Ashley moans against the tape.

"Oh," Hairless says, chuckling. He plucks the tape off Ashley's mouth. Rip.

"I think so," Ashley blurts, gasping for air with a mouth ringed by red, raw skin. "I think it's real. She believes it's real."

Miriam struggles. She wants to boot him in the face. She wants to bite through her gag and scream for him to shut up, it won't matter, don't give in to these assholes. If given half a chance, she'd bite his tongue off. She'd kick him through the window. Something. Anything.

Hairless continues with his questioning.

"Now, my product. My case. My drugs." He pauses, takes a deep breath. "Where are they? What have you done with that which is mine?"

Ashley spills like a drink.

And when he does, Miriam's heart goes cold.

"It's in the truck," Ashley says. "The trucker. Louis. I hid it in his truck."

Next to Miriam sits Louis, Ghost Louis, Xs-for-eyes Louis. He smiles, bites his lower lip like a girl about to be given a pony.

Miriam's head has been like a box full of puzzle pieces rattling. Now the pieces fall into place.

Miriam feels warmth on her cheeks. She realizes she's crying.

Hairless lets out a breath.

"That was so easy," he says, smiling. "I always worry that it will be difficult. And so often, my worries bear fruit. I thank you for your cooperation."

Ashley gasps, laughs a little, nods. But then he sees. His eyes dart back and forth, and he starts to stammer – "No, no, c'mon, no. No!"

Hairless Fucker has the saw. He moves scary-fast.

This is how it happens: Hairless gets atop Ashley, his back against Ashley's chest. He drives his elbow up into Ashley's jaw, smashing it shut and closing the door on any protests Ashley might make. Hairless keeps that elbow there, like a chair under a doorknob.

With his free hand, Hairless hoists Ashley's leg so that the foot is propped up against the headrest of the driver's seat. Harriet doesn't seem to mind.

Hairless tugs back Ashley's pant-leg.

Ashley thrashes, screams, but Hairless is a fucking pro, and he rides the flailing con artist like a rodeo cowboy.

"I told you!" Ashley shrieks through his bloody mouth. The words are sloppy, bubbly, and flecks of blood spit up onto the back of Hairless's bald head. "I told you want you wanted!"

"And I told you," Hairless declares through gritted teeth, "that nature was cruel. Chimpanzees, dolphins, wolves. Red in tooth and claw! They understand revenge. This is that. This is revenge! You hobble my operation–"

Hairless presses the saw blade to the flesh of Ashley's ankle.

"So I hobble you."

Hairless begins to cut. Bearing down, elbow back.

Ashley makes a sound like Miriam's never heard before. It's a high-pitched animal sound, a mammalian dirge.

Harriet drives as jets of blood arc up over her shoulder.

Frankie blanches, turns away. "This is a rental," he says between screams.

The saw moves. It eats with metal teeth.