“My point exactly,” I tell her. “I’m going out for a bit. I’ll have Paz stay here with you. If the cops come, let Paz talk to them. You don’t tell them shit.”
“Where are you going?” she asks.
“I have an errand to run.” I lean in and kiss her cheek. “I won’t be long.”
Evie frowns. “Okay.”
Paz knocks on the front door. When I open it, I tell him what I’m doing in Spanish and mention that the cops could turn up to question Evie. What I’m about to do, well, it will be easier to ask her for forgiveness than permission.
Tomás is waiting for me out on the street. “Ready for some fun?” I ask him.
“Always, jefe.” He smirks. The bastard is twisted in ways I’ll never understand. Then again, to make it up the ranks, you need to be twisted as fuck.
It takes ten minutes for us to stop four houses down from Amy’s. She shares a place with her boyfriend, Hugh. As Tomás and I get closer to the property on foot, we can hear the screaming coming from inside the house.
“You’re a fucking idiot, Amy! I told you it would be okay. You had to go and burn the fucking place down,” a male voice yells.
“She was going to figure it out, Hugh. I couldn’t hide the fact that money was missing.” Amy replies.
I wave my hand towards the back of the house. Tomás follows my lead. I turn the doorknob and it opens. I walk through the kitchen, following theshouting until I find both Hugh and Amy in the living room.
Amy gasps when she sees me. The boyfriend puffs out his chest. “Who the hell are you?” he asks.
I tilt my head to the side, raise my arm, and pull the trigger. The fucker drops to the ground with a thud. I’m not here for him. Amy lets out an ear-piercing scream.
“You fucked up,” I say, pointing the gun in her direction.
“No. He made me do it!” she cries out. “I didn’t mean to.”
Tomás walks behind her, covering her mouth. “You know I can make her pay in ways you won’t, jefe,” he tells me in Spanish.
“No.” I shake my head. “You stole from my girlfriend. Burned down her store, her dream.”
I walk around the room. I don’t want her death to be easy. Fuck this girl. She fucking broke Evie’s heart.
“You got a light?” I ask Tomás.
“Yep.” He reaches into his pocket and hands me a lighter.
“Bring her here.” I walk down the hall, opening each door until I find the bedroom.
Amy kicks and screams against Tomás’s hold. It doesn’t do her any good, though.
I pull the sheet from the bed and twirl it around, creating a makeshift rope before tying it around Amy’s body. I return my attention to Tomás. “Keep her there. I’ll be right back.”
I head into the garage, glancing around until I find what I’m looking for. A bottle of starter fluid. This will work. When I make my way back into the bedroom, I pour the liquid over the sheet.
Tomás smiles at me, knowing exactly what’s coming next. “You torched her dream. I’m going to torch you,” I tell Amy.
“No… please. Don’t do this. I didn’t mean to!” She screams when Tomás lets go of her.
Amy attempts to stand up, but stumbles back to the ground. I flick the lighter and toss it in her direction. The sheet ignites. Her screams get louder, her body thrashing around on the carpet.
“Damn, jefe. If I’d known we were barbequing, I would have bought s’mores.” Tomás chuckles.
“You have issues.” I laugh, watching as Amy’s body finally stops moving. “Let’s go.”
Tomás follows me out the back of the house. As we climb into the car, the sound of sirens can be heard in the distance.
