Kill Jill (22 page)

“I don’t think you understand the magnitude of what you’re doing. A weapon like that could destroy everything within a hundred yards of the target! Other homes. Innocent people.”

“Tough shit.”

Jack stares at him with total contempt. “You’re a pig of a man.”

Bobby grins. Says, “Oink!”

“Fuck you.”

“Don’t be bitter, Jack. No one likes a bitter prisoner.”

“I’d be a lot less bitter if I could keep my nuts and vocal cords.”

“That’s not going to happen, sport. You understand
why
, don’t you?”

“Tell me. I’d like to hear the words as they leak out of your foul, sadistic, cesspool of a mouth.”

“It’s the ultimate torture, Jack. You, sitting in this cell for the rest of your life with no hope of ever seeing the light of day. Nothing to do all day, all night, day after day. Guys on death row have it ten times better than you! They can talk to family members, guards, their attorneys…they can dream, hope, eat a variety of food…and they can jack off. Not you, Jack. You’ll get the same meal at the same time every day for the rest of your life. You won’t be able to complain or cry out in anger or frustration, because the only sound you’ll be able to make is a hiss. And your hiss will sound like everyone else’s. You’ll retreat into your mind, like prisoners in solitary confinement, except that
those
prisoners can think of the women they’ve been with, or wanted to be with, and can express those thoughts physically. But you’ll avoid those thoughts, Jack, because your dick won’t work. You’ll be amazed how frustrating that’ll be when you’re sitting in a cell twenty-four hours a day. I’m taking
everything
from you: your time, your life, your hope for a better future, your ability to communicate, your sexual thoughts, your ability to pleasure yourself, your will to live.”

Jack decides not to tell Bobby that men can lose their nuts and still get erections and experience orgasms. This, according to Jack’s best friend from college, who got testicular cancer, lost his nuts, but claimed he could still perform.

Jack says, “You’re the man, Bobby. You can take all that away from me. But you know what you can’t do?”

“What’s that, sport?”

“You can’t make Jill love you.”

“Her loss.”

“We both know whose loss it is,” Jack says.

“Jesus, Jack. Have you
no
pride? You
do
know she was using you, right? In her eyes you’re no better than Wisby, my driver. All she wanted was to get away. And as for Jill living in a hillbilly tourist town in Bum Fuck, Arkansas?” He laughs. “She wouldn’t have lasted a month. And if you knew her at all, you’d know that.”

Jack waits it out while Bobby continues putting him down. But when he says, “You actually made me feel sorry for you yesterday morning,” Jack says, “I doubt that.”

“It’s true. When I told you Jill agreed to come back if I let you go? You actually
believed
me!” He laughs. “How
pathetic
. What a
sap
you are!”

He laughs some more.

Jack says, “You mentioned your guy saved her life two hours ago?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“How?”

“Remember our talk about synchronicity?”

“Coincidences are like conspiracy theories. If they’re on your mind, you find them everywhere.”

“I’ll give that some thought, Jack. In the meantime, see if you agree
this
is a coincidence. Remember Abbie Rhodes, from Willow Lake?”

The expression on his face says he does.

“What about her?”

“Two hours ago her husband Darryl attacked Jill in your front yard because, according to him, you fucked his wife. Get the coincidence? At the same time he’s punishing Jill because you fucked
his
wife, I’m punishing
you
for fucking
my
wife!”

Jack closes his eyes, thinking
Poor Jill. She’d have been safer with Bobby than me
.

Bobby says, “Don’t worry. My guy put a bullet in Darryl’s forehead. Now half the town’s in your front yard. Neighbors, cops, technicians…if my bomb guy’s calculations are right, we’re going to wipe out half the town’s population tonight.”

“You’re telling me this for a reason,” Jack says.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s something you want me to do in return for not killing Jill. It’s why you wanted me completely lucid tonight. Whatever it is, I’ll do it. Spare Jill’s life and I’ll do whatever you want.”

Bobby’s face shows amusement. “You’ll do anything?”

