“Two bourbons. Please,” Reuben asked, placing enough bills on the counter top to cover the price with a tip. He hesitated before putting his wallet away and decided to put more down. “That should cover more through the night.”

“Coming right up. Long day?”

“Funeral,” Reuben said simply.

“Ah, right,” the bar tender said, placing the filled glasses down. “Sorry for your loss.”

Reuben grunted his thanks and took the drinks to Effie in the booth she was sat in.

“To Lucas,” she said raising her glass before knocking it back in one go. Reuben did the same before he even sat down.

He twiddled the end of his bolo tie and looked at the empty glass. “Today was rough,” he grumbled.

“I hear ya,” Effie said.

“I can’t imagine his headspace,” Reuben admitted after some silence. “How dark it must’ve been.” Effie looked at him sympathetically, her eyes going glassy. “I’m sorry, I didn’ mean to upset yer. I forget. It’s been a long time, right.”

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Yeah, it has. I sometimes forget myself. But it was a different time and I… I wasn’t well.”

Reuben nodded and put his hand on hers. He gestured to the bar tender to get a few more drinks and the pair sat in silence again until they arrived.

“Come on, get this down. Can’t have folk thinkin’ we’ve gone soft,” he said before knocking his back in one.

A hush descended across the bar which Reuben and Effie both picked up on. They both immediately reached for their guns before they’d even identified the cause, the potential threat.

Effie looked behind Reuben towards the door to the bar and relaxed first, letting go of her gun. Reuben turned back and did the same when he saw for himself.

Two deputies from the Sheriff’s Office came in, purposefully walking towards the Rodeos. They stopped just at the end of the booth.

“Can we?” the wider of the two asked.

“Sure. Wanna snort?” Reuben said, moving round to give them space and offering them a drink.

“Obviously we’re on duty and we can’t,” the deputy declined.

The other patrons in the bar watched as they joined the infamous Rodeos and went back to minding their own businesses.

“Bit of a risk comin’ in ‘ere,” Effie said to them.

“Well we wouldn’t normally,” the wider one said. “But we have a situation…”

“Does he speak?” Reuben asked nodding at the other deputy.

“Him? He’s new. Think he’s a bit starstruck.”

“Sorry. It’s just a pleasure to meet you both. Big fans,” the rookie said, fighting a wide smile.

“But anyway,” the wide deputy said. “We have a problem. Our Sheriff has been taken hostage.”

“The fuck who wants Ross Harrell for?” Reuben asked.

“A friend of yours. Pullit. Says she wants to speak to you two, but we wanna keep it low key and not create panic, hence our pers’nal attendance here.”

Reuben scrunched his face up and rubbed across his eyes with one hand. “Fuck. Fine.” The Rodeos stood up and followed the deputies out of the booth, but Reuben stopped at the bar before going any further. “A shot, please.”

“Coming up.” The bar man quickly obliged and slid it across. Reuben knocked it back and re-joined the waiting deputies.

“Really?” the wide deputy asked.

“’S been a shit day. And it’s jus’ getting shitter.”

***

The deputies drove the pair to the abandoned dog food factory that Pullit had taken Sheriff Ross Harrell to. There was a big presence of sheriff’s office and State Trooper cars without their flashing red and blue lights on. There were just a few cars with their headlights on lighting up the dark.

“We’ve kept this from the radios and the press for now. Hoping if you go in as she asks, then we won’t have ta,” The Rodeos were told on the way.

A State Trooper greeted The Rodeos as they got out of the car. “Thanks for coming. Pullit isn’t saying much, but we know the Sheriff is still alive. Your priority is to get him out of there. Pullit seems like she has pers’nal beef with y’all. I don’t care what it is, but damnshit, just get our guy out of there.”

“Sure,” Reuben said gruffly.

“Are you full as a tick?” the Trooper asked catching Reuben’s breath.

“I’m sorry we weren’t sat around stone cold sober waiting for your call,” Reuben snapped back. Him and Effie continued on, walking together through the cordon into the factory.

It was Pullit they saw first, pointing a gun and stood waiting expectedly on the factory floor. She was a bright dash of denim amongst the blacks and browns of unused machines.

“I knew you’d come,” Pullit said, relatively calmly.

“We’re not here for you,” Effie said.

“Oh I know, but I can pretend. Place your weapons on the floor and kick them over to me.”

They reluctantly obliged. If it wasn’t for The Sheriff they were there to save, they may have chanced their luck, but they needed the good relationship with the law enforcement round here.

They were all on the same side but their methods weren’t in line with how the police worked, yet they were at least willing to sometimes turn a blind eye. If they fucked things up in here, then chances were they’d lose their ‘special privileges’.

“Where is he?” Reuben asked as Pullit picked up the two guns.

Pullit stood up and pointed up, The Rodeo’s moved their gaze accordingly. The Sheriff was bound and suspended horizontally by a chain tied around his waist, hanging over a large grinder which funnelled into a smaller point.

He was conscious and gagged.

“Release him,” Effie said directly.

“On one condition.”

Effie bit her lip. “Go on.”

“He swaps places with Reuben, while us gals have a chat.” Neither of The Rodoes looked at each other, or even moved at all in response. “Well?”

“Fine,” Reuben said agreeing. It would take more than a chain to stop him, although even he'd be no use in a fight with a large meat grinder.

Pullit started pulling on the chain to lift The Sheriff up. “Go up there and get him to tie you up like he was.”

Reuben complied and after a five minutes, Sheriff Ross had made it down to the factory floor, with Reuben now ready to be lowered over the grinder as he was.

“You can go now, thanks,” Pullit said to him. He looked at Effie to seek some sort of agreement and she nodded to let him know it was ok. Ross Harrell hurriedly left the factory floor, heading for the exit.

