by E. E. Borton
“Got it,” said Brad, holding up the recorders.
“Good,” said Bullet. “Grab the rest of her shit and let’s go.”
They dragged her by her feet and threw her in the back of the car. Emily tried to resist, but another hard punch to the stomach immobilized her. They bound her hands and headed for the ramp where Bullet’s boat was waiting.
“I almost believed you,” said Brad, shoving her onto the boat. “You still wanna be my girlfriend now?”
“I’m sorry, Brad,” said Emily. “Please don’t do this.”
“Too late for that,” said Brad. “Judge Hall told Bullet to shut you up so you wouldn’t talk to the feds. Guess what I’m gonna shut you up with?”
“Judge Hall was the only person keeping you alive, princess,” said Bullet, climbing on board and starting the boat. “She don’t give a fuck what happens to you now, and neither do we. You tried to get us busted, bitch. I’m gonna teach you lessons you ain’t never gonna forget.”
“And when we’re done with you, we’re gonna go do the same thing to your mama,” said Eddie. “Just remember that all of this is your fucking fault.”
Emily sat in silence as Eddie and Brad looked at her as if they were rabid dogs. She occupied her mind by trying to think of ways to escape. With her hands bound behind her back, jumping overboard would only make them angry. As the boat glided deeper into the black swamp, any thoughts of escaping her captors started to fade. Her only hope for survival was to do whatever they wanted.
A cabin built on a floating platform materialized out of thin air. Brad tied off the boat while Eddie and Bullet went inside. A soft glow grew behind the dirty windows as the dead shack came to life. A few moments later Bullet came back outside with a lantern.
“Get a fire going in that,” said Bullet, pointing to a half barrel on the corner of the covered porch. “Bring her inside and then throw all her shit in there. Make sure there ain’t nothing left but ashes and then dump them over the side.”
Emily did her best to control her breathing, but she began to hyperventilate. They had abused and terrorized her for eighteen months, but she never feared for her life. That changed when Eddie took her inside the cabin while Brad started the fire in the barrel. They weren’t burning her things to scare her. They were doing it to destroy evidence.
Bullet cut the thin rope binding her hands and replaced it with handcuffs. He shackled her to a post in an empty corner of the room and started cutting off her clothes. He threw each piece out onto the front porch for Brad to burn.
When he finished, he walked outside to join his brothers who were drinking beers by the fire. Emily slid down to the floor and leaned against a wall. Her only thought was about her mother, who was sleeping peacefully in her bed. Tears began to streak down her face when she thought about the moment somebody would have to tell her that her only child was dead.
Chapter 40
Love Shack
A gruesome picture had been painted by everyone involved in Emily’s demise since Conner stole his kiss. All had a piece, but until that point nobody saw the whole. They were about to see everything.
Abby and Evan were upstairs watching and listening on a video monitor as Brad started to recount Emily’s final days. Grey wanted to keep them as disconnected as possible from the physical interactions. They needed to see what was happening, but at a safer distance. It was still close enough to keep them committed to the reasons why they were in Boudreaux, Louisiana.
Grey and Chief were standing behind Brad as he told Kate about his level of involvement with Emily. She made him start his side of the story from the first day he heard her name. By the time he told her about burning her clothes, they were ready to choke him to death.
Both men had been sworn officers of the law. Both had long and distinguished careers that put them face to face with the worst the human race had to offer. Time and time again, they were forced to watch some of those faces walk out of the courtroom as free men and women. Because of the Double Jeopardy clause in the Fifth Amendment, most of those faces couldn’t be tried again, even if they confessed to the crime.
They believed the judicial system was less about right and wrong and more about who had the smarter lawyer. Defense attorneys had little use for the truth from their clients. Their priority was finding the loophole or technicality that would make them the lead story on the evening news as they walked with smiles down marble stairs.
