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Pulling her bag close to her thigh, Kate drove Sal’s car and its intoxicated owner up Beaumont Street in the opposite direction of Payne Avenue. After a short drive on the dark and isolated little road, a curve to her left brought them onto an even shorter road named Drewry, which led to the parking lot of a community academy. She slowed near a deserted area just before the parking lot. To her right was a wall of trees, their leaves only beginning to bloom this early into spring. Nestled beyond the barren forest sat Swede Hollow Park.
The only possible activity would be from the academy, but that was shuttered and dark this late at night. Kate tried to calm herself with steady breathing, but her trembling hands gripping the wheel told her that wasn’t working.
She pulled over to the side, close to the wall of foliage, forcing the car deep under the overhanging tree branches. She shut off the car’s engine and lights. The moon’s glow illuminated down through the branches onto Sal’s face, a flicker of concern falling across his stoned eyes, as he realized they’d stopped.
Inside the car, it was dark and quiet until Kate heard Sal’s stomach moan like an old building. He turned his head slowly to look at her. Her body began to tremble at the sight of this man staring at her, helpless, really. Vulnerable.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Marco and Renzo’s faces came into view. Marco was rolling down the window of the SUV that frigid January night. Renzo leaned forward to look past his dad at the person standing at the driver’s-side window. Both smiling with relief that help had arrived.
Sal’s face came into view. A gun appeared. Marco’s smile slid down, disappearing. Renzo’s did, too. Terror crossed their faces before the gun popped. Marco’s head slammed onto the steering wheel, blood spilling down the side of his face.
In that split second, Renzo knew he was next. He opened the car door and ran. Another shot from the gun caused Renzo’s excruciating pain, as he fell to the icy ground. Sal then dragged him back to his place in the car.
Together, Marco and Renzo’s bloodied bodies lie slumped in the front seats, as Sal turned and walked back toward the very car, she was now sitting in.
The image of her dead family enraged her anew. She shook her head, letting hot tears spill down her cheeks.
No turning back.
She’d come too far.
It was time.
Sal struggled to sit up, as he looked around into the blackness. “Hey,” he said. “Where the hell are we?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Kate said. She locked the doors.
“What-da’-ya’ mean? I thought you was takin’ me home.”
Kate reached into her bag and pulled out the heavy silver pistol. Using both hands, she pointed it at Sal’s head, working furiously to keep her grip steady, her breath controlled.
“You’re not going home.”
“Whu-?” Sal turned to see the gun pointed at him. He pushed himself away from the gun, pressing his head against the passenger window, fiddling for the door handle.
“Hey, where’d ya’ get that gun? Put that away. You don’t know what you’re doin’ with that. It’s dangerous. Jesus. Put that away.”
Kate shook her head, ignoring the stray tear rolling down her cheek. “I’m not putting this away, Sal. You’re gonna’ tell me why you killed Marco.” Her voice cracked. “And my boy. I know you did it.”
Sal seemed to instantly sober up, as he lifted his hand toward her. Kate pulled the gun back close to her chest, the barrel still pointing at him.
“Listen, lady. You get the fuck outta’ my car. Now.”
“You killed them, didn’t you?”
She was angry at her tears, her shaky voice. She’d imagined she’d be stronger. More confident.
Sal lowered his hand and shook his head at Kate. “This is a bad idea, lady. You—sittin’ there with a gun on me?” He chuckled. “I mean, look at-ya’. It’s obvious you don’t know what the fuck you’re doin’. You’re gonna’ hurt somebody.”
Kate blinked back the burning tears. She did not want to start crying.
Stay strong.
“I know what I’m doing, Sal. I’ve been thinking about this for months.” She suppressed the hysteria building in her throat. “Do you hear me? For months.” She reined in her terror and fed on her building rage. “And now, I need you to tell me. Okay? Did you ... kill ... Marco and Renzo?”
