AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shot upright from the chair. “She was more than you’ll ever be. Nobody will remember you. You’ll disappear.”
I grabbed the Glock sitting on the table and joined Achille’s side. I aimed at Xaden’s ear and fired. He flinched as the bullet shaved his flesh. Then I raised the gun to his head.
“Next time, I won’t miss.”
Blood ran down his neck. “What the fuck!”
“You’re holdin’ out on us, and I’m tired of it.”
He struggled against his bonds. “No, I swear. I told you everything.”
“You gave me nothin’.”
His wild eyes darted around. “Let me go. I’ll do anything.”
“You took her from me,” I shouted, and Achille touched my arm. “You had no right.”
“I had nothing against her.”
My nostrils flared. “That’s supposed to make me feel better? You snuffed her out like she meant nothin’, but she was a person. You’re a piece of trash.”
“Fuck you and her,” he snarled.
Achille stepped in front of me and slugged Xaden. Tied to the chair, Xaden couldn’t block the blow. He spat blood, crying.
“I-It was a message.”
I exchanged a look with Achille. “To whom?”
Xaden shrugged. “They wanted to get back at someone.”
I aimed at him. “For what?”
“I don’t know.”
Disappointment flooded my chest. “Every one of you will pay for what y’all have done. Startin’ with you. I’m sending you to hell, tonight.”
“No, please?—”
I fired.
The bullet zipped through his brain. He sagged against his restraints, blood spilling down his forehead. I felt nothing, just a small release from the chains of grief. But this wasn’t over. More monsters lurked in the shadows.
TWENTY-FIVE
VIOLET
Achille handled the body.
He wrapped it up in the tarp and loaded it into his car. He didn’t say where he was going, and I didn’t ask. When the red glow from his taillights disappeared, I went inside and built a fire. I called my future mother-in-law, said goodnight to Jack, who jabbered about baking cookies with his grandma, and then I made a cup of tea.
I thought of the man in Achille’s trunk. Would anyone miss him? Did he have a girl at home waiting for him? Then I replayed the threats spilling from his foul mouth, and I imagined him strolling behind my sister, reaching for his gun. I saw her sprawled on the filthy road.
My hands trembled. I grabbed a pen and notepad from my purse. Then I started writing. Hours later, the rumble of Achille’s Dodge shook the ground.
The door creaked. He stepped through with a plastic bag. He draped his leather jacket on a chair. Sighing, he sank onto the couch next to me and unpacked two Styrofoam containers. He plopped one beside me. A mouthwatering scent of spices and savory seafood filled the air.
“I hope you like Chinese.”
