Don't Make a Sound (Sawyer Brooks #1)(34)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

An hour after leaving Brad’s house, Malice was sitting inside a coffee shop with her laptop and a decaf black tea. The last thing she needed was more caffeine, since she was experiencing a rapid heartbeat after everything that had happened. The knot on her head was now the size of a walnut instead of an egg, but it ached just the same.

She logged in to the group to see how everyone was holding up. They had all agreed to check in at 2:00 p.m. On the left of the screen she noticed Cleo was the only one signed in to the group.

MALICE: Any news?

A few minutes passed before Cleo responded.

CLEO: I saw Brad wheeled out of the house on a gurney and placed in an ambulance. The police are still at his house.

Malice’s insides roiled at the thought of Cleo being anywhere near Brad’s house.

MALICE: What if they recognize you?

CLEO: I’m walking a friend’s dog. I look nothing like the woman who went to dinner with the asshole. Nor do I resemble the woman in the mask. I am the queen of disguises.

She ended her comment with a happy-face emoji, which didn’t make Malice feel any better.

Lily’s name popped up to the left of the screen, then Bug’s.

BUG: I wonder if they’ll be able to reattach his dick?

LILY: Not that I care about his well-being, but it worked with that Bobbitt guy. And that was after sending out a task force to find his penis in a field in the middle of the night.

BUG: I hope this doesn’t screw up our plans for my reunion with a couple of douchebag football players.

It was too early to worry about Bug’s reunion.

MALICE: Anyone know where Psycho is?

CLEO: She’s keeping an eye on the waiter.

Malice closed her eyes and prayed Psycho didn’t do anything stupid.

BUG: I’m going to have to get back to work, so I’ll go ahead and give you all an update. Psycho can read it later. I won’t delete the conversation until tomorrow. Out of the dozens of videos I found on Brad’s computer, I was only able to find three that showed a decent profile of Brad. The sicko was careful not to get clear shots of his face. He was also able to warble his voice. I’m not sure how he did that without messing up the rest of the audio, but he did.

CLEO: Why would he warble his voice, but not the victims’?

BUG: I can only assume that hearing and seeing the fear in the victims was part of his deal—the thing that turned him on.

LILY: Fucker.

BUG: I also blurred out the victims’ faces because the last thing they need is to be victimized twice.

LILY: What about me? Was there a video?

BUG: Yes. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to use it to take him to court someday, so I was waiting to— LILY: I need to think about it.

BUG: Take your time. Let’s take a vote on whether or not the best videos of Brad should be sent to the police on a flash drive?

All four of them voted yes.

BUG: Should I post one of the videos on his social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram? And what about sending a video to his company CEO?

MALICE: Any chance the police would be able to trace the flash drive or the IP address to you?

BUG: No.

Malice sighed. Bug’s confidence in all things was as comforting at times as it was worrying. If authorities were able to trace the video to Bug, then what? They would all be in a lot of trouble.

LILY: When do you plan to post the video on social media?

BUG: As soon as we hear from Psycho.

PSYCHO: I’m here. Sorry I’m late. The waiter hasn’t left his apartment. I called the restaurant and asked for him and was told he quit. Give me a minute to catch up with previous posts.

Five minutes passed.

PSYCHO: Okay. I vote YES to all of Bug’s questions. I’d like to say that I know this didn’t go as well as everyone had hoped, but nobody can argue that Brad didn’t get what he had coming to him. I do think our first assignment has been eye opening. At least for me. I have no doubt in my mind that Brad will try to cause trouble. We all knew he was smart, ruthless, and controlling. But I’m ready to move on to assignment #2. I’m looking forward to attending Bug’s reunion.

Malice couldn’t stop thinking about how badly their first assignment had gone. More than anything, she wanted the predators to pay for what they did. But talking about revenge and doing it were two different things. Fear was setting in and bringing doubt with it. Sure, she’d known from the start that they were taking big risks, but the thought of being caught was weighing heavily.

Assignments had been decided on long ago. Otto Radley, assignment number two, was the man who had kidnapped Psycho and held her captive for three years. She had the scars to remind her every day of the horrors she’d endured. He was the only predator in the group who had been convicted. That was twenty years ago. Psycho was getting antsy. Malice could feel it. Hell, she’d seen it with her own eyes every time Psycho had rolled her shoulders and gritted her teeth when they were at Brad’s. Their mission to get justice had gotten real.

BUG: I gotta go. Talk soon.

Psycho logged off, then Lily.

CLEO: You okay?

MALICE: I’ll be fine. You?

CLEO: Danger is my middle name. If you need to talk, you know where to find me.

After Cleo signed off, Malice sat there for a moment longer, staring at the blinking cursor. Laughter caught her attention, and she found herself smiling at a toddler who had stopped to stare at her, his pudgy arm outstretched as he offered her a gooey treat before his mother ushered him away.