Helaman 2

These vacancies never get filled without terror and blight. Helaman Jr. got the nod from the people, though voting rates were never monitored.

But Kishkumen stilled lurked. He wanted to eradicate Helaman Jr. His gang swore up and down to cover for him. There was a particular fast-talker named Gadianton, a thug with boatloads of a dark past—hits and break-ins—who took over as the number two man. He kissed up to all the other thick-necked bull-men, guaranteed them that if they installed him in the judgeship he’d pave the way for their crime-fests. Everyone said they were in. And that meant Helaman Jr.—let’s call him HJ—had to go.

Kishkumen wanted to make the first move. But one of HJ’s hired hands caught wind of the plot and suckered Kishkumen into sharing his secret, pretended to be in the know in exchange for leading Kishkumen to the judge’s chambers. On the way, he talked a lot more out of Kishkumen, lots of strategies and side deals his gang had going down, from major bets to throat-cutting rituals.

When he’d gotten enough info, the servant flipped a knife from his belt and jabbed it straight through Kishkumen’s heart like a ninja. No last words. No groan. A slick kill. He went and bragged about it to Hj, who rounded up the rest of the gang for a mass death-penalty trial.

But Gadianton took his made men out of the city through a back alley. HJ’s police came up blank. More on these goons later. By the end of this book you’ll see how Gadianton stood the whole Nephite culture on its head.