Prologue

Late October 2019

Harry sighed heavily when he heard the heavy pounding on his door. “What do they want again?” he mumbled to himself as he got out of his easy chair. He was irritated because someone had been ding-dong ditching him the last few days and it was getting worse. There was something different about this time he though as he checked his watch. “Hmm, it’s almost 10pm, that’s a little late, even for this idiot.”

The peep hole revealed a tall, skinny blonde fidgeting on the other side, so he took a moment to more closely inspect the situation. It was highly doubtful she had an hidden accomplice waiting out of sight but one could not take their safety lackadaisically. Harry flipped the deadbolt and as soon as the doorknob was turned, the door exploded inwards destroying the security chain and catching him on the chin knocking him to the floor.

The blonde stormed inside, slammed the door shut and locking it up while Harry lay on the floor trying to get his senses back. She took a piece of cloth and stuffed it in his mouth, bound his legs and dragged him into kitchen where his hands were tied to the chair behind him.

“You killed my sister” she said menacingly, “and her child, and for that you will pay. I’m going to remove this gag and if you scream, it will be your last.” The blonde yanked the cloth out of Harry’s mouth and looked at him. His senses were starting to come around and he looked her up and down wondering how such a diminutive girl had the strength to blast his door open and manhandle him so easily.

“Who is your sister?” he asked, still in a daze.

She kicked his shin hard causing him yelp in pain. “Yeah, because you’ve done this so many times you can’t remember them all? You sick bastard. Let me refresh your memory, about five years ago you t-boned a car with three people. My sister was the passenger and her daughter was in the back seat.”

The lights came on in his eyes as he recalled what he could remember of that night. “I’m sorry, it was accident, but I’ve paid my debt to society.”

“You think your fancy legal maneuvering to avoid any real punishment is paying your debt? What about my niece who will never live the life that was given to her? What about my brother in law who’s world was destroyed, and still is? Where is their justice?” Out of anger, she punched him in the nose with all her might. Harry’s nose collapsed with a squish as the force from her fist rocked his whole body into falling backwards with a loud thud. She grabbed him by the lapel and dragged him upright again.

Harry was dazed again and barely noticed her untying one of his hands. She pulled it hard enough to dislocate the shoulder and tear some tendons in the process. “There, that will keep you from fighting too hard” she said while dousing him with cold water to revive him.

Looking him in the eye, she snapped his left index finger in half which resulted in a fairly loud howl of pain which was slightly muffled by the cloth that had been stuffed back into his mouth. She hauled off and hit him again, dislodging 3 teeth in the process.

“We can do this all night, Harry. I’ve been following you for a few weeks so I know your schedule. I also know nobody will come looking for you until you’ve been missing a few days. I understand my sister never knew what hit her, but my niece wasn’t as lucky. Neither shall you.