The Deadbeats

 

Chapter 1: The Debt

The poker chips made a satisfying click as Tommy Johnson stacked them in neat towers, red on black on white. Across the felt table in his garage, the Benson brothers sat slumped in their chairs like deflated balloons. Ryan's cowboy hat sat pushed back on his head, sweat beading on his forehead despite the evening breeze. Jesse had long since stubbed out his cigarette, the ashtray overflowing with the remnants of a very bad night.

"So let me get this straight," Tommy said, his voice carrying the false friendliness of someone holding all the cards. "You boys are into us for what now? Remind me."

Marcus Webb shuffled the deck with practiced hands, the cards whispering against each other. "Seven hundred and fifty thousand." He said it like he was ordering coffee. "Give or take."

Ryan's laugh came out as more of a choke. "Give or take? Man, that's my daddy's ranch you're talking about."

"Should've thought about that before you went all-in on that garbage hand last month," said Jake Morrison, the youngest of the four at twenty-one, but already carrying himself like a man who'd learned to smell weakness.

The garage felt smaller now than it had six months ago when this was still friendly. When they were all just high school buddies getting together twice a week to play cards and drink beer. Before the stakes started climbing. Before friendly became serious, and serious became desperate.

"Look," Jesse finally spoke up, pulling the cigarette pack from his shirt pocket with shaking hands. "We just need more time. The ranch has been good to us this year. Cattle prices are—"

"Time?" Danny Morrison - Jake's older brother by eleven months - leaned back in his chair until it creaked. "Boys, we've been patient. Real patient. But our patience just ran out."

Tommy's smile never wavered, but something cold flickered behind his eyes. "See, we got our own debts to consider. And the people we owe? They ain't as understanding as we've been."

The Benson brothers exchanged a look. In that moment, twenty-three years of being brothers, of growing up together, of knowing each other's thoughts, passed between them in silence.

"What are you saying, Tommy?" Ryan asked, though he already knew.

"I'm saying we need our money. All of it. By Monday."

"Monday?" Jesse's new cigarette dropped from his lips. "Tommy, that's impossible. You know that's impossible."

The four friends - former friends - looked at each other around the table. Something unspoken passed between them, a decision that would change everything.

"Then we're gonna have to get creative," Tommy said softly. "Real creative."

Chapter 2: The Grab

Thursday, July 3rd, 6:47 AM

Ryan and Jesse Benson were loading feed bags into the back of Jesse's blue Ford F-150 when they heard the second truck coming up the gravel drive. Both brothers looked up from their work, sweat already beading on their foreheads in the early morning heat.

Tommy Johnson's black Chevy pulled to a stop twenty feet away, dust settling around it like a threat. All four doors opened at once - Tommy and Marcus Webb from the front, Jake and Danny Morrison from the back. They moved with the coordinated precision of men who'd rehearsed this moment.

"Morning, boys," Tommy called out, his voice carrying that same false friendliness from the night before. "Beautiful day for a drive, ain't it?"

Ryan straightened up, a fifty-pound feed bag still in his hands. "What do you want, Tommy?"

"Same thing we wanted last night. Our money." Tommy rolled up his sleeves methodically, like a man getting ready for dirty work. "But since you boys can't seem to come up with it, we're gonna have to change the rules."

Jesse dropped his feed bag. "Now hold on—"

"No more holding on," Marcus said, rolling up his own sleeves. "Time's up."

The Morrison brothers flanked them from both sides. Jake pulled out coils of coarse hemp rope, the kind used for hay bales, rough enough to leave burns. Danny had more rope draped over his shoulder, plus a roll of duct tape.

Ryan swung the feed bag at Jake's head, but Marcus tackled him before it connected. Both brothers went down hard, Jesse crying out as Danny slammed him face-first into the truck bed.

"Easy now," Tommy said, stepping over them. "Don't make this worse than it has to be."

