What the fuck! That bitch woulda been fine if she hadn’t fought so much. He was a man and he had needs. She had the nerve to tell him she wasn’t interested. No woman ever said no to Carl Whitehead, including his ex-wife. Teresa had paid dearly for the times she had refused to have sex with him. That Beth bitch wasn’t any different. He was half drunk, he wanted to fuck, and she was within reach. That’s all there was to it. So what if her daughter was there? She needed to learn that lesson early, so she wouldn’t be as uppity and stingy as her mother. He had taken off his anger edge with a twelve pack after he dumped her sorry ass like garbage. That stupid policeman had questioned him while he was drunk and incapacitated, no lawyer present or offered, so his testimony had been thrown out of court. Since there were no eyewitnesses except for the daughter, it was his word against Beth’s. He had used a rubber. Gotten rid of the hammer and bloody clothes. Showered before he downed those beers and some rot gut whiskey. No evidence left to use. Reasonable doubt was all he needed. So why was this Avenger after him? This bastard couldn’t prove he had been getting his manly needs met. Surely this jerk realized that.
“Why did you bash her teeth out, Carl? She bit you? Poor baby. I thought a real man was supposed to be tougher than that. I’d better take care of that matter first. I don’t want you to get stupid and do the same thing.” The Avenger removed the gag to expose Carl’s mouth. Following several sharp blows, Carl’s front teeth were shattered on the floor. Blood poured from the injuries to his lacerated gums and teeth.
I’m gonna get you for this, Carl swore. Damn! Where was he gonna find the money to replace his teeth? He could feel his lips and tongue swelling from the cuts caused by the hammer. He tried to spit out the blood that was filling his mouth. He wanted to tell the bastard what he was going to do to him, but he couldn’t talk when a large object was jammed into his throbbing mouth. I’m gonna bite this asshole’s prick off! He tried to chomp down as best as he could, but that action drove some embedded shards deeper into his aching gums and exposed nerves. He groaned in agony and almost passed out.
The Avenger laughed. “Oh, Carl, that felt good. Yeah, tighten it up for me again. But if you hurt me, man, I’ll have to use that hammer on your nose and skull next; then, cut out your eyeballs with my knife. Your mouth is as smooth as a baby’s butt. Without those teeth in the way, you’re a good cocksucker. Gum me again. Yeah, that feels good.”
This jerk is sick, Carl decided. Without his teeth and with those threats, he couldn’t stop the assault on his mouth. He could only lie there and endure what was happening to him. But when he got loose, he was going to bash this Avenger’s teeth out. How many men had this prick gotten so far? What if somebody had AIDS? He didn’t want to die like that. What if this Avenger had it? Oh, God, man, I don’t want to die. I should’ve killed that bitch when I had the chance. None of this would have happened if she hadn’t been left alive to tell her story. He felt warm fluid fill his mouth and retched at the taste. Before he could spit out semen and blood or scream for help, a sock was stuffed into this mouth, antagonizing the fresh wounds.
“Oh, Carl. I should’ve thought of that sooner. No teeth make for the best blowjob. Your gums were so soft. Man, Carl, I’m getting hard again just thinking about it. But I’ve got another place I want to try. I bet it’s soft and fresh, too.”
Carl felt gloved hands part his buttocks and struggled against the ropes. They tore into his wrists and ankles, but he didn’t care. All he could think about was getting away from this agony. Of all the men out there, why did the Avenger decide to pick on him?
“I guess you need to be taught the same lesson you taught Beth. I’m a man with needs. I’ve been having my own little party and now I’m horny. You’re going to satisfy me. Of course, we don’t have a small witness to our good time, like you did. Don’t fight me or I’ll be forced to hurt you worse. That will be your fault, Carl. Just like it was Beth’s fault, isn’t that right?”
