AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He looked up and smiled at the two agents when they walked in. Turk growled low in his throat, and his grin widened. “Hi there, buddy,” he said. “I’d rub your belly for you, but they got me all tied up.”
Turk bared his teeth in a snarl, a threat that Carter seemed to find funny. He chuckled, then looked up at the two agents. “Did you find her yet?”
“We found her,” Michael said. “She’s being treated at Houston Regional as we speak.”
Carter froze, staring blankly up at him. “She’s alive?” he asked tonelessly.
Michael couldn’t resist a gloating smile. “Yep,” he said, “she’s going to be fine.”
“No,” Carter said, equally tonelessly. Then his face screwed up into a look of rage. “No, no, no, no,no!” he cried, his voice gradually rising until it was a shout. He jerked against his bonds, powerful muscles bulging. One shirt sleeve actually tore, and Michael could see the thickly veined bicep underneath.
Carter turned hateful eyes to Michael and Faith and shouted, “You assholes! You jerks! You…”
He finished the sentence with a wordless roar and strained at his bonds again. Michael wasn’t particularly proud of the glee he felt watching the big killer reduced to a completely impotent prisoner due to his bonds, but he wasn’t particularly upset about it either.
Carter struggled for a few more seconds, then gave up and stilled, shaking with fury. “You assholes,” he whispered. “You ruined everything.”
“Gee,” Michael said sarcastically. “I’m awful sorry we didn’t let you get away with murdering someone else.”
“She was a murderer, you dick-breath fuck!” Carter shouted. “She was…” He pressed his lips firmly together and took several deep breaths to calm himself.
When he spoke again, his tone was calm. “You know, in many ancient cultures, such as the ancient Israelites, when someone was murdered, the people responsible were delivered to the victim’s next of kin. The next of kin could choose to release the murderers or have them killed. He could even kill them himself if he so chose.”
“That so?” Michael said. “Hmm. Too bad that’s not how it works here. I won’t lie though. I would love to see William Hucksley’s son drive a knife through your heart.”
Faith shot Michael a warning glance and turned back to Carter. “Why?” she asked. “Why did you kill them? Hucksley, I understand—not that I condone it, but I understand. The others, though. Marvin Prescott has a five-year-old daughter. She’ll never see her daddy again.”
“And I’m sorry for her,” Carter said, “but a lot of murderers have children. We don’t spare their lives. Would you spare me from judgment if I had a child?”
“How the hell did Marvin kill your sister?” Michael said. “Come on, Carter. How can you believe that?”
“He didn’t move fast enough,” Carter said. “He was laughing and joking with his buddies like she was a damned dog and not a human being.” He looked at Turk and added, “No offense.”
He lifted his eyes to Michael and said, “Amanda was the most beautiful person this world has ever had the pleasure of knowing. She was sweet and kind and wonderful. And that…” His lip trembled, and he didn’t finish whatever insult came to his mind. “He fucking treated her like she was… just some animal. And the doctors. I mean, we got there, and they had herwait! She was bleeding to death, and they made her wait while they brought in some idiot kid who had laid his bike down on the freeway. Dr. Ames made her wait. What… I just don’t get it.”
“She treated Amanda like any other patient,” Faith said. “She must have felt that the other patient’s condition was more urgent.”
“Fuck that other kid!” Carter shouted. “What? Some dumbass who can’t ride a motorcycle is supposed to be as important as my sister? My beautiful sister who brought joy to everyone she met?”
Michael decided not to mention that his beautiful sister was dancing in the middle of the road, probably drunk, when she got hit. He didn’t want to drag Amanda’s memory through the mud because of her brother’s psychosis.
He did say, “So you killed them because you thought your sister should have been treated like she was better than everyone else?”
“Shewasbetter than everyone else!” Carter replied, frowning at Michael, lower lip jutted in a pout. “She wassomuch better than they were. Shediddeserve to be treated first.”
Michael shared a look with Faith. She shook her head, and he got the unspoken message. They wouldn’t get anywhere with this guy. Michael had one more thing to say before they left, though.
“Have you kept in touch with Fred?”
“Her husband? No, I haven’t. Not in years. He’s a good guy. I like him, I just… being around him reminded me too much of Mandy. I couldn’t be around him anymore.”
Michael nodded. He paused a moment, then said, “If you had, he might have told you that Mandy wouldn’t have wanted you to take revenge on her behalf.”
“He would have been right too,” Carter admitted easily. “She would have told me to leave the targets alone and move on. To try to be happy.” He smiled wistfully. “She always saw the best in people. She always wanted everyone to be happy.” He looked back up at Michael and his smile faded. “I killed these people for myself. I’m not as strong as Mandy. I wanted them to suffer, so I made them suffer.”
“So you never intended for them to escape,” Faith said.
He hesitated a moment, but then said, “No. No, I guess not. I left them a chance because it was more than they left Mandy, but I didn’t want them to take it. I wanted them to suffer.” He smiled again, the triumphant smile he wore when they entered. “And they did. Almost all of them.” He met Michael’s eyes and said, “Three out of four ain’t bad, right?”