They forced both brothers face-down in the dirt. Jake straddled Ryan's back while Danny did the same to Jesse. The rope work began methodically, professionally.

First the wrists, pulled tight behind their backs with the coarse hemp biting into skin. Then the forearms, bound tightly together with no gap between them. The rope climbed higher - elbows cinched just above the joint, forcing their shoulder blades to pinch painfully. Finally the biceps, each binding spaced perfectly, creating anchor points that would hold their full body weight.

"Jesus, Tommy," Jesse gasped as the rope cut into his arms. "This is crazy. You know our families, man. You know—"

"What's crazy is thinking you could walk away from three-quarters of a million dollars," Tommy replied, testing the knots.

"Tommy, please," Ryan started, "we can work something out—"

Before either brother could say another word, Danny grabbed the duct tape. He pressed a long strip across Jesse's mouth, then began wrapping it around his head. Jesse shook his head frantically, trying to protest, but Danny held him steady.

"Hold still," Danny muttered, wrapping the tape around and around - across the mouth, around the back of the head, over the mouth again. Six rotations, each one sealing Jesse's voice tighter.

"No, wait—" Ryan started to plead, but Jake was already on him with the tape. Ryan tried to turn his head away, but Jake grabbed his hair and held him steady. Around and around the tape went, each wrap muffling Ryan's protests more completely until only desperate sounds came through his nose.

"Roll 'em over," Tommy ordered.

They hauled both brothers upright, arms trussed behind them like prize turkeys. The rope had already begun its work - circulation slowing, fingers starting to tingle. Both brothers tried to speak through the multiple layers of tape, but only muffled grunts emerged.

Tommy just shook his head. "Save your breath, boys. You're gonna need it."

They threw both brothers into the back of Jesse's own truck, then Jake and Danny climbed in after them. While Tommy started the engine, the Morrison brothers went to work on their boots, binding their ankles together with the same coarse rope.

"Can't have y'all trying to jump out," Jake explained, cinching the rope tight around their boot tops.

The truck lurched forward, gravel pinging against the undercarriage. The bed was like a furnace, the Texas sun already climbing toward its noon fury.

The three-hour journey was agony. Every bump and pothole sent fresh fire through their bound arms. The coarse hemp rope cut deeper with each jolt, their circulation slowly dying. Both brothers could only breathe through their noses, the multiple layers of duct tape making every breath a conscious effort.

By the second hour, both brothers' hands were completely numb, their shoulders on fire. Ryan passed out once from the pain, coming to when they hit a cattle guard that slammed his bound arms against the truck bed.

When they finally stopped, Ryan could barely feel anything below his shoulders. The abandoned grain elevator rose before them like a concrete tomb, surrounded by dead fields and silence.

"Welcome to your new home, boys," Tommy said as they dragged the brothers from the truck. The rope bindings had done their work perfectly - each brother could be lifted by his bound arms without the rope shifting or loosening.

They threw both brothers into the concrete building. In the sudden darkness, Ryan could hear Jesse's labored breathing through his nose, both of them fighting to get enough air through the oppressive heat and layers of tape.

Outside, Tommy was already dialing his phone.

"Mr. Benson? This is Tommy Johnson. I got something that belongs to you."

Chapter 3: Holiday Desperation

Thursday, July 3rd, 11:23 AM

Harold Benson stared at the phone in his hand like it was a rattlesnake. The voice on the other end had been calm, polite even, but the words still echoed in his skull: I got something that belongs to you.

Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. By Monday.

His boys. His only boys.

Harold's hands shook as he scrolled through his contacts, looking for his banker's number. Jim Patterson had handled the ranch's finances for fifteen years. If anyone could make this work, it would be Jim.

The phone rang four times before going to voicemail. "You've reached First National Bank. Our offices are closed Thursday and Friday for the Independence Day holiday and will reopen Monday morning at nine AM. If this is an emergency—"

Harold hung up and tried Jim's cell phone. Straight to voicemail.

