“But where does Domino fit into all of this?” Koi asked.
“I know my brother,” Marisol said. “He’s a great talker. He can convince a gazelle to rest inside a lion’s mouth. He’s probably offered her more money to do whatever he wants.”
“Which is?” Koi pressed.
“Scare us off. We see our friends getting offed one by one, and eventually it’ll just be Mattias and I. He wants us to run. But that’s where he fucked up.” She took a large gulp of her beer. “Because I’ll let every one of you die before I let go of this place.”
The circle once again grew quiet, taking in her words. Everyone knew she wasn’t lying.
“So what do we do then? If those two are up there plotting to kill us?” Mitchell asked.
“We fight back,” Beth growled. “Fuck them! I ain’t taking this lying down.”
“Why don’t you just leave?” I asked. A dry laugh escaped my throat. “We’re all scared of dying, but the only thing holding us here is some bullshit threats. None of it would hold up in court.”
“You underestimate the power my money holds.” Marisol snickered. “Try fucking with me, Dennis. You’ll lose more than a kidney.”
A flash of irritation hit me at the sound of my first name. She knew it and smiled wide.
“We need to get ahead of it. Be one step in front of them,” Mattias declared.
“How do you suppose that? It’s been more than four days, and we have no idea what their plans are,” Andrew pointed out.
Mattias looked deep into the fire, trying to come up with a plan. After a moment, he perked up. “Who all got a mask with something weird written inside?”
Slowly, everyone’s hands went up. Koi and I mimicked them, despite having been the ones to deliver their masks.
“Okay then, we beat them at their own game. Tomorrow night, we don our masks, pick up a weapon, and fight for our lives.”
The idea was almost comical, coming from Mattias. He wasn’t what I thought of as a fighter. He’d probably be theeasiest Risky kid to kill. If he went for Domino, I’d slit his throat faster than he could lift whatever dumbass weapon he picked up.
“Both of them? I mean, I know we’d all agreed to kill Domino before, but she really doesn’t seem terrible now that I’ve gotten to know her.” Mitchell shrunk into himself as everyone glared at him. “I mean, I feel kind of bad for her. The whole revenge porn thing.”
“Fuck her!” Marisol spat. “You guys don’t know the hell she put me through. Before and after she left. She should have died seven years ago. This is long overdue. Actually, no, I want to be the one to do it. You guys do whatever you want with my brother.”
“Everybody in?” Mattias stood and put his hand over the fire. Slowly, everyone joined him, except for Koi and I. We remained sitting, watching them all plan a double murder like it was Sunday brunch.
“After this, everyone can go home, and we’ll all pretend none of it happened.” Mattias said.
“Thank fuck,” Beth exclaimed.
“Yeah, I’m never coming back either,” Andrew added.
“What do you say, boys?” Mattias asked. Everyone turned to us expectantly. “Maybe it’s time to take some real action on the girl who broke your hearts. She can’t keep getting away with this.”
Koi and I looked at each other, trying to silently communicate.
Mattias hit a sore spot.
“It’s time to show her what pain she’s caused,” Marisol snarled.
I stood then, in agreement. I did want to show her how much she hurt me, hurt us. I put my hand on top of everyone’s, and a moment later, Koi joined us.
“Let’s fucking go.”
Rule 56 - Swayze
Kill people, not dogs.
