Homicidal By Design [Hector Escaton]

Chapter 12

As soon as she heard the door to the stable open, Izzy froze. Turning back to see where the sound came from, she felt pain explode in the back of her head. She assumed it was supposed to knock her unconscious—the way it did in movies—but all it did was hurt like a bitch.

Unfortunately, it threw her off long enough for her assailant to grab a fistful of her hair, yanking her backward and to the ground. Crying out, she reached up and dug her nails into the hand holding her until she realized there were two of them.

In the darkness of the barn, Izzy knew she just had to wait for an opportunity to get away. If she couldn't see, then the idiots who decided to attack her couldn't either. They hadn't brought a lantern, or even thought to leave the door open. Duh. And she had snuck out of this building earlier so she had an advantage.

Almost as quickly as the onslaught began, it was paused by the scuffing sound of boots on the dirt-packed floor. Izzy took the distraction as a chance to get her feet back under her, but immediately lost her balance. She felt a sharp tug on her hair.

"The hell was that?" the man with a hold on her grumbled. "Go check it out."

The other man seemed like he was going to argue, but instead Izzy heard the cocking of a pistol as he edged toward the front of the shadowy barn.

"Wait, light one of them lanterns first."

A small circle of the barn aisle was flooded with warm flickering light, although the shadows bled into it, fading into inky blackness around the corner of the stalls where the sounds came from.

The cowboy inched away until he disappeared around the stall.

"Now, let's teach you some manners. You killed some real stand up men, protectin' your boyfriend earlier..."

There was the sound of scuffling and a choked gasp.

"Lyndon?" His attention was again diverted, but so was Izzy's.

Had Len realized she was gone? She squeezed her eyes against the throbbing in her head. Were they humans? They sounded too authentic. But why would they attack her out of the blue? Had she accidentally triggered another narrative?

Lyndon finally stepped back into the fringes of the light after an agonizing minute, but Izzy would never forget the gurgling sound that came from his lips as he held his throat. His other hand was outstretched toward them, blood pouring from the long gouge in his neck like a pulsating river.

Izzy slapped a hand over her mouth, fighting a wave of nausea while she watched the host sink to his knees and eventually fall to the ground. Choking and gurgling permeated the quiet until he stilled permanently. A grisly pool of red continued to expand below him.

She would never get used to this. This casual, demented violence.

"What the fuck?"

She agreed with the host's utterance completely.

Detecting movement in the darkness, Izzy stared ahead as a shadow seemed to come to life, long and lean as it slunk out of the darkness.

Izzy didn't think she would ever see a more poetic sight than that of the desperado dressed in black, his visage hidden by the erratic licks of lantern light. Flecks of shiny blood covered his face and leather jacket, and his eyes burned with a murderous intensity. He was in his element, and it was a thrilling macabre beauty.

Even with her mind working in slow motion, it only took a split second for a shot to go off and the man behind her to fall to the ground, a hole in the center of his forehead.