“Be safe, Brooklyn.”
Chapter Eight
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February 2023
Monday — 10:29pm
Thewintertiresofthe truck gripped the snow as he carefully drove down what was usually a gravel road. The last snowfall had seen to it that the small rocks couldn’t be seen, but there had been no need to use the front-mounted plow that was currently in the back of the storage unit. Four-wheel drive was enough to steer over the rough and frozen terrain.
He didn’t smile when he heard another groan of pain come from the back seat.
Couldn’t she see that he was being merciful in his decision to let her ride inside the cab given the frozen temperature? She had truly deserved to be thrown into the cargo bed for her transgressions, but he’d seen fit to give her one last comfort before she rotted in hell.
Another moan echoed around the cab.
Then again, maybe he wasn’t being merciful.
“We’re here,” he declared without emotion as he pulled to a stop in front of the cabin. He shoved the gear shift into park and let the engine idle as he contemplated his actions. He’d made sure the truck was at an angle so that the headlights illuminated the old well maybe sixty feet to the right of the dilapidated dwelling that hadn’t been used for quite some time. “The end of the road.”
It had been three years since he’d last doled out a punishment to fit the crime. Some people wouldn’t quite view Jenny Capshaw’s sins to be immoral. They’d be dead wrong. She had deserved to die. He was the only one who understood and accepted the higher truth.
Society didn’t deserve the Jennys of the world.
Not wanting to waste time and knowing that he had to drive back to the city tonight, he reached for the handle, even using his shoulder to help open the door against the biting wind. The temps had dropped down to single digits, with a wind chill even lower than that. Once his boots landed on the hard ground and the compacted snow from his previous trip out to make sure that he could reach his destination unimpeded, he then opened the small back door that gave him access to Jenny.
He’d used zip ties to bind her wrists and ankles for the long drive. Her moaning and groaning had done nothing to make him sympathize with her plight. She was only getting what she deserved, and he would do well to remember that. He pulled the pocketknife out from the front of his jeans, opened the blade, and quickly cut the zip ties that had held her ankles together.
“Did you really think I would allow you to get the better of me?” he asked with a bitter laugh. He’d stepped away the moment the sharp blade had cut through the plastic, knowing full well that she would try to kick her way out of the back. It wasn’t like there was anywhere to go out here in the country. There was no one around for miles and miles. “One way or another, you’re coming out of that truck.”
Jenny mumbled something behind the handkerchief that he’d shoved into her mouth. He wasn’t sure that she’d recognized it, but it seemed as if he was the only one who understood the significance behind the fabric. She couldn’t reach it, of course. He’d made sure that her hands had been bound securely behind her back with the same zip-tie brand handcuffs used by the police.
“If you sit, I’ll take the handkerchief out of your mouth,” he said overtop of her muffled screams.
He didn’t have long to wait before common sense pushed aside her panic. She stilled her movements and then shimmied her way into a seated position. Her dark hair clung to the side of her cheek. He figured it was due to the tears that stained her face and not sweat. He hadn’t had the heat turned up that high for her to be hot.
“Look around. Really, take a good look around like you did before. No amount of screaming is going to help you.”
Jenny’s frantic gaze landed on the cabin. Once again, she didn’t seem to give the old well any consideration, but that was probably for the best. He didn’t need her to lose her shit before he could get her out of the truck. Once he was certain that she understood the situation, he reached out to tug on the material. She instantly went into a coughing fit. He’d shoved the handkerchief far enough in so that she couldn’t spit it out, but not enough to obstruct her airway.
“Y-you promised,” she whispered once she could speak. It was obvious that she was having trouble producing saliva. She kept attempting to swallow in between her words. “You promised that y-you would let me go if I left that h-handprint. That my husband w-would be safe. I did as you asked, so please let me go. P-please!”
“Did you really believe that you could flee from your sin?”
He let her mull over the question as he grabbed her upper arm and yanked her from the truck. She barely caught her foot underneath in time to keep herself upright. To keep her calm on the trip out here, and to also make sure that she wouldn’t bleed all over the fabric of his seat, he’d wrapped the wound on her hand multiple times with thick gauze.
“Tell m-me what else you want,” she pleaded as he guided her forward. It was evident that she believed they were heading for the front door of the cabin like before. “Money? M-my husband will give you anything. He will, I promise. Call him. You can…where are we going?”
He tightened his grip on her arm so that she couldn’t escape her destiny. The moment that she tried to stop and use the rubber soles of her shoes to dig into the snow, he brought the blade of the pocketknife up to her face.
“You might want to think twice about stopping, Jenny.”
The whimper that broke free from her throat didn’t even sound human.
“Move forward,” he whispered harshly, madder at himself than anything. It made him sick to his stomach that his heart rate had accelerated at the sound of her fear. He didn’t do this because he liked it. He didn’t, and he would only attribute such a primitive response to the desire of wanting this night over and done with. “Now.”
With each step closer to the old well, it was clear to him that Jenny realized she was reaching her end.