Grey and Chief had grown weary of watching those smiling faces leaving as winners in a flawed system. They knew Judge Hall was right when she told Sheriff Lewis any confessions he obtained would never make it into court. Her attorneys weren’t smart; they were brilliant.
That was the reason they were standing behind Brad, who was tied to a chair in their dark basement. There was no loophole or technicality that would make him a free man. There was no slick defense attorney to muddy the waters and confuse a jury. In the basement, there was only pain and the truth.
Kate lifted her hand to stop Brad from continuing his story. She didn’t want to hear the details of Emily’s torture and final moments inside the basement. She wanted to hear it inside the cabin where it happened.
There was more water than land around Boudreaux. When Evan arrived, Kate had him purchase a boat that would accommodate a variety of needs. She spared no expense.
“Is the boat ready?” asked Kate.
“Evan gassed it up this morning,” said Chief. “Are we going somewhere?”
“Yes,” said Kate. “Brad is going to take us to the cabin. I want him to finish his story there.”
Grey and Chief didn’t care why Brad and people like him do the things they do. They had no desire to explore the mental mechanics of what made him tick. They only wanted to stop his clock.
Kate did care. She wanted to know what made Brad, Eddie, Bullet, and others like them tick. It wasn’t for personal satisfaction or as a way to come to terms with her losses. She wanted to know so she could become what they feared. Understanding them would make her a more effective hunter.
“There are too many reasons why this is a bad idea,” said Grey, walking Chief to a corner in the basement. “Let’s make sure we have everything we need.”
“I’ll pack our bags,” said Chief, leaving Grey with Kate.
“You not arguing with me is a little boring,” said Kate. “Could you at least give me a dirty look?”
“It’s actually liberating,” said Grey. “I’ve already accepted the fact that you’re trying to kill me. It’s all cake after that.”
“You understand, right?”
“I do,” said Grey. “I really do. We should be fine. Chief is packing us a bag of tricks.”
“Do you think anyone will be there?”
“I doubt it, but it is a drug dealer’s hideaway,” said Grey. “We’ll be prepared.”
“Thank you, Grey.”
“It’s why you hired me,” said Grey, smiling.
Grey loaded the gear – and Brad – into the boat. Chief was at the helm and eased away from the dock when everyone was settled. After a long ride, Brad told them that they were getting close.
The boat went dark and quiet when Chief maneuvered off the main waterway and entered a narrow passage that would take them to the cabin. They lowered night vision goggles over their eyes and chambered a round into their weapons. Grey and Kate moved up to the bow and scanned the shoreline with their rifles.
Grey signaled that he saw their destination. Chief pointed the front of the boat towards the porch and then took it out of gear. It glided in silence the last fifty feet as Grey stood on the bow. Before it made contact with the porch, Grey stepped off and pushed the creeping boat backwards. Chief engaged the reverse gear, leaving Grey alone to clear the cabin. Kate held a steady aim as they backed away.
Fifteen seconds later, he reappeared on the front porch. Kate tied off the boat and turned her attention to Brad. His eyes were wide as she approached him.
“Things are a li
ttle different from the last time you were here,” said Kate, slinging her rifle across her back. “The girl on this boat isn’t afraid. You are.”
“I like this version better,” said Chief, pulling Brad up by his ear. “I bet Emily was terrified. Look at this place. It’s right out of a fucking nightmare. Now it’s your nightmare, turd.”
Brad swallowed hard when Grey threw the match into the familiar barrel. His face was painted orange from the flames lighting up the swamp around the shack. Brad turned to see Kate’s eyes locked onto his.
“When she saw that,” said Kate, “she knew she wasn’t going to make it out of that cabin alive. But that wasn’t enough for you and your brothers. You wanted to see the fear in her eyes. Just like I see it in yours.”
“I didn’t know Bullet was planning on killing her,” said Brad. “He said we was just gonna scare the shit out of her so she wouldn’t snitch on us no more.”