Carl struggled and wrestled against the ropes as hard as he could. He wasn’t going down without a fight. Nobody told him what to do with his own body. He was a man, damnit, and not some pussy. He was supposed to give orders, not take them. If this sicko wanted fucking, he should’ve gotten himself a whore and beaten her brains out. That’s what women were there for: to cook, clean, have babies, and fuck whenever their man wanted it. This faggot was treating him like some lowly bitch woman. Well, he had news for him: He wasn’t no pussy like the rest of those guys. He’d beat the tar out of this fucking homo and teach him a lesson or two about what a real man was. Then he felt the first blow to his ribs.
“I told you not to fight me, but you didn’t listen any better than a woman does. They don’t do what you tell them to, so you have to keep them in line. You’re not listening to what I’m telling you to do, so I’ll have to help you understand the rules. I’m the boss.” The hammer was slammed against Carl’s shoulder blade. “I tell you what to do and when.” A blow to Carl’s arm. “I am the man.” A crushing strike to Carl’s shoulder. “You ain’t nothing but a whore.”
A fist struck his temple hard enough to cause his vision to blur, but he didn’t pass out. He wouldn’t give this prick the satisfaction of that. Carl knew several of his bones were broken, but a few broken bones didn’t mean a thing. I’ve had plenty in my day. The beers and coke he had done earlier helped to dull the pain. The thought of Beth feeling the torment of his revenge was enough to make his dick grow rock hard. The adrenaline pulsing through him caused his excitement to increase as he devised her punishment for this new crime against him.
The hammer repeatedly struck Carl on the arms, legs and back, breaking many bones. His flesh whelped and oozed blood where several of the blows had broken the skin. The Avenger stepped behind him, parted his butt cheeks and thrust deep and hard into his tight rectum, causing Carl to begin a high-pitched scream through his gag. The infuriated vigilante drove into him many times before releasing a flow of semen. Blood dripped from the bound man’s puckering anus.
“You learn faster than I thought you would. Do you understand who’s boss now?”
Carl didn’t move or make a sound.
A fist was slammed into the side of Carl’s head again. “Obviously, I was wrong. I asked you a question. Do you understand who’s boss now?” The Avenger watched as Carl nodded his head up and down. “Is it you?” Carl shook his head. “Is it me? Am I the man of this house?”
Tears crept down his covered face as Carl nodded his head. Humiliation consumed him as he began to cry like a baby.
“Good, Carl. I might have to let you hang around for a while and visit you from time to time. But people will say and do anything to stay alive, won’t they, Carl? That’s what Beth did. She told you everything you wanted to hear and did everything you told her to do, so she could stay alive and keep you away from her daughter. And then she went and told the police what you’d done. How do I know you wouldn’t do the same thing? You might forget this lesson and try to tell the same lies she did. A man has needs, Carl, and you were here for me. Thank you for that. But now you must die.”
Why? Carl began to cry harder and sniffle through a runny nose. He’d done everything this jerk had asked him to, so why was he going to kill him? The Avenger responded to him as if he’d spoken aloud.
“You don’t deserve to live, Carl. You pissed me off. I don’t want to have to keep coming over and teaching you these lessons and you’re never hurting another woman, good or bad. Look at me, Carl. I want you to see who did this to you. I want you to die knowing why this was done.”
Carl felt the band come loose around his head. Maybe if he didn’t look, the faggot wouldn’t kill him. He refused to open his eyes.
The hammer slammed into his hip. “You still haven’t learned very well. If you don’t look at me, I’ll kill you anyway. At least this way, you’ll be able to recognize me in Hell when we meet again.”
Carl felt a sting on the inside of his elbow and unwillingly opened his eyes. The
y widened at the sight standing before him. Oh, fuck, the Avenger is—And he passed into eternal darkness.
“What sweet justice, you asshole. You’re not the big man you wanted everyone to believe you were when faced with a real challenge, are you? You never stood a chance against me. You’ll never be half of what I am.”
