Reluctant Berserker: Isaacson Trilogy Book One

Chapter 27

Hornsby spun around with a shriek, and his beady eyes narrowed further as he said, "You'll go straight to hell, sneaking up on me like that, Vernon Isaacson. I'm a man of the cloth."

Vernon chuckled, "I highly doubt it."

Gunnar retrieved a bottle of tonic and then stepped from the shadows while Vernon advanced further into the room and asked. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Mrs. Foley's corpse in the cellar, would you?"

Blood drained from Hornsby's face, "C-corpse...?" He licked his lips and took a step back. "I'm afraid not."

Vernon shook his head and sighed, "Reverend...do you know where liars go?"

Hornsby flinched. "I'm telling the truth." He searched the area around him with wild eyes, "In my experience, guilty consciences often lead themselves to their tragic end."

"I could almost agree with you...but I don't believe a word that's come out of your mouth."

Hornsby straightened with an outraged cry; his shoulders curled forward as fury blazed in his eyes, and his lips pulled back in a snarl, revealing yellowed teeth. "I've had enough of your threats and accusations. Why have you come here?"

"I could ask the same of you because, as far as I can see, you're trespassing." Vernon glanced at the crate, "And judging by that crate covered in blood and poor Mrs. Foley's corpse we found this morning, I believe I wouldn't be off-the-cuff arresting you for murder as well."

Gunnar took three more steps, close enough to see a flicker of emotion in Hornsby's eyes a second before he swung at Vernon, grunting, "Then, by all means, arrest me."

His strike went wild, the momentum spinning him around as Vernon rammed a meaty fist into Hornsby's face, breaking his nose with one solid punch.

Hornsby fell against the counter, groaning and reaching up a claw-like hand to cup his nose.

Vernon advanced. "Did you murder her?"

"I answer to no one."

"That isn't what you preach in Sunday school, is it?"

Instead of answering him, Hornsby grabbed a shovel from a barrel to his right and swung, missing Vernon's head. He swung again with a shout.

Vernon tore the shovel from Hornsby's grasp, tossed it aside, and delivered a powerful punch. "Are you responsible for murdering Mrs. Foley?"

Hornsby struggled to stay upright as blood poured down his face from his split cheek. Vernon grabbed him by the back of his head and smashed his face against the counter, "Do not test me, worm. I could crush your skull between my bare hands without berserkering."

Blood spewed from Hornsby's mouth, dripping onto the counter with each gasping breath. He grimaced and swallowed before hissing, "Then why don't you?"

Vernon picked him up and threw him across the room as Hornsby let out a strangled scream. His lean body crashed into the stocked shelves with tremendous force, destroying everything it contacted before falling to the floor. Vernon nodded to Gunnar, and they strode down either side of the broken isle to where Hornsby lay twitching and moaning pitifully.

"No," he moaned. "It wasn't me...Foley was responsible."

"Are you saying she killed herself?" Vernon asked, crouching next to him. He pulled a shard of wood from Hornsby's shoulder, tearing a guttural scream from him in the process. "I don't believe you."

Seven long seconds later, Hornsby clamped his mouth shut and tried to glare at Vernon in defiance.

"This is becoming rather tedious." Vernon stared at him for several seconds and then said, "I'll ask you one more time, and you'd better tell me the truth." He shoved his left thumb into the shoulder wound, causing Hornsby to wail in pain. "Did you kill Mrs. Foley?"