Page 48 of Rage & Paradise
I don’t wait for her to follow through on her threat. I lunge in her direction. I grab her arms and shove the gun up into the air, away from both of us.
She swings her forehead forward, cracking me right above the eyebrow. I grunt with the pain and shock of the hit, but I keep my wits. I bring my knee up into her gut, forcing the breath out of her body. She lets go of the gun with one hand but keeps a firm grip with the other.
She tries to yank away from me, but I grab hold of her hair and we both fall forward to the ground. The gun skitters to theside as we both swing blows at each other. Blood pours into my eyes from the cut above my brow. I see red.
No longer do I feel bad about what has happened to Sina. Now all I can think about are the girls with no one around to save them.
I hit her with everything I have, bringing my fist down over and over against her face. She reaches to the side and picks up a stone I hadn’t noticed was there. She swings it into the side of my head, connecting.
My vision rattles, and I fall to the side, giving Sina the opening to scramble for the gun. I focus just as she gets her hand around the handle. I jump on top of her as she pulls the gun closer to her body.
The force of my body jerks her hand, and a loud bang rings through my ears.
Everything stops for a second. There’s nothing but a high-pitched whining sound in my head.
My body is numb, and all I can do is look down at Sina, who is just as shocked underneath me.
Slowly, a tear falls from her eye, and I feel the burning sensation against my chest. I lift up slowly, and the gun slides to the ground. There’s a bright red spot right in the middle of Sina’s chest. It’s getting wider and wider as the seconds pass.
“I’m sorry. I’m fucking sorry.” I grab hold of her head and crawl to hold her up.
She doesn’t say anything, just continues to look up at me with eyes I somehow remember.
“I’m sorry, Sina. I should’ve saved you. I’m sorry,” I repeat over and over. I sob, holding onto her as she breathes her last.
I wanted this to be over, and now it is. I don’t have to run any longer. I have my freedom, but at what cost?
Heavy footfalls come in my direction, and I’m peeled away from Sina’s limp body.
I look up at Oro as he gathers me in his arms. “I’ve got you. I’m here for you.”
“I know. I don’t deserve you, but I know.” I whisper and let the exhaustion take over.
EPILOGUE
Oro
The rain hasn’t stopped in three days.
Puerto Rican storms have a way of washing things clean, even when the stains run too deep for water to reach.
Sina’s gone.
Her body was burned and buried out past the edge of the island, no marker, no name. Just the sound of the ocean beating against the rocks to remind me that evil always tries to crawl back from where it came.
We found her phone on her, tucked into the inside pocket of her jacket. It was cracked, blood-smeared, but it worked.
Every file, every message, every location she used to hold the kids she convinced to work for her was there.
There was even a paper trail of Sina paying someone to plant the drugs in Mr. Nieves store. It wouldn’t happen right away but we’d be able to get him out.
By the time Vado was done cross-referencing and sending word to our allies, every safehouse we raided ended with one thing: survivors.
Dozens of them.
Young, scared, but alive.
Estrella cried when she heard.
