Chapter 9

Vincent pulled his knife out of its sheath and raced towards the general direction of the tent. Bo grabbed a bat and another flashlight from the back of his truck and followed. They found the tent but found no one there. Bo shone the light around the meadow but saw nothing.

"Fucking light doesn't have a good reach!" he shouted. "Kat, where are you?"

Vincent motioned towards their right, where faint sounds of a struggle could be heard. The two brothers ran towards the noise, Bo and the flashlight in front. At the edge of the meadow, the light shone on a disturbing scene.

Katrina was struggling on the ground, gasping for breath while an older man held her down, his hands around her windpipe. Blood gushed from her nose and fresh bruises could be seen on her legs and arms. The man, seeing the light, leaped up and pulled a pistol from his pants.

Bo was too quick for him. He swung the bat in a neat arc, cracking the pistol out of the man's hand. The man cried out in pain as he dodged another attack. Vincent pulled Katrina off of the ground and out of the way.

"Th . . . thank God you guys came," she cried, rubbing her neck. "Bastard took me by surprise."

"Who is he?"

She grimaced. "It's my father."

Vincent surveyed the bruises on her body. "He did this?"

"Yes. It's nothing compared to what he's done before."

They watched as Bo took a fist to the gut.

"I . ." Vincent began.

She nodded at him. "Go. I'll help." Katrina cracked her knuckles and leaped into the fray just as Vincent took a swing at her father.

"You . . . bastards . . ." the man panted. "I'll kill . . . you . . . you . . . little bitch."

Bo stood up, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip. "Not if we kill you first, you fat fuck." He grinned at Katrina, who had picked up his bat.

She smiled back and swung. It hit her father in the arm. He howled with pain as the bone broke. It was the opening Vincent needed. He grabbed the man in a headlock, turning him to face his daughter.

Katrina sauntered up to him. "Well hello there, Pa dearest. I never got a chance to greet you properly as you tried to kill me immediately after we met again."

Her father wheezed in response.

"What do you want to do with him, darlin'?" Bo asked.

"I was hoping to kill the bastard."

Bo shrugged. "Fine with me. But I get to do this . . ." He took the bat from Katrina and swung it against the man's kneecaps, shattering them.

Katrina watched her father slump to the ground, screaming in pain. "This is going to be fun," she laughed. "Hold down his hand, Vince. I'm going to cut off his fingers."

Bo sat on the ground, taking a flask of rum from his pocket and took a sip as he watched Katrina cut off the man's fingers, one by one. His screams echoed in the moonlight. "I love this bitch!" he thought in amusement. "She's a perfect addition to our little group."

Vincent was admiring Katrina's handiwork too. After she cut off two fingers at the base, she changed her mind and began cutting off fingers piece by piece, slicing the bone at each knuckle.

"I have a question," Katrina said as she sliced off the last bit of finger. "What will we do with this one's corpse?"

Her father began to cry like a baby.

"Well," Bo began, "we could bury it, toss it in the river, or burn the fucker. Whatever you like, darlin', he's your pa."

Katrina tapped the hilt of her knife against her chin thoughtfully. "Let's burn his sorry ass. Why don't you pull your truck on over here, Bo-Bo? We'll have ourselves a little party."

Bo grinned at her. "As you wish, Kitty Kat."

She got up and collected the pistol from the ground. "I'll keep watch on this bastard, Vince. Will you find something we can burn him in?"

"Yes." He released her father, letting him slump to the ground, still moaning in pain.

Bo pulled up in his truck, blasting the radio as loud as he could.

"Keep an eye on him, will you?" Katrina asked, handing him the gun. She picked up her flashlight and walked back over to the tent where Vincent was standing.

"I can't find anything," he told her. "But we can burn him in this tent."

She smiled. "Good thinking. There's stuff I need to get out of it first." She bounced inside. "Shine your light in here, will ya?" When he complied, she picked up a black backpack, dumping its contents out on the bed. There was a load of men's clothes and toiletries and a huge Ziploc bag filled with nuggets of marijuana. Katrina grinned. "Beautiful." She opened a side zipper and pulled out a glass pipe and a lighter. Before leaving, she grabbed a small portable CD player, a CD case, and pointed at an ice chest in a corner. "That's all I needed, Vince. Will you grab that? It's got beer and a bottle of Jack in it."

He stepped back as she came out of the tent, clutching her booty. "This one?" he asked, grabbing the blue ice chest.

She nodded. "Yep."

Vincent hauled it outside as Katrina ran over to Bo. Moments later, Bo and Katrina, with her father in the bed of the truck, pulled up by the tent.

"Let's have some fun!" Katrina said, smiling widely.