“You’re not very smart at all,” said Chief, walking behind him, “but you knew he was going to kill her. You know your brother.”
“I swear I –”
“Get out of the boat,” said Chief, pushing him.
Brad’s eyes were glued to the burning barrel as he walked past it and into the cabin. Chief ignited two lanterns to illuminate the room inside. Kate stood by the post where they had shackled Emily. She ran her fingers across the fresh cuts and grooves her handcuffs made in the wood. There were bloodstains near the bottom of the post and on the floor.
“You didn’t even bother trying to clean up what you did,” said Kate. “You were thinking you’d never get caught.”
“How’d that work out for you?” asked Chief.
“Not well at all,” said Grey, answering for Brad after walking inside.
“You know what comes next,” said Grey.
“What does?” asked Brad.
He landed a crushing punch to Brad’s stomach. When he hit the ground, Chief stood on his neck. They unlocked the handcuffs and pulled his arms around the post. Before he was able to take a breath, he found himself in the same position in which he and his brothers had put Emily.
Chief stood behind him and lifted him to his feet. Grey moved in front of him, grabbed Brad’s arms, and braced his foot against the post. As Kate walked up to Brad with a pair of shears, Grey yanked on his arms and pinned his face and chest against the post. Before he was able to take a second breath, Kate was cutting off his clothes and throwing them on the front porch next to the fire.
Naked and disoriented from being punched, slammed into a wooden post, and manhandled by a woman – all in less than a minute – Brad slumped to the ground. Kate grabbed a handful of his hair and turned his head toward the porch. Grey made sure he was watching when he dropped his clothes into the fire.
“What did Emily say to you when you burned her clothes?” asked Kate. “At that point she knew she was going to die. What did she say?”
“She didn’t say much of anything,” said Brad, resting his forehead against the post. “She just started crying.”
“Okay, Brad,” said Kate, pulling up a chair. “Tell us what you and your brothers did to her. If you leave out any details – and I’ll know – they brought a bucket and a towel. I’ll get my twenty seconds out of you.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“That’s up to you,” said Kate, reaching over and patting his shoulder. “This is your opportunity to get everything off your chest. I know Bullet made you do those things to Emily, but we need to know the details. It’s how all of us are going to get past what happened here. It’s how we start to heal.”
“I really liked her,” said Brad, believing there was hope he’d survive. “It made me mad when I found out she was using me to set up my brother. That’s what started all of this, you know.”
“I do know,” said Kate, taking off her jacket and putting it around him. “And I understand. Tell me everything that happened here, so we can all go home and put this mess behind us.”
“Okay,” said Brad, looking up at her. “We cuffed her to this here post. Bullet let us all have sex with her at his place, so we did it again here. But when Bullet and Eddie did it, they’d start choking and punching her. He told me to do the same thing.”
“That must have been awful for you, Brad,” said Kate, “because I know you really did like her.”
“It was, but I had to do what he said or he’d get bent out of shape real bad.”
“How long was she here?”
“Three days,” said Brad. “But we didn’t have sex with her on the third day because she kept passing out.”
“From the pain?” asked Kate.
“Naw,” said Brad. “Bullet told us not to feed her or get her anything to drink. He’d help her out every now and then by shooting her up with a little heroin, but I think she was just hungry or something like that.”
“Something like that,” said Kate, shifting in her seat.
“Yeah, I don’t know for sure,” said Brad. “He was doing some pretty rough things to her, but I don’t think she passed out from the pain. I mean, she didn’t cry after the first day or act like she was hurt or nothing. She just kinda laid there without saying much.”
“What happened on the third day?” asked Kate, leaning in closer. “The day she died. Was it an accident?”
“This is kinda hard for me to talk about, ma’am,” said Brad, looking down. “Ain’t right what happened. I still feel real bad about it.”
“It’s okay,” said Kate. “I know it wasn’t your fault. What happened, Brad? You need to tell me.”
