Road to Darkness

by Miller, Tim

  “Here’s Hector. You wanted to know where he went.”

  “Jesus, fuck! Get that thing off me!”

  “What? You don’t like it? He screamed a lot. Then he just started crying a lot. Was pretty pathetic. I hope you put on a better show.”

  “He was a pussy,” Slade said.

  “We’ll see.” Tony bent down and picked up a large, plastic jug and unscrewed the cap.

  “What…what’s that?”

  “Hydrochloric acid.”

  “What the fuck man. What are you gonna do with it?”

  “Inject it into your asshole.”

  Tony took a large syringe, but with no needle attached and inserted into the jug. Once it was filled with acid, he inserted it into Slade’s asshole. It took a few minutes because Slade kept flopping around.

  “Stop squirming,” Tony said.

  “Fuck you!”

  Tony finally got it inside and pushed the plunger just slightly, as a small amount of acid shot into Slade’s ass.

  “Ohhhhhh!” He shrieked. “Oh shit! Fuck! Fuck! It burns! It burns! Holy shit!”

  “Now. Let’s try this again. Who is your boss?”

  “Fuck you you little bitch! Hahahahaha!” Slade said.

  Tony shoved the syringe in deeper and unleashed more acid into Slade’s asshole. This time Slade howled.

  “Fuck! Fuck! No more! Please!”

  “It’s gonna hurt next time you shit.”

  “Mother fucker!”

  There was a rumbling sound coming from Slade’s stomach. Tony pulled out the syringe and stepped away as Slade defecated himself all over the table. It was thin and runny. Slade screamed the whole time.

  “You burned my asshole raw you bitch! Oh fuck. Oh fuck me!”

  “Slade. You just shit yourself. That’s not very cool of you.”

  “That fucking hurt man. Stop doing this shit. Come one. I wasn’t really gonna kill you,” Slade said.

  “Right. God, you guys think I’m such an idiot. That really pisses me off.”

  Tony took the syringe, while grabbing Slade’s penis. He pressed the opening into Slade’s urethra and pushed the plunger. Hydrochloric acid streamed into the shaft of Slade’s dick. This time he screamed so loud his voice went hoarse. Tony stood and watched Slade twitch and gyrate with amusement. Once Slade calmed down, Tony leaned back in.

  “Who is your boss?”

  “Ok. I’ll tell you. If I tell you will you stop with that shit?”

  “Sure. Just give me a name.”

  “Adams. John Adams. Our Lt. Governor.”

  “Are you bullshitting me?” Tony said, holding up the syringe.

  “No! No man! I’m serious. It is really him. Has been all along. The guy is dirty as hell. He’s got his hands in about everything.”

  “I don’t believe you.” Tony grabbed his dick again and pressed the syringe against it.

  “Man! I’m fucking telling you. Please!” The “please” came out as a high pitched squeal. “If I was gonna lie to you, why pick him of all people. Huh? The guy has more money than God. He has a private office in Austin. That’s where he does his side businesses from. It’s on Third Street, three twenty-five Third Street.”

  “Well. Ok then. I guess he’s my next stop.” Tony sat the syringe down on the table behind him and picked up a hand held circular saw and pushed the button.

  “Hey!” Slade said. “You said you’d stop!”

  “I said I’d stop with the acid.” Tony said as he started sawing into Slade’s jaw.

  Chapter 25

  Lieutenant Governor Adams sat and chewed his steak. He was at a fundraiser for his upcoming campaign. The food at these things was always incredible. Everything he needed to become governor was in place. He was in the perfect position to make a run, his businesses were doing well and the state’s voters seemed ready to make a change.

  There were only a few loose ends that needed tying up, but that should be taken care of by the end of the day. Actually, there was only one main loose end, whoever this driver was. He should have heard back from Slade by now, but there had still been no word. Slade was usually pretty efficient in these things. Plus he had Hector with him. Oh well, he wasn’t going to worry over all that now. Life was definitely good. His meal was interrupted by a young couple who approached him.

