razor sharp point of the metal tool up against the head. "Here we go."
The man began to slice into the forehead of the corpse in front of him, skillfully following the imaginary line needed to scalp the man properly. The room was silent except for his gentle breath and the almost imperceptible sound of metal cutting through cold skin and scraping the skull.
The man began to speak almo st lovingly, "There's a good dead body. Now if I just cut down here like this..." He was beginning to enjoy himself.
He shivered as he worked, but it was just because of the coolness of the room. He also shuddered with pleasure; he'd never done something l ike this before. He'd obviously chosen the wrong profession. It was filthy work, but someone had to do it. And it'd be worth it. Oh, the payout would be huge. If everything went according to plan, that is.
Thirty minutes later he was done. He placed the sc alp into a large zip lock bag. He slipped the plastic bag into a messenger bag. With one final look around to see if he'd missed anything he zipped up his hold-all and headed for the door.
The lifeless corpse stained the body-drawer red, alone and unloved as the man left. Outside a powerful motorcycle engine roared as the man flew off into the night. He had a lot of work left to do to bring their plan to fruition.
CHAPTER FOUR
6:30pm Nicole
Jase hugged each of the men as they entered. First was Bottle who was a skinny guy with teardrop tattoos under his right eye. Why did he do that? Jase's tats are cool, but those teardrops? Ugh...
" What the fuck Jasey-boy." His greeting was a statement rather than a question. Bottle's soft voice belied his appearance and I immediately began to reverse my first impression. There was a hidden warmth to his voice, and I guessed perhaps there was a story to go with his scary facial tattoo.
Behind him was T-Bone , a shaven-headed monster of a man. How the hell does he fit on a motorbike? As he lumbered into the warehouse I half-expected the floor to shake. If it was anything but thick concrete it probably would have. His breathing was labored as he silently thudded his gloved fist into Jase's before embracing him in a bear hug.
"What are you going to do with them?" I asked, as they finished greeting each other, wrinkling my nose at the pathetic guys lying on the floor.
T-Bone grinned before opening his maw. His voice had the rasp of a man for whom a sixty-a-day smoking habit would be a healthy improvement. "I was thinking the bridge over by the highway, near the truck-stop, y'know? Toss 'em off in front of a big rig."
My eyes went wide. What the fuck?
"Naw. Let's take 'em to the lake. The eels and carp and shit will have great fun with them." The gentleness of Bottle's voice was broken when he scared me with a loud screech. Was that laughter? I watched as he eyed the terrified men on the floor "Yum, yum, fish food." Are they serious? I hope they're not serious. They look serious.
Jase laughed and I felt the tension in me release a little. "You're going to give them heart attacks boys." He turned to look at me. "Don't worry , we'll just drop them off in the ghetto or some shit. Even though they tried to kill me, I'm a forgiving guy. That and they're fucking idiot meth heads. I don't wanta deal with getting rid of their stupid bodies. Not worth the labor or the risk. We'll send the pledges out to pick them up later."
I watched half in horror as T-Bone carefully spat on the face of each of the cowering men. I wanta do that too. They tried to kill us. The men didn't dare move and just whimpered quietly, accepting it.
Bottle went outside and returned shortly after with a thick roll of duct tape. I watched as he wrapped the tape around their wrists and ankles, before connecting the two together, trussing them up like Thanksgiving turkeys.
Jase meanwhile headed upstairs to place the riot gun back in its box. Within five minutes of the reinforcements arriving we were ready to roll. I gave one