Road to Darkness (9 page)

Chapter 24

     Tony stood over the Mexican’s bloody body. Throughout his “operation” Tony had removed one of the man’s kidneys, he’d cut open his stomach and disemboweled him, fed the guy his own testicles and many other things. There was a pile of bloody organs, flesh and tissue on the end of the table dripping onto the floor.

     Somehow the guy was still alive. His screams ended quite a while ago. The only sounds he made now were whimpers and gurgling sounds. Tony looked at his bloody face and knelt down by him.

     “You know fella, I don’t even know your name.”

     “Hector,” the man whimpered.

     “What was that?”

     “Hector,” he said a little louder.

     “Oh. Hector. Well it’s nice to meet you. It’s too bad we had to meet under these circumstances. But hey, you killed my family. So here we are. Ok. I’d say we’ve had enough fun for one night. Are you ready to die now?”

     Hector slowly nodded his head.

     “Just kill me. Please?”

     “Well yes. I have just the thing.”

     “Will you make it quick?”

     “Oh certainly. It will be very fast.” Tony said as he walked over to another table. He bent down and came up with a gas can. He went back to Hector and began pouring gas all over him. Hector’s screams started up again.

     “No! No! Not like this! No! Please!”

     “Stop whining. It’ll be quick.” Tony said as he took out a book of matches, lit one and tossed it onto the table. Hector screamed as the fire instantly engulfed his broken body. He twitched and flopped for just over a minute before he stopped moving completely. Tony let him burn for another minute before picking up a fire extinguisher and putting Hector out. Smoke rose off Hector’s charred remains. Tony hadn’t realized how bad burning flesh smelled.

     The smell was worse than
road kill that had been sitting in the sun too long. It was almost nauseating. He walked outside and got some air. As he stood outside, the sun was beginning to come up. He watched the sunrise as he thought of how he would take care of Slade. As bad as it had been for Hector, Slade was going to get it much worse. As he strode across the parking lot, an armadillo ran out of a bush and across the lot. He hadn’t seen one of those in a long time.

     He went
inside scraped Hector off the table and into an empty fifty five gallon drum sitting in the warehouse. He hosed off his work area and figured it was time to bring Slade. Tony intended to make Slade tell him who his boss was before he died. Tony had no intention of stopping with just these two. Everyone was going to pay.

     Before he’d left with Hector, he’d reset the front door trap in case Slade showed up wh
ile he was gone. As he got closer to his house, he noticed a car parked just past his driveway. The front door was closed and there was no immediate sign of anyone. Tony had set a trap or two around the back of the house as well. Tony got out of the car and grabbed the tire iron and slowly crept around the back of the house. As he reached the side of the house, he heard someone grunting and panting. Around back there was Slade, lying on the ground, having fallen victim to one of Tony’s traps. This one had been an old trick he’d read about in a book by a former Marine. He’d taken a twelve gauge shotgun shell, some metal tubing and a nail. By burying the tubing and the shell together with the point of the nail resting on the primer of the shotgun shell, the device became a homemade landmine as soon as Slade stepped on it.

     Half of Slade’s right foot was bloody
shreds. He was lying on the ground holding his leg, his face as pale as a sheet. Tony was already standing over him before Slade had seen him.

     “You motherfucker!” Slade said. “Where’s Hector?”

     “You’ll find out real soon.” Tony said before hitting him across the face with the tire iron. He drove the car into the garage, and dragged Slade inside and taped him up as well. He was much larger and heavier than Hector, but Tony managed. Once he got him to the warehouse, he repeated the ritual of cutting Slade’s clothing off and strapping him to the table. Once he had things set up, he shoved a smelling salt up Slade’s nose and watched him gasp back to life.

     “What the fuck?” Slade said as he struggled against his restraints. “You little cocksucker. You better let me up from here. I will fucking gut you like a pig.”

     “You guys love to make threats when you’re helpless. I’d think you’d be a bit nicer.”

     “Fuck you. There’s your nice. You know, I had fun killing your wife and kid. I’m the one who put the bullet in your little girl. She woke up at the last second and looked right at me. She goes ‘daddy? Where’s my daddy? No! No!’ Hahaha. I put the gun right to her forehead and watched her brains spray all over the room. I think I still have some on my shoes.”