  “Lt. Governor? Could we get a picture with you?” The young man asked. He had to be in his twenties. The kid was wearing what must have been a new suit and tie. His pretty wife wearing a flowery sundress.

  “Yes, of course.” Adams said. He stood next to the couple as his assistant snapped a photo on their cell phone. “Thank you for coming,” Adams said as he flashed his winning smile. They beamed as they walked away.

  Adams sat back down and was about to take another bite when one of his aides tapped him on the shoulder.

  “What?”

  “Phone call for you, sir.”

  “I’m eating my lunch. How long have you been at this job?”

  “You’re going to want to take this call, sir,” the man said.

  Adams got up and walked outside with his aide, who handed him a phone.

  “Yes?”

  “Sir. It’s Henry.” The voice on the line said.

  “What’s so goddamn important, Henry, that you had to pull me away from my lunch?”

  “My men found two of your guy’s cars by some house. One was parked a little further down. Someone called in a gunshot. We found no guns, but around the back of the house was a small crater and a shotgun shell. Looks like someone made some kind of bomb out of it. There was blood and bone fragments lying around too.”

  “So did you find anyone?”

  “No, but Slade’s car was right in front of the house. There was no one home. My guys forced entry and about got caught in some kind of booby traps. What the hell have you guys been up to?” Henry said.

  “You let me worry about that. Slade was just supposed to take care of a problem.”

  “Well, if I had to guess, it looks like your problem took care of them.”

  “Shit. And you can’t find any of them?”

  “Nope. None of the neighbors saw anything either.”

  “Whose house is it?”

  “Some guy named Anthony Ray. In his forties. Was working at United Property and Casualty up until a few weeks ago.” Henry said.

  “Can you have one of your guys pick him up?”

  “We can keep an eye out. He could be anywhere.”

  “He’s some clown who has no idea who he is fucking with!”

  “Look. I’m doing what I can. I figured you’d want to know.”

  “Shit. I have my meeting with Esteban tomorrow. I don’t need this shit.”

  “Sorry boss.” Henry said, but Adams hung up.

  Goddammit. Fucking Slade. He had one fucking job. Adams opened the door and grabbed his aide.

  “Get my car. I have to get back to Austin. Something has come up.”

  His aide nodded and went on his way. The car pulled up after a few minutes and Adams climbed inside. They were near Dallas, so it would take a few hours to get to Austin. He tried to call Slade and Hector, but both phones went straight to voicemail. He called one of his aides back at his office.

  “Yes. Jerry. I’m on my way back there. Find out everything you can for me on an Anthony Ray. I want to know anyone he has in the area, family, friends, or anyone. Find out where he likes to hang out, where he spends his money and his favorite fucking food. Can you do that?”

  “Yes sir. I’ll have it ready when you get here.”

  Adams hung up and looked out the window. Everything was going perfect. He was not going to let some loose cannon or incompetent assholes ruin it. Nothing was going to keep him out of the Governor’s mansion. Nothing.

  Once they arrived in Austin, he went to his office. Jerry was waiting and handed him a flash drive.

  “Everything you asked for is on there, sir.”

  “Good.” Adams said as he walked
in to his office and closed the door. As he plugged in the flash drive and pulled up Anthony Ray’s information, he was disappointed to find he had no other family in the state. His last known relatives lived in Vermont. He could be running, but no way was this guy on the run. Not if he just took out Hector and Slade.

  He’d get someone on it and get this guy taken care of before his meeting with Esteban. Last thing he needed was some pissed off driver running around fucking things up. Adams closed the laptop and stood. After tomorrow, it would be smooth sailing through November. He just had to keep it all together just a little longer.

  Chapter 26

  The past few weeks had been a blur for Tony. Which was odd seeing that before he started driving for Slade, his life felt like life was in slow motion. The ad agency he worked for had been his dream job. He had people working under him. He had creative control over projects. He could even set his own hours. On top of all that, the money was great. He was pulling in six figures a year after only two years working there.

