Chapter 12

Marc Anthony was in a panic. Who saw him put the slasher’s body in the back of his truck? Marc Anthony thought back to that day as he drove to the farm. He remembered the girl’s face when they opened the door and shot him. She was surprised and relieved; there would be no police statement from her. Shorty called Marc Anthony to take care of the guy, so no police report from that direction. There was Jason, but Marc Anthony paid his friend well from the profits of the farm. Pig was good meat, the pigs were free range and Marc Anthony made a good investment.

“So, what was the FBI agent talking about?” Marc Anthony wondered out loud as he turned on the street leading to the farm. Marc Anthony wanted to call Shorty, but decided to get with him later.

Marc Anthony passed the gate bordering his farm and parked his car at the fire pit. He wanted to make sure the top covered the pit and everything that didn’t burn was out. Marc Anthony didn’t want any trouble, especially from the FBI. They tended to take these things seriously.

“Hey Jason,” Marc Anthony said. “How are the pigs?”

“Doing well,” Jason said. “We should have a few hundred pigs for auction in about a month. Oh, man.”

Jason looked at the unmarked car making its way down the lane; he knew the police when he saw them.

“Looks like we have company,” Marc Anthony said unsurprised. “I was wondering when they would decide to pull up. I noticed them following me as soon as I left the station.”

“Well,” Jason smiled, “it isn’t like we have a body for them to find.”

Right, Marc Anthony thought. He started to walk to the car and smiled at both men who were getting out of the parked car.

“Hello, Lloyd, and Agent Row,” Marc Anthony greeted them, “what brings you here?”

“We just thought we would stop by,” unannounced, Lloyd said.

“Well, let me show you around the place,” Marc Anthony said. “I bought the farm about six years ago for, well, not a lot of money and turned a nice profit raising pigs.”

Marc Anthony gave them a tour of the farm, he pointed out the several different hog groups. Lloyd and Brandon followed Marc Anthony and Jason around looking at different places where one could possibly hide a body or bodies.

“I don’t think this is our guy,” Brandon said as he followed Marc Anthony around. “I mean he has all this land and we find his victims in a field in town? That doesn’t make sense. And you noticed his truck, right? There is a bed cover. No one would see if he stashed a body. He would dump here, not in the field.”

Lloyd just nodded as he listened to Marc Anthony talk about wells, pigs and a fire pit. The man showed some real pride in his investment, Lloyd noticed.

“Hey, Marc Anthony,” Lloyd interrupted him, “thank you for the tour, but I wanted to know something.”

“What is that, Lloyd,” Marc Anthony asked.

“We found it odd that you came straight to your farm after talking with us,” Lloyd said. “Is there a reason why?”

“Well,” Marc Anthony said as he looked around for an excuse.

“I left him a message telling him that one of the hogs looked sick. That is dangerous when working with several groups. A sickness like that can take out the entire herd, then we’re startin’ all over,” Jason said. “Marc Anthony was returning my call when he walked out of your office.”

Lloyd nodded, “All alright, well, we will check your alibi, Marc Anthony. We will see you later.”

Lloyd and Brandon walked to the car and got in, they pulled out and drove towards the street, missing a light blue Ford Mustang parked along the woods. The Mustang pulled out, drove silently down the land and parked close to a small well house. Melissa got out of the car and hid close to the fire pit. She watched Marc Anthony and one of his men talking about the farm.

“That was quick thinking,” Marc Anthony said. “I didn’t know what to tell them.”

“I came up with it when I saw them,” Jason said. “I heard the concern in your voice when you said someone might have seen you that night.”

“It did dawn on me that the FBI agent could have been bluffing,” Marc Anthony said. “But I didn’t want to take the chance.”

Marc Anthony’s cell rang and he moved closer to the fire pit to pick up the call. This brought him uncomfortably close to Melissa’s hiding place.

“Hey Shorty,” Marc Anthony said. “What’s up?”