“I tried to get out of there because I didn’t wanna see it, but Bullet was in a mood. He smacked me in the back of the head when we was on the boat. Damn near knocked me out.”
“All of you were on the boat?” asked Kate.
“Yeah,” said Brad. “It’s how we got her to Mud Lake.”
“Why did you take her there?” asked Kate. “Was she already dead?”
“You see now, this is the hard part,” said Brad. “She was supposed to be, but she wasn’t. I know that because she said something to me before we threw her over.”
Chief stood and walked as far away from Brad as the small cabin would allow. He resisted the urge to pull his gun and shoot Brad in the face. Grey knew the story didn’t end there. He focused on Kate who was within arm’s length of Brad.
“She drowned?” asked Kate.
“Yes,” said Brad, hoping that would be the end of the questions.
“You said Bullet smacked you in the back of the head because you didn’t want to see it,” said Kate. “It wasn’t her drowning. What was it? What didn’t you want to see?”
“The gators eating her.”
Chapter 41
The Brothers Grimm
Chief came unglued. He bolted for Brad while pulling his gun out of the holster. Grey turned in time to grab him before he took aim.
“She was still alive, Grey,” said Chief, gritting his teeth. “She was eaten alive, and those fucking animals watched it.”
“I know, Chief,” said Grey. “But he’s no good to us dead right now. His time is coming, buddy. You know that.”
“The sooner the better,” said Chief, holstering his weapon. “I can’t listen to any more of this. I’ll be in the boat.”
“I could use some air as well,” said Grey. “Kate, will you be okay?”
She looked up at Grey and nodded. He could see that her eyes were glassed over. He gave her a forced smile and walked outside with Chief. Part of the reason was to calm down his friend. Most of the reason was to keep himself from finishing what Chief wanted to start.
“I am sorry,” said Brad, waiting for the men to leave. “I know that sounded bad, but she was all messed up on some heroin Bullet gave her. She probably didn’t feel nothing.”
Kate narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. He told them he fed a human being to alligators as if he were telling a story about buying milk. Emily wasn’t a person to them.
She was a toy for them to play with until they got bored.
“No, Brad,” said Kate. “She felt every tooth rip into her flesh and every bite break her bones. She felt herself being eaten until she drowned or bled to death.”
“I don’t like thinking about that,” said Brad, lowering his head. “All that was Bullet’s idea. He gets off on shit like that; I don’t.”
“I don’t like it either,” said Kate, reaching into her jacket pocket. “I thought maybe you’d like to see these.”
“What are they?”
“They’re photos of Emily,” said Kate, scooting her chair next to him. “I made copies of her mother’s favorites so I wouldn’t forget why I’m here. This is one of her and her father when she was five. That man adored her. Do you know what he called her?”
“No.”
“His little bug,” said Kate, smiling at the picture. “Here’s another with both of her parents on her tenth birthday. She was so cute, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah,” said Brad, cutting his eyes up at Kate. “She was.”
He didn’t see her pull the knife, but he felt the four-inch blade pierce through his ribcage and puncture his lung. He jerked away from her, but his shackles wouldn’t allow him to go far. Brad kicked at her chair, but she was already on her feet and stepped behind him.
She wrapped her arm around his throat and pinned him against the post. Kate drove the blade into the side of his abdomen with two quick jabs. Grey and Chief rushed in as his guttural screams rushed out into the swamp. Neither of them attempted to stop her.
After she put the fourth hole in him, she released her grip. Brad slid down the pole and curled up into a ball on the ground around it. He started moaning when he didn’t have enough air to scream.
“Don’t die fast,” said Kate, standing behind him. “I want you to feel your death coming like she did.”
“Oh God, please,” said Brad, coughing up blood. “I’m sorry. Please don’t kill me. I’m begging you.”
“I bet Emily said the same things to you,” said Chief, stepping closer to him. “You’re getting off lucky. You won’t feel the gators eating you.”
