Road to Darkness (8 page)

Chapter 21

     Tony pulled into an empty parking lot and stopped. Tears streaked down his face as the reality of what had just happened began sinking in. His wife and sweet little girl were both dead. They were dead because of him. He didn’t kill them, but he may as well have. Because of his own greed and ego, he brought death right to his family’s door. Now they were gone.

     After almost an hour, he pulled out of the parking lot and drove back toward the hotel. As he drove past, he rolled by slowly as there were now police cars and crime scene tape surrounding the building. They were wheeling out a gurney with a tiny body bag strapped to it. Taylor. He couldn’t even see their bodies. Once he drove past he made a stop at Home Depot. He grabbed one of the big flatbed carts and filled it with several items he would need later.

     He checked out and rolled his purchases out to the parking lot and filled the trunk and backseat. From there he stopped at a convenience store and picked up a pre-paid cell phone. He got it activated and logged into his Gmail account and watched his contact list download. Tossing the phone onto the passenger seat, he headed back to San Antonio. During the drive, his mind drifted away from his sadness for his lost family. All he could think about was what he was about to do.

     Once in San Antonio, his first stop was his house, or what had previously been his house. He took some things out of the car and went inside. Setting up only took an hour or so. After he finished, he got back in the car and headed south of the city. There was an abandoned warehouse there. The place was condemned the last he knew. It used to be a distribution center for some farm equipment company. Now it just sat empty.

     At the warehouse, he took out the rest of his items and carried them inside. It took longer than the house to set up, but he wanted everything to be neat and in order. Once he finished, he went back to the house. Parking the car in the garage, he walked inside and pulled his favorite chair about ten feet in front of the door. He took out the cell phone and dialed. Slade answered on the second ring.

     “Hello Slade.”

     “Tony? What the hell? I was just looking for you.”

     “I know.”

     “You decided to come in after all?”

     “No.”

     “Did you see what we did to your wife and kid?”

     “Yes.”

     “Ok. I’m sorry we had to do that man, but business is business. They got off easy. We made it quick. If you come in to Ramos, I’ll make sure it’s quick. You have my word. If I have to track you down, it’ll be ugly. Really, really ugly,” Slade said.

     “I’m at my house now. Come and get me.”

Chapter 22

     Slade was sitting in the office at Ramos Medical when he hung up the phone and looked at Hector.

     “He’s at his house.” Slade said.

     “So we gonna pick him up?”

     “No. You are.”

     “What? Why just me?” Hector asked.

     “There is something off with that guy. He told me to come and get him.”

     “Oh shit. We killed his family, now he’s acting tough. Happens all the time. Every time I off some dude’s kids or girlfriend he gets all big. I still kill him though.”

     “Well so it shouldn’t be a problem for you to go take him out. Don’t even bring him back here. Just kill his ass so we can move on.”

     “All right boss. I’ll go take care of him. Should be easy.”

     “Good. Call me when it’s done.” Slade said as Hector walked out. Once he was gone, Slade dialed the Lt. Governor.

     “Hey boss. Our driver should be out of the picture in an hour or so. We took out his family earlier, they were just in the way. He’s at his house now. Hector is gonna take care of it.”

     “Good. This is taking way too long.”

     “I know, I apologize. Any word with the Mexicans?”

     “I have a meeting with Esteban later this week. He seemed oddly cheerful.”

     “That doesn’t sound good. Watch your back sir.”

     “Of course. That stupid wetback isn’t gonna get the best of me. I don’t care how far he rose in the criminal ranks or how much money he has. If it wasn’t for me and this business, he’d still be herding goats for ten cents an hour.” Adams said. “So just get this asshole taken care of. We need to clean all this up and get back in business. I need campaign funds when I run for Governor this fall.”

     “It’ll get done sir. I’ll call you as soon as I hear from Hector.”

     Slade hung up the phone and started reading a magazine on his desk. He tried not to worry about all the problems the company had been having the past few days. He’d seen some hiccups over the years, but never anything this bad. The magazine was one of those entertainment rags. There were interviews with movie stars and some shit about upcoming releases. He stopped going to movies when the comic book people took over.

     He always liked a good war movie. There hadn’t been a good war movie in a good ten years or more. Most actors these days were pussies anyway. He couldn’t imagine what kind of war film they’d even do now anyway.

     He tossed the magazine aside and lit a real cigarette. Hector and his vaping shit cracked him up. Electronic cigarettes. That was some shit right there. They going to have electronic chewing tobacco next? Or maybe electronic pipes. He might actually try an electronic pipe. As he took a puff of the cigarette, he picked the magazine back up. There was a whole article about some kid who became a millionaire on YouTube. He tossed the magazine aside and decided he was no longer cool in his old age, though he wasn’t all that old. He’d always felt older than his years. His phone ringing pulled him out of his deep thoughts on pop culture. As he picked up the phone, he saw it was Hector.

     “Is it done?” Slade asked. There was no reply at first, only breathing. “Hector?”

     “Hey boss,” Hector said, but he sounded like he was straining to speak.

     “Hector. What’s going on? Is it done?”

     “I’m supposed to give you a message.”

     “What the hell are you talking about? What message? Did he get the drop on you?”

     “Tony said to tell you there are things worse than death.” Hector grunted.

     “Oh really? Like what?”

     There was a rustling sound and more breathing. This time, he recognized the voice as soon as it came on the other line.

     “Like me.” Tony said and hung up.

Chapter 23

     Tony sat in his chair waiting. He knew Slade would be coming for him soon. It took exactly thirty minutes. He hadn’t heard a car pull up, so
Slade must have parked down the street. Once the door knob began to turn, Tony tensed, hoping everything worked like he’d set it up. As the door slowly opened, he could tell right away it wasn’t Slade. Slade had sent the Mexican.

