Page 50 of Accepting Fate
We all take a second to process and when Wes calms himself down he glances over his shoulder to Landon and says, “You said the father wanted us to take care of him.” It comes out in a questioning tone. This is his way of asking Landon to confirm that Carly’s father didn’t want in on the action.
Landon confirms with a nod.
Returning his attention to the floor, he kicks the toe of his boot against the ground. “I broke every bone in his arms and legs. Then cut his dick inch by inch and shoved them in his mouth until it was full. I tied him up by his feet and strapped his ankle to the pulley system. Raised him to the ceiling and dropped him on his head three times. He was dead after the second drop, but he got blood on my shirt, so the last drop was payment.”
Landon’s face is green, and he gags into his fist pressed against his mouth. He doesn’t do well with the torture aspect of this job. Bodily fluids gross him out to the point of puking. Blood is fine in small quantities, but he occupies himself with something else while the rest of us take care of the body.
We have multiple ways of disposing of the bodies. The one we use is tossing them off the cliffs and letting the sharks get them. There’s plenty around here that we switch up which ones we drive to. Noah and Wes usually handle that shit because Landon and I are busy with the victims and their loved ones.
If the cliffs aren’t an option, we burn them and turn their ashes into trees. They were shit on earth and this is their way of giving back to the world.
Wes motions towards Noah. “Let’s go.”
The two make their way back to The Playhouse. I guess I’m off the hook for body removal this time. I wouldn’t have been much help if I went anyways.
I fall back into my chair and check my phone. Seeing the time, Wes’s interruption managed to distract me long enough that the sun will be rising soon.
My frustration is back, and I don’t want to be here.
Landon starts up again about everything regarding Carly, and I zone out again.
“Alright, Gray,” Landon says while glaring at me over the top of his laptop. “What’s up with you? Did Carly fuck with your head or something? You haven’t responded to a single thing I’ve said. I don’t want to be here either. Not to be a dick, but stop whatever this shit is and man the fuck up so we can go home.”
I snap. “What the fuck do you want from me, Landon? Wes and Noah are taking care of the dickhead's body. I didn’t have to load my truck up because you sprung this on me out of nowhere. And you don’t let anyone help you. So there’s nothing for me to do.”
Yeah I know, I’m being a dickhead. But the last twenty-four hours have been fucking insane. I know I’m taking it out on Landon, who is just doing his job, but all I want to do is see my girl.
“There is plenty of shit to do. You could help me with all this shit, or you could go unload the Jeep. Stop being a lazy ass and help, Grayson. It isn’t that fucking hard.”
I’m fucking done.
“Last time I checked, your name wasn’t Dad, so stop ordering me the fuck around. You gave me two seconds' notice about tonight. Not everyone can drop shit and come running the minute you say.”
I love the asshole, but he thinks we live to be at his beck and call. This case was a little different, due to the severity of Carly’s condition, but he could have called hours before. The group chat was full of stupid memes and bullshit. He didn’t say shit about a mission until I was walking out of The Needle. I wouldn’t have made plans with Logan if he would have just fucking called.
“Grayson, take a walk and cool off or something,” Landon orders.
Yeah. I’m fucking out of here.
Rising from my chair, “I have a better idea. How about I just leave?”
I don’t wait for him to respond and walk out to my truck. I take off down the driveway and head towards my house. There is no way I can wait it out in there anymore. I’m seconds from decking Landon in the face.
I know it’s not his fault that my text to Logan didn’t send. But the past two days have been fucking insane and it’s far from over.
Making a split-second decision, I abandon the idea of going home and drive until the sun crests over the top of the mountain.
The clock on the dash reads six AM when I pull off the side of the road at one of my favorite lookout spots.
Mount Rainier sits ahead of me, the sun peeking over the top. I roll my windows down and breathe in the fresh morning air. The sounds of the birds chirping and the wind rustling the trees calm me down.
Not sure how long I sit there, but the sound of my phone vibrating brings me out of my trance. The screen lights up and a text from Logan appears.
I’m not ashamed of how quickly I grab my phone and open the text.
Logan: Glad you’re okay. Have a good one.
That’s it? No sassy comment or fight back? Fuck, she really is shutting me out.