“I got a call from one of our girls,” Shorty said. “She is a good friend of a young girl who has a crack mother and the crack mother is trying to sell her daughter to a john for drugs. I thought you would want to intervene.”

“Damn right I do,” Marc Anthony said. “How old is the girl?”

“Twelve years old,” Shorty said. “This isn’t the first time the mother tried to sell her daughter. She is strung out right now and the girl has locked herself in her room. Her best friend will help us find the apartment.”

“Alright,” Marc Anthony said. “Sounds good. I will see you in an hour or so.”

Melissa was curious, what was going on? She stood by and listened to Marc Anthony's update on the latest turn of events. He went to the pig pen.

“Looks like they are going to eat well tonight,” Marc Anthony said. “Get the fire pit ready. We are going to have company.”

“Sounds good, boss,” Jason said. “I will have everything ready. Good thing you stopped by today.”

Marc Anthony frowned at Jason and walked to his truck to head back to town. He lost several hours due to the investigators, the trip to the farm and now the drive back.

Melissa followed Marc Anthony down the drive and right back into town. You would think a man who was followed by police would look to see if he was being followed again, Melissa thought.

Marc Anthony didn’t notice the Mustang, he had a lot on his mind and was thinking about his next job. He enjoyed this part of the work, really. Adrenaline would course through his body, his heart would beat faster and he felt more focused. He was about to go on the hunt. He contacted Shorty on the phone and asked for the address.

“What was that address again?” Marc Anthony asked.

“She lives in the apartments on Second Street near the old post office. Do you know it?” Shorty asked.

“Know it, I grew up there,” Marc Anthony said. “The apartment number was Amee’s.”

“Wow, uh, talk about your coincidences,” Shorty said.

“I will be there in half an hour,” Marc Anthony said. “Tell the girl that help is on the way. Tell her to stay calm.”

Marc Anthony hung up the phone and increased pressure on the accelerator. He had to shave as much time off as he possibly could. He may have failed Amee, but he wasn’t going to fail this girl. He made excellent time as did the light blue Mustang. Melissa wondered what Marc Anthony was going to do about the woman and the man. How disgusting, she thought. A woman who sold her daughter for drugs was not a woman. She hoped the girl would be taken to the shelter where Melissa could check on her in the morning.

Melissa found a parking spot several doors down from the apartment. This is where Marc Anthony grew up, she thought. This was the apartment complex that housed Amee and Marc Anthony. How appropriate, she thought, he was coming home to do for this girl what he couldn’t do for Amee.

She pulled out a set of high-range binoculars and focused on Marc Anthony. She didn’t know what he was going to do exactly, but she did have an idea of what he was capable of.

Marc Anthony was home. He was going to the same building, the same floor and he was going to bust down the same door. It wouldn’t be as cut and dry as the motel. The Lobos ran that place; this apartment complex was a whole new ball of wax. He reached the third floor and heard the man trying to break the girl’s bedroom door down. The man was swearing at her, telling her he was going to make her pay if she didn’t come out like a good girl.

“I can do anything I want right?” the man asked her mother.

“Sure,” the woman said. She was strung out on whatever she was taking. “Just give me the money.”

“Let me have my fun first, bitch,” the man said as he continued to pound on the door. “We have all night sweetheart. I can be patient for so long. Come out and I won’t hurt you much.”

Marc Anthony took a deep breath, drew out his gun and put his finger in the grove right above the trigger. He thought about how he was going to gain entry to the apartment. A kick would give them some time to react and start moving, he thought. He could try knocking. Marc Anthony grabbed the door knob and started to gently turn it, expecting to feel the catch of the lock. He started to apply a little pressure to the door and found it was unlocked. Marc Anthony smiled, it was going to be an easy entry.

Marc Anthony crossed the threshold and heard the man cursing the young girl. The man finally broke through the girl’s lock and she started to scream as he grabbed her. Marc Anthony walked swiftly to the sounds of the screaming, he remembered Amee screaming, he shook his head and focused on helping the girl. He saw the mother first and put a bullet into her head, it snapped back and she hit the ground.