     The guy had a gun in his hand. The man pushed the door all the way open, which set things into motion. There was a loud click as the sledge hammer swung from the left side, striking the Mexican on the top of the head. It was meant to hit him on the side, but Tony had set it up for Slade. The Mexican was so short, it clipped the top of his head but it was enough.

     The gun went off as he fell back. The bullet fired into the ceiling. Tony jumped on him before he could recover, knocking the gun away. They tumbled to the floor, with Tony on top. Tony began wrapping duct tape around the Mexican as he struggled. By the time the man regained his focus, Tony had him wrapped in tape.

     “Let me go motherfucker!” The Mexican yelled.

     “You’re not exactly in a position to bark out orders,” Tony said as he sat back in his chair.

     “I’ll tell you whatever the fuck I want. Let me out of here or I’ll kill you bitch.”

     “You were going to kill me anyway. As a matter of fact, I’m about a hundred percent sure Slade sent you here with the sole purpose of killing me.”

     Tony watched his face. He could see it began to register making threats wasn’t going to help him.

     “Ok. You’re right. He did. Let me go and we can forget all about this. I’ll tell Slade I killed you and you can go on and do whatever.”

     “Really? You’d do that? Make him think you killed me?”

     “Yeah. I would. No one would fuck with you again. I promise man. You have my word.”

     “Oh, that’s quite comforting.” Tony said as he stood and walked over to the man and knelt down next to him.

     “So you give me your word on that?” Tony asked.

     “I do man. I swear on my dead grandma’s grave. I’ll walk out of here now. You’ll never hear from us again.”

     Tony considered it for a moment, stood and kicked him in the stomach several times.

     “You think I’m fucking stupid! I watched you guys go in that hotel room and kill my family! You think you’re going to walk out of here? You’re out of your fucking mind. Fact is, by the time we are done tonight, you’ll be begging me to kill you.”

     Tony dragged him into the garage and stuffed him in the trunk of his car. He pulled out of the garage and headed to the warehouse. As he drove, his mind was on one thing and one thing only. While he had hoped to get Slade, he was at least glad he grabbed this one. This man helped kill his family, so he should be taken care of as well.

     Once they arrived at the warehouse, he dragged the Mexican inside and strapped him to a workbench before cutting the tape loose.

     “What the fuck are you gonna do?” The man screamed.

     “I’m going to torture you
,” Tony said.

     “You can’t do that! You know what Slade and his guys will do to you?”

     “They won’t do shit. And I’m pretty sure you’re not much more than the hired help. He doesn’t give two fucks about you,” Tony said as he cut away the man’s clothing until he was completely naked. He wheeled a cart over that contained a car battery and some wires and cables. He took one of the cables and clipped it to the man’s scrotum.

     “What are you doing? You playing with my nuts man? You some faggot?”

     “Oh. I’m playing with them all right.”

     “Don’t do this man. Please! Come on!”

     Tony ignored him as he attached another cable. Once both were connected, he went to the battery and picked up another cable that had a dial attached to it.

     “Ok buddy,” Tony said. “Hang on.”

     Tony turned the dial to the right as the current coursed through the man’s testicles. He screamed the shrillest sound Tony had ever heard before as his body twitched and gyrated on the table. Tony turned the dial back and the man stopped. He was breathing heavy as he looked at Tony.

     “Come on man. Don’t do this
,” he pleaded.

     Again Tony ignored him as he cranked it back up. This time spit shot out of
the Mexican’s mouth as he twitched and flopped on the table. After several rounds of this, Tony dug through the man’s pockets and took out his phone.

     “Here. Let’s give Slade a call. Let him know how you’re doing
,” Tony said.

     He found Slade’s number on the contact list and dialed it. Once they completed the call, Tony took the battery out of the phone and tossed it aside. He removed the clips from the man’s nuts and took out a large tool that looked like a big set of pliers.

     “You know,” Tony said. “My uncle used to own a hog farm.”

     “So, what do I give a shit?” The man was covered in sweat now and panting so hard Tony thought he’d hyperventilate.

     “Well, this tool is what they would use to castrate hogs with. Would you like to see how it works?”

     “No! Don’t man! No!”

     Tony took a knife and made an incision on the man’s scrotum.

     “You see, I’m doing this because it doesn’t take a lot of balls to shoot a woman and little girl in their sleep. So I figure you’re not going to be needing these.”

     Tony inserted the tool into the opening as the guy screamed worse than earlier. He wiggled and cried as Tony used the tool to pull on one of his testicles. With a ripping sound, it tore free as the guy kept screaming. This time he didn’t even sound human. Tony sat the detached testicle aside and went to work on the second one.

     “No! No! No! No!” The man yelled. “Please! Ahh!” He screamed again as Tony twisted and pulled the testicle free.

     Tony walked up to him, holding one of the testicles up to the hanging light he’d brought with him.

     “Wow. These are much bigger than I’d have suspected.” Tony said. “You know. I have been incredibly rude.”

     “Fuck you man. Fuck you,” The Mexican said. By this point he was actively crying.

     “No seriously. I haven’t offered you anything to eat. Here.” Tony jammed the testicle into the man’s mouth. He struggled and tried to spit, but Tony shoved it in and duct taped his mouth shut.

     “There you go. Chew it up good. Don’t want to choke or anything.”

     The man thrashed and struggled about before closing his eyes and holding still. Tony saw the man’s jaws moving to indicate he was finally chewing.

     “That’s better. Chew it up real good, then swallow. Need your protein.”

     It took the guy quite a while, but he eventually chewed and swallowed his own testicle. Though as soon as Tony pulled off the duct tape, the man threw up all over himself.

     “Aww, what a waste. That’s ok,” Tony said. “We’ll eat more later. Right now, let’s see what kidneys look like.”