Page 106 of Semblance

I wanted to see the face of my victim—even though I knew it was a bad idea. Killing someone should never be this easy and I needed to see the dead man’s face so I could live with it.

He was young, still in his teens and had a baby face that was pleasant to look at. He could have stolen the hearts of a few ladies had he been given the chance to live a decent life.

“I’m sorry.” I felt pity for this kid.

If only he had known better. If only we had both known better.

“Aria,” I heard Shadow’s voice behind me. “You shouldn’t look at him.”

“He’s just a kid,” I said. “He’s just another stupid kid who made a stupid decision in life. I killed him with a press of a button. How is that fair?”

I raised my hand and stared at it. My fingers, which I used many times to create music, had the same capacity to kill someone with a push of a button. It dawned on me that I didn’t need to kill him; I could have trapped him inside this room and left him here. But instead, I allowed the anger of Abraham’s death and Calisto’s disappearance to take control. In the heat of the moment, I wanted him to die.

It was murder of the first degree.

“Aria, you did what you had to do. Who knows what would have happened if you didn’t take him down? He could have surprised us. I could be dead,” Shadow said.

I closed my eyes and reflected on his words. After a moment I nodded and rose to my feet.

Though there was truth to what Shadow said, the reality was this—the image of the boy, grasping for air on the video screen, will haunt me until the day I die. It was something I had to live with.

“Did you find anything on their bodies?” I asked.

Shadow shook his head. “Every one of them is clean. No wallets, no cellphones; nothing.”

“On the contrary,” Lincoln said as he entered into the room with a smart phone in his hand. “Look what I found hidden in between the ass cheeks of their ring leader.”

“You dug through his underwear?” Shadow asked raising a brow.

“I’m very thorough,” Lincoln replied as he held the phone out to him. “I did a quick search through the contacts and browsing history but found nothing. Want to see for yourself?”

There was a look of disgust on Shadow’s face as he shook his head. “No thanks. You can hold onto it.”

Suddenly the phone started vibrating.

“A call?” I asked.

Lincoln shook his head. “Text message looks like.”

“From?” Shadow asked.

“Unknown,” he replied as he scanned the message before turning to us. “But it looks like we just received a break in this little mystery of ours.”

“What does it say?” I asked.

“Collect your payment at 465 Townly Street, unit 37, Passcode 9421,” Lincoln said. “That address sounds familiar. What was over there again?”

“It’s a storage facility,” Shadow said, “One of the many side businesses that I own.”

“No harm in checking it out then,” Lincoln said. “Who knows, maybe Lucien might be stupid enough to show up himself with a burlap sack stuffed with unmarked bills.”

“You actually believe that?” Shadow asked.

Lincoln walked over to where the box containing Calisto’s severed finger laid on the ground. He picked it up as if it were a delicate flower. “At this point Shadow, all we can do is hope.”

Shadow stared at the box and nodded.

“We’ll find her guys,” I said, sensing the grief that was shared between the two of them. “Calisto’s a tough girl.”

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