  Then there was the crash. In September 2008, the stock market took its biggest dive in decades. They were all told at work not to panic, that everything was fine. Despite his bosses’ constant reassurance, Tony knew something was wrong. He could see it by the strained looks on their faces. One of his managers was suddenly taking sick days, a lot of sick days. The most telling thing was the projects, or lack of them. He went from managing almost a dozen at a time, to just five or six, and then only two or three. Tony explained to his own people the agency was just spreading out the workload more, but he knew.

  They hung on until late 2010. There had been no overt warnings other than the signs he had noticed. One day the bosses called everyone in for an employee meeting to announce they were closing the doors. They all had thirty days. Just like that, his life had turned upside down. Over the next few years, Tony and Kim maxed out every credit card they could get their hands on. Once that was all dried up, the bills started piling up.

  Both their cars had been repossessed. He’d driven a fairly new Cadillac Escalade, and Kim had a BMW. Now he was stuck with the shitty Dodge he currently drove. Getting the job at United P and C had been a huge break for them, though it was barely enough. That and he was little more than a corporate drone. When Domingo offered him all that money, no telling what he may have done for that kind of money.

  So here he was. All that money had cost him everything in such a short amount of time. He pulled in at Ramos Medical without drawing any attention. The gate guard had seen him enough times, he had just waved him on in. Apparently word hadn’t gotten out among the employees yet. Just as well. He pulled right up to the plant and parked. Reaching under the seat, he took out Slade and Hector’s guns and tucked them into his pants. He did his best to cover them with his shirt. If someone wasn’t looking too closely, then it wasn’t too obvious.

  Before opening the car door, he caught a glimpse of himself in his rearview mirror. His beard had grown in fully and his hair was longer. With everything going on the past several weeks, he hadn’t paid much attention to his appearance. Though the beard made him look about ten years older.

  He climbed out of the car and walked into the warehouse. Once inside, he wound his way toward the back and through the sliding door. As he stepped inside he saw several cages containing teenage girls. Two men were standing guard, but actually they were more like sitting guard. Before either of them could stand, Tony shot each of them in the face. To his amazement, none of the girls screamed. They just looked at him. One finally spoke up.

  “Did you come to get us out?” She asked.

  “Kind of. Come on.” He opened the cages and let them out. There were four girls total. They followed him through the sliding door and out the back of the warehouse. There were a few more men back there, but Tony shot all three of them before they knew what hit them. He shot the lock off the back gate and looked at the girls.

  “Run,” He said and walked to the side of the building. The girls took off while he found the large natural gas tank. He positioned himself about fifty feet away and fired a shot into the tank, dropping to the ground immediately. He covered his head waiting for a big explosion, but nothing happened.

  The slide was locked back showing it was out of ammunition. He tossed it aside and pulled out the other gun. This time, staying on his stomach, he fired several shots at the tank, on the fifth shot the tank exploded. He placed his arms over his head as shrapnel and debris peppered his body. There was a secondary explosion as something in the building blew up. He ran back to his car, climbed in and sped away.

  In his rearview mirror he could see the building burning. He was sure he’d killed dozens of people inside, but he didn’t care. None of them were innocent. There were no innocent people in this organization, including himself. Needless to say, this should rattle John Adams’ cage. He didn’t want to go after him directly, there was no doubt he had plenty of security. Best thing he could do would be to make Adams come to him. Draw him into this darker element where he’d be vulnerable. Tony had always wanted to stick it to the Man. Now he could take down the Man himself.

  As he drove off, he considered the next move. This one would require a bit more finesse, but he could do it. So far, he had been both lucky and one step ahead of the game. Had he done this from the beginning, Kim and Taylor would still be alive. Nothing he could do about that now. Now everyone will feel his pain.

