The Silencer

by RC Boldt

  My name falls from her lips like a whispered prayer. “Landon.” Her hands glide over her body, fingers toying with her nipples while the other slides between her thighs, parting her folds.

  “That’s it. Show me what I’ve been missing.” Fisting my dick, my balls already drawn tight, I’m transfixed by the sight of her toying with her pretty clit. “Dip a finger inside for me. I’ve gotta know how wet you are.”

  Fingers skimming downward, she slowly sinks one inside, and my cock jumps. Christ, I want to be buried inside her. But a small part of me still holds some sanity, and I recall her rules from last time. How she reacted.

  I need to tread lightly with Kennedy. My woman needs to be handled with care.

  She slides her finger nearly all the way out, but before she can press it back in, I stop her. “Show me. Show me how wet you are.”

  Heavy-lidded eyes locked on me, she withdraws a finger shiny with her slick wetness. My chest heaves with labored breaths, muscles in my body tight with restraint.

  My voice is a scratchy rasp. “How do you want me, Doc? Because you’ve got me on a hair-trigger here.” Desperation bleeds from my tone, but I don’t give a shit. I snag the condom from my pants, rip it open with my teeth, and roll it down my cock.

  She sits up, gorgeous hair sweeping over her shoulders. “I want to ride you.” Her eager expression combined with her words nearly has me coming on the spot.

  I shove the pillows against the headboard and settle against them. When she slinks a leg over me, her slick pussy grazes the head of my cock, and I can’t suppress my groan. I’ve got the most beautiful woman on my lap, her perky tits level with my mouth.

  Capturing one hard nipple between my lips, I give it a little suck and flick my tongue against it.

  “Landon.” She rocks against my cock, the tip sliding along her entrance. Teasing but not breaching. It’s a torture I both despise and want more of.

  Releasing her nipple, rosy and wet from my mouth, I peer into her hazy eyes. “Want you to take what you need from me.” With her ass in my palms, I curl my fingers around her firm flesh and guide her to drag her pussy lips along my cock.

  She hisses out a breath, and when she ducks her head, for a split second, I think she’s going to break one of her rules and kiss me. When her mouth lands on my cheek instead, trailing her lips along my jaw, I bite back the grunt of disappointment that attempts to surge free.

  Baby steps. I’ve got to be patient.

  Lifting up slightly to reach between our bodies, she takes me in her hand and guides me to her. Poised at her entrance, I hold myself still as she lowers herself, sinking down over my cock.

  My voice is raw as I expel a string of profanities, my hips lifting instinctively. She lets out a tiny, desperate sound in her throat as she sinks down over me, her impossibly tight pussy stretching to accommodate me. Heavy-lidded eyes and lips parted for panting breaths, she’s never looked more beautiful.

  Buried to the hilt, I heave out harsh breaths, trying not to blow my fucking load like a goddamn chump. Taking her other nipple in my mouth, I suckle it, and her inner muscles clench me in a near-death grip.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I grunt, closing my eyes tight. She smooths her hands over my bunched shoulders before lifting the barest inch and sinking back down. “Kennedy…” I fight for control, my fingers flexing on her ass. “I’m about to lose control.”

  “Do it.”

  My eyes flash open to find her watching me with an expression I can’t decipher. She must see the indecision on my face because she leans her forehead against mine. Her soft voice quivers slightly. “Show me, Landon.”

  When she lifts her head, our gazes lock, and I give a sharp upward punch of my hips. My tight hold of her ass aids in jerking her down on me. Her breasts bounce, mouth parting on a soundless gasp. “Is this what you want from me?”

  “More,” is all she breathes out.

  Her hands tighten their hold on my shoulders, and she lets me manhandle her, jerking her pussy down on each of my upward thrusts.

  “You feel that?” Each deep, driving thrust has her gasping. “You got my cock hard as fucking steel. That’s for you.” My hips pump faster, and I reach between our bodies to thumb her clit. “It’s all yours.” I’m all yours.

