CHAPTER 70: A LIE’S PRICE
"You're quiet, Elena."
Although Victor's speech sounded suave, I knew he wasn't at ease. He was not a guy who spoke only
to fill the void. He spoke to make it stop.
As the automobile roared down the road, I balanced my hands in my lap.
"Just thinking."
Victor watched me with a tiny head tilt. "About what?"
"Where we’re going."
His mouth formed a shape that was not quite a grin. "Now, that would ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?"
Breathing through my nose, I pushed it. It was never nice when Victor surprised you.
I suspected that this time would be worse.
The Preparation
I felt my skin tingle as the automobile trip continued in a dense quiet. Although I dared not stare at
Victor for too long, I could see his eyes sometimes dart to mine.
Checking. Quantifying.
I had bought myself some time with the deception about Jeo, but it was becoming short.
I had to be aware of our destination.
More crucially, why?
I took a look outdoors. We had long since left the city lights behind, as an empty road engulfed us.
There are no signs or turns. Only blackness.
"You always get this quiet when you lie?" The quiet was broken by Victor's voice like a scalpel slicing
through paper.
I felt my chest constrict. "I won’t lie to you."
"Hmph." His expression was one of amusement. "That in itself is a lie, isn’t it?"
I kept quiet.
Victor tapped his finger on his thigh while observing me as if I were a riddle.
"Elena, calm down. You wouldn't have been in a vehicle with me if I wanted you dead. I would have
done it at that location.
Consoling.
Getting there
With the tires crunching on gravel, the automobile eventually slowed.
I raised my gaze.
The warehouse.
I noticed at least two armed guys standing at the door, and the rooftop was not deserted—no, the
a faint glimmer of security lights bordered it.
I made an effort to breathe evenly.
First to go, Victor adjusted his jacket cuffs.
"Out."
Keeping my motions fluid, I followed. I could not afford to make a single mistake at this time.
The enormous doors groaned as they opened, and Victor led me inside the doorway. Something that I
couldn't quite identify was pervasive in the air within. A sharper stuff, not blood, nor dust.
Something nasty.
The Price of the Truth
A chair was situated in the middle of the warehouse. One chair, made of metal.
It was also related to someone.
I felt another rush of adrenaline.
Victor continued to go, standing close to it and staring down at the body.
A quick breath. A long, leisurely breath out.
Joe...
Dark and viscous, blood poured down his cheeks. His head hung forward, his breathing faint, yet he
was alive.
Hardly.
Victor's eyes came to me.
"You lied." I gulped. "I—" "Shh."
His head cocked, his face inscrutable.
Please tell me, Elena. You would lie to me, but why?
I balled up my fists.
"He was loyal to you once," I said. "I thought—" "You thought?" Victor shook his head in amusement.
That is the issue with you. You have too much on your mind. And now... His hand went to Jeo. "Now,
we have a mess to clean up."
There's no escape
The walls seemed to be smaller.
It's thicker.
Victor produced a pistol by reaching inside his coat. He slowly and deliberately twirled it in his fingers
before extending it—in my direction.
"You want to fix your mistake, don’t you?"
I stayed put.
"Pick it up, Elena."
A test.
One that I wasn't certain I could pass.
With a modest head raise, Jeo's bulging eye just opened. He glanced at me. No, Victor. It's not the
gun. I.
Believe.
It was a risky thing.
I grabbed the gun.
Victor's grin widened.
"Good girl."
I held on tighter.
This was my one chance to change it.
The twist
All of my nerves were screaming at me, and the rifle felt too heavy in my hands.
Victor's head tipped up. "What’s the hesitation?"
I pulled the trigger.
aimed it—
At Jeo, no.
At Victor.
He hardly moved his face.
Then he chuckled.
A deep, long laugh that made my blood freeze.
"You think I’d give you a loaded weapon?"
My stomach fell.
Press the button.
It reverberated throughout the warehouse, the empty room.
It is too late.
Victor twisted my arm before I could respond, and a stinging ache crashed into my ribcage. The
firearm clattered to the floor.
"You disappoint me, Elena."
I fell hard to the ground, gasping for breath as the force of the collision took my breath away.
Victor leaned over me and cocked his head.
"And here I was, thinking you were special."
Blood was spewed onto the floor by me. "Screw you."
He never faltered in his grin.
"Maybe next time, darling."
I was engulfed in darkness before I could even respond before his gun's butt fell.
I woke up with a crushing headache.
Additionally, I had left the warehouse.
My hands were bound. Even my ankles.
I tried moving—with shackles.
A voice pierced the mist.
"Welcome back, Elena."
No, Victor.
Much worse.
Because that voice was familiar to me.
And I was already dead if he had been present.