Prologue
Holden
Brent, Florida – Patrick Ames: Acquitted due to lack of evidence.
“Oh fuck. Yeah. Just like that.” The liquid heat spills like a broken jar of honey, and screams fill the swampy night air.
No one can hear us.
See us.
We’re completely alone, and my dick has never been harder.
“Do you admit it?” I groan again, waiting for an answer.
“Y-yes.” I finally get a whimpered response instead of more crying.
“Tell me what you did.” Coarse hair slips through my fingers like fine wine. “Tell me,” I hiss, leaning closer to their face.
“I did it.” Whimpering ensues. “I killed her.”
I dig the blade deeper, wiggling it from side to side. “Killed who?”
“Carly Clarkson.” Tears flow as quickly as the blood from his open thigh wound and the fresh hole in his gut.
“Details, Patrick. I want the details.”
His face is a mask of agony from the torture I’ve put him through. But nothing worse than what he did to eight-year-old Carly Clarkson one year ago today. The girl deserved a guilty verdict; instead, her family was raked over the coals all over again. Her injuries were so grave that after three days in the hospital, she passed peacefully in her sleep.
“I ra-ra-raped her. Beat her. It’s not my fault!” His screams only further incite my anger.
“You keep saying that, but all I hear isI couldn’t help myself.I don’t like you, Patrick. I don’t like that you breathe the same air as me.” Dragging my knife upwards slowly from his pelvis, his screams echo in the otherwise silent marsh.
“Please don’t do this. I’m sorry!” But I don’t give him the chance to say anything else as I plunge my blade into his chest, blood spurting out as I hit an artery. His eyes stare up at me, slowly draining of life. Twisting the sharpened steel, satisfaction rolls through me as all signs of life leave his body.
Dropping his limp frame off the edge of the dock, three alligators tear him apart in minutes before what’s left sinks to the bottom of the murky water.
Wrapping up the plastic I worked him over on, I put another pair of gloves over my bloody ones and tie up the garbage bag. I’ll come back tomorrow to do another sweep to ensure no evidence was left behind.
The news calls me a vigilante killer.
The police call me a serial killer.
I’m neither. I’m just a guy looking to balance the scales and gain justice for those who have been failed by a broken system that violates them far more than any individual person might.
Swiping a streak of blood across his license, I place it in an envelope. Six families have found closure because of me. I won’t stop until I’m caught or dead.
Chapter1
Noelle
“Good morning; welcome to The Snug. What can I get you?” I smile at the woman and her young daughter as they take their time choosing a treat and a drink.
“Oh, I don’t know,” the woman says, looking slightly embarrassed as they can’t decide. “What do you suggest?” She finally looks at me when the man behind her huffs out his impatience.
“Well”—my grin widens—“personally, I love these brown sugar muffins with a steaming cup of coffee or a cold glass of strawberry milk.” I wink at the little girl who giggles behind her book.
“Perfect, we’ll get that.” The mom smiles gratefully at me.