Hell Followed With Him

It took two hours for him to memorize his lines, as well as the contingency lines I'd placed in there in case he was met by any resistance or arguments from his butt buddies.

Once he was able to recite the lines verbatim three times in a row, I took the script back. "This stays with me," I said.

"But what if I forget the lines?" he whined.

"Write them down yourself if you want, but if you mess this up, I'll have to... fire you," I said, intentionally putting an ominous tone in my voice.

He gulped. "Ok, ok. I'll do it. But once this is all over, we're good, right?"

"I won't lie to you, Geoffrey," I said. "We will never be 'good', as you put it. No matter what, you assisted in the rape of my wife. Granted, you argued against it at first, but in the end, you went along with Jim's plan."

He was a bit startled that I knew all of that. "How did you know?!"

"I know a lot of things. I also know that you rolled over on your Frat buddies so fast, it made the cops' heads spin. You really don't want them to find that out, do you?" I grinned.

"N... no. For what it's worth, I'm really sorry I went along with what happened to Latisha. I'm sorry for what I did to her and to you. I've always liked her," he said, and I saw tears in his eyes that weren't there because I had threatened his life.

"Well, you didn't like her enough to NOT go along with it, and you didn't like her enough to WARN her that it was going to happen," I said, standing up and folding up the script to put in my pocket. "Save your apologies for someone who might forgive you... like God, maybe. Forgiveness for what you've done is above my pay grade. Just remember that after you get them to meet with you, you call me and let me know that it's on."

I didn't even wait for him to reply as I turned and left his apartment.

When I got home from my Saturday afternoon visit with the asshole, Latisha was waiting and pacing back and forth.

"Baby? Are you ok?" I asked as I saw the look of worry on her face.

"I'm scared, Steve. Jim is getting out in a week, and I don't know what we'll do if he comes back!" she exclaimed and then started to cry again. I held her close and gently stroked her back.

"Sweetheart, do you trust me?" I asked in a soft tone.

"With my life, baby," she replied, her full lips quivering.

"Then trust me when I say that Jim and his friends will NEVER touch you again," I said with a smile, looking into her deep brown eyes.

"Thank you, Boo. Can you tell me exactly what you're going to do to get them to leave us alone?" she asked.

How the hell could I answer that? Lie? Be even more vague than I had been already? Granted, the Orders of Protection for Latisha against the assholes had been made permanent after Jim's threat against me and my wife, but she was still worried that they would do something to us. What could I tell her that would both mollify her and not make her think I was a monster?!

She sensed my hesitation. "What are you going to do, baby?" she asked, a worried look coming over her beautiful face again.

"There's a reason why I didn't ask for an Order of Protection for myself, sweetheart," I said quietly. "I want them in a certain place at a certain time. Geoffrey is helping me with that. The rest of them were all aboard with Jim's plan from the beginning. They need to be dealt with, permanently."

Her eyes went wide at that. "You're going to kill them!" she exclaimed.

I just nodded. "I love you too much to let them near you again, Latisha. I can't just stand by and let them run free. They could catch you at the grocery store, or going to and from work. Jim is the mastermind, so I'm sure they won't come after you or me before he gets out. I just..." my voice cracked as I shuddered.

Yes, I had considered what might happen to me if I killed them... when I killed them. Guilt wasn't a factor, but what if I enjoyed it too much? What if, after I killed them, I wanted to kill more people? They deserved it for raping my wife and pretty much getting away with it, but what if someone else wronged my wife or me in some trivial way? What then? I had considered all of those things, and if worse came to worst, I would give up all I had to keep Latisha out of harm's way. There was only one solution for THAT problem.

I had talked to Malcolm about it during my planning stage, since he had served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and had killed terrorists over there. I asked him what it was like to kill a man.

When I had asked him that, he knew what I was planning. He confronted me, and I told him flat and cold what I'd just told Latisha. I would NOT take chances with her life, or leave her open to another assault by those assholes. I had failed her once, but I would not fail her again!

