Moloch grabbed the girl’s face and leaned in close.
“If you’re lying about the gold, Cindy, I’ll kill everyone in your house, understand?”
The girl nodded, she could do nothing else the way that Moloch was pinching her face. When he released her, she flexed her jaw before speaking.
“I sneak in and out through the basement and I also know the combination to the safe. I can get you in the house, you take the gold, and I go back to bed like nothing happened. In the morning, my father will just think he was robbed.”
Moloch raised an eyebrow at Gorgon. Gorgon sent him a slight nod and then he told the girl to stay quiet while they talked things over in the corner.
Moloch looked at the other girl, Kara, before moving away, but saw that she looked defeated. Her gag was still in place and her hands were tied behind her back. He walked over to stand in a corner with Gorgon and whispered.
“What do you think?”
“I think she’s telling the truth about the gold, but lying about the amount,” Gorgon said. “I mean, shit man, if her father had two hundred gold eagles, hell, that’s like a quarter mil.”
“Yeah, the two hundred count is probably bullshit, but even twenty would be worth checking out.”
“I say we do it. Even if it’s a trick, we’ll still have her and the other girl and—hey! Where’d the other one go?” Gorgon said.
Moloch turned around and saw Cindy, but no Kara. He ran into the hall just in time to see Kara with her back turned to the front door. She was unlocking the door with her bound hands, and once she opened it, she turned and bolted outside.
Kara’s gait was awkward because her arms were tied at the wrists behind her back. Still, she was swift. Kara made it down the stairs and was running across a weedy field by the time Moloch made it off the porch.
Moloch saw that Kara was attempting to scream for help as she ran, but the gag muffled the sound. When she turned her head to look at him, her eyes were as large as the full moon that lit her path.
She tripped and fell backwards just as Moloch was closing in, and he had to jump in the air to avoid stepping on her. Behind the gag, Kara was screaming again, but not for help, they were screams of pain.
She had fallen atop an old rusty hunk of metal that in the past had been a bale spear for a tractor. Someone had abandoned it years earlier, and the elements had worn away the paint and oxidized the metal. However, the blades remained sharp, and two of them pierced Kara’s flesh as easily as they had once pierced hay bales.
One spear entered through Kara’s back and exited her right breast, while another had ripped open her stomach. She was dying, and her screams became gasps, as the life leaked out of her in both blood and vitality.
“Fuck!” Gorgon said. He had dragged Cindy along with him and they stood beside Moloch to watch Kara die.
“Ugh, that’s gross. I can see her intestines,” Cindy said.
Moloch pointed at Kara, Kara whose eyes no longer seemed focused on anything.
“I thought you two were friends. You don’t seem too upset.”
“She’s a bitch. I just met her this week and was hanging with her to get to Jimmy. Jimmy was supposed to be a badass, but you killed him like he was nothing.”
“Was Jimmy the one you fucked tonight?”
“No, that was Billy.”
Kara’s gasps ceased, and Cindy stared down at her in fascination.
“She shouldn’t have run. Once you had the gold, you wouldn’t need us, right?”
Gorgon shook his head.
“Our deal is with you; we would have kept her ass.”
“And what about now?” Cindy said.
“If there’s as much gold as you say, we’ll let you go.”
“I’m not lying. My father drives a crappy car, never fixes up the house, but he’s got gold. It’s like his thing, you know? My mom says he grew up dirt poor.”
They left Kara’s body and walked back to the house. Moloch went inside to extinguish the candles in the kitchen. When he returned outside, he found that Gorgon had untied Cindy.
“She ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Gorgon said. His arm was around Cindy, while her hand was down his pants.
Moloch laughed.
“Damn girl, we should let you join our club. They’d love you.”
Cindy smiled.
“I just go with the flow, and both of you guys are cute, and a lot badder than Jimmy.”