The man, confused, looked through the bedroom door. He was on the bed straddling the girl and trying to rip her clothes off.

“You will want to get off the girl,” Marc Anthony said evenly.

“Who the fuck are you?” The man got off of the girl who abandoned the bed and ran into the bathroom. He glared at Marc Anthony when he heard the lock click. “Dammit all to hell, it took two hours to get through this goddamn door. Now, it is going to take more time to get through the other door.”

Marc Anthony didn’t say anything, just held the gun steady.

“What are you going to do?” the man stood in front of him. “It isn’t like you are going to shoot me.”

Marc Anthony coldly pulled the trigger and watched the man fall to the ground, “actually it is exactly like that.”

He wanted to get the bodies out of the apartment before the girl left the bathroom. He called Shorty and told him to find a sheet or something to wrap the bodies in.

“The girl is locked in the bathroom,” Marc Anthony said as he pulled the comforter off the bed and started wrapping the man in it.

Shorty nodded and pulled another large blanket from the mother’s bedroom, covered the mother and started to fold her body into the blanket.

“I guess we need to call the girl’s friend,” Shorty said.

“She isn’t a member of your gang,” Marc Anthony said.

“The girl’s friend is,” Shorty said. “I will make sure she gets to the shelter tonight. The gang is no place for a twelve-year-old girl.”

Shorty looked up and saw the girl standing at the entrance to the bathroom. She was watching him wrap her now-dead mother up. She just stared at the blanket that held her body. Her large blue eyes were wide in shock.

“She can’t sell you any more, and he won’t be able to hurt you anymore,” Marc Anthony said pointing back to the mound of fabric that held the man’s body. “I am sorry.”

The girl shook her head, “she wasn’t sober. She spent less and less time sober. It was only a matter of time before she made good her threat to sell me. That time came today.”

The girl looked up at Marc Anthony; he was shocked at how much she looked like Amee. She could be Amee’s younger sister. Marc Anthony looked at the mother. It wasn’t Amee’s mother. He held out his hand to the girl. She looked at his hand skeptically.

“You aren’t going to hurt me, are you?” She asked timidly.

“No, please,” Marc Anthony pleaded with her to take his hand. She was just twelve years old, but he needed something from her.

She took his hand and he pulled her close to him. She looked into his dark blue eyes. There were tears in his eyes. She couldn’t understand what could be the matter with him. Marc Anthony lowered his lips to her forehead. He was gentle with her and finally let Shorty take the girl away.

“Goodbye, Amee,” Marc Anthony said softly. “I will never forget you, but you can rest now.”

He couldn’t explain it, but he felt lighter. Helping this young girl released something in his soul. He felt that he was able to finally right a wrong. Marc Anthony took the bodies one at a time down to his truck and put them in the bed. He closed the cover and got in to make another trip to the farm.

Melissa couldn’t believe what she saw. He walked into the apartment, killed a man and woman, kissed the girl and it looked like he was making some connection with her. She must have reminded him of Amee, Melissa thought. The informant took the girl to the shelter. Melissa would check on her in the morning and offer the girl any help she might need to cope with her new reality.

Melissa started the car and drove to the farm. She knew where Marc Anthony was going and knew she had to beat him there or there was a good chance she would get caught. She sped back down the road leading deeper into the hill country and found the street that led to his farm. She remembered the drive that bordered the farm and parked her car in a secluded spot. She climbed out of the car and waited for Marc Anthony to drive into the area where Jason started the fire pit.

Melissa wanted to know what Marc Anthony was going to do with the bodies. She didn’t have to wait long as she saw the truck pull right up to the pig pen. Marc Anthony called for Jason who came to help him undress the bodies. Clothes and identification were thrown into the fire. The naked bodies were placed into the pig pen where the animals started to devour the flesh, meat and bone. Melissa thought she would never forget the sound of the animals crunching through the bone. Melissa didn’t know what to think about this little operation.

She just knew it gave her an idea to trap Marc Anthony in her web.