  Heat blazes in her eyes, and her lips part on a gasp.

  I surge upward, still toying with her clit, and she clenches around me. “I’m leaving my mark on this sweet pussy.”

  When I rake my teeth across one nipple, she moans. My thrusts turn wilder, and I thicken inside her, gritting my teeth. “Fuck.” My thumb is relentless on her clit, her muscles going tense. “Need you to come for me. Fucking ruin me with your pussy.”

  With a whimper, she shatters, clenching me so goddamn tight and coating me in her wetness. It elicits a feral-sounding growl from me. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  I pump my hips in rapid drives, moving my hand from her clit to cup her breast and suck her nipple hard. Her pussy flutters around me, body shuddering, drenching me with more of her wetness.

  With one final plunge, her knees splayed wide on either side of me, her sweet pussy soaking me, I let go. My muscles go taut before my body gives way to shudders, and I come hard as fuck, my hips working as I empty inside her.

  She slumps over me, my face now buried against her collarbone as tremors still run through her body. Our heaving breaths sound deafening in the silence of the room.

  Her hair curtains around us, a slight sheen of sweat beneath my palm at her lower back. I wonder how the hell this woman put a spell on me like she has.

  I wonder how the hell I’m going to let her go.

  Chapter 57

  Kennedy

  I shake out my hands, flexing my fingers. I’m on edge, and it has nothing to do with what I’ve already accomplished this evening.

  It has everything to do with the man who’d shown me pleasure unlike anything else I’ve experienced.

  The man who’d held me afterward like I was something to treasure. His hands had trembled slightly, and his breaths came out in harsh pants against my skin as if he couldn’t quite calm his breathing.

  When I saw him to the door, piping hot resentment coursed through my veins—not at him, but at myself.

  Watching him leave, knowing he would’ve stayed longer or even spent the night if I’d offered an invitation, longing had besieged me.

  Shaking off my distracting thoughts, I now need to focus. Especially with what’s on the line. Tonight’s special.

  It’s been a two-for-one night for me.

  I don’t normally do this. In fact, I’ve never done this. But tonight, things have fallen into place better than anticipated.

  It had been child’s play to hack into Attorney General Millingham’s security system and breach his estate. This late in the evening, only one person stands watch at the main entrance of the massive home. I suppose they’ve never had anyone willing to take on the challenge of the tall hedges surrounding the wrought iron fence that stands over seven feet tall.

  Now, slipping from Millingham’s estate, I climb over the portion of the fence at the far edge of his property. Satisfaction strums through me while the image of his blank stare lingers in my mind. He’d hated making that 911 call, but he knew he didn’t have a choice.

  Not when my syringe needle was already in his neck, waiting for me to send the poison into his veins.

  Plunging into the dense forest of trees in the vast park bordering his estate and neighboring ones, I’m grateful for the darkness camouflaging me. When sirens sound in the distance, I speed up to ensure I’ll still be on time for my next stop.

  After all, this next kill is one I’ve anticipated for a long, long time. As I draw near to the overpriced spa that caters to those with more money than sense or morals, I’m bombarded with the onslaught of memories. With my cries for help that no one heard.

  “Why won’t you believe me?!”

  “But he does things to me he shouldn’t do! It’
s not right!”

  Like a stain that never truly comes clean, my twelve-year-old cries echo in my mind. I’d begged for my mother to believe me and protect me like she should.

  But she never did. Instead, she played the role of a unique villain.

  Anticipation thrums through me as if I’m a junkie cruising on a high because it’s finally time.

  It might be eleven o’clock at night, but this spa doesn’t hold traditional hours. They offer round-the-clock service to anyone who can afford their exorbitant fees.

  She gets a full spa treatment once a week. She believes this cleanses her of impurities. But there’s no treatment, regardless of how intensive it might be, that can cleanse her.

  Not when she’s a vile demon devoid of morals. Someone who willfully victimized her own flesh and blood.

  On my way to the rear entrance of the spa, my hand is drawn to the wrought iron railing of the steps leading to the door. As soon as I touch the metal, a flood of memories bombards me.

