Page 131 of Sinners Reunion

“I’m always fun.”

Jim steps to the front as a large rectangular box rolls in behind him. “For our next act, I’ll need two participants. Any takers?”

Bennett jumps to his feet and starts waving his hands.

Without warning, Josie’s fingers dart toward my leg and give my thigh a nasty pinch. I leap skyward and loose a string of curses into the theater.

“King and Bennett, come on down!” Jim barks with a laugh, probably shocked that I’ve volunteered.

I feel the fucking same.

“You’ll pay for this later, my beauty,” I growl down at her.

She smirks up at me. “Oh, I’m counting on it. Now go charm us.”

With the promise of good things to come, I relent and join Bennett and Jim on stage. We just need to saw a man in half. How difficult could it be?

As it turns out, sawing a man in half is quite difficult when your saw is dull and your partner can’t stop laughing. Did I mention that we also have to wear noise-cancelling headphones and read each other’s lips? Jim didn’t mention that until he had his victims secured beneath the spotlight.

We eventually get the saw through the last part of the man’s blasted spine, and Jim steps forward to spin the severed boxes and show our hard work to the screaming fans. The man’s pale arms wiggle with the movements, and the wheeled boxes cut a gory path through blood and entrails.

Jim says something to me.

“You want me to do what?”

He doubles over with laughter, and Bennett does the same. When Jim stops laughing, he motions to the box and says something else.

“Pull his pants down?” I yell. “What the bloody hell does that have to do with a magic trick?”

Bennett pulls off his headphones, laughter still brightening his eyes. He steps closer to me and pulls one muff off my ear. “He said you could take those off now, not pull his pants down.”

“How did you hear him?”

He laughs again. “Because mine weren’t noise-cancelling. Only yours were. When Jim told us the joke halfway through, that’s why I started laughing so hard. What did you think I was laughing at?”

“The blood? The depravity? Hell, when he started convulsing, I nearly laughed myself!”

Jim relays our conversation to the group. I catch Grim smiling, and he schools his face.

Once everyone is finished laughing at my expense, the show carries on.

Quinn reprises her bang-bang act with Kenny. They set up for the bullet-catch trick, and the Cattle catches the bullet. Right between his eyes.

Then Jim pulls up Ezra and Gary for a straitjacket routine where they cinch the jacket tighter and tighter using a crank. The explosion is exquisite. They’ll never get the blood out of their suits.

Josie laughs and cheers the entire time, and it soothes some hidden, pained part of me to know that she’ll still have this twisted little family to fall back on when I’m gone. She doesn’t have to be a nomad anymore if she doesn’t want. They’ll welcome her with open arms.

I’ll be sure of it. I’ll have a word with Jim as soon as we’re back at camp. It’s become increasingly clear that I won’t win over Bennett and Aven.

I’ve accepted my fate. Now I just have to get Josie to accept it as well.

A scowl slides onto my face for the final event.

Blayne throws his proverbial cowboy hat into the ring, and Jim accepts his offer to play the part of assistant. Only Ice Pick claps. Everyone else looks ready to forego the murder and head back to camp.

It’s odd that he’s become so disliked. This is usually such an inclusive group of serial killers.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Josie whispers. “Maybe he’ll fuck up and kill Blayne instead of the Cattle.”