"Man, it ain't your fault that it happened. Hell, you did more than most men would. You took on five assholes to defend Tisha and kicked their motherfuckin' asses. That means a lot to us. She's my sister, but she's also YOUR wife! I ain't gonna lie to you. Killin' a man changes you. It took me a helluva long time to come to terms with it. Some are better at dealing with it than others. It helps, at least it helped me, if the assholes we kill are pure fuckin' evil. I ain't gonna tell you not to do it, Steve. As far as I'm concerned, you'll be doing the world a fuckin' favor. What I AM telling you, and you'd best listen, is that you need to consider everything very carefully. Consider what it will do to you. Consider how it might affect Tisha. Are you gonna tell her?" He finally took a breath. He had just read me the riot act AND told me that he wasn't going to stop me at the same time.

"If she asks me flat out, I won't lie to her. I just hope she can understand what I have to do. I'm glad you do, at least," I smiled wryly. Up until a few months ago, he STILL hadn't warmed up to me, even though Latisha and I had been together for six years, and married for four of those.

"Well, I can't say, officially, that I agree with vigilante justice, Steve. But from what you've said, and from what I know of Jim Gables already, I know that if you need a fuckin' hand with anything, you let me know." He nodded as he basically just told me that he would help me with whatever my plan might be.

"Thanks, Mal. I can't let you do that, though. If this all comes apart on me, I can't be responsible for getting you into trouble," I said. Then I reached over and shook his hand. "It means a lot to me that you'd do that, though."

He grinned. "Brother, I know I didn't give you a fair shake for a number of years, but I respect the man you are, now."

"I've always been this man, Mal. I would die before I let some asshole hurt Latisha again. Thanks for understanding."

"Not a problem, man. Hell, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to do those fucks, myself. Ya feel me?"

"Yes sir. Ok, I'd better get back to work. Catch ya later," I smiled and we shook hands again.

Now here I was, hoping and praying that Latisha would at least understand what I had to do. It broke my heart to see the look of sadness and fear on her face.

"What about the Restraining Order?" she asked.

"It's just a slip of paper. It won't stop bullets, and it won't stop him from getting to you when there aren't any cops around, either," I replied with conviction, shaking my head slowly. "You heard his threat, sweetheart. You already know what he's capable of, and I won't give him another chance to get to you. I can't. Besides, what if he and his butt buddies go after some other woman too? What then? You know as well as I do that there's a high probability that they'll rape some other lady, and I can't allow that either. I'd rather have five shit suckers' deaths on my conscience than another rape at their hands. Their parents would just buy them out of trouble again."

We were still in an embrace, but Latisha pushed back from me gently and stood there with her hands on her hips. She was shaking her head slowly as she thought about everything I'd just said.

Until all this had started, I never thought I'd want to kill someone, much less five people. I never thought I'd feel so much hatred for anyone. I hadn't even been planning to kill them until Jim made his threat against us.

She looked up and opened her eyes as her gaze focused on mine. Our eyes were locked as she stepped forward, reached up, and pulled my face down so our lips met in a soft kiss. The steely determination was back in her voice as she spoke.

"Avenge our baby, Steven," she said, her voice almost cracking. "Do what you have to do. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart," I said softly.

We went to bed together that night and just held each other as we fell asleep. Well, Latisha fell asleep. I couldn't, as I stared at the ceiling. My mind was running through every possible scenario that I could think of, as to what could go wrong when dealing with the assholes. When I finally fell asleep, somewhere around 3 AM, I felt that I had planned for pretty much any contingency. The killzone was prepared as best it could be. Geoffrey was scared shitless, since he didn't know how I knew so much about him turning on his Frat Asshole Buddies during police interrogation. I didn't come right out and say it, but I left him with the distinct impression that I knew his every movement.

The stage was set, and the final act was about to begin.

The next weekend, on Sunday afternoon, Geoffrey called me and told me that he had called all the assholes, including Jim, and had informed them just as I'd instructed.

"They'll be at the warehouse in an hour, Steve," he said. "I'm about to leave to join them. They bought it!"

"I'll be there shortly," I responded neutrally.

I dressed in jeans, t-shirt, windbreaker, and steel toed boots. All of those articles of clothing would be burned before the day was over, but that was ok with me.

I looked up to see Latisha standing there. "Is it time?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied. I rose to my feet and took her in my arms again. "No matter what happens, sweetheart, always remember that I love you."