  “Please don’t make me do this! It hurt so bad last time!” I’d pleaded to my mother, digging in my heels as I’d latched on to the railing.

  “You can’t have hair down there,” she’d hissed at me. “It makes you look older.” Her hold on my wrist cinched tighter as she attempted to yank me forward.

  The metal rung had dug into my fingers as I’d clenched the railing tighter in desperation. “Please! Please don’t make me!”

  The one person who was supposed to protect me and cherish me—love me—had fed me to the wolves.

  But not before ensuring I was “prepared” for those monsters.

  No twelve-year-old should be subjected to what I’d been forced to do.

  To be completely waxed in order to ensure my labia was hairless.

  To have an anal bleaching.

  To have a colon cleanse in order to be deemed “clean enough” for someone to use me there.

  My mother had groomed me meticulously for him and the others to do as they wished. I wasn’t viewed as a child but as a sexual object, prepped for their darkest and most depraved yearnings.

  Quickly inserting my card in the reader, I type in the override command, and the rear door unlocks. As I stride down the hall like I own the place, no one meets my eyes. That’s par for the course here. They pay no attention to what happens under their noses because they’re compensated far too well to do anything else.

  Not only that, but they don’t use any surveillance. Those who commit evil deeds don’t appreciate being tracked going to and from, regardless of whether it’s something innocuous like getting a massage.

  Adorned in all-black designer attire, my slacks, fitted thermal shirt, and boots contrast with my red wig, hair cut in a sleek bob. A stylish cashmere beanie is tugged over my head, hands encased in black leather gloves.

  I already hacked into their system to determine their schedule and which room and masseuse she’d be assigned. After a quick call to alert Talia that she didn’t need to return to work for this particular appointment, I didn’t remove her from the schedule.

  Once I arrive at room seventeen, I enter soundlessly and lock the door behind me, quietly flipping the switch for the Do Not Disturb light on the outside.

  Carefully withdrawing the syringe, I uncap the end and approach the woman lying facedown on the massage table.

  “I’m holding tension in my upper back, so if you could work that area more, that would be wonderful, darling.”

  My legs wobble at hearing her voice in person for the first time in so long. Her hair is the same dark brown color, holding no traces of gray as it should.

  Carefully sweeping her hair to the side, I sink the small needle in the side of her neck and depress the plunger. This disgustingly vile creature doesn’t deserve to see my face when I take her life, nor do I wish to peer into the eyes of a woman who was never a mother to me.

  She jerks in a futile attempt at fighting me off, but her body quickly cedes to the poison. I cap the needle and tuck it back inside the pouch of the Velcro belt beneath my shirt. From the small, slim pocket beside it, I draw out the sharp scalpel. When I settle my gloved fingers to her neck, her pulse is faint and barely detectable.

  Bringing my lips to her ear, I whisper, “I imagined your death millions of times, but nothing is as satisfying as knowing you’ll never take another breath on this earth.”

  With the blade poised against her skin, my cries from long ago reverberate in my mind. “Please, Mommy! Why won’t you help me?!”

  She let him and the other monsters force their way into my body and take from me until they left a vessel of flesh and bones in their wake and my body, mind, and soul were broken beyond repair.

  Resentment-filled fury infuses my blood while the compelling yearning to kill her over and over again takes hold. I sink the blade’s edge into her jugular, and blood spills onto the pastel-covered cloth beneath her. “Enjoy burning in hell.”

  Once I pocket the blade safely, I soundlessly open the door of the room a crack. Verifying the hallway is clear, I flick the lock and pull the door shut, leaving the Do Not Disturb light on. Then I slip out the back and stride away.

  A brisk walk takes me block after block through the city before I near my destination. What I’m not expecting is the man standing a few feet away, the overhead light post casting an ethereal glow upon him.