Moloch opened the rear gate of the pickup truck and loaded up the motorcycles by guiding them up a ramp made from boards he’d found on the property. Gorgon helped him. He was convinced that Cindy wouldn’t run, and he was right. She just stood by the truck watching them work.
The bikes were secured with strips from the blankets that the teens had brought with them, and covered up with a tarp that was already laying in the bed of the pickup.
Cindy sat up front in the middle and gave directions as Moloch drove. He discovered that there was a way in to the farm behind the house. It was just a gravel road, but it hadn’t been there when he was growing up. The gravel path ended a hundred yards from the gated driveway and placed them back out onto the county road.
“Hey guys, are you really going to let me go?”
“Yeah, if you ain’t full of shit about the gold,” Gorgon said.
“I’m not, but couldn’t I have a few pieces too, like a finder’s fee?”
Gorgon and Moloch both laughed, but Cindy pouted.
“What’s so funny?”
Gorgon wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.
“You’re all right, Cindy, our kind of people.”
“So I can have some gold?”
“Shit, why not?” Moloch said. “It serves your father right for being a miser.”
Cindy grinned. Three of her friends might be dead, but she had a chance to stick it to her cheapskate father and make some money. All in all, it was a good night.
CHAPTER 20
Bo Raines had been sitting on the edge of his motel room bed in Atlantic City when he received the devastating text from his father.
I’M SO SORRY, BOY. JENNA IS DEAD. THE DEMONS DROPPED HER BODY OFF NEAR THE POLICE. LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. I LOVE YOU.
Bo slid onto the floor where he lay crying, while mourning his little sister. Once his tears dried, he vowed to avenge her.
***
Pierce finally made it home after one a.m., and to his delight, Val was still awake.
She met him at the door and after looking him over for injuries, she hugged him as if she would never let go.
“I was so scared that you were lying when you said that you weren’t injured. They showed pictures of the Raines’ farm on the news and said that five men were killed.”
“They were all Bay Street Demons that were shot by Bart Raines and his wife, Karen. It will probably go up to six soon. The man I shot isn’t expected to live.”
Val searched his face.
“You shouldn’t feel guilty about that and I hope that you don’t.”
“I have no guilt; I’m just glad that I was there to help. If I hadn’t gone back to the farm I think the Raines would have been in deep trouble.”
“They say that nothing is worse than losing a child.”
“Yes,” Pierce said, and then he took Val’s face in his hands. “Thanks for staying up. It’s so damn nice to come home to you.”
They kissed, embraced, and once they separated, Pierce stared at her.
“Will you marry me, Val?”
“What?”
“Marry me. I’ll do the whole ring and bended knee scene soon, I promise. But for now, I just want to hear you say it.”
Val laughed, and this time she took Pierce’s face in her hands.
“Yes, I will marry you, Ricardo Pierce. I love you to death. I love you with all my heart.”
“I love you too, Val, and I want to spend my life with you.”
They kissed again, and then just held each other. Val offered to
heat up food for him, but Pierce declined. He had no appetite. When he told her about his three days off, she smiled, but then, he told her his plans.
“Won’t that get you in trouble?”
“Probably, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit on my ass when I have a chance to catch Al’s killer and the Demons at the same time.”
“But they took your gun,” Val said.
“I have others, and one is unregistered and untraceable to me.”
Val sat up straight.
“This sounds serious, Rick. Ask Jimmy to go with you.”
“Maybe, and I will be seeing him tomorrow. He says that there’s something he wants to talk to me about. By the way, he thinks that you don’t like him.”
Val said nothing.
“Val?”
“He’s... okay, I guess. I just find him to be a little crude.”
“Maybe he is, but you just said that you trusted him to watch my back.”
“That’s true, and maybe I shouldn’t judge that shaggy book by its hairy cover.”
“He likes you. He’s always telling me that I’m a fool not to have put a ring on you by now.”
Val smiled.
“What do you know, I do like him. Is that why you finally asked?”
“No, but he’s right, and I love you.”