Holiday weekend. The words hit him like a physical blow. Of course. July 4th fell on Saturday this year, so banks were taking Thursday and Friday off too. A four-day weekend while his sons were...

His phone buzzed. A text message from an unknown number.

So you know we're serious.

Below the text was a photo that made Harold's knees buckle.

Ryan and Jesse, suspended in what looked like an abandoned building. They hung from ropes tied between their biceps, their toes barely touching the concrete floor. Additional ropes around their wrists and across their guts kept their arms from being torn from their bodies, but their shoulders were twisted at unnatural angles. Their faces were streaked with sweat and dirt, their eyes wide with fear above the silver duct tape wrapped around their heads. Jesse had a dark bruise spreading across his cheek from the initial struggle.

Harold had to grab the kitchen counter to keep from falling.

The phone rang immediately.

"Did you get our message, Mr. Benson?"

"You sons of bitches," Harold whispered, staring at the photo. "You goddamn sons of bitches."

"Now, now. That's no way to talk about your boys' business partners." Tommy's voice carried that same false friendliness. "How's that money situation coming along?"

"Tommy, listen to me." Harold forced his voice to stay steady. "The banks are closed for the holiday. I can't get that kind of money until Monday at the earliest. You know that. You planned this."

A pause. "Well now, that is unfortunate timing, isn't it?"

"Just give me until Tuesday. I can get your money, I swear to God I can get it, but I need the banks to be open."

"See, here's the problem, Mr. Benson. My associates and I, we got our own timeline to consider. And frankly, we're starting to question whether you're taking this situation seriously."

"I am taking it seriously! That's my boys you've got!"

"Then you better start getting creative with this money problem. Because if we don't see some progress real soon, we're gonna have to start motivating you."

The line went dead.

Harold stared at the photo on his phone, his heart hammering against his ribs. His boys, hanging helpless, suspended like deer in a slaughterhouse. Get creative. What did that mean? Rob a bank? Sell the ranch to some cash buyer in three days over a holiday weekend?

He walked to the kitchen window and looked out at the land his grandfather had homesteaded in 1923. Five thousand acres of prime Texas rangeland, worth easily two million on the open market. But getting $750,000 in cash over a holiday weekend was still nearly impossible.

Harold's stomach turned as he scrolled further down in his contacts, past names he called regularly, past business associates and neighbors, down to a number he hadn't dialed in twenty years.

William Benson - Brother.

His finger hovered over the call button. Twenty years of silence. Twenty years of stubborn pride on both sides. Harold couldn't even remember what had started the feud anymore - something about their father's will, about who got what, about words said in anger that couldn't be taken back.

But William had done well for himself. Real well. Oil and gas investments, some kind of tech company buyout. The kind of money that could solve this problem.

If he would even take the call.

Harold closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pressed his brother's number.

It rang once. Twice. Three times.

"Hello?"

The voice was older, weathered by two decades, but still familiar.

"William?" Harold's voice cracked. "It's Harold. I... I need help."

Chapter 4: Blood and Reconciliation

Thursday, July 3rd, 2:15 PM

"Harold?" The voice carried twenty years of distance, but underneath it, William could hear something that made his chest tighten. Fear. Raw, desperate fear. "Harold, is that really you?"

"It's me." Harold's voice cracked. "William, I... God, I don't even know how to start this."

Silence stretched between them, filled with two decades of stubborn pride and words that couldn't be taken back. William Benson sat in his Houston office, staring out at the skyline, trying to process hearing his brother's voice for the first time since their father's funeral.

"What's wrong?" William asked, because something was clearly, terribly wrong.

"It's Ryan and Jesse." Harold's voice broke completely. "They've been taken. Kidnapped. And the people who have them... they want three-quarters of a million dollars by Monday or they're going to..." He couldn't finish the sentence.

William's blood turned to ice. Ryan and Jesse. His nephews. The boys who had worked for him every summer when they were teenagers, even though he and Harold weren't speaking. It had been the only connection left between the brothers - those boys driving down to Houston to work the oil fields, learning the business, bridging a gap that pride had made too wide for their fathers to cross.

