I’d fucked with many people in my time. I watched them crack as I tortured them or someone they loved and heard their pleas for mercy, their cries to end it and put them out of their misery. I even bent over a couple of straight guys so I could listen to them cry like little bitches while I fucked them. But it had all become too easy.
Bringing someone like Marnie Dupire to heel…now, that would be fun. My blood got pumping just thinking about it. She was the perfect toy, timid and shy on the outside but not nearly as meek on the inside. My Little Bird had claws, and I couldn’t wait to feel her bite back.
No one in Ashen Springs dared to get in my face like she did.
“I know who you are, Preston Whitley.”
Even now, I could see her bright aqua eyes shooting daggers at me. They were right there in front of me, glimmering with anger and hatred. I could almost reach out and touch…
Fuck.
I dropped my hand and suppressed the growl threatening to rumble from my chest. Wouldn’t exactly be a quick and easy job if Ricky turned around and saw me here. Not that I’d have an issue with that, but that wasn’t what I was hired to do. And I was nothing if not professional.
The problem was, when I raised my gun, I could only see the cherrywood stand Jacques Dupire used to hold his Bible. While I didn’t like the guy, I did have to give him props. Ashen Springs was a Catholic town, and he still managed to draw a decent-sized flock to his Baptist church.
Wonder how they’d feel about the skeletons in his closet? They came in handy for me. When I brought him the contract, he didn’t even argue.
Did Marnie ever wonder why her sister was Daddy’s favorite? Did she know what was going on behind closed doors? Maybe I’d let her in on the family secret and then make her kill him? Now, that was an image I could jerk off to tonight, shy little Marnie Dupire covered in her father’s blood.
First, I had to take care of this situation.
I looked back at the brown hair on the back of the head in front of me. Ricky was taking all the fun out of this. He just sat there with his head bowed in some fake-ass prayer he was muttering. A small part of me wondered why he was bothering with the charade.
Why did she?
In the public eye, my Little Bird played the good girl, but when she was in her room, all alone…
If I hadn’t been there to see her slip her hand in her panties, I might’ve killed her. Instead, I stood outside and stroked my cock while her moans vibrated through my bones. She was too young. Otherwise, I’d have fucked her right then and there. Not to mention she was untouched. Virgins weren’t my thing.
Lindsay was the only one I’d been with. I couldn’t be bothered with that gentle, nice bullshit. Marnie, however…I kind of liked the idea of not tasting another cock when I feasted on her cunt. Once I’d fucked her out of my system, I could slit her throat and toss her body off the bluffs.
I closed my eyes and inhaled the enticing aroma of her ecstasy. The image of Marnie writhing on her bed was so real that I could almost hear the soft moans echoing in my ears.
Fuck sakes, Preston, get your head in the game.
Shaking away the image, I tried to refocus on my target. It didn’t help. When I raised my gun, a head with thicker, longer hair was still there in the pew. The sweet scent of peaches filled my nostrils, and I almost reached out to touch the ghostly girl before looking back at Ricky.
This wasn’t the first time I’d had this problem. Marnie was fucking everything up. The closer it got to spring break, the more her face taunted me. That was when I planned to put my Bird in her cage.
Then again, why wait?
I could head up to her school when I was done here and rip her from her safe little sanctuary. She was eighteen now. There was no reason to hold back. Besides, it might be a good idea to get this settled. Distractions weren’t an option in my line of work.
I just had to deal with Ricky first, boring Ricky with a simple shot to the head.
Fucking Chase.
I must’ve sighed because the next thing I knew, Ricky was slowly turning around. I stood there with the barrel aimed at him and waited until his eyes met mine. As soon as I saw a spark of fear light up in those dark depths, I squeezed the trigger.
Even with the suppressor on, the sound of my bullet leaving the chamber was loud enough to echo around the room. No one outside would hear it, but I enjoyed theboomtickling my ears almost as much as I enjoyed how his eyes dulled as his brains splattered across the pews behind him.
I think I’ll have steak.
Stepping up to Ricky’s hunched-over form, I reached into my jacket pocket, plucked out a small foil flower, and whispered, “Mors est permanens.”
I glanced down at the flower I was twirling in my fingers. This was a ritual I’d done many times. Everyone in my line of work had one. For some, it was a simple calling card.
Like an ace of spades.
