"Did you regret it?"

"E-Excuse m-m-me?"

"I'm saying did you regret putting a knife in my daughter's throat, you son-of-a-bitch?"

He stood up and thrust his hand around the stranger's throat, slamming him into the wall. The other man desperately scrabbled at his fingers, but the alcohol was molten steel through his veins and his grip squeezed all the tighter.

"P-Please, I-I...I d-didn't...didn't k-know..."

Saliva flew out of his mouth as he spluttered. His face turned purple. With a sudden wrench, the policeman threw him into the ground and kicked him in the stomach. He doubled up and gasped for air.

"You didn't know? You didn't know? That's a nice joke, you son-of-a-bitch. I guess you didn't know all the way up to slashing her throat and hiding her body in the dumpster." He slammed another steel heel into his stomach. "I guess you didn't know it was her seventeenth birthday today. I guess you didn't know she had been looking for ward to meeting her daddy. You didn't know, so everything is forgiven." He laughed and kicked him again. There was the crunch of ribs. The stranger's shirt was a mess of blood, flesh, and bone splinters and all he could do was curl up and sob.

"I didn't think I'd find you," the policeman said, walking circles slowly around him. "It's been a week. What were the chances the murderer would still be sticking around? The chief was just about ready to continue the investigation into the next state. But I'm a lucky man, John. I'm a lucky man."

"I'm...I-I'm s-sorry...P-Please, l-let me...l-let m-me..."

The policeman smashed the heel of his boot into his face. His nose exploded in a fountain of blood. The policeman bent down over his broken face and started to laugh, spit flying in his face. The stench of alcohol was overpowering.

"Seven days, John. Six hours of sleep in seven days. The only thing keeping me was five packs of whiskey and the desire for revenge. And would you believe it, it is so, so sweet." He pulled a picture out of his pocket. It was a picture of a young girl standing with flaming red hair. Her almond-colored eyes crinkled with her smile. The policeman pushed the picture into the stranger's face. It came away smeared with blood.

"Take a good look at the girl you killed. It will be the last thing you ever see."

There was the sliding of metal against metal and an audible sharpness that vibrated in the air. The stranger's breath caught in his throat and his words came out faster than ever.

"No, no, nonono, please no, I promise, sorry, really sorry, no, no - "

"I managed to swipe this from the evidence chest. Poetic, don't you think? The killer's weapon used against him. God knows you deserve a far worse death."

"Please please please, no - "

There was the sound of metal ripping flesh and a scream through the night air. Then all was silent save for the sound of rain.