didn’t sound like my own.

  Fury for Nicoleta.

  Fury for the men who’d violated her and left her for dead.

  I dropped the phone and punched the brick wall, wishing both those bastards were in front of me right then. Blood stained the bricks as I punched and punched, while slivers of pain shot up into my knuckles.

  Adrenaline pumped through me in bullets, whispering temptations in my ear. The devil, no doubt, asking me to sell whatever was left of my soul to kill the only man left alive who’d hurt her. Down, down, deep into the darkness I fell, letting those thoughts pull me under with the waves of misery that hooked my stomach. The same darkness that’d once sent me on a bloody rampage after Livvie’s murderer.

  I’d sever every finger that’d touched Nicoleta, and make him pay in ways that no god would find redeemable.

  I paced back and forth, rubbing my skull, until the only answer I could come up with was to kill Kenny Robichaux myself.

  * * *

  A dog barked off in the distance somewhere, as I climbed through the window, just as I had earlier in the night, to the dark bedroom inside. Scanning to my right brought Daniel into view, where he sat on the bed, his sister nowhere in sight.

  “Hey, Daniel, remember me?”

  Tucking his knees into his chest, he nodded, before lowering his head. “Yew da boogie man.”

  “I’m not. I promise I’m not going to hurt you. Can you tell me where your daddy is?”

  “Him sleeping in my sistew’s woom. I’m not allowed to seep in der when him sleeping wif her.”

  Spasms of pain struck my skull as I gnashed my teeth and swallowed back violent waves pulsing through me begging to unleash hell. “I’m going to go talk to him.”

  “Him won’t wake up.”

  Fucker better not have died in his drunkenness. I’d just have to torture what was left. “I’m gonna go have a look, okay?”

  The boy nodded and followed me down the hall, to the room with the closed door. With slow and careful steps, I set my hand on the hilt of my gun and cracked the door open. On a small mattress, Kenny lay passed out, curled up beside a little girl, who couldn’t have been more than five, or six. Her light brown hair lay matted and snarled, like it hadn’t been brushed in months.

  Only Kenny wore a pair of browning underwear, while the girl lay naked. The scene stirred another round of vomit that I choked back, gripping the doorframe to keep from losing my shit.

  The little girl sat up on the bed, her big blue eyes flitting between mine and the boy’s.

  I turned to Daniel and knelt down, setting my hand on his shoulder. “I want you and your sister to get dressed, okay? I’m going to take your daddy to the hospital, and I know someone who can look after you while I do.”

  “Okay,” he said, and toddled across the room to grab his sister’s hand.

  I looked away as she stood up from the bed, and the two rustled around in the drawers across the room. Within minutes, they were dressed, and Daniel led his sister back to where I stood.

  The little girl’s lips turned downward, and she dropped her gaze from mine. “Are you gonna tell the lady I was bad?”

  “What lady, sweetheart?”

  “The lady that comes to our house and asks my daddy questions. I don’t want to go to jail.”

  I reached out to stroke her hair, and when she flinched, telling she’d undoubtedly been hit before, another twinge of anger scorched my blood. “Nobody’s gonna put you in jail. What�
��s your name, princess?”

  She glanced at her brother and picked at her nails. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

  “I’m here to help you. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  Her gaze fell from mine, and she wiped her finger across her nose. “Larissa.”

  “I called hew Lala.”

  “You’re not bad, okay? Nobody’s going to put you in jail.” No doubt the rotten cocksucker must’ve told her someone would take her away, if she’d told anyone about the abuse. “I’m gonna grab your dad here and take him to the hospital, to make sure he’s okay. You guys are going to stay with a really nice lady I know.”

  “Is she—”

  “Not the lady who asks questions. A nicer lady, I promise.”

  One who wouldn’t have been duped by a few practiced responses.

  I strode across the room and hoisted the fat fuck off the bed, slipping my arms beneath his. Bastard probably only stood about five eight, which put him at about two-twenty- or- thirty deadweight in my arms.