They kissed, rose from the sofa, and headed up the home’s wide staircase hand in hand.
“Rick?”
“Yeah?”
“When can I expect to see that ring?”
“What ring? You already said yes.”
“Don’t even try it, mister.”
Pierce laughed, scooped Val up in his arms, and carried her the rest of the way up the stairs.
CHAPTER 21
Cindy’s house was in the next town over. It sat among homes which all looked to be in much better condition than Cindy’s.
Moloch drove past the house slowly, and then parked the pickup truck in the rear of a barber shop that was a block away.
“That house looks like shit,” Moloch said. “You’d better not be trying to play us, girl.”
“I’m not. My dad spends all his money on gold. That’s why the house sucks.”
Gorgon took out his gun and aimed it at Cindy’s chest.
“All right, here’s how this is gonna work. Moloch and I will walk with you back to the house. We’ll all be nice and quiet. If you make any noise, Moloch and I are gonna shoot your ass and then get the hell out of here. If you try anything once we’re in the house, we’ll kill your whole damn family. Any questions?”
“Yeah, where’d you get those names, Moloch and Gorgon? Is that like from Harry Potter or something?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Moloch said. “You just stay quiet, get us the gold, and you’re home free.”
“And I get gold too, right?”
“Right,” Gorgon said.
“Can I have half?”
“Half? Hell no.”
“How much then?”
“We’ll give you five coins,” Gorgon said.
“Twenty.”
“Five.”
“Ten, please?”
Gorgon laughed and put his gun away as he looked over at Moloch.
“I’ll be damned if she don’t remind me of Andrea back in the day.”
Moloch nodded his head.
“Give her ten coins. She deserves it, and yeah, she reminds me of Andrea too.”
“Who’s Andrea?” Cindy said.
Moloch’s answer surprised Gorgon, and was laced with resentment.
“Andrea was my girlfriend, but now she’s Gorgon’s bitch.”
“Shit Moloch, I forgot you two were together first, but that didn’t last long.”
“No, it didn’t,” Moloch said.
Gorgon straightened in his seat as a light bulb went off in his mind.
“Wait a second, is this why you’re always such a pain in the ass, because of Andrea?”
Moloch waved dismissively at the question.
“That’s it, ain’t it? But hell man, we were kids back then. You’ve been holding a grudge against us all this time?”
“No, and forget I said anything. She’s your woman, not mine. She dumped my ass the second she saw you.”
“Yo, Moloch.”
Moloch looked over at Gorgon.
“What?”
Gorgon shrugged.
“I’m sorry man, really. Dude, pain in the ass or not, you’re like a brother to me, you know?”
Moloch had to swallow before he answered.
“Yeah, bro, no hard feelings.”
Cindy raised up a hand.
“Excuse me, but are we going inside? I want my twelve gold coins.”
Gorgon laughed.
“We said ten you greedy bitch. Damn, I might adopt you. Now let’s go.”
***
They made it to the house without incident, and then Cindy guided them to a door on the right side. It was a large old house, three stories high, with a basement and an attic.
The side door opened onto the landing of the basement stairs. Cindy led them up several steps, opened a door, and entered the kitchen.
The house felt nearly as chilled as the night air, but it was quiet. After skulking down a hallway, Cindy turned left and entered a home office.
The room was cluttered, but there was a desk sitting in front of a pair of windows that faced the street. The light in the ceiling fixture came on when Cindy slid a knob on the wall. The higher she slid the knob, the brighter the room became.
When it was just bright enough to see by, she pointed at a closet next to the switch and swung open its double doors. Inside was a safe, and it was huge. It was six-feet high, four-feet wide and must have weighed well over a ton.
Moloch whispered, “Fuck me,” while Gorgon ran an admiring hand over the metal beast. Cindy gave a little laugh and then went to work on the combination. She had the safe open in short order. When she reached back and slid the light to a brighter setting, Moloch and Gorgon both let out sighs of pleasure.
