Chapter 140: Kill Mi First

LEITANA

My heart dropped when the man brought the gun from the back of his trousers and handed it to Jim, who then pointed it at each of us in turn, slow and deliberate, like he was choosing dessert from a menu.

“So who wants to go first?” he said with that same thin, amused smile, waving the barrel lazily from face to face. Bile rose sharp and hot at the back of my throat but I swallowed it down

My eyes slid sideways again toward the pale shape that only I could see. Celeste stood silent in the corner of the room, arms wrapped around herself, watching with those huge, glassy eyes. She hadn’t moved since the footage ended. Hadn’t said anything to me. She just stood there.

Jim’s voice cut through again. “Come on. Don’t be shy.”

I forced my gaze back to him. My voice came out small, cracked, but steady enough. “Jim… plis no do this. Killing people is sin. You know dat. God…”

He barked a laugh, sharp enough to make Stacy flinch. “Oh, cut that religious crap, Leitana. You think God’s watching this dump? You think he cares about a bunch of nosy adults who broke into the wrong apartment?”

He swung the gun toward Marco, who was still slumped against the wall, breathing hard through his split lip.

“Why don’t we start with this loudmouth?” Jim said, almost cheerful. “He’s been running his mouth since we dragged him in.”

One of his men moved immediately, pulling a knife from his belt. Marco jerked against the zip-ties, snarling, “Touch me and I’ll….”

The goon didn’t hesitate. He sliced the ties at Marco’s wrists first, then his ankles. Marco lunged the second he was free, wild, and furious but the man was faster. One meaty fist cracked across Marco’s jaw, sending him sprawling back to the concrete with a grunt.

“No!” I screamed, the word tearing out of me. Tears burned hot down my face. “Jim…plis! Stop!”

The others joined in, but Jim just shook his head, like we were children throwing a tantrum.

“I can’t let you go,” he said simply. “You know too much. All of you. You think I’m walking away from that?”

Lafu’s voice cracked like a whip. “If you kill us, the cops are going to have questions. Seven people disappearing, all from the same company and one of them Ravial Ashbourne’s wife? It’ll be massive. There would be headlines about it, large investigations and they’ll check where we were last seen and trace everything back here.”

Jim paused, the gun dipped half an inch.

Then he smiled again like he realized something “Well… your bodies won’t be found. No bodies, no crime scene or evidence. Cops can’t pin shit on anyone without a corpse. People vanish every day. You’ll just be another sad statistic.”

He lifted the gun higher. “So. Loudmouth first, then… ”

“Wait!” The word burst out of me before I could think. “Wait, mi go first. Kill mi first. Plis.”

Lafu’s head snapped toward me. “Nooo, Leitana, no!”

Marco, still on the floor, blood dripping from his mouth, rasped, “Don’t you fucking dare….”

The goon backhanded him again, harder this time. Marco’s head rocked back, a fresh cut opening above his eyebrow.

Jim laughed, looking delighted. “Okay. I like that. Self-sacrifice. Very heroic.” He nodded at the scarred man at his left. “Drag her forward.”

Rough hands grabbed my arms, and lifted me up. My legs barely held, but they shoved me forward until I was standing in the middle of the room, maybe ten feet from Jim. The goon forced me down to my knees. Concrete bit into my skin through my jeans.

Jim stepped closer, gun trained on my forehead now. Close enough I could smell the cigarette smoke still clinging to his suit.

“Any last words?” he asked softly.

I looked up at him then past him, to where Celeste stood, closer now, almost within reach. Her eyes met mine.

I closed my own eyes.

Tears poured down my face, hot and unstoppable.

“Papa God,” I whispered, voice shaking so hard the words barely formed. “Plis… show yourself. Help mi. Help us.”