The Avenger packed the items used for Carl’s torture into a nylon bag and checked the room thoroughly, lest anything be left behind. “It wouldn’t do for Mallory to find out who I am before I’m finished. It’s almost over, Lieutenant. I’ll be through soon enough with my revenge. Just be glad you’re off the front page. It was necessary to do it this way to accomplish all I’ve set before me. My sweet, slumbering Tippi, this one was for you, too. I love you. He’ll be punished and killed soon. I promise. For now, Justice has been served again. I wonder what tomorrow’s headline should be. Maybe it needs a photo under it. Naw, that’s too risky again. Time for clean up and rest. Bye, Carl, burn in Hell, you bastard.”
Dan told his partner, “Why don’t you go home and spend some time with Janie? The Captain called in a computer specialist—name’s Tracy Daniels—and she should be here soon. She’s going to set up a program so we can determine if there’s a correlation between anyone associated with this investigation, past cases, and the medical labs. There has to be a connection somewhere. Hopefully, we’ll be able to input most of the information tonight. I can handle this by myself, so you head home. It’s only seven, so you can eat a late dinner with that beautiful wife of yours.”
Mory jumped on the idea. “If you’re sure you don’t need me, I’m gonna take you up on that. I think time together will be good for us.”
“I think you both need it. I shouldn’t be too late. I’ll help Ms. Daniels get started and then see how far we can get by eleven,” Dan turned as an auburn haired woman knocked on the door to their office and asked, “Tracy Daniels?”
“Yes. Lieutenant Mallory?” At Dan’s nod, she continued, “Sorry I’m late, but I had to tie up some loose ends at home. Are you ready to get started?”
“Sure. This is Sergeant Mory Morrison, my partner. He’s on his way out the door, but I’m glad you got to meet him because he’ll have full access to this program and its contents. I appreciate your willingness to come in this late and get everything set up for us. Programming computers isn’t one of my strong points.”
“I don’t mind helping at all and the overtime pay is good,” she said and grinned. “I’ve assisted several past investigations, so Captain Bolton is familiar with my work. He briefed me on the current situation and garnered my strictest confidence.”
“Are you going to have a problem working on this case? There’s a lot of people who like what the Avenger is doing and don’t want him caught. Are there going to be any conflicts for you?” Dan asked.
Does he know about my past? Is he checking up on me, to see how honest I’ll be? Will the truth keep me from working on this case, a case that’s very close to my heart, a case I need to follow for my own reasons? Probably. Tracy gambled and said, “No, sir. Two wrongs don’t make a right, as my mom used to say. Just because this Avenger has been attacking accused men doesn’t make his actions any more right than theirs were. I can’t say I don’t understand his motives, but I don’t agree with his actions.”
“Good answer, Ms. Daniels,” Mory told her.
“Tracy, please. If we’re going to be working closely together, I don’t want to feel or sound like an old lady,” she quipped, relief lightening her mood. He doesn’t know or suspect the truth. I’m far more than an Avenger fan. Things are going to work out all right. I’m going to be closer to this investigation than I ever dreamed possible.
“Okay, but you have to call me Dan. I’ll tell you what I want and you decide the best way to go about it. I need to cross-reference the names of different areas and departments to determine if there’s a correlation between them. I want to know if someone has a relationship with two or more of the places I’m interested in. Can you do that?”
Me, for one. “Sure, no problem. We can set up a database and I can sort them by several different fields. That’s the hardest part. Keying in the information is the easiest. I’m also a fast typist. What we need to do first is determine which criteria you want to sort by and what information you want to go in each file.”
“On that note, I’ll be leaving you two to your work,” Mory said. “I’ll have a drink and nice evening for you.”
“Make it two,” Dan joked. “Forget about the case for tonight and have a good time. I’ll see you in the morning, and tell Janie I said hi.”
“Will do. Bye, Tracy. And good luck. He turns into a werewolf at midnight, so make sure you get out of here before then.” Mory grinned and walked out the door, missing the expression on Tracy’s face.
I’ve had enough experiences with demons that stalk the night, Tracy thought. No man is any match for me, not even this detective. The only way Mallory can hurt me is by exposing my past and I’ll make sure he doesn’t find out about that. It’s taken me four years to live down what happened before. I won’t let anyone take me there again. I’ll destroy them first. Just like I must stop and destroy Alan.
