I sped up my car, not wanting to miss the perfect time to intercept my brother. I swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle, unwilling to remain behind the slow cars in my lane. I had to make time along the stretch where there were no police checks, it would do me no good to get flagged. Thirty minutes later, I got off the highway and took a familiar detour that brought back bad memories. Despite having never driven down that road, my heart mapped out the directions. The trip there was the only semblance of peace I had ever gotten during our family vacation. My father had gone out of his way to get a remote beachfront property that served as our vacation home.
I drove up to the halfway point, which was marked by the onset of the immaculate row of jacaranda trees in which my mother had invested a lot of time and money. From this point onwards, the chance of a witness appearing was almost non-existent. Judging by the undisturbed leaves along the driveway way nobody had been down this road for a while. I headed towards the path my father used when driving up to his fishing creek, it was close enough that I would be able to see any vehicles heading away or towards the house.
I turned off the engine, unwilling to draw any attention to myself; the rest of my plan required a bit of footwork before I could set off again. With time to kill, my mind wandered back to the previous night, and shivers of excitement lit up my skin, painting in tiny bumps of anticipation. Sunshine had been the one to wake me up in the morning, and I felt a wave of panic mingled with terror hit me before quickly realizing that I was alone in my bed. At some point, Mercy had left my bed and attempted to rearrange so that it seemed as if I had slept alone. Gone was all the evidence of the previous night's debauchery, and for a second, I wondered if my fantasies had gotten too real.
As soon as I saw Mercy's face, I knew that last night had not been a figment of my imagination. There was a tangible glow on her face that I had never seen before. It was as if a load had been lifted off her shoulders and she was finally standing up to her full height. There was a pep in her step even when seated, if that makes any sense.
She smiled too widely at me, and I did not have to look in Sunshine's direction because she knew that something had changed. I took a quick peek at her, and her eyes were stuck in a loop, darting from me to Mercy, searching for answers to questions she did not ask out loud. She made her decision, and her darting eyes stilled as she took a seat at the dining table. There was a blanket of disappointment on her was almost tangible.
I did not bring up the topic or even return Mercy's smile, much to her disappointment. Thankfully, just like Sunshine, she held her tongue. We had at great length discussed our roles for today, and there was no need to reiterate what we could recite from memory. As soon as I finished my meal, I was out the door. I had thrown on a pair of sweatpants and a matching hoodie after a quick breakfast and gotten out of the door before they even completed their breakfast. I was not risking being present when they finally blew their tops because silence had never been either of their strong suit, which was even more ironic given that Sunshine could not speak.
I heard Brian's loud engine before he came into view, and quickly jumped into action. I got out of my car and raced to the road in time to catch him before he drove past the off-path. He stepped on his brakes, barely missing me, and the encounter was hopefully as jarring and misleading as I intended it to be. He had to feel safe or at least more in control for him to step out of his vehicle. He glanced around while pulling into the path, a great move on his side but one that would be rendered meaningless as soon as he stepped out of his vehicle.
At his core, my brother was an animal, and as such, his survival instincts were top-notch, seeing as how he outstretched his arm at me. I had called my brother from a burner phone that morning, and against all odds, he picked up a call from an unknown number, which gave me hope. I then proceeded to describe the content of a video I had the massive displeasure of viewing from his friend's phone courtesy of Mercy. In the video, he and his friend, true to their nature, were raping unconscious women they had probably brought to the party each taking a turn with a different girl. Painting the picture of what I had seen had me gagging and gasping for breath once again, but I never let him hear my voice falter.
He knew the consequence would be severe if the video ever got out, which was why, although I had called with an unknown number, he said nothing except asking for our rendezvous point. I had chosen somewhere familiar that would not raise his hackles more than they already were, and it had obviously worked, seeing as how he came alone. Even if he had brought someone, I would have been more than prepared. I walked to my car and stalled, switching on the device Mercy had given me that would detect any outgoing signal which could indicate a listening device or a recording device that was currently transmitting. There were no nearby signals detected, which meant that if he was working with half a brain, he had to have some recording device on him. If he didn't, then he was a lot dumber than I gave him credit for.
Brian was a lot of things, but at the forefront was his legendary impatience. he believed in getting what he wanted when he wanted it, and failure to deliver had seen a lot of people on the receiving end of his ire. After stalling for another ten minutes, he finally got out of his car. A brisk five steps and he was right in front of my car.
I wasted no time in starting my car, and before he could even react, I had he pleasure of mowing him down with my car. The close distance between us did not allow me to cause as much damage as I intended, but there would be time for later. He sprawled on the ground, shell-shocked as if his entire being couldn't comprehend the fact that I had hit him with my car. I did not need to hit him to get him to come with me. I had prepared my trusty old chloroform spray, but relieving the torture those girls went through brought up bile that was now lodged in my throat, and his pain brought me a small measure of comfort.
Thomas got to where we were on foot thirty minutes later. He did not even spare a glance at my unconscious brother sprawled in the back seat of my car. He was a man of very loose morals but very tight lips; if minding the business that pays you was a person, it would be him. He got into Brian's car, and after pulling out a few wires, we were on our merry way.