Page 16 of Taunting Tarran
‘Hello?’ the person answers, clearly surprised to be hearing from Christopher at this hour.
‘Maribel, it’s Chris. I need you to come back to the club. It’s urgent.’
I nod as there’s a pause on the other end of the line.
‘Chris? What are you still doing there? What’s going on?’
I twist the pliers.
‘Something’s come up, something serious…ahhh,’ he says anxiously, choosing his words carefully. ‘Look, I can’t discuss this over the phone…p-please…’
‘Alright,’ she finally concedes. ‘I’ll be there soon. But it better be worth it.’
Hanging up the phone, a sense of relief washes over him. Maribel is on her way.
‘So you’ll let me go?’ he nods.
‘Who said anything about letting you go?’
‘You’re not going to kill me!’ he laughs nervously. ‘You don’t have it in you. Your biceps are justcompensating for something. You’re not a killer. And this whole dead stare thing you have going on, that’s just practice, right?’
‘Do you think this is a joke?’
He laughs again nervously, ‘I’m just trying to keep things light, you know?’
It took me another ten minutes to extract all of his teeth, by which time I hear the only other sound than screaming cutting through stillness – the crunch of car tyres heralding the arrival of Maribel.
Maribel looks at me with blank countenance, but I can tell from the red flush of her cheeks she knows her jig is up.
‘Mr Lewis…’ she starts, her voice trembling slightly.
‘Come here, Maribel. Come and join your old pal.’
‘I think there is a misunderstanding,’ she stammers.
‘Is that so?’
With a deep breath she reluctantly walks towards me.
‘I’m just following orders, you know how it is. The girl, there are complications…things you don’t know about.’
My eyes narrow, ‘Complications?’
‘Yes, Mr Lewis.Boss…’
‘Boss?’
‘Mr Lewis…there must be a way to resolve this without bloodshed?’
I can see the truth behind Maribel’s eyes – the loyalty she’s claiming is nothing but a façade. Her true alliance lies elsewhere, and I’m not prepared to let this betrayal go unpunished.
‘Unfortunately for you, Maribel, sneaking around and making unauthorized phone calls behind my back shows where your loyalty truly lies, and it isn’t with me.’ Her eyes widen in fear, but before she can utter a word my hand whips out my gun, and within an instant I fire a single shot to the centre of her forehead. Maribel’s body crumples to the floor, lifeless.
I turn towards Christopher who is visibly shaking.
‘Is that how my father did it?’ I grin.
Christopher opens his mouth to reply, but I shake my head, grunting as I insert the barrel of my pistol into his mouth sliding against his bleeding gums. He tries to resist, squirming within his restraints as I push the gun as far as it will go, the metal sliding to the back of his throat.