  I transported him out of the room and down the staircase. The two kids followed behind me, as I carried his half naked ass across the yard, to where I’d parked my ‘Cuda behind the adjacent bushes.

  “You two hop in the backseat.”

  Kenny groaned, when I dragged him around the vehicle to the trunk, popped the lid of it, and shoved him inside. Turned out he wasn’t dead. Yet.

  Good.

  I slammed the trunk shut and tugged my phone from my pocket. Yeah, it was late, but I didn’t have any choice.

  Gina’s number remained at the top of my recent calls, and I dialed it, feeling like shit for calling in the middle of the night.

  “Dax?” Her groggy voice carried a hint of irritation and small bit of concern. “It’s almost two in the morning. What’s going on?”

  “Found two kids. They’re young. Maybe six and three. They don’t have a place to stay tonight.”

  She cleared her throat and swallowed. “Bring them over. They can stay here tonight.”

  “Sorry for calling so late, Gin. I didn’t know where else to take them.”

  “It’s okay. Five years, and you’ve never let me return the favor. I’m happy to do this for you.”

  Five years ago, I’d been exploring an abandoned building downtown with my buddies, Xavier and Rhys, when I’d stumbled upon a woman who’d O.D.’d on drugs. Got her to the hospital, where she’d been placed in detox, got clean, and then I’d hooked her up with a buddy of mine. They’d married soon after, and she’d opened up her own shelter for kids—teens, mostly—that specialized in drug abuse.

  I made my way to the driver’s seat, and stared into the rearview mirror at the two kids who were going to be fatherless by night’s end.

  Too fucking bad. The little girl might not have known better at her age, but someday she’d be a woman. One who’d go through life feeling different from the other kids. She’d feel inadequate, and never fully connect with anyone because she’d forever be unable to trust people. She’d blame herself and start ripping apart her best pieces. And every time she’d look at a man, she’d see that piece of shit’s face.

  “Why’d you put him in the trunk?” she asked, as I fired up the engine and drove away from the house.

  “Don’t want anyone to see him in his birthday suit, right?”

  “Birfday suit.” Daniel echoed my words on a giggle.

  “It means naked, stupid,” Larissa snapped back, slapping her brother on the head.

  “Ow! I not stupid! You stupid!” He swatted at her face, and she jerked her head, missing the slap.

  “Hey, hey. You two need to be good to one another. Stick together and take care of one another. Okay?”

  Both kids nodded, their expressions souring to sadness, as both bowed their heads.

  “Is my daddy dead?” The boy picked at a scab on his knee, but didn’t seem tearful asking the question.

  “Your daddy’s very sick.” Sharp slivers of bone scraped across my tongue as I ran it over my back teeth. “But we’re gonna fix that tonight.”

  “Okay.” He huffed and stared out the passenger window.

  Twenty minutes passed before we arrived at the same building I’d dropped off the other girl, Isabel. Gina, my old friend, stood at the back door with her arms crossed, smoking a cigarette.

  “You guys give me a minute, all right? Just sit tight.” I clambered out of the vehicle and walked up to the building, biting back all the rage still festering inside of me.

  She looked past me, as I approached. “Three within a week, Dax. Where the hell are you finding these kids?”

  “Look, I know you don’t take in young ones, but they … their dad … he left ‘em alone. Got drunk. Think he’s been abusing the girl.”

  “These bastards.” She tossed the cigarette onto the pavement, grinding it with her untied boot. “Where is he now?”

  “Haven’t seen him.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets, glancing around at the slumbering neighborhood. “And as far as anyone else is concerned, you didn’t see me tonight.”

  “You in trouble, Dax?”

  “Nah. The usual, you know? Just trying to keep a low profile these days.”

  “Okay, let’s get ‘em in and get ‘em settled. We’ll get in touch with a social worker who can place them until we find out what’s going on with the dad. Is the mom in the picture?”