  “Evil will slay the wicked! The haters of righteousness will be condemned!” He shakes his fist in the air, the other hand clutching his well-worn Bible as he declares this message to…

  I glance around and discover that very few people are out tonight. And wisely so since it’s quite frigid and a late hour. When I turn back to him, he’s looking directly at me with that unsettling laser-focused gaze of his.

  “Evil will slay the wicked,” he repeats with a nod in my direction. “The haters of righteousness will be condemned.”

  Unease dances along my spine. Is he a seer? I’ve never given much credence to that sort of thing, but I’ve also never been one to believe in coincidences.

  This man seems to be placing himself in my path for a reason. As if he’s somehow privy to what I do.

  I dig in my back pocket and pull out the lone twenty I stashed there. Tentatively, I veer closer and drop the money into his bin with a nod. Then I force myself to continue while his eyes bore into me from behind.

  Evil will slay the wicked, he’d said.

  That’s exactly what I’m trying to do. One soulless bastard after the next.

  Expunging the demons connected to my past should be more uplifting. It should inspire a sense of achievement. I’m singlehandedly eliminating horrible creatures who prey on innocent children.

  Yet as I venture toward the sparsely lit cemetery, my feet are leaden. My wig discarded along with the beanie in a dumpster along my way here, I drop to my knees, my pants doing nothing to blanket me from the damp, bitterly cold ground seeping through the fabric.

  Placing my gloved hands against the gravestone, I trace over the engraved name. Mabelle Rothman. No flowers nor a wreath lie propped against the stone.

  My breath emits in white puffs as the temperature grows colder, but I’m impervious to it. The more frigid it gets, the more akin I feel to it. Ice runs through my veins—it has to—in order to succeed in my mission.

  One gloved fingertip has dried blood on it, as if serving as a token of my feat tonight. It smears a chalky trace of color across the stone.

  “I did it. I finally did it.” My whispered words seem to echo in the stillness of my surroundings. Leaning my forehead against the smooth surface, I close my eyes, my voice barely a wisp of breath. “I killed your daughter tonight.”

  I wait, the silence deafening, and almost laugh at the lunacy of it. Did I think she’d somehow speak to me from beyond the grave?

  “I had to. If I didn’t, she—they—would never stop.” My voice cracks, and I suck in a sharp breath of icy air. “I can’t let them win. I just can’t. Please forgive me. I know
I’m not good like you expected I’d be. But someone has to stop them. And I’m the only one who can. I’m the only one who knows the kind of monsters they really are.”

  A gust of wind blows, battering my face and tousling a strand of hair loose from my bun. Easing back, I rise to my feet and draw in a deep breath, the air chilling my nostrils. My attention darts briefly to the gravestone directly beside hers, one with a name I haven’t seen or used in over a decade.

  “Once this is over, there’s a good chance I’ll be beside you. This time, for real.”

  I don’t plan to let them kill me easily. There’s no way I’m going down without a fight.

  My actions tonight will have major consequences. I’ve thrown down the gauntlet. They’ll know a reckoning is coming for them.

  I’m coming for them.

  It’s time to silence them once and for all.

  Chapter 58

  Landon

  “Landon, son. It’s good of you to come.” The Vice President shakes my hand and glances around at the crowd of people paying their respects. His smile looks a little brittle, and there’s a strain around his eyes, but I suppose that’s to be expected.

  I can’t imagine dealing with two untimely deaths. I’d heard a rumor that Alaina had committed suicide, but it hadn’t been substantiated. Millingham had apparently been struggling to keep his insulin regulated but failed after overdosing and dying from heart failure.

  Not only that, but discovering the untimely deaths of Bomer and Trudel in the same day has me wondering what the fuck is going on. The media’s blatantly ignoring the fact that these people are dropping like flies. It sure as shit seems like it’s far more than a coincidence.

  “Of course, sir. I wanted to be here to pay my respects.”

  He nods, and his eyes lock on to someone over my shoulder before his attention returns to me. Leaning in closer, he lowers his voice. “I haven’t been in touch because of everything that’s happened. Losing Ted and Eleanor so close together…” He trails off, his Adam’s apple bobbing emotionally.