“Yes.”

“Would you kill yourself?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Kill a child?”

“Yes.”

“Have sex with a goat?”

“A goat?”

“You said ‘anything.’”

Jack frowns in disgust. “Spare Jill and I’ll do anything you say.”

“Tell me you’ll have sex with a goat and all the male prisoners here. Wait. Let me tape this.” He presses a button on his cell phone. Then says, “Okay. What’s your name?”

“Jack Tallow.”

“Jack, tell me what you’re willing to do if I let Jill go.”

Jack says, “I’ll have sex with a goat and all the male prisoners here.”

Bobby laughs till his sides hurt. Then he clicks off the recording app and says, “Are you listening to yourself, Jack?”

“Yeah. And I keep hearing myself say I’ll do anything, but I don’t hear you telling me what it’ll take.”

“Kill Jill.”

“What?”

“Would you kill Jill?”

He pauses. “Yes.”

“Why? Because you think you can kill her more humanely than me?”

“No. But if I kill her myself at least the other people in Willow Lake will live.”

“What, I’m supposed to think you’re a wonderful guy now? A real humanitarian?”

“I don’t give a shit what you think of me.”

“You say you’ll do anything,” Bobby says.

“That’s right.”

“Would you trade places with Jill?”

“What do you mean?”

“Would you be willing to walk out of here a free man, knowing Jill would have to take your place?”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“I don’t need
you
to bring Jill back. I could have my man on the ground do it tonight. But believe me when I say I’ll treat her worse than the others. I won’t just let her rot, I’ll punish her in ways you can’t even comprehend. What if I bring her back, put her on this chair, and force you to tell her the reason she’s going to be in a jail cell for the rest of her life is because I traded your freedom for her captivity. Would you still want me to spare her life?”

“No.”

Bobby laughs. “That was fun, don’t you think?”

“What do you mean?”

“I was just fucking with you. My man can’t waltz in there and remove her with all those people milling about. There are a hundred of them crawling all over the neighborhood. You thought I was telling you all this for a reason? I was. But only because I wanted to gloat, like any respectable movie villain would do. No, Jack, there’s nothing I want from you. Except to make you feel utterly powerless, like I felt when Jill stopped loving me and there was nothing I could do about it. And of course I want you to experience the agony of losing your home, your neighbors, and your new girlfriend. I want you to live with the knowledge that if you’d simply kept your dick in your pants and brought her back, like you were
paid
to do, none of this would have happened. I’m telling you all this and keeping you lucid because I want you to share this moment with me. You and I will experience Jill’s death together. And this memory will be firmly etched in your mind when my doctor removes your nuts and vocal cords.”

He puts his phone on speaker and presses a button.

Jack hears the phone ring, hears a man answer, “Decker.”

Bobby says, “Can you talk?”

“Yeah,” Decker says. “I’m in position. No one can hear me.”

“I’ve got Jack Tallow on speaker phone.”

“He’s with you? At your place?”

“Yeah. Have you heard from Mike the Pilot?”

“We’ve been in contact.”

“Tell Jack what’s going to happen to his lake house.”

“Mike’s going to fly over the house, drop the canister. When it detonates, the aluminum powder and fuel will form a mushroom cloud that’ll mix with atmospheric oxygen, and fall like rain on all people and structures within the blast radius. Then I’ll fire a warhead to detonate the cloud, and create a blast wave strong enough to destroy everything within the initial radius.”

“You used the word ‘destroy.’”

“That’s right.”

“Can you give Jack a precise description of what you mean?”

“The lake house will be completely decimated, including the basement foundation, to a depth of at least six feet. Surrounding houses will suffer massive damage.”

“And the people in the house and yard?”

“In the simulated version, most would become human fireballs. Those furthest away would suffer critical, if not fatal, injuries, including ruptured lungs, blindness, burst eardrums, extensive third-degree burns...”

“Will we be able to hear the screams?”

Decker pauses a moment before saying, “What screams?”

“From the wounded people.”