     Tony didn’t want to show Slade that he was getting to him, but he couldn’t listen to anymore. He gave Slade a backhand across the face. Slade yelped as Tony’s fist connected.

     “You’ve talked enough. You’re going to help me though. You’re going to tell me who your boss is.”

     Slade began laughing.

     “You dumbass. I’m not telling you shit. You can go fuck yourself. You gonna kill me? Then kill me.”

     Tony went over to a barrel, reached in with his gloved hand and pulled out a charred skull. He sat the skull on Slade’s chest.

     “Here’s Hector. You wanted to know where he w
ent.”

     “Jesus
, fuck! Get that thing off me!”

     “What? You don’t like it? He screamed a lot. Then he just started crying a lot. Was pretty pathetic. I hope you put on a better show.”

     “He was a pussy,” Slade said.

     “We’ll see.” Tony bent down and picked up a large, plastic jug and unscrewed the cap.

     “What…what’s that?”

     “Hydrochloric acid.”

     “What the fuck man. What are you gonna do with it?”

     “Inject it into your asshole.”

     Tony took a large syringe, but with no needle attached and inserted into the jug. Once it was filled with acid, he inserted it into Slade’s asshole. It took a few minutes because Slade kept flopping around.

     “Stop squirming,” Tony said.

     “Fuck you!”

     Tony finally got it inside and pushed the plunger just slightly, as a small amount of acid shot into Slade’s ass.

     “Ohhhhhh!” He shrieked. “Oh shit! Fuck! Fuck! It burns! It burns! Holy shit!”

     “Now. Let’s try this again. Who is your boss?”

     “Fuck you you little bitch! Hahahahaha!” Slade said.

     Tony shoved the syringe in deeper and unleashed more acid into
Slade’s asshole. This time Slade howled.

     “Fuck! Fuck! No more! Please!”

     “It’s gonna hurt next time you shit.”

     “Mother fucker!”

     There was a rumbling sound coming from Slade’s stomach. Tony pulled out the syringe and stepped away as Slade defecated himself all over the table. It was thin and runny. Slade screamed the whole time.

     “You burned my asshole raw you bitch! Oh fuck. Oh fuck me!”

     “Slade. You just shit yourself. That’s not very cool of you.”

     “That fucking hurt man. Stop doing this shit. Come one. I wasn’t really gonna kill you
,” Slade said.

     “Right. God
, you guys think I’m such an idiot. That really pisses me off.”

     Tony took the syringe, while grabbing Slade’s penis. He pressed the opening into Slade’s urethra and pushed the plunger. Hydrochloric acid streamed into the shaft of Slade’s dick. This time he screamed so loud his voice went hoarse. Tony stood and watched Slade twitch and gyrate with amusement. Once Slade calmed down, Tony leaned back in.

     “Who is your boss?”

     “Ok. I’ll tell you. If I tell you will you stop with that shit?”

     “Sure. Just give me a name.”

     “Adams. John Adams. Our Lt. Governor.”

     “Are you bullshitting me?” Tony said, holding up the syringe.

     “No! No man! I’m serious. It is really him. Has been all along. The guy is dirty as hell. He’s got his hands in about everything.”

     “I don’t believe you.” Tony grabbed his dick again and pressed the syringe against it.

     “Man! I’m fucking telling you. Please!” The “please” came out as a high pitched squeal. “If I was gonna lie to you, why pick him of all people. Huh? The guy has more money than God. He has a private office in Austin. That’s where he does his side businesses from. It’s on Third Street, three twenty
-five Third Street.”

     “Well. Ok then. I guess he’s my next stop.” Tony sat the syringe down on the table behind him and picked up a hand held circular saw and pushed the button.

     “Hey!” Slade said. “You said you’d stop!”

     “I said I’d stop with the acid.” Tony said as he started sawing into Slade’s jaw.

Chapter 25

     Lieutenant Governor Adams sat and chewed his steak. He was at a fundraiser for his upcoming campaign. The food at these things was always incredible. Everything he needed to become governor was in place. He was in the perfect position to make a run, his businesses were doing well and the state
’s voters seemed ready to make a change.

