Don't Make a Sound (Sawyer Brooks #1)(30)

Once the men’s faces were covered, all three women removed their wigs and masks. Then they waited for Bug, who worked for Antiva, an antivirus company, and Lily, who worked as a manager at an outdoor adventure shop, to take time off for lunch so the entire crew could discuss what to do next via video on their cells.

Psycho’s and Cleo’s phones were used to pull Lily and Bug up on FaceTime.

“I have thirty minutes,” Bug said when she called. “What do you propose we do now?”

“I got in. Found the file of videos hidden under ‘Attributes!’” Cleo said excitedly.

They all cheered.

“Call the police and hand over the videos,” Bug said.

“Not so fast,” Cleo said. “It will take me a while to see what we’ve got. I’m skimming through them quickly, but I can already tell that some are blurry. It looks like Brad used low resolution when he first started out.”

“How many are there?” someone asked.

“Dozens. It’s going to take me some time to sort through these.”

“Keep going,” Malice said. “In the meantime, I vote that we stick with the plan and do everything we can to discredit Brad.”

“The plan was to disrupt his life by sharing his truth,” Lily said. “He’s a predator. He should be locked up, but how do we move forward without proof of what he’s done?”

“We can tell your story using an anonymous name,” Bug said. “Maybe others will come forward.”

Malice nodded her agreement. “Great idea. It’s up to us to reveal the true Brad to his friends and coworkers. Then it’s up to them to decide—”

Beneath the pillowcase, the tape over Brad’s mouth must have fallen off because he interrupted. “Your ridiculous masks and wigs won’t stop me from finding you,” he said. “Every single one of you. You have no idea what I’m capable of. I’ll do things to you that will make you wish you were dead.”

Malice looked at the screen, where she could see Lily’s face redden. She was the reason they were here, the one person in the group who had suffered Brad’s forty-eight-hour assault. She had been here, in this house, with that man. Now, listening to him make threats after all he’d done ended up being too much.

“We have dozens of videos, showing you torturing and raping women,” Lily shouted from the phone. “You will pay for what you’ve done!”

Brad cocked his head. “That voice. Who is that? Do I know you?”

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but Cleo cut in before Lily could say anything more. “If you don’t shut your mouth, Brad, I’m going to have to shove that pool stick up your ass.”

“I’d like to see that,” Bug said. “The dirty thug needs a taste of his own medicine.”

“My friends and coworkers will see the videos for what they are . . . a bit of kinky sex. Nobody can see my face. I made sure of that. And sorry, ladies, but I don’t have any distinguishing marks other than my big cock.” He snorted. “My boss won’t give a shit about any of you bitches.”

Psycho jumped off the stool she’d been sitting on, went to where Brad had managed to prop his upper back against the radiator. His hands were still bound behind his back, his legs in a wide V, his ankles taped to one of the couch legs.

Psycho grabbed the pruning shears and used them to cut off his boxers. Once that was done, she opened and closed the blades, making sure he could hear the snip, snip, snip. “The tree or the apples?” she asked Brad.

Brad struggled to get loose. “Get her away from me!”

Lily laughed.

“Hurry,” Psycho told Brad. “Time is running out. Make a decision.”

“Fuck you!” Brad said, wriggling frantically, trying to escape.

“Fine,” Psycho said. “I’m going with the tree.” She slid his penis between the sharp blades.

“Get her the hell away from me!”

At first Malice thought Psycho was just playing games. Now she wasn’t so sure. Afraid his screams might be heard outside, Malice jumped up and used a throw blanket to muffle his cries. “Psycho. Stop.”

“Are you kidding me?” Psycho asked. “Why are we even here? You heard the man. He’s going to come after us. Nobody will give a shit about what he’s done to those women. The police have already let him off at least once that we know of. Who’s to say they won’t let him go again? It’s up to us to teach guys like Brad Vicente a lesson.”

Malice exhaled.

“Majority rules, right?” Psycho asked her.

“Right,” Lily cried.

Psycho looked toward the others. “Who votes to cut off his dick?”

Lily, Cleo, and Psycho raised their hands. “Three to two.”

Snip.

Brad let loose an ear-piercing scream, primal and gut wrenching, like something Malice had only heard in the movies. She had to use all her strength to hold him down and muffle his cries. Blood seeped between his legs. That’s all it had taken. One sharp snip of the shears, and the deed was done. No room for discussion.

Malice let go of the blanket covering Brad’s face, pushed herself to her feet, and went straight for her purse. She pulled out a syringe. Her hands shook as she removed the plastic tip. Brad continued to scream and writhe in pain as she fell to her knees and plunged the needle into his arm, hoping she got a vein.