Page 88 of Nemesis
After locking the door, I waited inside one of the stalls until she came out.
Thinking she was alone, she stared at the mirror for a moment and her mask dropped, sorrow filling her expression. Her makeup had slightly rubbed off, highlighting the secret she’d been hiding.
She’d reached inside her purse for her makeup bag, bringing out what she needed to conceal it, which was when I had come out of my hiding place and offered her an opportunity.
It could have gone against me, but she only hesitated for a few seconds before accepting eagerly.
Gun in hand, I sneaked in through the back entrance, the alarm already disarmed by Valentina when she came in before I got here to stage the cadaver that had been tampered with Elena’s DNA onto the couch in the living room.
I marched into the kitchen and spotted the two men slumped on the floor, a hole decorating each of their foreheads.
I bent down, checking their pulses to confirm they were dead. Not that I doubted Valentina, but one can never be too sure. I was living proof of that.
I doused both the kitchen and the living room, the stench of death lingering in the air rapidly mixing with the woody sweet scent.
I reached behind and took out the awaiting box of matches from my backpack. Striking one, I held it in front of me, watching the flames engulf the strip of wood, a bitter puff of smoke snaking up toward the ceiling.
I let it slip through my fingers, the flame raging once it hit the floor. I left the kitchen and stalked down the corridor, my black boots thumping against the wooden hallway, splashes of gas forming in my wake.
I pulled out three more matches, striking them all at once. Adrenaline coursed through me at the sting andpopof the flame coming to life.
I dropped them behind me as I made my way up the stairs, a path of gasoline trailing me.
With accelerant dousing the place, I had less than five minutes before the fire consumed the rest of the residence. I halted mid-way up the stairs, throwing the empty gasoline can past the banister and taking the rest of the stairs two by two.
I veered left once I was on the top floor, running to her bedroom, the heat of the fire close on my trail, coming straight for me. I burst the door open and Elena bolted upright at the sound of the door crashing against the wall.
“Sofia?” she asked, perplexed. Her eyes widened as she looked past my shoulders.
“The house is on fire,” she shouted, alarmed as she pointed to the smoke billowing into the room.
I marched to her bed, threw the covers off, and hauled her to her feet. “I’m aware. I’m the one who set it on fire.”
She stumbled to a stop. “What?”
Elena was aware I was coming to get her but didn’t know the details of my escape plan. The less she knew, the better. I didn’t trust her enough yet to reveal everything to her, just in case she slipped and told her husband.
I highly doubted it, but one thing I’d learned over the years was to never trust too easily. Sometimes the people you trusted the most ended up being those who betrayed you the worst.
I quirked a brow at her. “Listen, we can have a conversation later, but as you can see, if I don’t get you out right now, we’ll join the remains of this house.”
I ran to her closet and pulled out a pair of joggers and a sweater. I turned to face her again, throwing the clothes at her. “Put these on.”
She stayed still for a moment.
“Hurry, we don’t have time,” I urged her.
She was finishing getting dressed when a flare of orange roared up through the doorway, rapidly spitting sparks and gnawing anything in its path.
Fuck. I thought I had a bit more time.
The walls flickered with red and amber shadows, my nostrils filling with a sharp and pungent odor. I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs burned from the sting of the smoke.
Knowing I wouldn’t be able to make it to the initial exit I’d planned on using, I looked around the room until I found a solution. Pulling Elena behind me, I dived for the window across the room. The smoke seared my eyes as I struggled to pry it open for a bit, the fire a ticking time bomb.
Come on,don’t do this to me now.
Finally, a sharp wind battered its way inside, a sucking sound bouncing against the walls. I only had a few seconds before the fresh air would fuel the fire. I shoved Elena through the opening, screaming for her to jump.
