Page 246 of Fury
Carrera strode into the darkened living room, closed the blinds, then bolted up the half-flight of stairs into the front bedroom. The upstairs went dark, and he returned, a Glock in his hand. Tosh’s eyes grew wide.
“Goddamn, is this a robbery?”
Slash grabbed his arm and forced him into the living room. “I don’t want your crap,”
Carrera turned on a small table lamp, bathing the room in dim light. She shoved him into a chair and glared down at him.
“You’re raping and sodomizing your foster kids,” she ground out, the long-held anger burbling to the surface.
Even in the low-lit room, fear flashed in his eyes. “Those brats are makin’ shit up. I’ve never laid a finger on any of ‘em. I give ‘em a home, a hot meal, and this is how they show their appreciation? By making up shit lies?”
“Fifteen years ago, I was one of those kids,” Slash said. “My parents were killed and I got put into the system. You were molesting and assaulting the kids in the house.”
“Fuck you,” he rasped, his voice rough like dirt.
“I heard them,” Slash continued. “I heard one of them begging you to stop. I heard another whimpering. In the dead of night, while they were tucked into their beds—vulnerable and alone—you committed violent, unspeakable acts.”
Tosh looked at Carrera. “She’s a fucking loon. Crazy bitch. You and me, we’s guys need to stop her.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Carrera growled. “You’re the worst kind of evil.”
“It’s my word against yours,” Tosh said.
“Last words before you meet the devil,” Slash said.
“I loved every moment of my life,” Tosh said, his voice gruff, his eyes filled with hate. “I loved earning their trust, loved forcing myself on them. They’re so helpless, so fuckin’ terrified.” A maniacal smile split his face. “I had a never-endin’ stream of victims parading through. If a kid complained, I was on the run. Then, I’d find some lonely woman, show her a little attention, convince her to foster kids, and I was back in business.”
“You’re the fucking devil,” Carrera bit out.
“I am.” Tosh lunged for Slash, but she jumped away. He reached behind his back?—
With lightning speed, Slash whipped out her blade, plunged it into his heart. Tosh dropped to the floor. She pulled her Glock and squeezed the trigger—POP!—hitting himbetween his eyes.
They had to work fast.
Carrera locked the front door. She pulled out the tarp from her bag, and they laid Tosh’s body on it. She removed her knife, cleaned off his blood with his shirt, then Carrera checked Tosh for weapons. He had a gun tucked into the back of his pants and a cell phone in his pocket. Carrera left the gun and the phone on the chair. After they wrapped his body, they carried him outside through the carport. Carrera opened the back of the SUV and they placed Tosh’s body inside.
They were gone in under five.
Once Carrera hit the main road, he turned in his headlights, opened the sunroof. The ride was filled with the sound of air rushing inside the vehicle.
She breathed deeply. It was over. A fifteen-year-old promise had been fulfilled. Tosh couldneverassault another child, ever again. His victims would never know that someone had finally stopped him. She was no hero, she was a villain in her own story. Despite her actions, she had no regret, and she would spend eternity in hell if one innocent child was spared his heinous acts of violence.
In the dark vehicle, she bagged their gloves, clasped her heart necklace around her neck. When she peered over at Carrera, he met her gaze.
“I dragged you into my nightmare,” she said.
“I walked willingly,” he said. “Our lives will always be complicated, but as long as we’ve got each other, we can get through anything.”
“I’m beginning to think you’re right.”
For years, revenge had been her guiding force. Maybe it was time to free herself from the bondage of her past and set her sights on her future… a future with the man sitting right beside her. A man who would stop at nothing to show his allegiance and his loyalty.
In the blink of an eye, her entire life had come full circle.