"Who has them?"

"Local boys. Kids they went to school with. There was gambling, bad debts, and now..." Harold's voice dissolved into something that might have been a sob. "William, I can't get that kind of money over a holiday weekend. The banks are closed. I've got the ranch, but I can't liquidate it in three days."

William was already reaching for his laptop, pulling up account balances, calculating what he could access immediately. "How much do you need?"

"Seven hundred and fifty thousand. But William, I can't ask you to—"

"Those boys are my blood," William said quietly. "Whatever happened between us, whatever stupid shit we said twenty years ago, those boys are my blood. When do you need it?"

"Monday. But William, they're torturing them. Right now. While we're talking, they're—"

William's phone was already buzzing with an incoming call. He glanced at the number. "Harold, I'm getting another call. Don't hang up. Can you conference this in?"

"I... yes, hold on."

The line clicked, and suddenly there was another voice. Young, cocky, dangerous.

"Mr. Benson? This is Tommy Johnson again. Just wanted to give you a little update on your boys."

In the background, William heard something that made his hands clench into fists. Muffled screaming. The sound of something electrical crackling. More screaming.

"Stop," Harold whispered. "Please, just stop."

"We're getting a little impatient here, Mr. Benson. It's been three hours and we haven't seen any progress on our money."

"The banks are closed," Harold said desperately. "You know the banks are closed."

"Then you better get creative. Because every hour you make us wait, your boys are gonna pay for it."

William cleared his throat. "This is William Benson. Harold's brother."

A pause. "Well now. Family reunion, is it?"

"You want seven hundred and fifty thousand? I can have it for you in twelve hours."

"Twelve hours?" Tommy's voice carried new interest. "That's a lot of cash to move that fast."

"I've got liquid assets and private banking relationships. Twelve hours, and you get your money."

More electrical crackling. More muffled agony.

"Eight hours," William said, his voice hard as steel. "I can have the full amount in eight hours. Cash. But if you hurt those boys any more than you already have, if you leave so much as another bruise on them, the deal is off and you can explain to your families why the FBI is kicking down their doors."

"FBI?" Tommy laughed, but it sounded forced. "This is a local matter."

"Kidnapping across state lines becomes federal real quick, son. And I've got friends in Houston who'd be real interested in this conversation I'm recording."

The line went quiet except for harsh breathing.

"Eight hours," Tommy said finally. "But if you're lying, if this is some kind of game, your nephews are gonna pay for it in ways that'll give you nightmares."

The line went dead.

Harold and William sat in silence for a long moment.

"You're recording this?" Harold asked.

"I am now." William was already typing, setting up the recording software, making calls to his security team. "Harold, those boys... they never stopped coming to work for me. Even when we weren't talking. Even when they had to choose between their father and their uncle, they found a way to keep both."

"They did," Harold said quietly. "They'd drive down every summer, work your rigs, learn your business. And they'd come home and tell me stories about Uncle William. They were the only thing that kept..." His voice trailed off.

"The only thing that kept us connected," William finished. "Those boys were smarter than their fathers. They didn't let our stupidity poison their love."

William felt something break apart in his chest. Twenty years. Twenty years of seeing his nephews grow into men while their fathers stayed locked in silent pride.

"We're going to get them back," William said. "Both of them. Alive and whole."

"Eight hours," Harold said. "Can you really do it that fast?"

"I've got cryptocurrency, bearer bonds, and a private bank that handles transactions the government pretends don't exist." William was already calling his banker's emergency line. "The problem isn't the money anymore. The problem is making sure those boys survive the next eight hours."

"Their cousins," Harold said. "I'm calling their cousins right now. This Tommy Johnson, his whole crew, they all went to school together. Small town. Everyone knows everyone."

"Good. Get the cousins involved. I'm driving up there tonight."

