He wanted to be the new Red Diamond snakehead for Boston. And this man was the only thing that stood in his way.
So he had to be removed. Simple as that. Victor emptied the gun in him without a moment of hesitation.
And he smiled when the man finally stopped thrashing, his eyes glazed over with the loss of life.
He turned around with the gun raised high, and he was rewarded the other Red Diamond awarded him with a long round of applause.
“Successor!” his father called out. “Successor!” the rest of the Red Diamond called back.
It was done.
There was nothing left to do in the ceremony, save for his father's announcement of him as the new snakehead of Boston. Then first thing tomorrow, he would receive his tattoo, the same as Phantom.
But the clapping abruptly died, and everyone, including his father, turned to look at something in the distance, over Victor’s left shoulder.
Victor lowered his gun arm, and a bad feeling came over him, even before he turned around to look in the same direction.
His heart sank as soon as he saw what the others did.
Phantom was walking back into the garage, his hand wrapped around the arm of a new prisoner.
Dawn. It was Dawn. And from the terrified look on her face, she had seen everything.
“Look who decided to drop by unannounced,” Phantom called out in the silence that greeted their arrival. “Again.”
17
DAWN
I had no intention of witnessing a murder. But there’s a reason that saying “curiosity killed the cat” is a thing, and I found out why that night.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I’d caught a glimpse of Victor and an older guy, rounding the corner of his apartment building as I was approaching it. I recognized the older guy as the one who’d talked to my dad that night at the club, and I figured he must be Victor’s father. He was shorter but had the same broad shoulders and confident way of walking.
When I followed them, it wasn’t with any creeping intention. But I wasn’t sure how much Victor had told the guy who seemed to control his entire life about me. So, I hung back since I no longer had a phone to send Victor a discreet text.
I was still debating about what to do when the super narrow conversion van that the Japanese used pulled into the other side of the open-air garage.
I thought it was a delivery van filled with something his father and Victor would have to carry. I was honest to God, going to ask if they needed my help. That seemed like a nice, low-key way to introduce myself.
But my voice jammed in my throat when instead of a delivery man, Phantom jumped out…and handed Victor a dark object that looked like a gun.
Everything only got worse after that. So much worse.
At first, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing when Phantom pulled a writhing man out of the back of the van.
Then, I just plain didn’t believe what I was seeing when they started slicing him up.
Looking back at it, I think I was half-rooted to the spot in horror, half-hoping that this was a nightmare that I would wake up from any minute.
Either way, I held my breath for Victor’s innocence.
Even after Phantom and Han cut off all the guy’s fingers. Even after Victor’s father sliced off the guy’s freaking nose. Even then, I tried to believe Victor wasn’t part of it.
Phantom—well, it became obvious that he was all in when he sliced off the poor guy’s fingers. Han, too.
But maybe Victor’s father was forcing him to watch all of this. There was no way the guy who’d taken such gentle care of me during our first time was as stone cold as them.
Nope.
Victor was the same. Maybe even worse.
He looked down at the grossly disfigured man thrashing about on the ground and, without any hesitation whatsoever, lit him up. The gun must’ve had a silencer on it. I didn’t hear any sound. But the guy’s body danced under the impact of all the bullets Victor shot into him.
Eventually, Victor’s finger stopped pumping, and the guy’s body finally went still.
Victor had killed him. Just killed him.
Without batting an eye. Then turned around to receive his applause.
That was when reality set in…when I fully processed what I was seeing.
Unfortunately, that was also when Phantom spotted me, peeking out from behind the garage’s stone outer wall.
I tried to run. But there was a reason they made us change out of our school uniform shoes into sneakers for P.E. My Mary Jane’s were shit for running. Plus, I had all the stuff I had packed hastily, weighing me down.
Phantom caught me. Easily.
And a few moments later, I was being dragged in front of Victor, and the man I’d presumed was his father.
