Page 34 of Hiding In the Dark (The Righteous 4)
“Oh really? So you’re telling me that it’s perfectly acceptable to tell a nine-year-old that you murder people for a living? I guess that explains what’s wrong with the school system these days. They’re too soft.”
“Ten.”
“What?”
Zumi sighed again and crossed her arms as she leaned back against the wall. “I was nine, but today is my birthday. I thought you’d remember. You always remember. We normally spend the day hanging out, and I kinda thought you were making a surprise or something for me. Stupid, I know. I’m sorry.” She hadn’t looked up from staring at her worn eight-hole shitkickers. Her voice was so dejected, making her seem smaller than she was.
Kes closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as the guilt washed over him. “Shit, Kid, I’m sorry. The opportunity to take down this guy came up, and I got preoccupied. I barely know what day of the week it is these days, but I should’ve remembered your birthday.”
Their whole incredibly awkward/crappy conversation, with the sound of a man's screams serenading them in the background, was just seeming all sorts of wrong.
Zumi turned her head toward the noise and then looked up at him. “What did he do, anyway?”
“He’s a trafficker,” Kes said, not elaborating.
“Drugs, weapons, or people?” Zumi asked, and at that moment, he realized just how fast the kid had needed to grow up. Kes blinked as if seeing her for the first time. She was so much more grown-up than he’d ever noticed. At ten, she should be thinking about doing her hair or shopping or playing sports, going to movies, maybe thinking about school dances or finding fucking ways to save the world from hunger. Instead, she had to worry about meals, keeping a roof over her head, and predators like Slim Jim, all the while having to mother her own mother. She definitely should not even be contemplating what type of trafficker Slim Jim was. His eyes roamed over her face, and the eyes that stared back at him were not those of a kid but those of a marred soul that had seen way too much already. Her life had barely begun.
“Are you going to answer? Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked with her full-snark preteen attitude in place.
He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. “Human. Kids mostly, some adults, and gender didn’t matter.”
She nodded and pushed off the wall. “You torture people before you kill them. Why? Why not just kill them?”
It was a good question, one he’d asked himself and didn’t like the answer to. “Why not? They don’t deserve their last moments to be fast or peaceful. They deserve hell raining down on them, and that’s what I bring. I’m the hellfire that rains all over their fucking parade.”
“Um, you need to lay off the old action movies. You’re starting to sound like one.”
Kes looked around the warehouse and then back to Zumi. “Did you just fucking sass me over my amazing explanation?”
“It wasn’t that good. It was a little cheesy.” She gave him a shrug and then smirked. “Well, if you’re not going to kill me, then I guess you should go finish what you were doing. I’ll wait here.”
“No, that is not happening. It could be hours or, maybe if I’m really lucky, a day before he dies.”
“Kes?”
“Yes?”
“Just kill the guy already, then we can go get my birthday ice cream. Even though it’s free, I’m willing to take that as blackmail payment to keep quiet. Best part is that they’re open all night for the annoying tourists.” She beamed up at him, and he couldn’t find the words to stop the swirl of confusion that was happening right now. He felt like looking around for a camera because his ass had to be getting punked.
“You want ice cream? After seeing that?” He thumbed over his shoulder to the wails that were growing loud once more.
“Yeah, why not? Do you need to bury him or something? ‘Cause I could help to hurry things along.” Zumi took a couple of strides in the direction of Slim Jim, and Kes reached out, grabbing the back of her jacket, freezing her in place.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“I was gonna go help.” She smiled up at him, and he shook his head no.
He gave Zumi a hard glare. “You’re not helping anything. Now, go wait outside.” Kes pointed to the door and waited until Zumi finished her attempt at defiance.
As soon as the door clicked back into place, he growled under his breath. “What in the actual fuck?” A long list of swear words was grumbled every stride as he stomped back the way he’d come. His mind wouldn’t stop running in circles that made no sense. How the hell did he get himself into such a mess, and more importantly, how the fuck was he going to get back out of it?
Grabbing the gun off the crate where he’d left it, he turned to Slim Jim, who’d had an unfortunate moment when the acid dripped down into his eye while he was gone. The weeping socket was right out of a horror movie as the gooey remnants of his eye slid down his disfigured face. It explained the hysterical screaming. Shit, it was just getting to the good stuff.
“Well, it looks like today is your lucky day.” Before Slim Jim could ask the question, he raised the gun and shot him in the head. Slim Jim’s head rocked back with the impact as the bullet found its mark. Slim Jim sagged forward, his body going limp as death claimed him.
Kes took a moment to assess the amount of liquid that was left in the special plastic container and figured that by the time it had finished dripping, the man would be reduced to a puddle of unrecognizable flesh on the floor. He’d hose him down the drain later.
Stuffing the gun in the back of his jeans, he stomped toward the door. There had to be a full fucking moon out. That was the only explanation for this shit. Worst self-assigned guardian on the planet, that was him.