"I love you too, honey. Just please, be careful and come back to me," she said with a sad smile as a tear rolled down her face.

I wiped her cheek gently. "No more tears, baby. These sons of bitches deserve everything they're going to get today."

"Yes they do, but do you?" she asked. "Do you really believe that you can live with what you're about to do?"

"To protect you and avenge our child, yes," I replied gently. "I have it set up already, but I need to go. I have to be there to spring the trap."

She chuckled at that one. "Go get 'em, Tiger."

I gave her a soul searing kiss, our tongues dancing passionately, before moving back and grabbing the large gym bag full of the items I would be using.

"I will, baby," I nodded, then turned and walked out to my waiting Mustang.

As I fired up the V8 in my Pale Horse, I once again thought of Revelation 6:8. I smirked wryly at the analogy. I had become Death, at least as far as these assholes were concerned.

I drove the speed limit to the old abandoned warehouse and parked on the opposite side from where the assholes would enter. I made sure my car was well hidden, as I didn't want them to see it and know the game was up. When I slipped inside, I climbed to the catwalks and maneuvered around to where the assholes would, hopefully, be parking their cars.

My gym bag sat beside me as I watched out the old grimy window. I glanced at it to check my equipment. A long range Taser with two barbed prongs. A stun gun for up close. Three rolls of Duct Tape (a million and one uses). A box of latex gloves, one pair of which I was already wearing since before I entered the warehouse. A good old Louisville Slugger baseball bat. A pair of vice grips. A medium sized pair of bolt cutters. A small acetylene blowtorch. And last but not least, a small remote for when all of the assholes were where I wanted them to be.

I looked out the window and saw a car pulling into the office lot across the street. It was Geoffrey. He got out of his vehicle and leaned against it as he lit a cigarette. The next to arrive was Darren, and he parked right beside Geoffrey. He also exited his vehicle and shook hands with his Frat brother. They started talking, and Geoffrey appeared nervous. Darren was a big guy, but luckily he didn't catch on to Jeffy's nervousness. Jack and Larry arrived together in the same minivan. When they moved over to talk with Geoffrey and Darren, my snitch seemed to become less nervous.

Last to arrive was, of course, Jim. Once he hugged and shook hands with his rape crew, Geoffrey showed them across the street and inside the warehouse to where I had arranged the next phase to happen. They climbed the stairs to the second floor, and I could overhear Geoffrey speaking. "I know for a fact that he doesn't have anyone watching this place. I checked it out already."

"Wait. That motherfucka has been watchin' you?!" Jim asked.

"Yeah. I think he's worried that we'll go after his wife again," he laughed nervously. "Don't worry. I took a roundabout route here, and kept checking behind me. Nobody followed me."

"They'd better not have," Darren spoke up.

"They didn't. It's one reason I picked this place. It's isolated, and we can talk freely here. I found several bugs in my apartment!"

"Damn, that shit head must be paranoid or some shit," Jim laughed. "Don't matter none. Now, how I got an idea on how to pull this shit off..."

With that, they stepped into the second floor office. "'Step into my parlor,' said the spider to the fly," I muttered as I depressed the red button on the remote control.

Three things happened simultaneously. The door to the office slammed and locked. The floodlights I'd put in the office went on full, and the six Duralast Gold car batteries simultaneously sent 12 volts at 50 amps into the metal floor of the office for 4 seconds each.

I didn't want to kill them, yet. Just knock them cold.

Once that was done, I moved down to the office door, which had unlatched and unlocked itself when I let up on the remote button. I quickly moved inside and hauled each asshole into a metal chair that was sitting in a semi-circle. Once in the chair, I Duct Taped their wrists to the chair arms and their ankles to the front chair legs. I used up a full roll of tape, and about a third of the second roll.

When I was done, they were well and truly tied up, and would only be released if or when I decided to.

I made sure to check all pockets, and found a .32 in Jim's jacket pocket. That was a windfall. It had six shots in the magazine.

I then left the office and came back with another chair, which I sat in to wait for the assholes to wake up.

The first to come around was Jim. He looked at my grim smile, and started yelling.

"Let me go you little motherfucka! Face me in a fair fight instead of suckerpunching me, and we'll see who the better man is!" he snarled loudly.

