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Elijah and Jake were on the opposite side of the silo, glaring daggers at the human pendulum. Both of them were wearing leather gloves, perfect for a beatdown.
“This is the piece of shit,” Jake said when Leander got closer. He emphasized his point by punching the man in the kidney.
The man cried out, swinging back and forth with the force. “Look man, I just make ‘em! Ok. I don’t know who they’re for or why!”
Jake responded by punching him again, this time in the other kidney. I nodded approvingly of the choice. It seemed he really did retain the knowledge I passed along with the Parkview employees.
“He says he didn’t plant it,” Elijah added with a sneer. “Hemailedit to an address.”
“An address where?” Leander asked, his voice surprisingly calm.
“I don’t know.”
Jake stepped up behind him and drove a screwdriver into the man’s thigh. Plucking it back out, he snuck a glance at me. I gave him a thumbs up.
“Fuck! Ok! It was in Illinois!”
“Wonderful,” Leander growled, shifting his dark gaze to me as well. “There’s only twelve million people in Illinois. Should we start alphabetically or geographically?”
Jake lifted the screwdriver, feinting another blow to his leg.
The man yelped and closed his eyes. “No, no! I remember the name! Holliday. The guy’s name was Holliday!”
Leander surged forward, shoving Jake out of the way and grabbing a handful of the man’s shirt to stop him from swinging. “Cole Holliday? You’re telling me you mailed a fucking bomb to Cole Holliday?”
The guy shook his head, cringing. “No. No. It was someone else with that name. Dan. David.”
“Dale?” Elijah asked, stepping forward out of the shadows.
The bomb maker nodded emphatically, tears and sweat pouring down his face. “Yeah! Yeah, that’s the guy! Dale Holliday!”
Leander’s teeth clenched and I watched as anger transformed to pure fury. He shoved away from the man, taking three unsteady steps backward.
I exhaled a long, slow breath, putting it all together. That’s what that fucker was doing there Holyrood. He wasn’t after a payout from Cole. Or maybe he was. Either way, he was there planting a bomb for Gianna Scardato in an attempt to wipe us all out at his son’s funeral.
“He was there,” Elijah said, his voice hollow. “He was fuckingthere, Leander! He killed her. For all we know, he fucking killed Cole too!”
“I know. I’ll handle it,” Leander said, his voice eerily pleasant considering the look on his face. “Do it.”
Upon command, each of them took a gas can and sloshed it over the man. Dieselandgasoline. The smells were unmistakable. It was so wicked, it made me all warm and fuzzy inside.
The man continued to scream and plead for mercy, sputtering when Jake splashed the fuel directly into his face. It fell on deaf ears all around.
As soon as the pair emptied their gas cans and tossed them to the side, Leander reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a small book of matches. I couldn’t help but notice they were from the coffee shop next to the office, the very same coffee shop Leander first met Olivia at. Maybe it was a coincidence.
“No! Please, for the love of God!” The man screamed. “I’ll tell you whatever you want! Just please don’t do this!” When bargaining didn’t work, he switched to straight up groveling. “I’m sorry! I’ll do anything you want! Please! I’m so sorry!”
“Oh, I’m sure you are,” Leander replied, his brows dipping in understanding. “Unfortunately for you, it’s too little, too late.” To emphasize his point, he struck a match and held it aloft. Without even blinking, he flicked it at the man.
The tiny flame caught the gasoline fumes and ‘whooshed’ upwards, spreading over the man’s body.
Stepping up to Leander’s side, I laced my fingers through his and squeezed his hand. I may not have been part of this plan, but I was immensely proud of how it all turned out. I was even happier he got justice for Olivia. Hopefully it would be one less ghost to haunt him.
Together, we watched the man twist and writhe in front of us. His screams turned to howling as his skin blistered and popped, charring as the fire sat on top of the slow-burning diesel.
It was an excruciating way to die. I didn’t feel one ounce of remorse for the man.
“Change of plans, gentlemen,” Leander said, rolling his head from side to side to crack his neck. “You’re going to have to finish here. Jake — your keys.”
