by Miller, Tim
“What are you going to do to stop him?” Jenny said. “You’re not exactly in a spot to go kick his ass.”
“Look, guys!” Micheal said. “We’re gonna get out of here. I have a backup plan.”
They both looked at him.
“What backup plan?” Darren asked.
“Ok. Remember before I went to jail? I was sort of mixed up with the Latin Kings?”
“Sort of mixed up?” Jenny said. “You were neck deep in their shit and they hung you out to dry.”
“Yeah, whatever. Well, I still owed them some money. Like a lot.”
“From what?”
“From when I got busted. All the guns that were confiscated. They were worth a lot. So they wanted their money back or they were gonna have me killed.”
“So that’s why you wanted us to do the robbery so badly,” Darren said. “I should have known you little shit. So what, we were gonna do the work and you were going to make off with the money?”
“Umm, not quite. They were gonna take you two out,” Michael said.
“What?” Jenny yelled. “You were going to have us killed? Just to save your own ass?”
“I’m sorry! Ok? They were gonna send this Padre guy after me. He like tortures people and shit. He’d rip me to shreds, literally!”
“What do you think will happen here, asshole?” Darren said. “God you are a piece of work.”
“But look, when I took off after the robbery, I went and told them what happened. They followed me to the house. So the Kings know we are here. They want their money. So they should be coming in any time now.”
“We been hanging here for hours. Besides, if they got their money, you think they are going to rescue us?” Darren said. “They’ll take their cash and run. Even if they did rescue us, we’ll still be broke.”
The steel door slid the rest of the way open as Duncan appeared. This time he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans while carrying a tray with a plate of cooked meat.
“Hey guys!” Duncan said. “I figured you all must be hungry, so I cooked you up a little something.”
As he approached, Darren saw what looked like barbequed brisket on the plate as well as ribs. He wanted to look away, knowing it had belonged to Anita, a girl they would never get to know. But at the same time, it smelled really good. The aroma made his taste buds tingle and stirred a rumbling in his stomach. Duncan cut off a piece and held it up to Darren’s mouth, but he turned his head away.
“Oh come on now. You need to eat something. You know you want to. It smells so good. I added some special seasonings to it and the barbecue sauce is my own recipe.”
Darren moved his head around but Duncan pressed the fork against his mouth. He finally opened as Duncan slid the meat inside. He wanted to spit it out, yet it tasted good. It tasted really good. He chewed it slowly and swallowed. This was wrong. It was wrong to eat people; he wasn’t a cannibal. Yet he was so hungry. Didn’t some plane crash survivors eat each other in order to survive? That’s what he was trying to do. He wanted to survive.
Duncan was holding out another bite of meat. This time, Darren ate it on his own.
“There you go. Tastes good doesn’t it?” he said.
After feeding Darren several more pieces, he moved over to Jenny.
“Darren! How could you eat that?” she said.
“Just eat it Jenny. You need the strength. It’s ok,” Darren assured.
“We’re not fucking cannibals!” she screamed.
“We are today! Just eat! If you want to live, then eat!”
She opened her mouth and took several bites before he moved on to Michael. Michael ate without any coaxing. Duncan fed the other girl in the room, emptying the plate.
“There. That should hold you all for a while. Can’t let word get out that I’m a rude host. You all just hang out here for a while. I have some festivities planned for later,” Duncan said as he walked out and slid the door closed.
“Festivities? I’d hate to see what that consists of,” Darren said.
“I can’t believe we just at a person,” Jenny said.
“Me either,” Darren said. “Just don’t think about it. Plus I’m guessing Michael’s homeboys aren’t coming after all.”
“They’ll be here,” Michael said. “You wait and see."
Chapter 11
June 10, 2013 One hour after the robbery
Carlos sat in the car looking through his binoculars.
“You see anything, man?” Miguel asked from the driver’s seat.
“I see a little house, and that’s about it,” Carlos said.
“They been in there for a while.”
“It’s been maybe ten minutes.”
Carlos looked and he saw a short man in a suit running from the house. Then a man in black caught up to him and dragged him back inside.
“Who the fuck was that?” Carlos asked. “Some dude just came running out of there. I think that was the brother in law that pulled him back inside. They must have taken a hostage.”
“That’s crazy. When we going in?” Miguel asked.
“I want to make sure it’s clear. There’s no way for us to just sneak up. Dumbass Michael has to distract them for us.”
“You think he will do it?”
“If he don’t, his ass is dead,” Carlos said.
“Is that Padre guy real? I keep hearing about him, but Hector said he was just a story.”
“You want to find out?”
“Nah, I’m good,” Miguel said.
They sat and looked out the window for a while longer. A few cars went by, but no movement from the house, until Carlos saw the garage open and a white Cadillac pull out.
“What the fuck is this?” he said.
The Cadillac drove down the lane and onto the road. Carlos could see there was only one guy in the car.
“Who was that guy?” Miguel asked.
“I have no idea. Hit it, we’re going in.”
