by Jim Riley
She kicked the same sore knee the from the back. Foster howled again. Then Niki delivered three quick straight jab to the large man's kidneys. He crumbled like a rag doll.
Niki jumped on top of him in an instant, the internal rage driving her. She pummeled him nonstop until he looked like a tattered, bloody corpse.
A pair of oxen–sized arms grabbed her from behind.
A new attack? Who was coming to Donald Foster's defense? The detective struggled against an ungiving force.
"Calm down, Niki?" Samson said. "You don't want to kill him."
"Yes, I do," she spat, the rage refusing to quell.
The massive chief of homicide embraced her body and lifted her away from the fallen stepfather. When her feet hit the ground, she twisted with all her might. It didn't help. Samson just smiled.
"Leave me alone," she yelled. "He killed everybody. He got Flavia pregnant."
"I know," Samson replied. "I've got it all on tape."
85
Central High School
Football Field
"Here. These will bring them back," Sleazy Slocum said, handing Niki two needles. He pointed at the unconscious bodies of Billy Bailey and Flavia Foster at the fifty yard line.
"You drugged them?" Niki asked.
"Had to. Otherwise, they would have recognized me. I can't afford that."
"Why did you take them?"
"Foster gave ordered me to kill them. Donna as well. I decided the best way out of this was to make him think they were dead until you figured it out."
"If you knew, why didn’t you tell me?"
"Couldn't," Slocum replied. "That would've been a conflict of interest. Bad for my future business."
"He paid you?"
"Don't worry. He won't need the money where he's going. I'll use it to help Flavia. She will need lots of help, I'm afraid."
"So you were coming to get Donna in my townhouse when you found Ricky Delrie?"
"Talk about a stroke of luck," the big man laughed. "For me and for Donna."
"How did you know she was there?"
"Because I warned you, and I knew you would be true to your mother-hen nature and bring her back to the nest right under your wings."
"What about Ricky Delrie?"
"He finally did something useful. He became part of the food chain. The grubs and worms will find him quite tasty."
"You know I should report you to the police."
"But you won't. You know I saved those two there on the field." He nodded at Flavia and Billy. "Think of it as protective custody instead of kidnapping."
"What should I tell them about Delrie?"
"He is helping the beautiful wildlife of Louisiana get stronger," Slocum shrugged. "That's more than he did for the people he met."
Niki did not know how to respond. She rose and walked down the stairs toward Flavia and Billy. When she reached the field, Niki turned to wave at Slocum. He was not there.
John David "Sleazy" Slocum faded into the dark Louisiana night.
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