“Sweet Jesus,” Gorgon said. “There’s a freakin’ fortune in there.”
Cindy’s estimate of two hundred 1oz. gold coins was inaccurate. It was closer to three hundred. There were also several green boxes containing five hundred 1oz. silver eagles. Along with the coins, there were seven rough-hewn kilo weight bars of gold, and three smooth and shiny 100oz. bars of silver.
The problem became the weight of the metal. The gold weighed over thirty pounds, and the silver totaled more than two hundred.
Cindy’s father had the gold coins stacked in three separate metal lock boxes. The boxes sat open in the safe and the coins glittered like diamonds. Moloch and Gorgon decided to carry the boxes and just stick the kilo bars in their pockets. Cindy had a better idea.
On one of the shelves above the safe was a backpack. As they were loading the gold into it, Cindy reminded Gorgon of their deal.
“I get ten gold coins, remember?”
Gorgon was happier than he had been in a long time. He grabbed one of the kilo weight bars of gold and thrust it at Cindy.
“Take that. That’s worth more than thirty coins.”
Moloch opened his mouth to protest but then smiled.
“Yeah baby, take a bar, and hell, you can have all the silver too, it’s like chump change compared to the gold.”
Cindy gasped.
“All the silver? How much do you think it’s worth?”
“About fifty or sixty grand, but that shit weighs as much as I do,” Moloch said.
Cindy gave a little shake of her head.
“I’ll just take my gold bar and my dad can keep his silver.”
“You’re a good daughter,” Gorgon said.
Once they filled the backpack with the gold, Moloch helped Gorgon put it on. It was heavy, but Gorgon loved the feel of the weight.
Moloch whispered something in his ear and Gorgon nodded and took out his gun. When he pointed it at Cindy, she look
ed more pissed than frightened.
“We had a deal.”
Moloch and Gorgon laughed, as Gorgon put away his gun.
“We were just fuckin’ with you,” Moloch said, and then he pulled her close and kissed her. “Do you want to come with us?”
Cindy thought it over, and then shook her head.
“I would, but I got a little sis—”
“Cindy? Is that you, honey?” said a voice from the hall, as a light came on outside the room.
The voice was female, and sounded as if it came from the foot of the stairs.
Cindy mouthed the words, “That’s my mom.”
“Cindy?” said the voice again, as it drew nearer.
Gorgon and Moloch both took out their guns, and then a male voice boomed, as heavy footsteps sped down the staircase.
“Alice, I told you to stay back. Whoever that is down there, I got a shotgun.”
Gorgon and Moloch aimed their guns at the doorway as the footsteps grew nearer.
Gorgon reached out and slapped at the light switch, sending the room into darkness, as he did so, Cindy’s mother appeared in the doorway. She was wearing a bathrobe and slippers, with her dark hair up in curlers.
Cindy rushed towards her mother.
“Mom, stay back!”
Cindy’s father appeared. He was a blond man going bald and wore only a pair of striped boxers below a hairy beer belly. When he saw the figure rushing at him from out of the shadows, he pulled the trigger on the shotgun.
The blast caught Cindy in the face and blew her head apart.
Gorgon and Moloch fired, hitting both of Cindy’s parents multiple times each. Her father got off another blast, but it missed the two Demons and shot out a front window.
Gorgon looked down at Cindy and grimaced at the sight of her dead body. Past the broken window, lights were coming on all over the neighborhood. They had to go and put miles between themselves and the house. The cops would be coming, and in such a rural area, any vehicle on the road would stick out like a beacon.
Gorgon and Moloch stepped over Cindy’s dying parents and headed towards the basement door they had entered the home through.
As they passed the staircase, they both came to a skidding stop. Sitting on the landing and rubbing the sleep from her eyes was Cindy’s little sister. The girl was six and looked like a younger Cindy, but her long hair was dark instead of blond.
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