Miguel floored it and sped down the lane toward the house. He skidded to a stop as Carlos ran out of the car before it had even stopped moving. He had his gun out as Miguel followed behind. Carlos kicked the front door open and stepped inside. The house was empty. They checked each room and out back. All they found was Michael’s car.
“Where the fuck are they?” Miguel asked.
“That little motherfucker,” Carlos said. “I bet they were hiding in that car. They snuck out with that asshole. Go! Get to the car now!”
They ran back to the car and sped down the lane and back down the road. Carlos looked at their speed, seeing they were going almost a hundred miles per hour. Miguel almost lost control going around a few curves, but he held it. Within a few minutes, they had caught up to the Cadillac and followed him onto the highway.
“Stay back a little bit, but don’t lose them.”
They followed the car off the highway and into a nice neighborhood. The houses all looked expensive.
“Shit, we don’t look too out of place here,” Miguel said.
“Just shut up and drive.”
The Cadillac arrived at the house and pulled into the garage as the door closed behind it.
“Should we go in?” Miguel asked.
“Not yet. It’s the middle of the day. We’ll draw too much attention. See?” Carlos said as he pointed to a man across the street mowing his yard. There was also a woman jogging approaching the house.
“Shit. What’re we gonna do?”
“Gotta sit tight man. Maybe wait till it gets dark. But we can’t sit here. Cops will be on us.”
“Should we leave?”
“Nah, just keep moving. Go park down the road a little,” Carlos said.
Miguel had barely pulled away from the curb when a police car approached from the other direction. As they drove past, the police car did a U-turn as it activated its lights.
“Fuck man! What’d we do?” Miguel asked.
“I told you man. Two Mexicans driving this piece of shit in this neighborhood.
Just stop.”
Miguel pulled over as the officer approached the driver’s side, Carlos noticed the officer’s hand on his gun.
“How’s it going fellas?” the officer said. He was Hispanic as well, with a buzz haircut.
“Going ok officer,” Carlos said.
“And what might you guys be doing around here? I patrol this area a lot. Never seen you all here before.”
“Nah, we were gonna see his cousin. She just moved, but I think we’re lost,” Carlos said.
“Lost huh?”
“Yes sir,” Miguel said.
“You guys got any ID on you?”
The both handed over their ID’s to the officer. Carlos wasn’t worried about warrants. He’d made sure he was clean, and keeps himself insulated enough to keep himself out of jail. The officer took them and went back to his car. After a few minutes he walked back up and handed the IDs back.
“Here you go guys,” the officer said. “You’re all good. If you want to get back on the highway, just go back out the way you came, and hang a left. You can follow me if you want.”
“Oh ok, ok. Thank you, officer,” Miguel said. “I think we can find it.”
Once the cop left Miguel looked at Carlos.
“Shit, what was that about?”
“Just bullshit. His way of letting us know he sees us and is watching. Let’s get out of here,” Carlos said.
“What about the money?”
“We’ll come back tonight. See if they’re still here. They just robbed a bank, so they won’t be going on any shopping sprees just yet. If the money’s gone, then Michael is dead. Shit, I’ll kill his sister and brother in law and make him watch just to prove a point.”
“I’m glad I don’t owe you money,” Miguel said.
“Better keep it that way too.”
Miguel turned the car around and they drove out of the neighborhood back onto the highway. Carlos gave the house a close look as they rolled by, forming his plan for when they return.
Chapter 12
June 10, 2013
Duncan sat at his table eating some of the stew he’d made. The rest of the meat he placed in the freezer for a later time. His hobby saved him tons on his grocery bill. The stew was salty and a little spicy. He’d added in plenty of carrots, potatoes and onions to round it out and give it plenty of flavor. There was a little bit of the brisket left; he hadn’t taken all of it in to the others. He was saving that for later.
He couldn’t stop thinking of how pretty Jenny was. Something about her reminded him of his first victim. It brought back old memories. As long as he could remember, he’d been curious about human flesh and what it tasted like. When he was a little boy, he’d asked his mother why it was ok to eat animals, but not people. She’d told him to shut up. The curiosity stayed with him though, along with the urge to kill. He was never sure where it came from.
He’d had a good upbringing; his parents were married for forty years. They took him to church and he did well in school. Yet despite all of that, for some reason he had this deep seeded need to cause suffering. He practiced on animals when he was in kindergarten. No one knew about his little experiments. His favorite animals to play with were cats. There were plenty of strays in the area. It just took putting a little food out and waiting for them to come to him.
He started out simple, doing things like shaving their fur. After a while, he started skinning them alive, cutting off limbs and dissecting them. It was hard to always do when they were alive though. Cats were mean little bastards. He even would eat them at times, but never found the taste very satisfying.
His first victim came to him at the age of twelve. She was a girl from his school who resembled Jenny, except much younger of course. Her name was Tracy, or was it Tammy? Either way, he had been in a park, back in the woods performing one of his experiments on a cat. The girl had been picking flowers when she came upon him.
At first, he hadn’t planned on killing her. He just tried to distract her and get her to leave him alone. It was her curiosity that had literally killed her.