Kate’s jaw stiffened as she steadied her hands. Despite the weight of the gun, she sensed a reawakening of her confidence. Sal pressed his back against the passenger door, his hands up, but Kate didn’t like the look in his eye. He looked angry, ready to pounce.
“You gotta’ know,” Sal said, his words thick and slow, “it was all Eddie’s idea, okay? You happy? Is that what you wanted to hear? Now, put down the fuckin’ gun. You ain’t gonna shoot nobody. Look at ya’—shakin’ like a leaf.” He let out a quick snort.
“Why?” Kate shouted. “Why did Eddie want them killed? I don’t—”
Sal started shaking his head. “You got this all wrong.” He frowned. “Well—a little wrong. He didn’t want your kid hit. Alright?”
This made Kate pause and lower the gun a bit, but Sal was eyeing it, so she tightened her grip. “What do you mean? He wanted Marco dead, but not Renzo?”
Sal nodded, hands still up, back still pressed against the door.
Kate shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why then? Why was Renzo killed?”
“Look,” Sal said, “Eddie’s got this wild thing about you. I mean, I think he’s in love with you, if ya’ ask me. He won’t admit it.” He gave her a slimy grin. “But that husband-a yours?” Sal shook his head. “Eddie was pretty pissed about him stealin’ from him. It’s mainly what got him killed.”
Kate could not comprehend or stomach this talk of Eddie in love with her. It made her skin crawl, but she needed to keep Sal talking. She needed the information that only he had.
“What exactly did Marco steal?” She asked, though she already knew the answer. He stole nothing. Still, she needed to know what Eddie had been thinking.
Sal stared at Kate, pausing for a beat before laughing. “Eddie was raging when Marco walked out on him that night. Do you know that?” He paused, as though recalling the moment. “Yeah. Raging. So he ah’, he ordered the hit. Told me to go take care-a him.” Sal pointed at Kate. “Your husband. Not the kid.” He shrugged. “As it turned out, when Marco stopped to picked up a guy, I didn’t know it was your kid, right? He was tall. Looked like a man. I had no clue. I only knew Eddie wanted it done that night. So I handled it.” He wiped his forehead causing Kate to stiffen. “But you know the funniest part?” Sal chuckled.
Kate refused to respond. There was nothing funny about any of this.
Sal’s eyes closed for a second and then opened wide. “I knew all along that Marco didn’t take nothin’,” he said. “But Eddie didn’t know that. He still don’t know.” Sal shrugged. “But I, ah’—well ... I follow orders.”
“Who took the money?” Kate yelled. “Who?”
Sal let out another drunken’ chuckle. “It was me.” He waved his hand in the air. “They’re all fuckin’ stupid. Every last one of ‘em. Yep. I took the money.” He laughed so loud it rang in Kate’s ears.
Sal continued. “For a while, nobody even noticed ... until they did. Not really sure how it all went down, but Tau figured it out. He knew the numbers. He knew money went missin’. I pointed the finger at Marco, and they believed me. They all did. It was that simple.”
Sal lowered his hands a bit. “Now, put the gun down, lady. You ain’t gonna’ shoot me.”
Kate couldn’t control her tears. This drunken pig framed Marco and then killed him and Renzo. She used all of her might to stay focused as a flushing heat began to throb in her cheeks. Her tears turned to anger. Her pulse roared in her ears. She shook her head and straightened her arms. The gun felt heavy. Powerful.
Sal lurched for the weapon. Kate saw his quick move and tightened her grip, along with every muscle in her body. In that instant, she squeezed the trigger and felt the gun’s powerful jar as it jerked back toward her face. The vibration and power from the blast sent a buzzing seizure racing up her arm.
The bullet exploded into Sal’s jaw. His head whipped back and smashed into the passenger’s window. Kate’s eardrums seemed to rupture, as the thunderous blast ripped through the inside of the car. In the instant it took the gun to detonate, she let out a scream she couldn’t comprehend as her own, until she felt it shredding painfully in her throat.
