The Guardian

and see if there isn’t some trend for child abuse or something along those lines.”
    “I think there may be a trend here and if I’m right I think our Mr. Vigilante has his sights set on certain targets. It may be a way to nab him.”
    “I’ll check it as soon as we get back; I was thinking the same thing myself.”
    Chapter 22
    Halloway was sitting at his desk when he heard a knock on his door. It was Griffin.
    “Man, you are not going to believe this, well okay, you probably will.
    “Our so called victim had just been in court yesterday on abuse charges. You’ll never guess for what. They dropped the charges. He walked out with probation and counseling, that’s it.” Griffin said a disgusted tone in her voice.
    “You’re right, I do believe it. It’s no wonder that little girl was so scared. He probably beat her because she talked the last time. You can’t blame her. She didn’t want to go through it again.”
    “And it’s also another good bet that the wife won’t say anything because of the same reason. You noticed that she had evidence of a beating too by the bruises on her face. The whole damn family can’t be that clumsy that they’re all falling down all the time. I’d go one better and say they figure the bastard got what was coming to him. They don’t want our vigilante caught.”
    “So what do you want to do from here?” Griffin asked.
    “Unless Child Services presses charges against the man or investigates and comes up with something there really isn’t anything we can do. The mother and the child say they don’t know anything.”
    “We don’t have any leads other than the fact that we presume the victims are connected by prior acts. We have no suspect and no clues. All we do have for sure is a really pissed off individual. He’s trying to make a point. The only other thing we do have is the note, the branding, and the lab guys say the wire used matches that of the first victim.
    “I think he’s done a pretty good job of making his point already don’t you think?” Griffin said shaking her head as she walked out.
    Halloway sat there, contemplating this mess. Well, this guy could talk and he damn sure was going to get some answers out of him. One way or the other.
    Chapter 23
    The Guardian went to the bedroom where the two small children were at. He took the little girl by the hand and knelt down beside her.
    “No matter how bad you want to, no matter what noises you hear, please stay in here where it’s safe, okay?”
    The two of them nodded their heads in agreement. The little girl hugged him again.
    “Don’t you worry about anything” he said and walked out of the room and closed the door.
    He went through the house as quickly as he could until he had found the stapler that the man had used on the little girl. It was a large industrial stapler. The kind used for carpeting and heavy carpentry work.
    He went back in the room where he had left the man spread eagled out on the floor. After stripping all of his clothes off him, He tied the man’s legs and arms. It was the same rope. He made sure that the ropes were good and tight he stapled him to the floor. He made sure that there was no way he could get up.
    Next, he plugged in his soldering iron, the one he used to brand their foreheads. He wanted to make sure that there was a permanent mark to let everyone know who and what this monster was.
    While he waited for the gun to heat up, he got his roll of wire. He then tied off his scrotum, and twisted a piece half way down his penis. After that, he picked up one of the boards and he proceeded to inflict the same punishment that he had given the little girl. Only he was stronger and the blows were more powerful.
    Every blow he laid he thought of the times that this piece of shit had done the same thing to that innocent little girl. He was still out so he wouldn’t realize the pain until he came too. He’d look in the mirror and see just what it looked like to be battered. He’d know what it felt like to be defenseless. He had to be careful that he didn’t beat him to death. He didn’t want to kill them. That was the easy way out. He burned the words child molester into his forehead. He slipped the note around his neck.
    After he was done, he gathered his things, double checking, making sure that there was no evidence left behind. He went into the bedroom where the two kids were cuddled together on the bed.
    “Everything’s going to be all right now. If you ever