“What are you doing?” she had asked.
“Nothing, just leave me alone.”
“Oh my God! Is that blood? What are you doing?” She walked closer and saw the mutilated cat and the blood all over his hands. She began screaming. Duncan had panicked. The screaming would draw the attention of park police and God knows who else. He grabbed her by the hair and jammed the blade of his pocket knife into her throat. The screams turned to gasps as blood sprayed from her neck. He eased her to the ground, stunned at what he had just done.
It took a minute for it to sink in, but he felt no guilt. Looking around, there was no one nearby. He decided to test out his biggest curiosity. He cut the girl up and tasted various parts of her body. First he started with meat on the inside of her thigh, which he found quite good. He tried some of her organs, which he decided might need some preparation. Trying to eat them raw they proved to be too tough and rubbery. He even tried one of her breasts which had still been forming.
Once he was satisfied, he dragged her to the large pond which was nearby and pushed her in. He washed off in the pond and headed home. Duncan had never done drugs or been high, but he imagined that was what he was feeling. The whole way home, he was beaming. His mother thought something was wrong with him. It was almost a year before he killed again. After the second kill, he was hooked.
As he took another bite, his thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. He walked over and looked through the peephole. It was two police officers.
“Hello officers, can I help you?” Duncan said as he opened the door.
“Mr. Kincaide. You’re alive and well it appears,” one of the officers said.
“Why yes, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Your bank was robbed this morning. Several witnesses said you were taken hostage. They escaped in your car.”
“Oh yes they did. Please, come on in,” Duncan stepped aside letting the officers walk by him.
“So what’s going on? You seem rather calm for having been kidnapped by armed gunmen.”
“I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. I mean, it was all quite surreal. They took my car and drove me almost to Austin then got off on some side road out there. From there they all got out and got into this black van.”
“A van?” the officer said.
“Yes, more like a minivan. I guess it was more of a navy blue than black. But they drove toward Austin and just left me in the back of the car.”
“That’s it? They didn’t hurt you? Did they say anything?”
“They just said they didn’t want to hurt anyone. I know they killed that old man in the bank, but he started shooting at them. We always tell customers not to resist during a robbery. It’s part of our training as well.”
“So what did you do when they left? Did you see their faces?”
“I’m afraid I didn’t. They kept their masks on the whole time. I just sat there for a little bit after they left, I guess I was in shock. Then I just came home. I’ve just been trying to sort it out.”
“Didn’t you think to contact police?” the officer asked.
“I did. I just wanted to gather myself first. Being forced into a car at gunpoint isn’t the most calming thing in the world.”
“Well no, I imagine not. You know it makes you look a little guilty though, as if you were in on it?”
“Yes, I did realize that after I came home. Another reason I hesitated. It’s just all been so hazy today,” Duncan said.
“I guess I can understand that. We’ll need you to come to the station sometime today to make a statement though.”
“Yes, I can definitely do that.”
“Mind if we have a look around? Just to make sure everything is ok?” the officer asked.
“Not at all sir. Make yourselves at home.”
The officers began walking through the house. One of them went into the kitchen.
“Something smells good. Whatcha been coo
king?”
“I was starving when I got back. So I made some stew and some brisket. Would you like some? I have plenty.”
Duncan put a few pieces on two plates and handed one to each officer before they could answer. They each tasted the meat as they walked around.
“Hey, this is really good man. You should be a chef,” one of them said.
“Oh thank you, but no. Cooking is just a hobby of mine.”
“Well you’re damn good at it,” he said as they devoured the brisket from their plates.
They wandered through each room, opening doors and looking under furniture. He wasn’t concerned about them finding the others. His kill room was hidden behind a wall panel and soundproof. After a few minutes they came back into the living room.
“Well sorry to bother you Mr. Kincaide. Just try to get to the station sometime today for that statement. It’s just routine. Plus you got the best look at them over anyone,” the officer said.
“Yes, yes, of course.”
“Ok, have a good day. We’ll have to invite you to the next department cookout. Let everyone taste some of your brisket,” he said.
“Oh that would be great. You’re too kind, sir.”
The officer nodded as they both headed out. He closed and locked the door behind them. He realized he was foolish to not have gone to the police after he’d secured the others. He’d gotten too caught up in his work. He walked into his study and felt along the wall, sliding his fingers in between one of the panels, pulling it away to reveal a steel door. Grabbing the handle, he slid the door open and stepped into the room, sliding the door shut behind himself.
The three robbers were still hanging there, staring at him. The other girl was staring at nothing. These robbers weren’t his usual type. Anita and the other girl, Veronica were both undocumented prostitutes. He’d picked them up in the rougher parts of town. That’s how he got most of his victims. No one would notice them, no one would miss them and no one would be looking for them. He’d done it that way for years.
These three robbers would be missed by someone, plus the police looking for them, but they don’t know their identities. He’d thought of turning them into police, or turning in the money. He’d be a big hero and maybe get a promotion with the bank. But that would draw way too much attention. Attention that he didn’t need.
