CHAPTER 29
"Freeze!" a voice said from behind me.
I felt a cold object touch my head—a gun.
We raised our hands, and a lot of cops came swarming into the room. We were taken downstairs, where Indira was already in cuffs. Felipe was killed in the encounter along with most of his henchmen. Only four of them were arrested.
We were taken to a certain river on the outskirts of town. It was miles away from where people lived.
The three of us were knelt down.
"Boss, what are we going to say happened to them?" a tall, slim man asked his old and ugly-looking boss.
He lit a cigarette before answering.
"That they died during the encounter. Scums like these don't deserve to live!"
He came close enough to my face for me to smell his breath.
"Do you think you deserve to live?" he said directly to my face, blowing smoke at me.
"Damn, your breath stinks!" I told him.
The other police officers started laughing but immediately stopped when he looked back.
I didn't care about anything because I knew I was going to die anyway.
"Yeah, I could smell abandoned stale salmon, not knowing it was his breath!" Lupita made fun of him.
"Wonder how your wife kisses you!" I laughed.
"Enough! You think this is a circus? You want to clown around, huh?"
He took a gun from an officer and aimed it at Lupita.
"Any last words?" he generously asked, dripping with sarcasm.
I turned my head to my left, where Lupita was.
"If there's an afterlife like they say, I'll meet you there. But if it's a myth, then I'll see you in hell!" I smiled at her.
"No, we are going to heaven!" she chuckled.
I turned to Indira's side.
"Safe departure. We'll meet on the other side!" I said to her.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"Are you scared?" Indira asked me.
"I don't know about Brandi, but I'm dead scared! I'm not ready to die!"
Tears gently sparkled in Lupita's eyes.
"I stared death dead in the face. I have been in this situation before, so it's no big deal. Consider this the ultimate peace everyone needs. It's just sad that I won't be able to see my son turn into a man!" I chuckled.
"Enough of this chicken talk!" the impatient man scornfully said.
He pulled the trigger, and at that exact moment, Shaun jumped in front of Lupita, taking the bullet meant for her.
The bullet hit him right in the head, and he dropped dead instantly.
The other officers gasped but didn't do anything.
Lupita cried at the top of her lungs.
"No, no, Shaun... no!"
She called and pleaded with him, hoping that he'd come back to life, but alas, once you have crossed the line between life and death, there's no turning back.
I never thought a man would lay down his life for a woman, but I witnessed it.
That proved how much he loved her.
Love really did exist.
The man smiled, showing his yellow teeth.
He pulled the trigger, and Lupita fell dead.
Then Indira.
Lastly, he aimed it at Brandi Knowles.
The man smirked, pulled the trigger, and shot four bullets into her.
Brandi fell to the ground, blood oozing from her wounds.
The officer wiped his gun with a handkerchief.
"Not every day you get to kill wanted criminals!"
He walked to the car and turned to look at the bodies one last time.
"You die by what you live by! And now that these demons are no more, Interpol can rest!"
He got into the car and drove off. All the other cars followed behind.
One of the corpses' fingers moved a little. The pinky rose above the other fingers.
She dug her hand into the bloody earth and slowly opened her eyes. A blurry sheet of light and uncertainty hovered over her half-closed eyes.
"Ahh!" she groaned in pain.
Slowly, she got up and looked at the bodies surrounding her.
She took a step over the first body, limping.
Suddenly, she felt lightheaded, and into the river she fell.
Blood washed from her body, and instantly she closed her eyes.
Faint voices were whispering.
"Is she going to die?" a little one's voice said.
"Hush! She just needs some rest. She's even lucky to be alive!" a grown woman's voice replied.
Like a person waking up from a nightmare, her eyelids shot open. She was wide awake.
She tried moving, but she was in pain and couldn't do it as fast as she wanted to.
"Mother, she's awake!"