Page 80 of Queen of Vengeance

My heart was pounding in my chest.

It was so painful that my stomach churned.

Still, it didn’t match the pain I felt learning that my grandmother and son were gone from this plane.

That strike of searing pain was met with yet another.

“Stay strong,” Mema’s voice echoed in my head.

The face of my son cooing followed.

And then my parents.

I no longer knew what I was fighting for.

There was nothing to keep me going.

All the love I had held was destroyed.

Now the only thing that built up inside of me was rage.

The only thing I wanted now… was vengeance.

28

ENIKO

Seventeen Years Later:

Eniko sat in silence with his prison cafeteria slop in front of him. He thought deeply about his case.

He’d spent years going on these files, trying to find some damning piece of evidence to convict the Ransoms.

“I’d never been so close to catching him before. It’s tough work when it’s only me and my partner trying to put him behind bars.”

It was common knowledge at this point that Diesel was guilty of many major crimes, and he’d gotten away with most of them because those cases normally fall into the hands of the police or BPR agents that had been paid off.

“Diesel must hate that I’m more interested in justice than money. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was on a hit list of his.”

Eniko thought long and hard the past week about how to get Lea and Dineta out of Ryklira Prison.

“This place was an actual fortress, and it’s guarded on every corner. I could put in the paperwork to have them transferred out, but that would take too long. As soon as Diesel catches wind that Lea is going to be transferred out, he’ll take a hit out on her. She’ll be dead before the paperwork could even be signed.” Eniko began biting his thumbnail in thought. “I’m already running out of time as it is.”

Eniko happened to glance up at the woman passing out the food and noticed that something was familiar about her. He watched the woman place a tray of food in front of Lea and then Dineta.

A sickening feeling developed in his stomach.

Something was wrong. He just didn’t know what.

Then it hit him like a bolt of lightning.

My eyes fell to Lea who seemed to sniff the air before her eyes went wide and fearful.

“Stop! Don’t eat any—!” She tried to stop Dineta from taking another bite.

Her face turned red and swelled as she jumped across the table to help Dineta who had fallen over, unable to breathe.

Everything in Eniko’s head moved slowly. It almost felt as if he was able to slow down and stop time.

---