  Chapter 27

  “Goddamn Motherfucker!” Adams yelled as he hurled his phone across the office. One of his aides came running into the office at the sound of the commotion.

  “Is everything ok sir?”

  “What? Is everything ok? No! Everything is not ok dumbass!” Adams said. The aide looked confused as Adams pulled a handgun from his desk and shot the aide in the face. He fell to the ground as Adams circled around him, stood over him and fired several more shots into the man’s body, emptying the gun’s magazine. His security and other aides stood around open mouthed. Adams threw the gun down and looked around.

  “What the fuck are you all staring at? Clean this shit up! Anyone else have any stupid questions?”

  They all went back to doing whatever they’d been doing earlier, while his security team began removing the aide’s body. The phone call had been from one of his employees to inform him that Ramos Medical had been blown sky high. Most of his workers were dead. Many of his trucks were destroyed. Plus the authorities were going to find the cages. He wasn’t sure how many, if any, girls were in the cages. No way could he get close to any of it now. Local police and DPS had the whole block closed off.

  Not that he couldn’t throw his weight around to get there, but it would raise a lot of questions. Questions he didn’t need to be dealing with at the moment. His first thought was Esteban and his crew were behind it, but his guy said there was an older white guy snooping around just before the explosion. When Adams asked why no one bothered to check who this guy was, the dumbass didn’t have an answer. Good help wasn’t hard to find anymore, it was impossible. Everyone was so complacent these days. Unless you specifically told them to do something, they were happy just wandering around in their own little world.

  So, it wasn’t Esteban. It had to be this Tony asshole. Adams couldn’t figure out how he took out his two best operators, and then managed to walk into his plant in the middle of the day and blow the place to pieces. Goddamn it. He was going to lose millions over this, maybe more. So much for everything being in place. It was time to call Krautenhammer.

  Krautenhammer was an operator he had used many years before. The guy was freelance so he had no loyalties to anyone. He was also serious overkill. That is why Adams was so reluctant to use him. The guy was not subtle at all. If his mark was sitting in a restaurant, Krautenhammer would go in shooting, not caring who he hit. He always got his mark, but usually also took down a dozen other people in the process. Adams had no idea how the guy wasn’t in prison, but it didn’t matter. He picked up the phone and made t
he call.

  “Ya,” the man on the other line answered.

  “Yes. This is Adams. I need the Kraut.”

  “You know Kraut price, yes?” The other man said in a thick German accent.

  “Yes. I’m well aware of the cost.”

  “Good. You no pay, Krautenhammer takes hammer to you.”

  “I will pay. Money is not a problem.”

  “Good. I make sure you understand. I will text you fax number. You send the mark’s name and photo and any other information. Krautenhammer will start on it tonight.”

  “Tonight. That’s fast.” Adams said.

  “Him very efficient. Any questions?”

  “No. I’ll wait for your text.”

  Adams hung up and waited several minutes before the text came through with the instructions. There was also an account number for him to wire money. Adams followed the directions carefully, faxing the documents and wiring the cash. He included a note in his fax. He told the Kraut to make it hurt. Once he was done securing the Kraut’s services, he called for his driver and walked outside to his car.

  Even though the air in the car was on full blast, Adams couldn’t stop sweating. He wasn’t usually a sweaty person, but the events of the past few days had taken their toll. Once they were on the road, his phone rang again. It was Esteban. Why in the fuck would Esteban be calling him when they had their meeting tomorrow?

  “Hello,” Adams said.

  “So you send this burn out to try and kill me? That is the best you can do?”

  “What?”

  “My guys caught some old white guy trying to sneak into my place. Who else would he work for? That your plan? Take me out before our meeting?”

  “No! I didn’t send him. This guy is a former employee. He just blew up my main plant and warehouse. Check the news in my area, I can’t even get to the place.”

  “So what, you can’t control your people?”

  “I sent my best guys to take care of him. Somehow he got to them first.”