A brief but forceful spray of blood and other human debris slapped across Kate’s face. Her mouth instinctively opened in surprise, causing her to suck in a deep breath and possibly some of Sal’s vapors.
Her body stiffened, immobilized by shock and revulsion. Endless fragments of Sal’s insides decorated the windshield, the interior roof and everything else in the front seat of the car.
The combined sounds of the exploding gun and her scream ripped through the car. Then ... silence, except for a piercing ring in her ears so loud, she barely heard the last moans of Sal’s body.
She lowered the gun and placed it in her lap. Sal’s bloodied face had twisted away from her, yet it was still within arm’s reach of her own. Everything had happened so quickly. So closely. And it was over as suddenly as it began.
She looked out past the mosaic of blood and skull fragments spattered across the windshield, at the darkened road, frantically checking for anyone who may have heard the blast. The street was still.
At that moment, Kate knew her life was over. She could not undo this. The sound of that bullet smashing into Sal’s jaw was unlike any she’d ever heard, and she feared she’d never lose it from her thoughts.
It was what happened to Marco. To Renzo.
The ringing in her ears continued. A steady, sharp and endless timbre.
The stench that overtook the car—of gunpowder, of blood and Sal’s loosening bodily fluids and gases—was overwhelming. And unlike the fog she’d hoped would engulf her during this murder, she was clearheaded. Still, she had no idea what to do next. She hadn’t thought that far through.
She looked over at Sal, his twisted head was smashed against the side window. He looked dead—really dead. She had trouble believing she’d actually just killed a man, but on a deeper level, she felt satisfied. Sal got what he’d deserved.
Hysteria rose from her gut as panic set in and nausea bubbled in her stomach.
Oh God. I can’t throw up. I cannot spray my DNA all over the car or the road.
She pressed the sour waves down and tried not to stare at the gaping wound in Sal’s jaw. It had only been a minute, but it seemed as though she’d been sitting there in Sal’s bloody car for an eternity.
Time to move.
She used her gloved hands to wipe the blood from her face, which moved it from her mouth but smeared it all over her cheeks. She put the gun back into her purse and got out of the car. She stepped onto the dark street, the cool air a blessing to her lungs and wits.
She listened through the ringing. Silence, except for cars passing in the distance on Payne Avenue and the whistle of branches from nearby trees. No sirens, no curious neighbors running toward her.
She looked at the car and groaned. Sal’s dead head was on display for anyone who happened down the deserted road. She leaned back into the car, grimacing as she grabbed his arm and pulled him down toward her so his head was resting on the middle console. There was nothing she could do about the bloodied windows, so she shut the door and stepped back to assess the view of the car from a distance.
Satisfied that Sal could no longer be seen by a passerby, she hurried back down Drewry to Beaumont. She took off her gloves and threw them into her purse as she jogged the three blocks down toward her rental car sitting outside The Corner Bar.
Inside the car, Kate’s hands shook as she turned on the engine. She tried to calm her nerves and resist the urge to speed. She didn’t want to attract any attention from the bar patrons leaving as the bar’s closing loomed.
Was she really breathing this loudly?
Her heart pounded, blood pumped in her ears, but the breathing—it was so unbelievably deafening—she was nearly hyperventilating.
As she sat at the red light pressing down her nausea, her left turn signal clicked loudly, each click rhythmically counting down the seconds to her escape.
How long is this light?
Cars turned toward her from the opposite direction, people staggered out of the bar, and everyone seemed to be staring at her, knowing.
Finally, the light turned green and she made the appearance of taking a casual left onto Payne Avenue, forcing herself to remain calm, despite her jittery hands and weak legs.
She let out a loud sigh as she pulled into her driveway. She left the rental car running, while she backed Marco’s Mustang out of the garage and drove in the rental. She couldn’t take any chances of it being seen from the street. Once that was complete, she hurriedly staggered into the kitchen, ran up the stairs into the bathroom and vomited.
