the hotel.” Gunny paused on his way past Bane. “Book another room for the night.”
“I will, once I’m done here.” Bane tipped his head at the vehicle. “Don’t let her watch.”
“Yeah.” Gunny’s fist thumped in the middle of his back, conveying an unspoken message Bane understood loud and clear. “Don’t draw it out.”
“Don’t intend to. That half-assed plan I had? Full-assed, brother. Full-fuckin’-assed.” He tossed the last words over his shoulder, picking up speed as he traveled, arriving at the porch steps full steam ahead, arm cocked back and ready to piledrive Threadgill’s head through the wall behind him. The old man never moved, never flinched, his gaze not wavering as he watched Bane’s fist coming closer. He dropped like a fly with the hit, landing so hard and bonelessly he didn’t even bounce.
Bane glanced over his shoulder to see Gunny taking up most of the windshield. Reassured Marian wouldn’t be able to see anything, he pulled the gun from the waistband of his jeans and knelt over Threadgill. Each swing of his arm felt like a blow struck for Myrt. “Fuckin’ sold your kid.” Blood splattered up the wall, dark in the shadows. “Sold her to a fuckin’ sadist.” Bone crumpled at the man’s temple, leaving a black concave hollow. “Gave your boys to the same man.” Threadgill’s nose flattened against his cheek, blood a steady river down the side of his face. “Never gonna hurt her again. Never hurt them.”
Wiping his hands on the man’s shirt, Bane stared down into a face that would now be unrecognizable to even his closest kin. Blood filled Threadgill’s mouth, and he gurgled, sputtering to breathe. Bane could leave him and the man would probably die. Lie here and choke to death on his own blood.
Or I can take care of shit.
He reached out, took a firm grip on the man’s hair, and jerked his chin towards his chest. The gurgling deepened, becoming more drawn out, the choking gasps slowing. “You don’t do that to family.” He kept the pressure on, wrenching at the man’s neck until the sounds ceased.
“You fuckin’ don’t.”
He pulled his phone out and looked at it. Clearing his throat, he wiped the gun across the man’s shirt as he had his hands a few minutes before, then holstered it in the small of his back. Hooking a hand in Threadgill’s shirt, he dragged him a few feet to the side, putting him out of easy view of the driveway. Bane shook his head, cleared his throat again, and woke the phone, thumbing into recent calls.
He listened to the auto responder when the call connected, tapping the numbers on the phone until he got to a real person. “Hi, yeah. This is William Crow. I’ve got two rooms booked there for another night.”
“Mr. Crow. Yes, I’ve got your registration in front of me. Two rooms through tomorrow night.” The girl on the phone sounded younger than Myrt, probably cousin to the owner, taking the late shift to help out the business.
“Yeah, that’s right. What would it take to add another room to my tab?”
“One moment. Yes, it looks like I’ve got a single room close to your connecting rooms.” She hesitated, voice coming softer. “I can’t make it connect to the other rooms, though. Is that okay?”
He nodded as he stood, stepping away from Threadgill’s body. “Yeah, yeah, I know it won’t connect. That’s fine. I need another room close by if you can. One bed is fine.”
“I’ll add the room to your account, Mr. Crow. It won’t take me two shakes to copy the info over. I’ll have the keycard ready in ten minutes or so. Be sure to check in here at the desk.”
She was sweetly helpful, and he tried to smile, knowing even a grimace would translate into a softer tone for the call. “Perfect. Thanks so much.”
His return trip to the van was much slower than the approach to the house had been. Gunny still took up much of the front windshield, and Bane looked over his shoulder, then checked his hands again. Nothing to see here, folks. He opened the door and settled behind the wheel. Listening to Gunny with only half his attention, Bane turned the vehicle around and drove away, Myrt’s childhood home smaller and smaller in the mirror.
Gunny was speaking animatedly, describing Vanna and Truck, how they’d found and rescued Myrt. The man had a thousand humorous stories about the crew in Florida and kept Marian engaged the whole drive back