Page 51 of Veiled Vows

“Alright, where to?”

She shrugs. “I’m undecided.”

“Listen,” Seth wheezes out around the pressure of my weight pinning him down. “Let’s talk about this!”

“No,” Jasmine says casually. “I’m done fucking talking.”

Our eyes meet and she jerks her head outside. Hauling Seth upward, he kicks out his legs in fright, so I throw him against the filing cabinets and punch him several times in the face until blood pours down from a broken nose and he’s gasping for air. He’s much more docile as I drag him from his office and across the street.

“Put him in the trunk,” Jasmine instructs, unlocking her car when we arrive.

“No, please! I’m sorry! Listen, I made some bad choices, I’m sorry! You can’t do this to me man, what the hell? What the hell!”

“Shutup,” I snap, tossing him into the trunk of her car like he’s just a sack of potatoes. His begging and cries become muffled when I slam the trunk shut and lean against it. “So what’s next?”

Jasmine rocks back onto her heels and taps her finger against her lower lip. “I want him scared. I want him so scared he shits himself because he terrified her, and a swift death is too good.”

I run through a couple of options; reckless driving, loud noises, even the threat of fire are all good options, but it’s not enough. Judging by how worried Jasmine is about her friend, we need something more.

She stops pacing and when our eyes meet, I smile.

“Do you like theme parks?”

“Do you come here often?”Jasmine chuckles, standing on the edge of a rotten wood pier and staring out at the slimy, trash-filled body of water that stretches out almost as far as the eye can see. The graveyard of the water park.

Behind us, the run-down remains of a theme park stretch across the night sky. This place hasn’t seen foot traffic or love in at least ten years. Closed down by the state after one too many accidents and a decapitation, this old theme park became a hunting ground for anyone looking to get rid of something.

And since the Mafia is always on the lookout for places that no one will ever go to, we’re also the reason this place hasn’t been bulldozed and rebuilt.

“What?” I pant from behind her car. “Not a fan of theme parks?”

“I’ve never been,” Jasmine admits.

“What?” I halt my straining immediately. “You’veneverbeen to a theme park?”

“Nope.”

“Been on a roller coaster?”

“Nope.”

“Have you even lived?”

“Alright Mr. Adrenaline Junkie,” Jasmine laughs. “What are you, some theme park fiend?”

“Something like that. I’ll tell you about it if I can just get…this…going!” Another hard shove and Jasmine’s car, complete with Seth pounding on the trunk, begins rolling toward the lake. I watch it closely as it picks up speed and then crashes into the water sending a cascade of waves out to the deeper parts of the lake. Her car keeps rolling forward and starts to float, but with all the windows we left open, it’s not long until it starts to take on water.

“You sure about this?” I ask as I climb up onto the wooden pier beside her. “That’s a nice car.”

“Eh. I can get another car easily enough,” Jasmine replies, folding her arms just under her bust. “If the price is listening to this then it’s so worth it.”

Seth’s panicked cries carry in the night air and quickly turn into terrified screams when the car takes on enough water for him to work out what’s happening. Few things terrify people more than drowning in the dark.

Slowly.

“So.” Jasmine turns to me. “You like roller coasters?”

Nodding, I nudge her gently with my shoulder. “When I was younger, we didn’t have anything in the way of money, but my mom always found work at a theme park. Not thisone specifically, but a few different ones. Summer was always amazing because she’d be working and I’d get to wander the parks. I had no money, but sometimes I could sneak onto rides by acting like I was part of someone’s family.”

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