Midnight Vigilante, Leonor Bass [top business books of all time .TXT] 📗

uh, Landon and I think that we shouldn’t go outside tonight,” Leo responded. Even from the far corner of the room, Riley could hear the nervousness in his voice and feel the tension in the air.

“Oh really, and why is that?” Julius asked with a tone of irony and feigned interest.

“There’s, there’s this man, sir. The Midnight Vigilante, he’s called. And he’s been murdering everyone in our crew. If we go outside, we could be next.”

“You, you’re a bunch of cowards. You fear a man as if he were the ultimate superhero this town has? He should fear us! We are the ones who rule this town, not him! Do you understand me? Now, get the fuck out of my office and go out and do your job!”

Both men looked at each other, visibly upset their pleading hadn’t succeeded. Julius didn’t understand—or perhaps didn’t care—about anyone’s feelings except his own, and no matter how scared his crew was, he was still the boss.

Neither Leo nor Landon had any choice other than to obey, and Riley had no other choice but to go on a killing spree once again.

Riley couldn’t understand why Julius kept doing the same thing, as if he didn’t have survival skills; he only wanted to win.

She recognized Leo and Landon and almost felt sorry for them, recalling the fear in Leo’s voice.

Julius was a cruel man.

The goons had changed their route now, and it would have been hard for Riley to track them if not for her eavesdropping. Still, they did the same thing, pacing through town with their fists clenched and their eyes wide open, studying their surroundings.

Riley hid behind a wall, her back against it, baton in hand and ready to attack. She had done the same thing so many times that it was reflexive.

The guys stepped into her sight and the fight ensued. She wanted to make it as quick and painless as possible for them.

Leo moved forward, his hands raised in surrender. Riley was a bit taken aback by his action.

“Listen, you don’t wanna do this man, all right? This isn’t gonna end up well for you,” he said.

Before Leo could say another word, she raised her baton and hit him in the jaw, silencing him long enough for her to deal with his partner.

Landon stepped forward, ready to strike, but she didn’t give him time. Instead she kicked him in his groin, making him fall to his knees, and then hit his head with the baton until blood flowed freely. When the blood stained her hands and face, she realized she had gotten carried away. She stepped away from the body lying at her feet and gaped at her own disaster. She was supposed to fight a little then shoot, period. But she had allowed adrenaline and anger to take over her body and was no longer in control.

Riley was so shocked by her own behavior that she didn’t notice Leo had started to stir until he stepped toward her. The gun was already in her hand and the trigger pulled before he could make another move.

The fight had been the shortest, but no doubt the one that would remain with her the longest.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Detective Marcus Jung had had enough of rumors and gossip about what was happening in town.

The Midnight Vigilante.

The man, whom many called a salvation, was haunting him, even in his dreams.

He didn’t have much, not even a motive. He had nothing except a poor description from the few who had been willing to talk. Beyond that, Marcus only knew the man was killing Julius Martinson’s crew, and that was enough for him to start investigating.

“So, how many bodies now? Two again?” Marcus asked an officer as they crossed the street to where the crowd started to gather.

“Yes, only this time he went a little bit rough,” the officer said.

“How so?”

“Well, you can see for yourself.”

They pushed themselves through the growing crowd. Marcus heard a few gasps of horror, and some people covered their eyes. He didn’t understand until he reached the two bodies lying on the ground, one of them with a gunshot wound to the forehead, just as in the previous attacks, but the other one was the reason for the terrifying reaction. The man’s skull had been shattered and blood surrounded his head.

“He got carried away,” the officer said.

Marcus snapped his head toward the man with a frown, causing the young officer to look down in shame. “You think so? Why are the bodies still not covered? Do you enjoy letting all these people look at this like it was a freak show? Get them out.”

The officer started pushing the unwanted audience away until they were alone. “We have no witnesses sir; no one saw or heard anything.”

“When it comes to this guy, no one sees or hears anything,” Marcus said when the officer returned to his side, the crowd gone. He bent to look at the victims’ faces. “Who are these guys?”

“Leo and Landon, two of Julius’s crew,” Adrian interrupted as he approached the scene. Marcus noticed how he did a double take at the state of the bodies.

“Midnight Vigilante’s work at its finest. Still think this guy is a hero?” Marcus asked.

Adrian frowned. “I never said he was a hero. Just because these two idiots are criminals doesn’t mean they had to die this way. There are police officers and a legal system for a reason.”

“Well this prick didn’t think so,” Marcus said. “I want to get this man. I want to lock him up and throw the key into the ocean as soon as I get my hands on him.”

“We’ll get him. He’ll make a mistake one day, but, for now, I think we should stay low and see what his next move is going to be. Because if we wait for some eyewitness, we’ll never catch him.”

Julius Martinson didn’t drink that much, except when something work related didn’t go the way he wanted. Sometimes he lost his