I could hardly sleep that night, my mind wouldn’t let me rest. And maybe that’s what saved me from my wife’s wrath the next morning.

Instead of reaming my ass for leaving her high and dry over the breakfast table, she picked up on the fact that something was bothering me.

She reached over and squeezed my hand but instead of giving word to her thoughts just gave me a questioning look.

I shook my head and indicated the kids who were trying to out talk each other. “Caitlin put it away.” Her hand disappeared lightning fast beneath the table.

“I was just saying good morning daddy.” She’s trying to get this kid killed. I seriously tried to find justification for five solid seconds but the little shit hadn’t done anything worthy of a gutting. Other than robbing me of my daughter.

“Not at the table.” She’s so much her mother’s kid she left her chair and came around the table to

wrap her arms around my neck. “I’m finished with my breakfast so can I be excused from the table?”

“Sure, go ahead.” I only said that shit because her mother was squeezing the life out of my hand. “She’s gone you can let go now. Mengele don’t start.”

I saw her gearing up to start some shit like I asked her ass to co-parent. I was getting antsy to head out to take care of shit but I didn’t want to tip Kat’s nosy ass off.

I made my escape with the kids when they were heading out the door. I made sure the crew knew I was leaving a little early so they needed to have eyes on my house and jetted.

I called Jared and Tommy on the way to meet me at the shop for a little meet. The information Jared had forwarded needed immediate action.

From the way he’d connected the dots through our network it looked like we had two players in the game. Our local boy had met someone just as twisted as him on the inside and the two were working in tandem in my backyard. Like fuck!

I wouldn’t even ask how my people were able to

come up with this shit when the local yahoos with badges hadn’t, but I’m not too interested either way.

They damn near beat me to the shop and was waiting with coffee and attitude. “So, this kid’s been missing going on fourteen hours. The cops are stumped because their boy was inside when this one went missing.”

“And they haven’t made the connection between him and the other asshole?”

“If they have they don’t see the importance yet. Apparently just because his boy got out a few days after him and might be in the area isn’t enough for them to take a looksee.”

“And where’s our boy?”

“Well part of the problem is he’s not talking and they can’t hold him much longer so he’s gonna be sprung sometime tonight I think.”

“Let’s head inside I gotta think.” I think best when I’m working so I got down to it, working on a new toy for some fuckwit who’d seen one too many biker movies or TV shows.

Asshole’s probably gonna wipeout first time out

but that’s none of my damn business. I warned his ass when he placed the order and would do my best to make sure he at least gets off my lot in one piece. After that it’s his headache.

I played around with the predator shit in my head and kept coming back to one thing. He wasn’t talking. That’s nothing new. Most of these degenerates are tight lipped fucks.

All day, through lunch and up to knock off time, none of us could come up with an idea. We kept up with the updates on the missing child but there was still no sign of her.

“You know there are ways of making people talk.”

“If those good ole boys down at the station didn’t get him to talk what do you propose we do Jared?”

“Fuck if I know. I’m just saying there are ways. The thing is getting our hands on some shit quick before this kid ends up dead.”

We were hoping she was still alive and I refuse to let my mind go to what horrors she might be enduring while we sat there twiddling our thumbs.

I knew what we had to do, but it was going to take some planning. First we had to get past the booby trapped front yard, unless I found a way to get him to leave his house. Then to get him to talk.

It took five minutes at the dinner table with Mengele to get the ball rolling. As I listened to her instruct her brother on one of his school projects I knew if anyone would be able to help me she would. I don’t call her ass Mengele for nothing.

I waited until after dinner when she slithered away to her lab of horrors and cornered her. Just as I thought she was in there concocting some shit.

Jared and Tommy were doing surveillance on the hump’s place with orders to take him if he left the house. Not sure why the local badges hadn’t thought of that, but not my concern.

Of course they knew to follow him in case he led them to where the other asshole was holding the kid, but if he left to make a run to the store his ass was mine.

Now I stood in the doorway for a few seconds thinking over the move I was about to make. This shit could go south quick or it would open a can of worms I wasn’t sure I was ready to deal with.

Fuck it, no harm no foul. I took a deep breath and

stepped into the room. Her spooky ass didn’t even look around to see who was coming up behind her. “Hi daddy.” Fucking kid!

“Mengele, I need a favor.” What the fuck am I doing? It couldn’t be helped, there was no time.

“What do you know about poisons?” Her eyes got bright and she perked right the fuck up as she put down the beaker and turned to face me.