"William, you don't have to—"

"Harold." William's voice was gentle but firm. "Those boys kept us connected when we were too proud to do it ourselves. They're family. And we don't leave family behind."

For the first time in twenty years, Harold Benson smiled through his tears.

"No," he said. "We don't."

Chapter 5: The Wait

Thursday, July 3rd, 8:45 PM

The electric burns on Ryan's chest throbbed in rhythm with his heartbeat. Red welts marked where the cattle prod had touched his salt-water soaked skin, each one a reminder of the agony that had lasted... how long? Hours? Minutes? Time had become meaningless in this concrete hell.

They hung side by side in the abandoned grain elevator, their shirts ripped open and hanging in tatters from their rolled-up sleeves that bunched above the rope bindings on their biceps. Sweat and salt water had dried on their bare chests, leaving crusty white residue around the angry burn marks. The coarse hemp rope had cut deeper into their flesh with each convulsion, their shoulders twisted into positions that made every breath a conscious effort.

Jesse's head lolled forward, unconscious. He'd passed out during the last round of shocks, his body finally surrendering to the pain. Ryan envied him. At least unconscious, Jesse couldn't feel the fire shooting through his shoulders or the way his circulation had been cut off so long that his arms felt like dead weight behind him.

The kidnappers had left maybe an hour ago. Tommy had gotten another phone call and walked out grinning, Marcus and Danny following. Something about the money being ready. Ryan had tried to listen through the haze of pain, but the words felt distant and unreal.

Dad's paying them, Ryan thought, the idea floating through his mind like a fever dream. This nightmare is almost over.

But what if it wasn't? What if they took the money and left them here to die anyway? These weren't the same guys he'd grown up with. Something had broken in Tommy and his crew. Something dark that enjoyed watching old friends suffer.

A fly buzzed around the welts on his chest. Ryan couldn't move to shoo it away. Could only hang there as it landed on an electric burn, its tiny legs tickling the damaged skin. Such a small thing, but it felt like torture.

His mouth was desert-dry behind the layers of duct tape. When was the last time he'd had water? This morning? Yesterday? The tape had absorbed some of his sweat, turning sticky and foul-tasting against his lips. He could feel his tongue starting to swell.

Jesse stirred, a soft groan escaping through his nose as consciousness returned. His eyes opened slowly, unfocused and clouded with pain. It took him several seconds to remember where he was, and when reality hit, fresh tears started flowing.

We're still alive, Ryan tried to communicate with his eyes. That's something. As long as we're alive, there's hope.

But Jesse's expression had changed. The fight had gone out of him. His eyes held the hollow look of someone who'd given up. The electric shocks had done more than burn his skin - they'd broken something inside him.

Ryan's shoulders spasmed, sending fresh fire down his spine. The rope bindings didn't give an inch. Every muscle in his back was cramping from the unnatural position, but there was no relief. No way to shift his weight or ease the pressure.

How long had they been hanging here? The light coming through the dirty window had changed from afternoon gold to evening amber. Soon it would be dark. Their first night in this place.

Dad will get us out, Ryan told himself. He's probably on his way right now with the money.

But a darker thought crept in: What if he can't raise that much cash? What if the banks really are closed and there's no way to get seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars?

Ryan pushed the thought away. His father was smart. Resourceful. He'd find a way. He had to.

Jesse made a sound - not quite a moan, not quite a sob. His breathing was getting shallow again, the panic returning. Being conscious meant feeling everything: the rope cutting into his arms, the electric burns throbbing on his chest, the overwhelming thirst.

Stay with me, Ryan willed his brother. Don't go back to that dark place. Fight.

But fighting took energy they didn't have. Fighting took hope that was fading with each hour they hung here like slaughtered cattle.

The sound of a truck engine in the distance made both brothers' heads snap up. Ryan's heart hammered against his ribs. Were the kidnappers coming back? Or was it rescue?

The engine faded into the distance without stopping.

False alarm.

