The First Sixteen: A Vigilante Series crime thriller novella - The Prequel by Claude Bouchard Read Free Book Online Page A

system.”
    “What
are you talking about?” Brault shrieked though his
understanding showed in his eyes.
    “Do
I really need to refresh your memory?” I asked, my tone sincere but my question
mocking. “Let’s start with Andre Beaudet who you shot
in the head. Next we can move onto Gabriel Labrie who
you and Jocelyne framed to take the fall. Did you know that he also woke up
handcuffed to a bed after you knocked him out? Unfortunately for him, the cuffs
belonged to the cops and he was under arrest for first degree murder.”
    “Did
that little bastard send you here?” Brault demanded. “Is
that what this is about?”
    “Explain
something to me, shithead,” I retorted, a little annoyed. “How does your
framing him for a murder you committed
make him a little bastard?”
    “I’m
sorry,” he replied, contrite, changing tactics as he tried to hide his fear and
find a way out of this predicament. “You’re right. Both Jocelyne and I feel bad
about Gabriel but it’s just how things happened. If her husband hadn’t been
such an asshole, nobody would have got hurt.”
    “But
you killed him,” I stated, showing my exasperation. “You can’t deny that. How can
you act like everything okay with Gabriel in prison while you’re eating filet mignon
and spending most of your days on the beach in the Caribbean?”
    “Listen,” Brault pleaded. “I’m sorry about Gabriel taking the
fall for this but I can make it up to him. If he behaves inside, he can be out
in less than ten years now. He’ll still be young. I know I can convince Jocelyne
to put some money in an account for him, enough that he’ll never have to work
for the rest of his life once he gets out. What do you say? I really am sorry
about how this all turned out.”
    “What
do I say,” I rhetorically repeated his question. “I say you just openly
confessed to killing Andre Beaudet . You confirmed
everything which I suspected but didn’t know for a fact. I say you just put
yourself in a very uncomfortable position, my friend.”
    He
blanched upon hearing my words. “Who are you? Are you a cop? A lawyer? Did you
record what I was saying? I’ll just deny everything and say I was being
threatened, under duress. You attacked me and have me handcuffed to my bed, goddamn
it. You’re crazy and that little shit, Labrie , is
crazy if you think this is going to work. I’ll have you locked up when I’m done
with you.”
    I
gazed at him and shook my head, my sadness sincere. “I can’t believe how
utterly stupid some truly intelligent people can be at times. You are amongst
the dumbest smart people I’ve ever met, Pierre. I wish I could say it was nice
to know you but I can’t.”
    As
he watched me, not knowing how to respond, I pulled out my knife.

#7
- Henri Castonguay - Monday, March 4,
1996

 
    Just
ten days earlier, I had spent part of my Friday evening dealing with Maxime Leclerc, one of the three muggers who had viciously
attacked Gaston Verville in La Fontaine Park six
months earlier. Over the weekend, I had learned that Verville had committed suicide the previous Thursday, unable to overcome the depression
which had resulted from the physical and other consequences which had plagued
him following his attack.
    During
our chat, Leclerc had readily confirmed what the police, and I, had suspected,
that Gaston Verville’s two other attackers were Henri Castonguay , unofficial leader of this crew of misfits
and Nicholas Bertrand, one of his closer lackeys. I had already pencilled Castonguay into my schedule but, with Gaston’s recent
suicide weighing on me, I was driven to deal with him with extra zeal.
    A
bully since childhood, Castonguay had earned himself
a number of run-ins with the law as early as the age of ten and, unfortunately,
attaining adulthood had not changed his views of the world. He was a big man
who likely had been solidly built even at a younger age and he worked hard to
keep himself in a high muscle/low flab composition. He