“What kind daddy?”

“One that works fast, but doesn’t kill right away.”

She actually tapped her lip deep in thought. “When do you need it daddy?” What the fuck!

“Why you have some?”

“No, nana does.”

“Nana Elena?” She nodded her head. What the fuck is going on in this family?

“How do you know?”

“I saw it.”

“You what? Who showed you poison?” Do these fucks ever listen when I talk? How do they not know this kid?

“Nobody showed me daddy, it’s in the backyard.” What the hell is this kid talking about now?

“Come daddy I’ll show you.” I let her lead me out of the house to the truck after calling out to her mother that we’d be right back. I had to make a quick escape to avoid twenty questions.

I didn’t believe for a second that mom had poison in her backyard, but it never hurt to play it safe with this one. She played with her clothes and talked my ear off on the way to my parents.

We pulled onto the driveway and she stopped me halfway. “It’s right here daddy stop.” She waited for me to come around and get her before walking over to the hedge.

It was a plant, a very pretty plant. “The leaves are the best daddy.”

“What is this?”

“Oleander. It takes four days to work.”

I don’t even want to know how she knows this shit. I pulled my phone and called mom.

“Elena, did you know your hedge is a poison?”

“What?”

“This pretty pink flower, did you know it’s poisonous?”

“Where are you?”

“In your driveway.”

“Well what are you doing there?”

“Just answer the question Elena.”

“Your father said something about it once but I didn’t pay it no mind. I think you have to eat a lot of it or something like that.”

“Okay thanks.”

“Are you coming in?”

“Nah I got some stuff to take care of.” I hung up with her and turned back to the other one.

“Okay kid, tell me how to do this.”

“You can use any part daddy, but the leaves are the best. If you take too much it’ll kill you. But if you take just a little bit it’ll make you think you’re dying you’ll be so sick.”

I picked some of the shit and put in a bag making sure not to touch it because the way she talked sounded like this shit would do me in if I even inhaled too deep.

I kept a wary eye on her as we drove back home. She was clutching the bag with the poisonous shrub in her hand even though I told her to put it in the backseat.

She carried on a running conversation about the best ways to use the shit. According to her you could use an extract but it wasn’t so easy to get since it was so toxic.

“Gimme that.” I took it from her when we reached the house. “Don’t tell your mother about this. In fact don’t tell anyone.” She nodded her head and waited for me to come get her.

“This mean you owe me daddy.” Well I knew that shit was coming.

“I feed you, I don’t owe you jack kid.”

“Okay!” Now I see why her mother’s afraid of her.

Somehow that easy acquiescence did not make me the least bit comfortable. I was proved right as soon as we walked through the door. “Mommy, guess what.”

I pulled her ass back by her collar. “Fine, what is it that you want?” This fucking kid is gonna end up on somebody’s most wanted poster. I refuse to swallow in front of this kid.

“I’ll think about and tell you later daddy. Daddy.” She looked up at me with big eyes. “What is it baby?”

“Don’t forget, don’t let any of that get near your mouth.”

“Roger that.” I high fived her before making my escape and letting her get back to whatever the hell she was up to earlier.

I didn’t waste any time texting Jared and asking him for an update. Obviously they would’ve called had that been the case. But it’s one of those things we do.

After hearing that there was no movement from the perp, I turned my mind to ways to bypass his booby-traps. If I get a nail in my foot I’m likely to kill the fuck before I get the chance to question him. That shit hurts like a bitch on meth.

I stayed awake long after everyone had gone to bed; big whoop, nine-thirty is the cut off time in this house for all but Kat and I.

It was about ten when my boys were on the move. I saw the tracker on their truck start to pull out five seconds before I got the text.

I ran upstairs to kiss my wife and tell her I’d be back. Thank fuck her ass was half asleep and she didn’t know what the fuck!

“Where is he headed?”

“We’re heading towards the Dairy Queen.”

“Okay stay on him do not approach.” I fiddled my thumbs as I headed in their direction.

Ten minutes later I got the call that the hump was heading back to his place. “Cut him off, don’t let him get back onto his property.”

I heard the squeal of tires and saw the confusion of headlights up ahead when I turned the corner onto the street before the turnoff to asshole’s place.

Thank fuck the area was pitch black and the homes were so nicely spread. The neighbors might’ve had heart attacks if they looked out their windows and saw the two men dressed in black shoving another one into the back of an SUV.