     There were only a few loose ends that needed
tying up, but that should be taken care of by the end of the day. Actually, there was only one main loose end, whoever this driver was. He should have heard back from Slade by now, but there had still been no word. Slade was usually pretty efficient in these things. Plus he had Hector with him. Oh well, he wasn’t going to worry over all that now. Life was definitely good. His meal was interrupted by a young couple who approached him.

     “Lt. Governor? Could we get a picture with you?” The young man asked. He had to be in his twenties. The kid was wearing what must have been a new suit and tie. His pretty wife wearing a flowery sundress.

     “Yes, of course.” Adams said. He stood next to the couple as his assistant snapped a photo on their cell phone. “Thank you for coming,” Adams said as he flashed his winning smile. They beamed as they walked away.

     Adams sat back down and was about to take another bite when one of his aides tapped him on the shoulder.

     “What?”

     “Phone call for you
, sir.”

     “I’m eating my lunch. How long have you been at this job?”

     “You’re going to want to take this call, sir,” the man said.

      Adams got up and walked outside with his aide
, who handed him a phone.

     “Yes?”

     “Sir. It’s Henry.” The voice on the line said.

     “What’s
so goddamn important, Henry, that you had to pull me away from my lunch?”

     “My men found two of your guy’s cars by some house. One was parked a little further down. Someone called in a gunshot. We found no guns, but around the back of the house was a small crater and a shotgun shell. Looks like someone made some kind of bomb out of it. There was blood and bone fragments lying around too.”

     “So did you find anyone?”

     “No, but Slade’s car was right in front of the house. There
was no one home. My guys forced entry and about got caught in some kind of booby traps. What the hell have you guys been up to?” Henry said.

     “You let me worry about that. Slade was just supposed to take care of a problem.”

     “Well, if I had to guess, it looks like your problem took care of them.”

      “Shit. And you can’t find any of them?”

     “Nope. None of the neighbors saw anything either.”

     “Whose house is it?”

     “Some guy named Anthony Ray. In his forties. Was working at United Property and Casualty up until a few weeks ago.” Henry said.

     “Can you have one of your guys pick him up?”

     “We can keep an eye out. He could be anywhere.”

     “He’s some clown who has no idea who he is fucking with!”

     “Look. I’m doing what I can. I figured you’d want to know.”

     “Shit. I have my meeting with Esteban tomorrow. I don’t need this shit.”

     “Sorry boss.” Henry said, but Adams hung up.

     Goddammit. Fucking Slade. He had one fucking job. Adams opened the door and grabbed his aide.

     “Get my car. I have to get back to Austin. Something has come up.”

      His aide nodded and went on his way. The car pulled up after a few minutes and Adams climbed inside. They were near Dallas, so it would take a few hours to
get to Austin. He tried to call Slade and Hector, but both phones went straight to voicemail. He called one of his aides back at his office.

     “Yes. Jerry. I’m on my way back there. Find out everything you can for me on an Anthony Ray. I want to know anyone he has in the area, family, friends, or anyone. Find out where he likes to hang out, where he spends his money and his favorite fucking food. Can you do that?”

     “Yes sir. I’ll have it ready when you get here.”

     Adams hung up and looked out the window. Everything was going perfect. He was not going to let some loose cannon or incompetent assholes ruin it. Nothing was going to keep him out of the Governor’s mansion. Nothing.

     Once they arrived in Austin, he went to his office. Jerry was waiting and handed him a flash drive.

     “Everything you asked for is on there, sir.”

     “Good.” Adams said as he walked in to his office and closed the door. As he plugged in the flash drive and pulled up Anthony Ray’s information, he was disappointed to find he had no other family in the state. His last known relatives lived in Vermont. He could be running, but no way was this guy on the run. Not if he just took out Hector and Slade.

     He’d get someone on it and get this guy taken care of before his meeting with Esteban. Last thing he needed was some pissed off driver running around fucking things up. Adams closed the laptop and stood. After tomorrow, it would be smooth sailing through November. He just had to keep it all together just a little longer.