  “No. She skipped town on ‘em. It’s just the two kids.” I rubbed the back of my skull and caught a glimpse of them still waiting in the backseat. “Listen, any chance you can keep them together? They only have each other. I’m pretty sure they sleep together, in the same bed, and everything.”

  “I can’t guarantee anything, but keeping them together is always our first choice.”

  “If they ask about their dad, I don’t think it’s a good idea to allow contact. I told them he left them to go to the hospital because he’s sick.”

  “Don’t worry, Dax. They’re in good hands.” She winked and gave a light squeeze to my arm, though it failed to put my coiling stomach at ease.

  I signaled for the kids to get out of the car, and as they approached the two of us, I heard Gina mutter, “Jesus Christ,” under her breath.

  Both kids wore dirty, ragged clothes, and the girl’s looked two sizes too small, clinging to her body and riding high on her limbs.

  Setting a hand on their shoulders, Gina gently guided them inside the building.

  Daniel looked back and broke away, running to wrap his little arms around my legs. “Will my daddy come to get us?”

  I exchanged a look with Gina and brushed my hand over Daniel’s messy hair that felt stiff and greasy. “He’s going to the hospital, remember? You’re gonna be okay, Daniel. I promise you.”

  His eyes flickered with moisture, and when he blinked, two large tears slipped down his cheek.

  Gina took his hand, and the three of them disappeared inside.

  My hands flexed and balled into tight fists, as I made my way back toward the ‘Cuda. About sixty miles north, in Ortonville, was a wild boar hunting preserve.

  31

  Dax

  If I thought about it, it made sense why she’d lied to me. Why she’d distanced herself from the crime. Not that I was mad at her for it. Fuck, how else would a person walk away from something like that?

  Kenny sat tied to a tree, his bald head slung forward, as I stuffed his tooth inside a plastic baggy, where it clacked beside the others I’d already pulled. I’d propped a flashlight against a small rock to offer some light in the pitch-blackness of the forest. Enough to make out the ruined contours of his scarred face, where he must’ve been burned at one time.

  With a groan, he raised his head, eyes squinting, and took three deep breaths. Arm twitching in his binds, he shot his eyes open and frowned. “Where am I?” He dipped his chin, perhaps checking out the ropes securing him tightly to the tree. A wet sound and sucking followed, and with the shift of his jaw, his brow furrowed de
eper.

  “Da thuck?” His tongue moved beneath his top lip like a wave, crossing over his toothless gums. Realization dawned on his face, his eyes locked on mine, wide and brimming with the kind of fear that made me want to laugh.

  I raised the coated-in-blood bag that held the teeth I’d extracted from him while he’d remained passed out. “Hey, pig, piggy pig.”

  “I … I know you! Fum Fanks pokuh games.” The slur of his words, even with the missing teeth, told me some of the alcohol still swam through his veins.

  “And I know you.” I removed one of the gloves I’d donned earlier, since coated in his blood, and pulled out my cellphone, opening it to the video I couldn’t stand to watch twice.

  Something flickered in his eyes as the video played, but he shook his head. “Wathen’t me.”

  Lying little cocksucker.

  “Wasn’t you? That wasn’t you raping and torturing an innocent young girl?”

  “Nuh-uh. I thwear.”

  “That’s weird. I could’ve sworn it was you. No matter,” I said, stuffing my phone back into my pocket. “I know for a fact it was you lying naked beside your own little girl.”

  His eyes widened even more, if that were possible, and he shook his head again. “I got dunk. Thought it wath my bed, ith all.”

  “Which would make sense. If she wasn’t naked, too.”

  “Ith jus a game, man. Ath all.”

  “Well, I’ve got a game for you, too.” I donned the glove again and lowered myself back down to his level. “See, the girl in that video you just watched? She wanted to kill you herself. In fact, she’ll be pissed to know I did the honors on her behalf.”

  His head rolled to the side with his drunkenness, his eyes back to half-mast and squinting with his frown. “The’s dead.”