Dan picked up the stack of papers and opened the first file. “This may take longer than I thought, Tracy. We have a lot of info to deal with. Just let me know when you’re ready to leave and we can call it a night.”
“No problem, Dan. Let’s get started.” Tracy pulled a legal pad and pen from her satchel and sat down in the chair next to the lieutenant. “First, we need to determine what fields and what information you want to cross-reference and then I can set up the database. Once it’s ready, you’ll be able to add names and such yourself, but I’ll remain available to help if you get bogged down in the investigation.”
“I appreciate that, Tracy. Mory and I prepared a list of things we think are applicable to our perp. I don’t know how you’ll make that in to data fields.”
“Most of this is no problem,” Tracy mumbled as she scanned the list. “Let me take a few notes and we can get moving.”
For several hours, they changed and juggled the fields in the computer, adding and deleting several of them. By midnight, both were satisfied the program would achieve the desired results. However, Tracy wanted to enter several names and test run the program to assure herself it would work as she had designed it. Dan read information to her as she keyed it into the computer. By the early hours of the morning, both were in a trance-like state but wanted to continue until they were finished.
When he heard activity outside the office door, Dan knew it was past time to call it quits. “Tracy, I really appreciate all of your help. I didn’t intend on keeping you up all night, but I’m glad we were able to get most of this stuff in the computer. Mine and Mory’s typing skills don’t even come close to yours.”
Tracy smiled and nodded her head. “It’s quite all right. I’m glad I was able to help. Let’s give this a run and see what it comes up with, okay?”
“Sure,” Dan leaned back in his chair, resting his back and shoulders, while the computer began to sort through the data they had entered. The soft humming and clicking nearly made him drift off to sleep. He was totally unaware of what was being discovered across town at this very moment....
Exhausted, Dan stood to work kinks out of his shoulders while the computer continued its search for any possible match ups. He hadn’t meant to stay until dawn, but he wanted to be there while Tracy Daniels entered the facts into the program. What was I hoping for? Did I think the killer’s name was going to have a red star beside it? All the detailed information was jumbled around in his head. It had been a long night. He couldn’t keep up this pace for long; he needed to get home and get some sleep.
As the computer continued its work, his phone rang. Dan grabbed the receiver and got an unexpected message. Afterwards, he sank back into his chair, closed his eyes, and gave a deep and loud sigh.
“Bad news?” Tracy asked, st
ill wide awake on caffeine and curiosity.
“There’s been another murder. Last night, a man not under our stake-out was tortured and killed at his home. The boys on the scene believe it was the Avenger. Same MO. Shit!” Dan exclaimed, before he called Mory to tell him about the discovery of another body and to give him directions to the crime scene. To Tracy, he said, “Would you put the report on my desk when it’s complete? I have to get over there. Maybe the Avenger made a mistake this time. I should have some more names to put in the program after I get back to the office. Would you write down some basic instructions for me, so I can enter them and run another report with the new details?”
“I’ll do better than that. How about I meet you back here around four or five, and I can show you and Mory how to do it? That way, you’ll have real info to work with and I can make sure you know what you’re doing so you don’t erase all my hard work.”
“I’d really appreciate that, Tracy. I should be back by then. If I’m not, I’ll leave word at the front desk when you can expect me. Thanks again for all your hard work.”
“No problem, Dan. Good luck over at Whitehead’s.”
Dan turned around quickly. “What? How did you know his name?”
Tracy pointed to the notepad where Dan had scribbled the victim’s name. “That and I overheard you telling Mory. What did you think, Dan? I’m the Avenger?”
Dan’s face showed his embarrassment as he apologized. “Sorry, Tracy. This job makes me suspicious of everyone. I guess I’m just a little worn out this morning. Brain dead. Low sugar. I didn’t mean to accuse or offend you.”
“No offense taken, Dan. After you leave his house, though, you need to get at least a few hours of shut-eye, a hot shower and a good meal. By the way, I’m missing a very important part of anatomy to be the Avenger,” Tracy said with a grin and laughter before she turned towards the computer.
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