Page 36 of Sweet Lies

“To kill Louis and the rest on the list.”

For the first time in all the years I’ve known Andre, he stares at me with something close to sympathy and loss. I hate that look. Even when he found me that night outside the bar, he didn’t look like that. He knows just as I do that this is the moment everything changed.

What would Rebecca do? Well, she’s going to kill them all.

It was a Tuesday when I found out they lived, and it was a Tuesday I became something they’d never see coming. No matter how long it takes, they’ll suffer for leaving me.

“Bec, this can wait,” he tries to convince me once more.

“No. It can’t.”

He tries again. “You’re not thinking straight.”

“On the contrary, I’m seeing everything clearly.”

My feet move quickly through the streets to get to the car. I need to get as far away from them as possible before I go in there and shoot them both.

My eyes burn with tears, but I push them back. I’ve cried too many tears for them already. And there was never any need to cry, as they were just fine—alive and breathing. When I first saw them, I couldn’t believe the bliss I felt. All I wanted was to go and hug them. That feeling died an instant later when I realized that they’d never tried to find me—they couldn’t have, or surely they’d have succeeded. They weren’t the type to fail.

Andre stays a few steps behind me on the sidewalk, giving me a little space. I see the car a few feet away. Almost there.

I yank open the door and wait for Andre to get in and get us the hell away from them.

“Bec…”

“Just drive,” I snap.

My nails bite into my knees, and my eyes find the slight film of dust covering the dash.

It needs to be cleaned.

Using the palm of my hand, I remove the dust, and some of the tension in my body lifts with it gone.

Andre stares straight ahead as he drives.

Every night around this time, Louis leaves his girlfriend’s house to head home. Andre turns off the headlights as we draw closer and parks a few houses away, where we wait in silence, staring at the door.

Louis leaves right on time, kissing his girlfriend on the porch before heading to his car. I wonder if she knows the monster he is or if he’s kept her blind. Maybe she’ll cry at his funeral but I doubt many others will shed a tear.

The road he takes back to his house is dark, with very few people around. Andre speeds up and gently nudges the back of his car, and Louis pulls to the side just as we intended. He gets out of his car first, stomping to the back like he could spit nails.

“Stay here,” Andre says, getting out of the car.

Louis’s arms are flailing in anger over the accident, and he gets in Andre’s face just as we planned.

With one hit, Louis is down. Andre drags him to the trunk and throws him inside, then we head to a spot we’d found earlier in the day to finish it.

I pull out the gun, then we get out of the car. Darkness is a blanket over us as crickets chirp, and a light breeze moves stray hairs against my face. I glance up as the clouds move over the moon, while Andre opens the trunk with a clink. A few slaps to Louis’s face have him regaining consciousness.

“What the fuck!” he yells, looking up at us both. “What do you want? Money? I can get you money.”

Money? He thinks this is about money?

“Get out,” I order.

He’s moving too slowly, so Andre pulls him out.

“What do you want?” he asks again, and I hear the panic in his voice.Good.

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