Page 56 of Red's Revenge

Cause sure, as the devil himself will be collecting the souls of these three assholes tonight, Camila Greystone will be my wife.

Sooner rather than later.

“No, it’s an eye for an eye on my ranch, and I’m taking back what you stole.” I hiss as I swing the bat down between his legs.

It breaks into splinters inches away from his useless balls.

“I warned you not to touch what was mine.” I nod at Pa, who grabs the rope off his shoulders and tosses it up through the rafters of the porch trestle.

“We hanging these fuckers?” Knight says with a humorous tone in his voice as I shake my head.

“That lacks imagination. No, I promised my girl I’d make it hurt.” I stroke the bat carefully so as not to get any splinters.

“I want them all strung up and stripped.” I take out a mason jar full of alcohol and my hunting knife.

“Knight, get the house ready.” He smiles and gleefully takes his boys to spread the fuel from the generator to the overgrown garden.

“It’s a shame that you didn’t winterize your property well. The snow melted around, causing an electrical fire that made it all the way to the house. You were all in bed asleep. Damn fucking shame, really. The coroner won’t have any cause to look further, meaning no one will ever know that you died from blood loss and not the fire.” I get real close to Cyrus and whisper in his ear.

“I promised I’d make it hurt.” Pa and Clay have them all hanging now.

Jeremiah and Elijah are gagged, but Cyrus?

I want to hear him scream. I walk around him while he wiggles and waits. When he’s used up his energy from crying and screaming for help that will never come, I take the jagged tip of the bat and shove it up his ass.

I twist it to make sure every little piece of wood splinters inside him. I shove until it won’t go any further, and then I rip it out. Then I swing on him like he’s a fucking pinata.

He’s a lumpy bloody mess when Pa finally stops me.

“That’s enough, son.” I turn on him with a snarl.

“HE WILL NEVER PAY ENOUGH FOR WHAT HE DID TO HER!” I take a breath and step back, knowing my anger and rage aren’t for him.

I drop the bat and pick up the jar and knife.

I cut his balls off and watched them plop into the liquid. He whimpers in pain as I lean in to whisper in his ear the last words he’ll ever hear.

“The fires of hell are too good for you, but I hope you burn in them for eternity.” I step away and nod at Knight.

The guys cut them down and take them into the house while I stand outside with the jar in my hands.

Knight comes out and places a lighter near the generator to spark the flames. When it falls onto the gas-soaked grass, it catches instantly. The house goes up in minutes, and even though I know we need to leave because the smoke will attract attention, I stand and watch.

“Come on. It’s done,” Pa says the words slowly.

I raise my head with a sad smile.

“Nah, Pa. It’s just starting.” It’s going to be a long, hard road to climb out of this.

I’m just praying Cami will want to put in the work with me to do it.

We hurry back to the horses and get our asses back to Justice Ranch. When we arrive, the plume of smoke can be seen for miles. Ma is sitting on the porch drinking lemonade like it’s a normal night. She has a blanket over her legs as she rocks and hums, crocheting under the porch light.

“Bunny? What ya making?” My head spins at how normal of a conversation this is after what we just did.

It makes me question the things Pa did when he was still with the Saints.

“Booties. I reckon I may have grandbabies soon.” Her eyes flip up over her glasses to stare at me.

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