Jesse's head dropped forward again, and Ryan could see his brother retreating back into himself. Into that hollow place where the pain couldn't reach him.

Ryan couldn't let that happen. If Jesse gave up completely, he might not have the will to survive even if rescue came.

So Ryan did the only thing he could. He started humming through the gag - an old song their mother used to sing when they were kids. The melody was barely audible through the tape, but Jesse heard it. His eyes found Ryan's, and for just a moment, something flickered there. A memory. A connection.

The tune their mom sang when one of them had nightmares. When the world felt too scary and dark.

Jesse tried to hum along, their voices mixing into something that almost sounded like hope.

They hung there in the gathering darkness, two brothers humming their mother's lullaby, refusing to let the pain win.

Not yet.

Not while they still had each other.

Chapter 6: The Hunt

Friday, July 4th, 2:30 AM

William Benson stared at his phone, willing it to ring. The money transfer had gone through six hours ago - $750,000 wired to an account that would probably be emptied and closed within minutes. William had made good on his promise, moving money faster than he thought possible.

But there had been no word about where to find Ryan and Jesse.

"They're not answering," William said, hitting redial for the twentieth time. Straight to voicemail. Tommy Johnson's phone was either turned off or destroyed.

Harold paced the kitchen like a caged animal. "They got their money. Why haven't they told us where the boys are?"

William's stomach dropped as the horrible truth hit him. "What if they never planned to let them go? What if they took the money and..."

His phone rang. Mike, Harold's son.

"Uncle William? We found something. You and Dad need to get down to Jeb's Auto Shop right now."

"What kind of something?"

"Jesse's truck. It's here. And Jeb's got some things to tell you."

Ten minutes later, William and Harold stood in the fluorescent-lit garage bay, staring at Jesse's blue F-150. The truck looked normal except for dark stains in the bed and scratches on the tailgate.

Jeb Patterson, the shop owner, wiped his hands on a greasy rag. "Tommy Johnson brought it in around midnight. Said Jesse asked him to get the transmission looked at. Paid cash and told me not to call the Bensons about it."

"Midnight?" Harold's voice was sharp. "They brought it here at midnight?"

"Yeah. Seemed real nervous about it too. And get this - the truck reeked of gasoline. Like they'd been siphoning fuel or something."

Mike stepped forward. "Uncle William, we've been thinking. If they were moving the boys somewhere far enough that they needed extra gas..."

"The old grain elevator," Harold breathed. "It's forty miles out on County Road 47. They'd need a full tank plus extra to make the round trip."

"And Tommy knows that place," Mike added. "We used to party there in high school. It's been abandoned for years."

William was already heading for his truck. "How long to get there?"

"Thirty minutes if we push it," Harold said, climbing into the passenger seat.

Mike and his cousins followed in their own vehicles, a convoy of pickups racing through the pre-dawn darkness. Nobody spoke about what they might find after twenty hours. Nobody wanted to voice the possibility that they were already too late.

The grain elevator appeared in their headlights like a concrete tombstone against the starless sky. Jesse's truck was nowhere to be seen - Tommy must have moved it after dumping the brothers here.

William was out of the truck before it stopped rolling. The door to the elevator stood open, darkness yawning beyond it.

"Ryan! Jesse!" William's voice echoed in the empty space.

Harold found them first. Two shapes hanging in the shadows, motionless as slaughtered cattle.

"Oh God," Harold whispered. "Oh Jesus God."

They hung from ropes tied around their biceps, their feet barely touching the concrete floor. Additional ropes around their wrists and across their stomachs had kept their arms from being completely torn from their bodies, but their shoulders were twisted at impossible angles. Their shirts hung in tatters from their rolled sleeves, their bare chests marked with angry red welts and electric burns.

Both brothers were unconscious, their heads hanging forward against the duct tape wrapped around their faces.

"Are they breathing?" William's voice cracked as he fumbled for his phone's flashlight.

