Finally, Carmine turns to face Eric, as Lizzie and I watch whatever battle needs to happen between them.
Carmine begins to pace, walking in a circle around Eric, a tactic that is already throwing Eric off his game.
“Ah, let’s see, where do I begin?” Carmine asks rhetorically, before he lays into Eric. “Stole from me. And I don’t mean just the box from the brownstone. Although we will address that in a second.”
With Carmine still circling him, Eric tilts his head to catch Carmine’s glare on him.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he says, almost convincingly.
Carmine stops his pacing and charges Eric, pinning him against the bookcase once more. “Stop playing fucking stupid. I know you are the rat. I know you stole from one of my runners. I know it was you, and then to top it off, you stole something from the brownstone.”
Grabbing Eric by the collar once more, Carmine twists his clenched fist upward, slowly cutting off his airway, causing him to cough.
“I know it was you. Admit it.” Carmine spits in his face before releasing his grip on him.
Gasping for air, Eric collapses on the floor.
“I stole the box, but you are wrong about all that other shit,” he says, trying to defend himself.
Shaking his head, Carmine grabs the gun from his side and cocks it back, aiming it at Eric. “Are you calling me a liar, Mr. Mendez?”
Wiping more of the blood that has been dripping from his nose off his mouth, Eric shrugs. “That’s exactly what I am calling you.”
My eyes widen. As soon as the words leave Eric’s lips, Carmine presses the trigger, reducing him to a lifeless lump on the floor.
Lizzie lets out a shriek as she runs to Eric’s side. The crimson that pools from his body begins to stain her coat.
She kisses the top of Eric’s head and whispers something before she rises.
“Sienna, Sienna, Sienna. That’s all you ever thought about. You never gave a fuck about anyone else but her. Well, it’s your downfall, Carmine, because when you go to jail, your girlfriend won’t be alive to miss you anymore,” she threatens.
My stomach turns with her threat, because women like Lizzie, the scorned kind, fulfill their promises and relish in their threats.
Unfazed, Carmine reloads his gun. “Oh please, you didn’t give a fuck about him. What, are you going to kill me because I offed your flavor of the week? Get the fuck over yourself, Lizzie,” he snaps.
“I know you killed your father,” she says rather plainly.
“I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about,” Carmine denies.
“I set up cameras in the warehouse. I knew it was a matter of time before you killed him for all he put you through. Too bad he didn’t rat you out to the cops.” Lizzie sneers.
“Impossible. I know it was him and Eric,” Carmine says, trying to wrap his head around this mindfuck of a conversation as much as I am.
“Oh no, that is where you are wrong, Car. It’s very fucking possible,” Lizzie says with pride.
Holy shit, the rat was Lizzie.
Piecing it all together, Carmine outstretches his arm, pointing his gun to her. “Lizzie, really? How could you?”
“How could I, Carmine? How could you? The fucking both of you. You both just live life breaking people’s hearts because you couldn’t accept that the two of you were over!” she shouts, ripe with pain. “I still have access to your computer. The second I saw you researching the island, I knew you were trying to slip away unscathed. Not this time,” Lizzie threatens.
I hear Carmine shout something as Lizzie runs at him with her gun in hand. She hits him with such force that it knocks his gun out of his grasp. He grabs for her hand that the gun is in, constricting her movement as they scuffle.
I don’t know if it was panic, adrenaline, or both that determined my next move, but the thought of losing him again was not an option I was willing to risk. I grab Carmine’s gun from the floor and carefully take off my heels so I can sneak up on them.
Lizzie breaks free from Carmine’s hold on her, and just as she is about to aim her gun at him, I creep up behind her and tap her on the shoulder.
As soon as her shiny auburn hair wafts my way, I pull the trigger without hesitation.