“Hopefully there won’t be any.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mike’s parked on your airfield in Memphis, waiting for my call. Which he won’t get till all the gawkers have cleared the area.”

“What are you
talking
about? You said we could wipe out half the town tonight.”

“I was explaining the explosive force. We
could
kill most of those people tonight. But we’re not going to.”

“We’re not?”

“No, Mr. Dee. We’re not.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t work that way.”

“You killed Darryl tonight. And you agreed to kill Jill.”

“That’s different.”

Bobby thinks about it a minute, then says, “You’re still planning to kill Jill, though, right?”

“I said I would.”

“And that means?”

“She’s as good as dead. You have my word. She won’t escape.”

“You’re certain she’s in the house?”

“I got a visual on her through the window a short while ago.”

“Could she have slipped out the back?”

“Not hardly.”

“Why not?”

“For one thing, there are several people in the house with her. For another, I would’ve seen her. I’m in the water, behind Jack’s house.”

“You’re in the
water
? What about your equipment? Your rocket launcher?”

“Everything’s in the bass boat.”

“I don’t’ understand.”

“I hid the rocket launcher and sniper rifle in the hold of a bass boat and drove it to the edge of the peninsula hours ago. I took my rifle up the hill to use my scope as a spotter to give Mike coordinates and terrain. Saw Darryl and his wife pull into Jack’s driveway. When Jill showed up after jogging, I moved in close enough to hear their confrontation. Darryl came at her, and I killed him.”

“You should have shot Jill, too.”

“You hired me to blow her up, not shoot her.”

“Just so we’re clear. If she escapes from the house before you blow it up—”

“I’ll hunt her down, kill her, cut her head off, and bring it to you.”

“Perfect. Where are you now?”

“A quarter-mile from shore, hanging on the side of the boat.”

“How the fuck can you fire a rocket launcher while treading water?”

“I’ll prop it on the side of the boat, and fire from here.”

“What if you miss?”

“Ray Charles couldn’t miss the target Mike’s going to make.”

“Still, you’re a quarter-mile away,” Bobby says. “I’d feel better if you moved closer.”

“Any closer and I’ll be part of the barbecue.”

“Well, can you
see
anything? I mean, it’s dark out back, right? How would you be able to tell if Jill makes a run for it?”

“I’m wearing night vision goggles. Anyone comes out the back, I see them.”

“I’m going to want visual confirmation of Jill’s death.”

Decker pauses. “That’s going to be hard to do.”

“Why?”

“I could drive the boat to shore, but I’d have to search through the flames and rubble.”

“You should have time to do that, if everyone in the neighborhood is dead or dying.”

“The neighborhood casualties will be limited to Jill and whoever else is still in the house when I fire the warhead. But they’ll be carbon by the time I get there. I won’t be able to tell men from women.”

“I don’t want her getting away.”

“She’s not going anywhere. The sheriff has been questioning her. He’s not going to let her out of his sight.”

“I still want you to check the house afterward.”

“Because?”

“The bitch always seems to find a way to fuck up my plans.”

Decker sighs. “I’ll do my best.”

“What about Mike the Pilot?”

“If you still want him eliminated, I’ll shoot before he clears the blast area. If you want him alive, I’ll wait an extra twenty seconds before firing.”

“Mike’s a good man,” Bobby says, “but he knows too much. Shoot early, and call me when it’s over.”

“Okay. When I fire the warhead I’ll film the results and stream them to you.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They end the call.

Jack says, “Don’t do this, Bobby. It’s mass murder.”

“You’re turning into a nag, Jack.”

“And you’re turning into a terrorist.”

Bobby says, “Can I be honest? You’re not much fun to be around.”

“Sorry if I’m ruining your big moment.”

“Are you
always
like this? Because I’ve gotta tell you, the sound of your voice is making a big stink in my ears.”

Bobby presses a button on his phone. When someone answers he says, “Is the doctor here yet? Good. Bring him on down.” He listens a moment, then says, “Yes, of
course
I’m going to watch. I
always
watch.”