Harold pressed his ear to Ryan's chest. A heartbeat. Faint, but there. "Ryan's alive. Check Jesse."

William did the same for his younger son. "Jesse too. But barely."

Harold was already cutting rope with his pocket knife, supporting Ryan's weight as the bindings fell away. Ryan's arms flopped uselessly - no feeling, no circulation after twenty hours of suspension.

"Easy, son," William murmured as Ryan's eyes fluttered open. "We got you. You're safe."

William freed Jesse, who came to screaming through the gag as circulation returned to his arms like liquid fire. Both brothers were delirious with pain and dehydration, but they were alive.

In the distance, sirens wailed. Mike had called the sheriff, who was rushing toward a scene that would haunt them all.

But the four kidnappers were long gone, vanished into the night with their blood money, leaving behind only the broken bodies of two young men who had trusted the wrong people with their lives.

As the ambulance arrived and paramedics took over, William and Harold stood side by side, watching the boys being loaded onto stretchers.

"We found them," William said quietly.

"Yeah," Harold replied. "But those sons of bitches are still out there."

Mike stepped up beside them, his face grim. "Not for long, Uncle William. We know where they live. We know their families. And after what they did to Ryan and Jesse..."

He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.

The hunt was just beginning.

Chapter 7: Tables Turned

Friday, July 4th, 11:45 AM

The Morrison brothers made their first mistake at the Sonic drive-in on Highway 6, twenty miles outside town. Danny ordered two cheeseburgers and a large Coke like he didn't have a care in the world, while Jake sat in the passenger seat of their dad's old Dodge pickup, counting hundred-dollar bills.

They never saw Mike Benson's truck parked across the street, or noticed him talking quietly into his phone.

"Uncle William? Yeah, I got 'em. Sonic on Highway 6. Danny and Jake Morrison, sitting pretty as you please."

William's voice was cold as winter steel. "Don't let them see you. Are they alone?"

"Yeah. And Uncle William? They're flashing cash around like they just won the lottery."

"Stay back. We're fifteen minutes out."

Mike had been tracking the four kidnappers since dawn, him and his cousins splitting up to cover the likely escape routes. It hadn't been hard - in a town this small, four guys with sudden wealth stick out like sore thumbs.

Tommy Johnson had already been spotted buying a bus ticket to Austin. Marcus Webb was holed up at his girlfriend's place, probably counting his share of the blood money. And now the Morrison brothers were celebrating with fast food.

They had no idea the net was closing around them.

William's voice crackled over the radio again. "Mike, your dad and I are coming up on the Sonic now. You see anyone else around?"

Mike scanned the parking lot. Just families out for Fourth of July lunch, kids playing in the playground while their parents ate in their cars. "Looks clear. They're still in the truck, though."

"Good. Block the exit."

Mike pulled his truck around to the back of the parking lot, casually cutting off the rear exit. Two more trucks appeared - his cousins Jeff and Brad, taking positions at the front entrances. Then William's black Chevy rolled up slowly, Harold riding shotgun.

The Morrison brothers were trapped, and they didn't even know it yet.

William walked up to their truck like he was approaching old friends at a church social. Danny looked up from his cheeseburger with a mouthful of food, his eyes going wide when he recognized the man whose sons he'd tortured twelve hours earlier.

"Morning, boys," William said pleasantly. "Beautiful day for a drive, ain't it?"

Jake reached for the ignition, but Harold was already at the passenger door, his hand resting on the door handle.

"Now don't go being rude," Harold said. "We just want to have a little chat."

Danny swallowed hard, literally and figuratively. "Mr. Benson, we can explain—"

"I'm sure you can." William's voice never changed tone, but something cold flickered in his eyes. "Step out of the truck, boys. Slow and easy."

The Morrison brothers looked around the parking lot, finally noticing they were surrounded. Mike and his cousins had moved closer, forming a loose circle around the truck.

"This is kidnapping," Jake said, but his voice cracked.

