Page 138 of Through the Flames
Carver walked backward into the kitchen until he slammed against the counter. I followed him, unfazed.
“Who—what are you doing here?” he snarled, puffing his chest, trying to mask fear with aggression.
Without bothering to answer, I let my gaze sweep over him, slow and deliberate. Every twitch, every shallow breath told me how well my presence had landed.
“Wait, you, uh, you’re the guy from the diner, right?” he stammered, trying to grasp something familiar.
I tilted my head, my face void of any emotion. “I’m here for you. And for your choices.”
He swallowed and took a step back. “Choices?”
“I know what you did to Ella,” I said evenly. “Every little heinous lie that ever left your worthless fucking lips. Every post, every screenshot you forwarded, every time you laughed at her.”
His mouth opened, then snapped shut. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t lie to me. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Look, I’m so—”
“I’m not here for apologies,” I said, stepping forward, just close enough to make the space between us feel too small. “I’m here because you thought you could hide things. You thought nobody would notice what you did to her. You were wrong.”
Carver’s eyes nervously flicked toward the table. I pulled a photo out of my jacket pocket and placed it on the table.
It was a screenshot of him messaging his mistress. A conversation he’d thought no one would ever see. His jaw dropped, and his face twisted into a grimace of panic.
“Ever wonder why people get caught?” I asked in a low voice. “Because they leave traces. As it so happens,Ihave every traceyou’veleft. Every lie. Every secret. Tonight, you fix it. Or it all goes public. Your little gambling habit. The debt you’ve accumulated with less-than-trustworthy people. Wonder what your wife would say about this? But then again …” I scoffed. “Nothing beats the side piece you’ve been hiding for years now, does it?”
He blinked. “Fix it? I—I can’t …”
“You can,” I said. “You’re going to call your wife. Every text, every photo, every message you’ve hidden, you’re sending it all to her yourself. You’re going to let her know exactly what kind of man you are. Either you send it yourself, or you let me send it, and she’ll hear about it from a stranger. Your choice.”
He swallowed hard, trembling as he fumbled for his phone. Within minutes, each word of his confession burned his pride and eroded his control as he read it aloud, his voice shaking.
If not for Ella, there would have been bloodshed. Instead, he would walk away unscathed, but he wouldn’t be able to enter a room again without people whispering.
By the time I stepped back into the cool night, a satisfied smirk tugged at the corners of my lips. Breaking bones was easy … but breaking legacies lasted longer.
Listening to a man read his own obituary had become an unexpected hobby of mine.Who would’ve thought?I didn’t linger, though, because there were two more motherfuckers on my shit list.
After making Mason nearly retch, forcing him to confess he’d been taking credit for his coworkers’ fruits of labor, I left him trembling over the phone, the taste of his lies thick in his mouth.
And because I’m kind, and you shouldn’t kick a man when he’s already down, I didn’t tell him the authorities had reopened his DUI case. That’d be a nice little surprise for tomorrow.
There were no theatrics or yelling, just the quiet collapse of a man who realized exactly what he’d done to my girl and what the consequences entailed.
There was one more to deal with now. One more head of the snake: Stetson, the ringleader.
Before I could knock, his door slammed open. Stetson’s body radiated tension. His eyes were wild, and his hands were flexing at his sides.
“You again?!” he barked, chest rising and falling like he was trying to inflate himself with bravado.
I merely shouldered past him and stepped inside, letting the air settle between us like a weight pressing down on his chest. Every muscle was tense, and every line of his face betrayed him.
“You know, I could’ve made this so much worse,” I said lightly. “But I chose to give you at least a choice. Actions have consequences. You fucked around with my girl, now you’re going to find out what it’ll cost you.”
Dread flickered across his face as he jerked back. “What the fuck are you talking about, man?”
Silently, I let him work it out for himself. Let him understand that yes, I knew what he’d done, and yes, I was dead fucking serious.