"If you hadn't raped my wife, you sorry dick stain, none of this would even be happening. You DO realize that, right?" I said, my voice now permanently below absolute zero. "Now, as you can see, you're tied too tight to get loose. Oh, and I have your little toy here." I showed him his little .32, now held securely in my latex gloved hand.

"Listen, man. We can negotiate here. Nobody has to die," he replied, changing tone rather quickly once he realized how much shit he was in.

"My unborn child didn't have to die either, but the overdose of Rohypnol that you gave my wife before you assholes raped her caused her to lose our baby." So saying, I rose from my chair and pressed the barrel of the gun between his eyes. "A .32 isn't that great of a pistol. Very little stopping power, and not very accurate. However, since you have hollowpoints in here, I seriously doubt that you'd survive if I shot you right between your fucking eyes!"

Tears were rolling down his face as he started to beg for his life. "Please, man! We didn't know she was pregnant, or we never woulda done it! I swear on my momma's grave!" he lied.

"You KNEW. ALL of you knew, you Goddamned son of a fucking bitch! Besides, your momma is still alive! Since you killed my child, I might just go kill her after I'm finished with you assholes!" I snarled again. "You have absolutely NO fuckin' clue what it's like to be given the greatest gift on Earth, the news that you're going to be a father, then have that gift ripped from you barely a week later. DO YOU?!" I shouted. The Goddamned son of a bitch himself was now crying and pleading for his life.

It didn't matter how much noise I made, or how loud they screamed. The soundproofed office would ensure that nobody came looking to check it out. Besides, the property security guard only came by on Wednesdays and Saturdays to check on the property itself. The open gate was never closed, and the holes in the fence were never repaired.

When I pulled the gun back from Jim's forehead, I moved back and looked around. The rest of the gangbang crew were waking up, including my snitch. I looked back at Jim's blubbering face. "How do you think I knew you'd be here, Jimbo? Come on. You're a smart guy! You can figure it out!"

Jim looked confused for a moment, then dawning recognition caused his eyes to widen and he shot a look of pure venom at Geoffrey. Jeffy cringed from the glare.

"Oh, don't blame poor Jeffy," I said. "He really had no choice in the matter. I promised to let him live as long as he was useful to me. I have to say that he was very useful. He kept me abreast of when you shit fuckers were getting out of jail, and set this all up on my behalf." I then looked at Geoffrey. "Unfortunately, Jeffy, I'm afraid that I have to let you go."BANG

The bullet splattered Geoffrey's brains all over the wall. I looked at the stunned faces of the other rapists. "Oh, don't look so shocked. As a reward for his help, I decided to make his end quick and relatively painless. I also spared him the horror of seeing each of his friends die. You all DO know why you're here, right?!" I shouted.

None of them said a word, so I explained it to them in small words even they could understand. "You're all here because you raped my wife. But that's not the reason you're all going to die. You're going to die because you not only gave my wife a potentially lethal dose of Rohypnol, but you also caused Latisha to have a miscarriage. That drug caused my wife, who you all KNEW was pregnant, to lose the most precious thing in the world to us. THAT is why you're going to die!" I shouted.

My original plan had been to torture all of them. Make them scream until their vocal chords died, and THEN finish them off.

But then I realized that I couldn't do it. I was able to kill the bastards, but I couldn't torture them. I figured they'd get enough torture in Hell, and when I died, I'd see them there.

So with Geoffrey dead, I pointed the little .32 at Darren. "Please, man! It was all Jim's idea!" he pleaded, trying to throw Jim under the bus.

"But you went along with it willingly enough, didn't you? YOU raped my wife along with all of your Frat brothers! YOU contributed to my wife losing our baby!"BANG

His head snapped backwards, a thin stream of blood briefly spouting from his forehead.

I didn't hesitate, but aimed my pistol at Jack.BANG and out went his lights too. Larry was begging and crying, but I couldn't afford to let his pleas get to me. "My wife couldn't even beg you to stop, since she was unconscious the whole fucking TIME!"BANG - BANG One to the chest, one to the head.

"Five shots gone. Only one left, and you weren't carrying a spare magazine," I said to Jim in a conversational tone. "I tell you what, asshole. Wait right there."