"Is it?" William asked mildly. "Funny. I thought kidnapping was when you tied someone up and held them for ransom. When you tortured them with electric prods. When you left them hanging to die after you got your money."

Danny started to shake. "We didn't mean for it to go that far. It was just supposed to be about the money."

"Get out of the truck," Harold repeated, and this time there was no mistaking the threat in his voice.

The brothers climbed out slowly, hands visible, looking like condemned men walking to the gallows.

"Where are Tommy and Marcus?" William asked.

"I don't know," Danny lied. "We split up after—"

The lie died on his lips when Mike stepped forward. "Tommy bought a bus ticket to Austin. One-way. Leaves at three o'clock."

"And Marcus is at Sally Jenkins' place," added cousin Jeff. "Bragging about how much money he's got."

William nodded. "Good. You boys saved us some time." He looked at the Morrison brothers. "Now here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna get in my truck, real quiet-like, and we're gonna take a little drive."

"Where?" Jake whispered.

William smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant expression. "Same place you took my boys. Seems only fair."

Twenty minutes later, the Morrison brothers stood inside the abandoned grain elevator, their hands zip-tied behind their backs, duct tape over their mouths. The rope that had held Ryan and Jesse still hung from the rafters, cut loose but not removed.

"You boys recognize this place?" Harold asked conversationally. "You should. You spent a lot of time here yesterday."

Danny's eyes were wide with terror as he stared at the ropes, at the dark stains on the concrete floor where his victims had bled.

William walked over to the battery and jumper cables, still sitting where the kidnappers had left them. "You know, it's funny. Yesterday, you were real confident about how much pain you could dish out. Let's see how good you are at taking it."

Both brothers tried to scream through their gags, shaking their heads frantically.

"Now hold on," William said, raising his hand. "I'm not gonna torture you. That would make me no better than you." He paused. "But my boys... they got something to say to you."

The door opened, and Ryan and Jesse Benson walked in. They moved carefully, their arms still weak from twenty hours of suspension, bandages visible under their shirts. But they were walking. They were alive.

And they were angry.

Ryan looked at the Morrison brothers for a long moment, then walked up to Danny and hit him in the stomach. Not hard enough to do permanent damage, but hard enough to double him over.

Jesse did the same to Jake.

"That's for the electric prods," Ryan said quietly.

Then they hit them again.

"That's for leaving us to die."

The brothers worked methodically, taking turns, landing solid punches to the kidnappers' guts while their victims gasped and wheezed through the gags.

"That's enough," William said after maybe two minutes. "They get the point."

Ryan and Jesse stepped back, breathing hard but looking satisfied.

In the distance, sirens wailed. Sheriff Morrison and his deputies, coming to arrest the men who had terrorized the county.

"You hear that?" Harold asked the bound men. "That's justice coming for you."

The Morrison brothers were crying now, tears streaming down their faces as they realized their lives were effectively over.

When Sheriff Morrison walked into that grain elevator and saw his own sons tied up and gagged, he aged ten years in ten seconds.

"Jesus Christ," he whispered. "What did you boys do?"

William handed him a cell phone with the recorded conversations. "Everything you need to convict them is on there. Kidnapping, torture, extortion. Federal charges."

The sheriff looked at his sons - really looked at them - and saw strangers. Boys he'd raised and loved who had become monsters while he wasn't paying attention.

"I'm sorry," he said to William. "I'm so goddamn sorry."

"I know you are," William replied. "But sorry doesn't undo what they did."

As the deputies read the Morrison brothers their rights, Harold pulled out his phone and made two more calls.

"Tommy Johnson's bus just pulled into Austin," he told William. "State police are waiting for him."

"And Marcus?"

"In custody. Turns out flashing hundred-dollar bills and bragging about kidnapping makes you real easy to find."

William nodded, watching his sons lean against each other for support. They were alive. They were home. And the men who had hurt them would never hurt anyone else.

Justice, small-town style.

Sometimes it was the only kind that worked.