What Leah did over the next few minutes changed the rest of his life forever. More than once Gene nearly blacked out from the pain, and each time she slapped him hard across the face to keep him conscious.
When it was over, she dropped the severed flesh onto the plastic sheet she had spread on the floor. Gene went into profound shock. His eyes rolled back, and foam mixed with blood seeped through the tape where he had bitten his own lips.
Then Leah moved on to Victor, then Alex, and finally Baldy. She carried out the same mutilation on each of them. Bound and helpless, the men could not run, could not fight, and could not call for help. All they could do was watch and endure it.
By the time she lowered the knife for the last time, all four were in severe shock. They drifted in and out of consciousness, though the blood loss had not yet become fatal. To keep them from dying too quickly, Leah wrapped their wounds tightly with clean rags.
Then she gathered the severed parts into a metal bowl and walked outside.
The night was bitterly cold and still. High overhead, sharp stars glinted in the black winter sky.
Leah crossed to the steam pipes near the edge of the lot, where a pack of stray dogs was known to gather. There were five or six of them, living among the garages and feeding on trash. The dogs caught the scent of fresh blood at once and began edging closer.
Without expression, Leah tipped the contents of the bowl onto the packed snow.
The dogs lunged at the meat, snarling and snapping at one another. Within a minute there was nothing left but a few dark stains in the snow.
When she returned to the garage, thick with the smell of blood and sweat, Leah ripped the tape from Gene’s mouth. He gasped and tried to speak, but only broken sounds came out. She grabbed him by the hair and dragged him toward the open door so he could see the spot where the dogs had fed.
“You see that?” she said close to his ear.
