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While he was moaning from the release of the first shock, I grinned, pleased to see the horror of understanding in his eyes.His death would be horrible and long.
“You didn’t destroy her.Fawn got pregnant from one of the men you’d let rape her,” I told him.
“Fuck,” Blaise muttered behind me.
I had only allowed him and Gage down here because what I was going to say to this man, I didn’t want anyone else to hear.It was Fawn’s story.Not mine to share.
“She took your hidden cash, ran, got a job several states away, and was taken in by the owner of the Laundromat where she was working.That woman helped Fawn, gave her shelter, was there when she had her baby girl.”
The man tried to speak, but he only made a low whine.I hit the button again and watched him convulse with the pain of the electrocution.
While he was still shivering from the aftershock, I continued, “Like I did with you, I located that woman.She was living in the same run-down apartment complex.One of her kids lived with her, along with three grandchildren.They now live in a four-thousand-square-foot home with a pool and five acres of land.She has enough money in her bank account to live comfortably for the rest of her life.”I ran my thumb over my lower lip and smirked.“You see, I’m not a complete devil.I hand out payment where it is due.She deserved a reward.You deserve to die an agonizing death.”
I clicked the remote and soaked in the visual of Billy Day’s torture.It would give me a high whenever I remembered this moment.Knowing he’d paid for what he’d done to my girl.That I’d taken that payment myself.
“Fawn raised that baby girl alone.She has become as intelligent, kind, honest, and charming as her mother.She’s Fawn’s best friend.The girl you’d abused beat the past and found joy in life.You didn’t ruin her.Your filth left no mark.”
I took a step closer to him, wanting him to see the monster beneath the surface.The one he had triggered and woken up.He shuddered and tried to move, but there was no strength left in him.
“Fawn is mine.She’ll be my wife within a few months.She will want for nothing; she will be treated like a goddamn queen.I will shower her with all my wealth and all the love I can give her.She will live a long life, filled with the joys you will never know.”
His breathing was shallow and fast.I hit the remote one last time, then turned to Blaise.
“It’s time to rope him up,” I told him, handing over the remote.
Gage went to Billy and removed the belt.Blaise took his bound hands, where he hung from the ceiling.Billy began to fall to his knees, unable to stand alone.Blaise jerked hard on him, forcing him to stumble as he led him from the room.
I followed behind the three into the room across from this one.Inside was a device I hadn’t used in some time.It had once been my go-to form of torture.I’d softened over the years, and bullets to the head had become easier.Less work.
The strappado would be where Billy hung until he took his last breath.His hands were tied behind his back, and then he was suspended from a bar as Gage cranked the wheel that lifted him.Moans and wails tore from the man, and I smiled, satisfied.His arms would be slowly wrenched from the shoulder sockets by the weight of his body.It could last for days, but with the heavy electrocution I’d given him, I doubted he would last more than a day.Forty-eight hours, tops.
Staring up at his bent body as it hung there, I thought of the decades when the family had used this form of torture.It was one of the first ones built down here.These days, we left it for those we wanted to torture for information and not necessarily kill.They would be held this way for long amounts of time, then released.If they didn’t talk, we would do it again while they were in agony, deciding if they could continue with the pain or talk.
They always talked.The severity of the torture was too much.There were plenty who had died from it, but that wasn’t the usual case.However, Billy Day wouldn’t be getting a break from the pain.It would never ease or let up until his heart stopped beating.
No one would ever lay a hand on my pretty baby again.Including the two men who had raped her.They were next.
Ashes Teaser...
Prologue
Oakley
My granny had said this was the first of many heartbreaks that life would deal me.It was best for me to face it young, toughen up, and learn to love the moment because tomorrow could always bring a pain we weren’t expecting.That was quite possibly the saddest thing I’d ever heard.
But as I stood there, in the back of the church, I knew there was truth to it.Besides, you didn’t live seventy-six years and not know what you were talking about.Granny had to be wise.I just wished she were as senile as my stepmother claimed.Then, at least there might be hope for my future just yet.
The guests had started to arrive, and I was expected to have a bright smile, happy for my stepsister, Sylvia, but I knew I couldn’t manage that right now.I also wasn’t sure I could stomach watching her get ready to walk down the aisle.With my dad giving her away when it should be me he was giving away.Sylvia had her own dad.It wasn’t my fault she had chosen to ignore him.It felt as if she was taking everything from me.But then hadn’t that always been what she wanted to do?She wanted my life, and it seemed she was getting her wish.Taking it all.
Trying my best to flatten the layers of chiffon on the skirt of the most hideous bridesmaid dress there ever was, in order not to brush past people and draw attention to myself, I hurried to the back door of my granddad’s church.Okay, fine, technically, it was the Lord’s house, but my granddad had built it with his own hands and preached here for over fifty years.I felt as if he had a claim on it.I was sure the Lord would agree.
Pressing my hand on the smooth, aged wood, I pushed hard and bolted from the building that would soon witness my worst nightmare.The cool, early spring breeze hit me, and I inhaled, wishing it didn’t burn my chest to take a deep breath.
How was I going to make it through the ceremony?If it hurt this bad right now, without even seeing … him …
I pressed a hand to my chest and winced.God, how was I going to survive it?
Wrapping my hands around my waist, I bent over and fought back the tears.I thought I had cried enough over the past two months.Since the moment they’d announced their engagement.
