Page 50 of The Afterthought

"I'm sorry. I don't like being so far away from you."

"I overheard something that I shouldn't have. The usual girl who works in the VIP rooms needed to use the bathroom, so I had to take a few drinks back there. I heard someone talking about stealing drugs from the Crimson Rose. I didn't hear the entire conversation, so I can't be sure where they are planning to hit you all, but I know it's soon."

This confirms our suspicions. We knew something big was coming soon, just not exactly when. "Okay," I tell her, waiting to see if there's anything else.

"There's something else. I'm 99% sure Sheriff Wolfe was one of the guys there. He had a mask on, so I could be wrong, but I saw the birthmark on his hand, and it definitely sounded like him. He said something about making sure you ended up in prison."

The sheriff? FUCK! That would make sense, considering a lot of our problems started when Knox took him on as a new client. He was supposed to help us spread our reach, but that fucker has been working with the Cobras all along. I'm going to have to talk with Knox about how he wants to handle this. We will definitely need to look further into it. I sure as fuck will not be ending up in prison.

"Everything will be okay. Don't tell anyone else about what you heard. I don't want anyone using it as an excuse to come after you while I'm out of town.”

"When are you coming home?" she whines.

Home. She called Dune Valley home. My heart aches a bit when I hear those words. She misses me and wants me home. I'll have to make sure to reward her nicely when I get back.

"Soon, baby. I just need to find something first, and then I'll be back. You'll be the first person I come to see; don't worry."

"Okay. I have to go inside. Chloe and I are going to watch Dirty Dancing. Can you believe she's never seen it before?"

I laugh at the annoyance in her tone. It's always been her favorite movie. I'm sure she will have Chloe addicted, too. "Enjoy your movie night, little shadow."

The phone clicks, and I already miss her voice. I need to hurry up and get these two pieces of shit in the trunk, so I can get back home to my girl. I hate her being in that town alone.

I quickly dial Knox to fill him in on the situation while flicking my lighter on and off. He is just as surprised as I was to find out the little bit of information about Sheriff Wolfe. Ava doesn't know that the sheriff works for us. He was the contact I was meeting the day I saw her again for the first time.

Knox tells me he will figure out how to use this to our advantage. The Cobras don't know we have this bit of information. We have a few days until our next scheduled drop. I should be back in Dune Valley before then.

It's time to speed things up here. As soon as it gets dark, I'll be slipping right into David's house, grabbing him, and throwing his useless ass in the trunk. I still have to get my hands on Officer Grant tonight, but I lucked out, and he is on call.

I drive away from David’s house and find myself a nice coffee shop, ordering myself the same drink that Ava likes. It's not the same as being there with her, but it brings me a small level of comfort. Right now, I wish I was back in Dune Valley with her watching her as I fuck her mercilessly. She makes the most beautiful face when she falls apart.

Time goes by fairly quickly, and the sun is beginning to set. It's time to go back to David's house. I changed my mind about how I want to go about this. It needs to be set up perfectly. I park my car right across the street from his house. It's pretty secluded here, so I'm not worried about anyone seeing me. I grab my bag from the passenger seat and slip on my black balaclava that I haven’t worn since I killed Gary Myers.

It takes every ounce of restraint in me to keep my shit together as I walk across the lawn to get to this spot where I can peer into the large window that Ava described. I want this to feel as familiar as possible to him. I want him to think about how the last time he saw someone outside this window, it was my girl.

I look inside the window and find him sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on a coffee table. There are empty food and beer containers piled up around him, but he doesn't care. He just sits there clicking through the channels on his TV. What a pathetic piece of scum.

I stand in his yard, peering into the corner of the window, simply waiting for him to notice me. Luckily, it only takes a few minutes for his eyes to lift and meet mine through the window. He quickly jumps before standing up, yelling something, and pointing in my direction. I narrow my eyes and tilt my head to the side, not moving from my position.

I see him toss the remote on the couch and move out of view. Perfect. He’s on his way to me, just like I wanted. I imagine Ava standing here frozen in place like she explained to me. A pang of guilt fills my chest. I never should have pushed her away.

"HEY! Who are you?" the guy yells over to me.

I turn to face him, a sinister smile crossing my face under my mask. It’s too bad he can't see it. I'm sure I would look completely manic and unhinged. He doesn't deserve to see me. He pulls a knife out of his pocket, charging at me. Is it the same knife he used on Ava? I step to the side, letting him run straight past me. He stumbles a bit, most likely high.

When he charges at me again, I push him down to the ground. He falls hard, and a groan leaves his throat as he tries to roll over on his side. I step towards him and kick him hard in the ribs, over and over. He curls himself into the fetal position, yelling for me to stop. I can't stop picturing Ava helpless and at his mercy.

I step back from him for long enough to grab my bag off the ground and pull out what I need. Quickly, I secure his feet and hands, then throw some tape over his mouth. He's too drugged out and worried about the pain to even fight me as I do it. I slip a large strap under him and drag him to the edge of the road before popping the trunk and hoisting him in. He's not small, but the drugs he's on give me the advantage. I'll have to wait to give him the drugs I brought to keep him unconscious. I don't know how they will interact with whatever he's taken, and I can't have him dying before I get him back to Ava.

Now that he's secured, I get to have fun with his house. This place doesn't deserve to exist. I open the back door of my car to pull out one of my favorite toys, my flamethrower. It's already gassed up and ready to go, and my body is buzzing from the anticipation. Quickly, I check the house. David lives alone and has no pets. Perfect.

I stomp across the lawn and stand in front of the house, practically jumping for joy. My finger presses the trigger, and the dancing flames shoot from it, immediately lighting up some of the shrubbery around the front of the house.

I focus the flames on the front porch, watching as the fire begins to engulf the wood. Slowly, it overtakes everything, and I have to take a few steps back as the heat becomes too hot for me to withstand.

One final thing. I walk around to the side of the house with the window and light up the patch of grass outside it. I burn the entirety of the yard as I walk backward until I'm safely on the street, watching the flames engulf this shit hole.

There is something so fucking satisfying about burning down a house. Seeing the fire at this scale and knowing it's because of me gives me chills. The only thing that could make me happier in this moment is having my cock buried in Ava's sweet cunt. I would burn down the world for her if it meant she never had to live with a single painful memory ever again.

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