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I extended my arm, and Sorin handed me the small container. I walked a circle, pouring the accelerant on the mattress, and then dousing Vargas.
He closed his eyes and then began to whimper, the sound faint yet ferocious.
“Do you know what that is?” I asked.
He mumbled in Spanish and didn’t respond.
“I asked a question, Vargas,” I said.
He shook his head.
“It’s turpentine. An amazing substance. It’ll suffocate you eventually, scar your lungs until they stop working. But it burns slow, eats away at you layer by layer. And you’ll be awake for it all. I’ll make sure of that.”
“My wife! My kids! Where are they?”
Instead of responding, I tossed a match onto the bed and watched as the sheets and then Vargas were eaten by flames.
* * *
Vasile
“You probably should kill them too,” Sorin said. “The wife and kids.”
“Probably,” I said flatly, “but I think she’s smart enough to disappear. I don’t want any more innocents to suffer unless they have to, and I don’t think she cared enough to give her life for Vargas. Besides,” I said wearily, “everyone is watching, and while I will get my vengeance, I think the others might appreciate some restraint when it comes to the women and children.”
“I think so too,” he reluctantly agreed.
And then I went quiet, my mind full to overflowing with thoughts and emotions I could barely contain.
My hands tingled with the excitement of what I was about to do. It should have disgusted me, and maybe somewhere deep inside it did. But it also filled me with the first hint of satisfaction I’d felt since I’d found Fawn on that floor, my baby’s life seeping out of her. So it may have been wrong, but I wouldn’t pretend my vengeance wasn’t something I looked forward to with racing anticipation. Something that I would savor, relish, something that would, to whatever small degree, make at least one small thing in this world right.
Sorin, seeming to sense my mood, stayed quiet during the drive.
When I parked, I turned to him. “You and the others stay here,” I said.
He looked me up and down, but I couldn’t tell what he thought and didn’t care. My mind was already inside the abandoned warehouse, my body explosive with anticipation.
“I’ll be here whenever you’re ready,” Sorin said.
I got out of the car.
THIRTY
Vasile
“Let me up, motherfuckers!” David yelled, defiant till the end.
Which was fine by me. He could yell all he wanted. It wouldn’t change anything.
I entered the building, breathing deeply, trying to calm my racing heart. I halfway wondered if when I saw him, I’d be so overcome, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from killing him instantly. I really, really hoped that wouldn’t happen.
I had plans.
Still, my hands shook with the energy that flowed through me, and with every step, my heart pounded a little harder.
And then I saw him, and everything stopped.
He hadn’t been touched, just as I had ordered, still somehow managing to look as if he owned the world. Even the fact he was bound to a chair with no hope of escape didn’t seem to bother him.