“Right, so what next?” Effie asked, glancing to check on Reuben. He was spinning slowly but seemed ok.

“Sit on the chair for me,” she said gesturing towards a metal chair just to their left.

“I’m alright standing, thanks?” Effie snapped. In a non-verbal response, Pullit pulled a lever which sent Reuben sharply dropping further toward the grinder below him. She pulled the lever back up which stopped the movement of the chain.

“Now do you think you can sit on the chair?” Pullit asked.

Effie looked up at Reuben, but he was busy spinning from the momentum of the drop. “What do you want?”

“You to sit on the fucking chair!” Pullit screamed.

Effie shook her head and headed for the chair. Pullit tracked Effie with her gun. “Comfy,” Effie said sarcastically as she sat on it.

Pullit walked towards her and swiped a chain up from a nearby machine top. When she got to Effie, she wrapped the chain around her and the chair she was on.

“I’m aware of your physical pro’ress. But if you think of breaking free, then he falls into the grinder, you got me?”

“What’s this all about? What do you even want?” Effie asked as Pullit gave a final tug to check the tightness of the restraints.

Pullit looked up at Reuben, ignoring Effie. “And you! I know you could very well easily break out of those chains, but think of them as symbolic. I know they’re not enough to stop you. But just know if you do break from them, I’ll still have time to inflict the harm I need on your… partner, here.” Pullit pulled another lever and turned on the meat grinder, starting them noisily turning and rotating.

“You do realise you can’t actually kill me?” Effie said.

“I don’t want to kill you.”

“Well yeah, because you can’t.”

“I just want to inflict horrendous pain to you.”

Effie considered that for a second. “Ok, well you can do that, I guess.”

Pullit walked over to a worn leather satchel and flipped it open with her foot. She bent down and pulled out a rusty pair of horse hoof clippers. “Remember these?”

Effie didn’t batter an eyelid. But she did remember them. She had used them on Pullit to extract information from her. Information she got. And despite getting what she needed from Pullit, she used them anyway.

“I knew I left those lying around somewhere,” Effie said dryly.

“Yeah, so careless of you.” Pullit walked round behind Effie and did the same gentle stroking of the clippers along her tied up hands.

Effie did her best not to flinch.

“You tied me to a chair just like you are now. You asked and you asked for information and eventually I gave it to you. I did not want my fingers to be cut off. But I gave you that information, the location you wanted for Outlaw’s factories and the moment I did, I became a target for... it. And yet you still took two fingers from me and then Cockit left me and I’m just really fuckin’ bitter about the whole thing!”

“It weren't pers'nal. I had to send you a message,” Effie said quietly. “That crime don't pay.”

“Don't pay?” Pullit mocked. “How high and mighty of you.”

“You should be thanking me. I gave you another chance at life,” Effie said smiling, not really believing that herself but enjoying toying with her captor nonetheless.

Pullit laughed out loud. “Another chance at life? You ruined my life.”

“Oh c’mon. You knew what life you got yourself into. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”

“Enough,” she said, sounding rather bored. “Look, I’m just here for revenge, not a podcast.” Pullit pulled open the arms of the clippers and pushed them together, with Effie’s index finger right in the middle.

The clippers creaked as she sliced through skin and bone. Effie screamed out in agony as the finger plopped on the dusty and dirty floor below, followed by blood that pooled on the floor from the open wound.

“Fuck!” Effie screamed in agony. She growled and seethed as her breathing became sharp and more deliberate. “Fuck you!”

Pullit laughed with enjoyment. She looked up at Reuben who remained where he was. “Good boy up there. And Effie, fuck you, bitch. Meet karma!” she yelled, bending to laugh in her face.

A silent, bright and blinding silvery, white light appeared behind Pullit. Effie squeezed her eyes shut, from the over visual stimulation and the pain from her throbbing hand.

“No, meet me. Alexan,” the voice said to Pullit, taking her completely by surprise and causing her to turn around to face the source of the voice.

Pullit slowly knelt down on one knee. Effie wished she could see her face.

From the light, stepped a human form. A woman, glowing, almost angelically.

She smiled sweetly and slowly raised a hand to Pullit’s forehead. On contact, Pullit got up and ran away. Not stopping for anything. Not looking back. She just ran off.

Alexan’s glow dimmed and she now started to look more human. Effie wasn’t used to seeing this form. She looked of Middle Eastern descent, with simple dark brown hair that flowed freely down to the middle of her back. She wore a white, flowing and loose fitting short sleeved jump suit that had a high turtle neck. Her boots were a matching white and had a modest heel to them. Over her shoulder, hung a strap holding a huge sword on her back.

Effie broke the chains binding her hands. “You shudda used that sword on her.” Effie growled examining her hand.

“You know that’s not my way. And she'll be useful later.”

“Well you could at least have turned up sooner. Save me having to go through the pain of losing my finger.”

“Well, it’s reappeared right?” Alexan asked, knowing the answer already.

“Yes,” Effie admitted in a quiet grumble. Sure enough, her amateurly amputated finger had ‘grown back’. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. See, no harm done. I knew you could handle it.” Effie shook her head in doubt. “You can come down now,” Alexan called out, turning her attention to Reuben who was still suspended over the meat grinder.

Effie walked to the lever that had earlier turned it on and pushed it up to disengage it. Reuben broke out of the chains and swung one-handed from the end of the chain to land next to Effie and Alexan.

“Hi,” he said, dusting himself down. “What do you want?”

“I trust you still want to eliminate Outlaw?” Alexan asked.

Reuben rolled his eyes. “Of course. We told you that a few months ago when you sent him on his way. Are you going to tell us how?”

“I am. It’s time.”

To be continued…