Page 82 of Vengeance of Childhood Proportions (Till Death Do Us Part #7)
Chapter Seventy-Two
Holly
Jason and I took turns driving, but honestly he drove the most. I was exhausted.
For years, I’d dreamed of getting my revenge.
I’d plotted, I’d trained. Everything leading up to right here and now…
and yet, I’d always assumed I’d be enjoying it.
Not the death, per se, though there no doubt was a twisted satisfaction inside my soul as each person paid the price for their actions, but a sense of relief.
Like a weight being lifted off my shoulders.
The taste of long-awaited freedom and the ability to finally lay my past to rest.
I felt none of it though. I didn’t even feel like I’d accomplished anything.
Jason was trying to convince me that we should move abroad, but somewhere more southern. He was done with snow. I had to admit, I liked the idea of a tropical atmosphere. I could use some warmth in my life right now.
I’d shed more than one tear for having to leave my owl mask behind.
At a gas station two nights ago, Jason had offered to kidnap a trucker for me to “fuck the cop” out of my system.
I’d declined, but I appreciated the sentiment.
Coming from Jason, the gesture really was sweet.
It was his version of offering me chocolate.
We kept Roman, or Ro-Ro, in the trunk of the car the entire time, except at the border crossings.
Jason had procured an ID for Roman that stated he was not only female but also an organ donor.
I don’t know why that last detail was the one thing that brought a little amusement to my currently dull existence, but it did.
I wasn’t nervous at either of the border crossings.
Whatever Jason had done to Roman had truly broken the once-proud jock.
There were some things I did not want to or need to know, but damn I was curious.
In a matter of weeks, Jason had somehow brainwashed Roman into being so loyal to Jason that he’d behaved and acted completely normal at the border crossings, despite wearing a long wig, makeup, a dress, and talking in a feminine voice.
It was messed up, but also impressive.
Per Jason, Ro-Ro had enough food, water, and dildos to keep her self occupied during the journey.
There’d also been something about a litter box that I did not ask questions about.
I couldn’t find it in me to feel sorry for Roman either.
He was alive, which was a step up from where he would have been if he remained with me.
The trip from Juneau, Alaska, to Spokane, Washington, took over forty-five hours with stops, traffic, and two border crossings.
It would have been faster to fly, but we weren’t in a hurry.
Better to have our car under one of Jason’s aliases anyway than have to deal with a rental.
The tracker on Principal Hagley’s car stayed pretty much stationary.
He was camped out in a motel, thinking he was safe from me because he was out of Alaska.
Fucking fool.
When I told Jason about Renfrew claiming Hagley had gambling debts, he was as surprised as I had been.
We’d looked into the principal very thoroughly, and that hadn’t come up in our research.
There was a rumor while Jason had been employed at the high school that Hagley’s wife had left him because he’d been having an affair, but that had never been proven either.
After a bit of research on the subject, I did discover that it is illegal to bet on high school sports.
That’s not to say that people didn’t do it, and there was a big loan shark in the area that Jason had a connection to.
After a single phone call, Jason learned that Gary Hagley had been a customer of the loan shark’s fifteen years ago.
But after he’d paid off all his debts in one fell swoop, he’d never returned.
Another phone call to a different loan shark said the same thing, along with a third.
How much had Hagley bet on the State Championship?
But it did make sense. If he won enough to pay off two large loan sharks, plus the one from Canada, and had enough money left over to pay off the adults involved in covering up my attack, including my own parents… That must have been one very large bet.
Did it even occur to him that he’d gambled something much more precious than just money? He’d gambled with my life . His actions hadn’t just covered up my rape, but would also lead to my miscarrying my baby as well as my attempted suicide.
I wasn’t even going to ask him if it was worth it before I killed him.
I’d had this big, long elaborate scheme planned for his death.
I’d thought of death by a thousand cuts, or removing all his extra extremities one by one, before moving onto his limbs, and seeing how long he lasts before he bleeds out, or placing him in a barrel with starving rats and letting them eat him alive, or drowning him, or burning him at the stake.
Eventually, I landed on methodically skinning him alive and waiting for hypothermia to finally claim him.
If shock doesn’t kill him, it could take days.
But now? I was so fucking tired. I might just have Jason beat him to death. After I broke a finger or two. How anticlimactic that I just wanted it done with.
It was near two in the morning by the time we pulled into the motel parking lot.
We’d already switched license plates and placed a temporary wrap on the car.
Ro-Ro was secured in the trunk. A few minutes in the idling car was all it took for Jason to take control of the cameras facing the parking lot and the main office.
Due to noisy neighbors and fucking Good Samaritans, we had to get the principal quickly and quietly. I’d find another place that was secure and secluded to kill him later.
We entered through the bathroom window.
The moment I stepped into the main room, the lamp between the two queen beds flicked on and my heart nearly stopped beating.
Principal Hagley was bound and gagged on the bed closest to me, his eyes widening with horror as they landed on me.
On the other mattress, looking haggard and so fucking sexy, was Master Mal.
“Took you long enough, Little Owl,” he said as he stood. Then he pointed his gun at Jason and me, using the barrel to indicate the bed he’d just vacated. “Take a seat. We need to talk.”