“May Lucifer welcome you with open arms,” I growl the first line of the dictum we always use for Finishings.
“And deliver you to the darkest pits of hell,” Emo recites aggressively.
“To live out an eternity for the evil deeds you’ve bestowed,” JW says his part.
“Shall you not rest in peace,” Trouble finishes.
“I know who killed all those people during the raid twenty-four years ago!” Sierra shouts.
My finger rests against the trigger, begging me to squeeze it, but I hesitate, just curious enough to see what shit she’ll come up with.
“How would you know something like that?”
She licks her cracked lips, head swiveling to level her eyes on JW, then Trouble, before bringing them back to me.
“I heard Gary talking about it once,” she says quickly. “Eloise told him she saw the person who killed them.”
Eloise was an original member of Sweet Haven. Three years my senior, she would have been seventeen when the town was taken down.
“And why in the fuck should we believe you?” JW asks from her right.
Her back stiffens, but she doesn’t look at him.
She shrugs. “If I were to lie about something, I’d come up with a better one than that. I wasn’t born yet when Sweet Haven was raided. I’ve got no reason to think about it, unless I knew something important.”
Her reasoning is logical. We’ve always wondered who killed those twelve people but have never put much effort in trying to solve the mystery, so it’s not like it’s been a burning question amongst the townsfolk. Not like our need for revenge against the ones who escaped. We were just glad that was twelve fewer people we had to kill. Sierra has no personal ties to Sweet Haven and she’s seconds away from death. If she were lying, she’d make up something more believable.
“Give me a name,” I demand.
The smile that creeps across her face is pure evil. “Let me go, and I’ll give you all the information I know.”
Before I can react, there’s a loud blast as a gun is fired, and her expression goes slack as a bullet is wedged into the base of the back of her neck. A split second later, three more shots are fired by my brothers and me to her groin, heart, and between her eyes.
As her lifeless body falls forward, I lift my eyes to Emo.
“There’s nothing she has to say that’s worth keeping her alive,” he growls darkly, gun still pointed at Sierra like he wants to shoot her dead body over and over again.
It doesn’t take long for us to dump her body and bury her in the hole we’ve already dug. Just like for the rest of the bodies in the ground beneath us, no markers will be put on Sierra’s grave.
When the sentencing was given a couple of days ago, Sierra’s father was in attendance. Her mother chose to stay home, too distraught over Sierra’s actions and knowing what her punishment would be. Yesterday, the Butlers asked for a meeting with me to request leniency for their daughter, offering to admit her into a mental hospital instead; however, they did so already knowing the answer. Understandably, they didn’t want their daughter to die, but they also understood there was no other choice. Sierra’s punishment fit her crimes, and deep down they knew this. They’ll grieve for their daughter, just as any parent would, but for the safety of Malus’s future, they recognize the need to continue on with our laws. It’s a shit situation to be put in, and I feel sympathy for them.
“You think she really knew who killed them?” Trouble asks as we walk back to our vehicles.
“No idea,” I answer, lifting the bottom of my shirt and wiping the dirt and sweat from my face. It’s hot as fuck today. “The authorities have always said it wasn’t them, but it still could have been a pissed-off agent.”
“Hmm…,” he hums.
I don’t believe it any more than he does, but the alternative means it was a Sweet Haven citizen. I highly doubt it was one of the participating adults, which left few others. It couldn’t have been Mae and Dale, because they were busy getting shit ready to flee. After looking into each murder, we found no rhyme or reason between each person. They seemed to have been chosen randomly.
“It’s a question we may never have the answer to,” JW states thoughtfully, his keys clinking as he pulls them from his pocket.
“How’s Ellie doing?” Trouble asks.
I sigh and grip the back of my neck. “Better. She hasn’t had a panic attack in a couple of days, but the nightmares are getting worse. She woke up screaming last night. Scared the shit out of Maisy.”
“Tell her to stop by my office. I’ll give her something to help her sleep through the night.”
I nod and open my door. Just before I climb behind the wheel, JW stops me.