Page 106 of So Close

“Your mother” – he grins with bloodstained teeth – “will … p–proud.”

“Tell her I said hi,” I mutter, “when you join her in hell.”

But he chortles, and a gleam in his eyes makes my stomach drop.

My gaze searches his face anxiously, but his eyes lose focus, dimming into sightlessness. A moment later, the acrid ammonia smell of urine and the more offensive smell of feces foul the air.

I yank the knife from his chest with both hands, freeing the mailbag. Blood soaks the material of his designer dress shirt. Spreading the bag wide open on the floor, I tug the thick gloves off and drop them in. I stand and toe-off the shoes while unbuckling the belt, then unsnap the fasteners securing the faux buttocks. The shirt and breastplate follow, leaving me standing in a sweat-soaked bodysuit. The silk wrap dress in fire engine red takes no time to put on.

“If you’re still alive, hurry the fuck up!” Rogelio orders in a fierce whisper. “And grab his cellphone.”

I scrub the nude lipstick off with a paper towel and drop it into the bag. I slather on red gloss with shaking hands and loosen the braid while sliding my feet into heels. I fumble with the jewelry, panicking when I drop an earring in the sink. Thankfully Tovah selected easy: French hooks, a long necklace I can pull over my head and a bangle bracelet.

I look in the mirror. There are kinks from the braid my mother would never tolerate. My skin shines with sweat, my lipstick bleeds and there’s a tear in the dress from the knife. I take a deep breath, let it out. I slide Val’s phone into a clutch the same hue as my dress and leave the bag on the floor as I step out to the hallway.

A man is passing by with a broom, and I panic. Then he jerks his head toward the exit, and I know he’s with Rogelio. As I walk away, I hear the bathroom door open behind me. He’ll get rid of the mailbag. Val will lie there until someone discovers his corpse. It won’t take long.

“Would you please get the fuck out of here!” Rogelio growls.

Rolling my shoulders back, I walk out of the restaurant like my mother would, as if I’m the most beautiful woman ever to walk the earth. Empress of the world. As if everyone around me has significance only if I deign to give them my attention.

I feel the stares of Val’s men as I pass through the dining room. When I step onto the sidewalk, I feel more stares. A black town car pulls up to the curb, and the back door swings open from inside. I step down from the sidewalk and slide into the back. I don’t have time to shut the door. The velocity with which the car accelerates closes it for me.

Tovah sits beside me. Her gaze is anxious on my face. “I couldn’t wait.”

“I see that.” I pull out Val’s phone and power it off so no one can trace it.

“It’s done?”

“Yes.”

“Oh God.” She melts into the seat, looking pale and dazed. “Oh God. That sick bastard is finally dead.”

She reaches for my hand and holds on tightly. I know what that means. Her father’s death preceded Val’s entrance into my mother’s life, but still, she feels some justice. As Rogelio said, we’re family – bonded by an inconceivable commonality and a burning need for vengeance, if not justice.

Tovah’s father didn’t pass my mother’s vile morality test. Val tortured and ordered the gang rape of Lacy’s mother over an ex-boyfriend she hadn’t seen in over a year. Salma’s brother had the misfortune of catching my mother’s eye. Rogelio lost his sister to Val’s trafficking ring.

“I’ll call the others,” Tovah says.

There are more of us outside of New York. So many families were devastated by Valon and Stephanie Laska’s insatiable appetites for death and wealth.

Lacy nicknamed us The Avengers. Each team member played a part in our success today. If only this were a comic book where we could write our storylines and draw our endings. So much time, energy and sacrifice. So many lives suspended. All to kill a single soulless man.

There was nothing worth saving in Val. That I mourn him even a little is proof of my inner rot. He looked after me in his twisted way when I had no one else who would. He didn’t do it out of love, and the results were not in my best interests, but it was something.

I look out of the window. Although Tovah appears comfortable, I’m freezing. I bite hard to keep my teeth from chattering, but it doesn’t help. I rub my arms with my hands, trying to warm them. Resting my head against the seat back, I close my eyes. The adrenaline that gave me such strength in the bathroom has drained away, and I’m exhausted. My limbs feel heavy. My eyelids are weighted.

“Come on. Let’s get you in and warm you up.”

Blinking, I find myself in my bathroom. I’m naked. Steaming water fills the deep soaking tub. Tovah holds me up on one side, Lacy on the other. My body jolts as if I’ve been shocked with a defibrillator, and the two shorter women cry out in alarm and struggle to keep me upright.

“Fuck it,” Rogelio says, and I hear his boots cross the veined marble. “I tried to preserve your modesty,querida, but if you fall and hurt yourself, Black will lose his shit.”

I realize I’ve lost time along with a chunk of recent memory. The last I knew, we were racing home, but there were prearranged changes of vehicle and clothing in between, followed by the return to the penthouse. The plan was set. Somewhere along the way, my mind checked out.

Lacy moves out of the way. Rogelio picks me up and carries me to the tub. I hiss in discomfort as my icy feet slide into water that feels like it’s boiling, but he doesn’t stop pouring my limp body into it. Under the water, my skin turns bright pink. The steam carries the scent of azaleas.

Rogelio studies me, careful to keep his eyes on mine. “You’re in shock. You’re going to sit in this hot water while Salma gets the wig off and all that crap off your face. Sip some strong coffee. I’d tell you to add some brandy, but I know you won’t. If ever there was a time for a drink, though, this is it.”

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