I let that hang there for a moment before I crouched down so I was eye level with both of them. I know what gyms your wives go to, what sports your kids play, who their friends are…” I tucked my phone back in my pocket and said, “I know where you live, where you eat, even where you shit. He paled, but was smart enough not to speak. I turned to the other man and did the same thing with showing him his family and sharing what I knew about them. “No, please,” he said, but he instantly snapped his mouth shut when I put my finger to my lips to indicate he should be silent.

I scrolled through the pictures of the man’s family as I spoke and I saw his eyes go wider with fear and he began shaking his head. is nine and they both attend Green Hill Academy in Long Island.” I showed him the picture on my phone and said, “Your wife’s name is Helen and you have two kids, Gia and Al Jr. “Your name is Albert Dilliano,” I said and waited until his eyes shifted to mine. I pulled my phone from my pocket and focused on the first man I’d shot. I could keep Tristan safe and not sacrifice the few scraps of morality I’d somehow managed to hang on to. I couldn’t allow my personal desire for vengeance to color how I handled this whole thing. I wanted to put bullets in both of them and end this whole thing, but despite what they’d done to Tristan, my research hadn’t proven them to be anything more than thugs with criminal records that included a few petty crimes that didn’t warrant a death sentence. At some point Cain had forced the newly fingerless man to his knees again. I forced myself to forget the events of this morning and focused my attention on the scum kneeling before me.

Vengeance by Sloane Kennedy