Revenge

The sequel to Before I Go

It was six months after June laid her best friend to rest. The moment of his death haunted her at every moment. What if there was something she could have done differently? What if she hadn’t taken that job, where would they be today? She fiddled with the ring on her right hand as she thought. There must be some way to get Bossman to pay for what he did. What, and how? June began to pace the floor. She knew it would involve the building that Marco died in, but that was pretty much the extent of her planning so far. Looking around at her drab apartment, that was in all honesty, quite messy at this point. Dishes stacked high; laundry piles everywhere, and all the drapes shut tight. Realizing that she needed some fresh air, she grabbed her jacket and walked to the door. As she approached, there was a gentle knock on the other side.

“Quincy, what are you doing here?’’ June gasped as she studied the man standing in front of her. He was a litter taller than Marco was, roughly 6’ 4’’, where Marco was 5’ 11. What Quincy lacked in muscle, he made up for in face structure. Quincy had a sharp jaw, narrow face, and big, hazel eyes. Excitement shone on his face.

‘’June, I’ve figured it out. I know how to kill him,’’ he said as he walked past her. He walked to her kitchen table and set down plans for triggering C4 by a tripwire.

‘’Garret,’’ Bossman’s wife, Marlene, snarled. ‘’It's just hard to believe you’d do something like that.’’

‘’Marlene, he was smarter than he looked. He would have figured out sooner or later that I’m his brother.’’

‘’And? Would he have hugged you to death? You need to get a reality check Garret.’’ Marlene scoffed as she stormed out of the room. Garrett watched as his short, plump wife left the room. He still loved the way she looked when she was mad. Her gray eyes were piercing, and her plump pink lips pursed together in a tight line. If only she knew that he killed his parents. Garret was caught robbing a place when the owners came home, and he beat them to within an inch of their lives. Little did Garret know that Marco was hiding under the coffee table. Marco saw everything. Marco watched as Garret grabbed a marble lamp from the mantle and smashed it over their father’s head. He watched as Garret grabbed their mother by the shoulders and pushed her into the fireplace. Resulting in a cast iron poker to go through her skull. Garret, seeing Marco hiding under the table, decided to drop him off at the orphanage. Afterward, Garret vanished. 

‘’Quincy, what did you do?’’ June asked trying to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

‘’It’s easy. That building has some memorial value to it, so we lure him back into it and blow it to bits,’’ Quincy explained.

‘’But, how exactly did you figure all this out?’’ there was something that just wasn’t adding up to June. Oh, Marco, June thought. She still missed him like mad. Also, she could tell that Quincy missed him too.

‘’What exactly needs doing to get this ready to go?’’ She asked.

‘’I’m not quite sure, but we at least have the beginning plans for this.’’

‘’I don’t know,’’ June hesitated. ‘’What if something goes wrong and one of us gets hurt?’’

‘’June, if we plan this right, we could get away with it, and never deal with it again. Bossman would be dead. Gone and leaving us alone for good, and besides, it’ll take months, even years to get this finished.’’

‘’But Quincy, he hasn’t contacted me since he killed Marco.’’

Quincy started to absent-mindedly pace. June hated it when he did that; it always made her feel even more stressed out than she was.  Rolling her eyes, she walked to the living room. Digging out her laptop that was underneath a pile of clothes on the couch. Sitting down at the kitchen table, June opened up the laptop and brought up the web browser. As the screen was loading, she took a wistful look at her background. It was her favorite picture of Marco. He was lying on a blanket, biceps big enough to make the sleeves of his shirt tighten. Laughing as he brought a beer bottle to his lips. His hair was long enough to show the gentle wave it had. Marco's green eye's sparkled, and his straight teeth formed the most beautiful smile. Blinking back tears, she started typing into the browser ‘C-4 TRIPWIRE DETONATION.'

        ‘’Hey Quincy, would you mind staying here for the night?’’ she asked, her voice quiet

‘’Of course,’’ he responded, ‘’June, it’s all going to work out, I promise.’’

   

        ‘’Understood. Keep eyes on them, let me know every move they make,’’ Garret said grim and hit the end button on his phone. He rested his elbows on the railing of their deck and watched as the waves danced on the ocean. Marlene stood there and glared.

    ‘’Please don’t look at me like that,’’ he pleaded.

    ‘’I just don’t understand why you can’t leave them alone, let them be happy. Unless they’re your siblings too’’ she scoffed.

    ‘’Just let me do my job. There’s no way that June is going to let this go,’’ He demanded and stormed back into the house.

    ‘Well, maybe she should kill you.’ Marlene thought as she followed him into the room.

    Three years later, Quincy and June started dating. They still planned the death of Bossman. They also bought the deed to the building in which Marco died. Then one day it all changed. 

    ‘’Quincy! Come quick!’’ June cried from the bathroom. Quincy came running. Opening the door and walked in to see June leaning against the bathroom sink. She was holding a small white stick in one hand, and her other hand over her mouth.

    “June, what is that? Why do you look like that? What’s going on?’’ he asked, sounding more panicked as he asked each question.

    ‘‘This,’’ she said showing him the two dark pink lines. ‘’This a pregnancy test, and you sir, are going to be a father!’’

Garret was also busy with his family and his henchmen. He had recruited new workers for the dirty work that still needed doing. Marlene still hated that he killed his brother, and for calling his goons to watch Quincy and June. In fact, she resented him. Being the one who never believed in divorce, she dealt with it and pushed it to the back of her mind.  Marlene walked to his study. Making sure she was quiet and listened through the gap between the door and the frame.

‘’She’s what?’’ Garret sounded surprised. ‘‘Are you sure?’’ he pressed on. ‘’Okay, well you know what to do. You need to act fast,’’ Garret hung up the phone and leaned back in his high back leather chair.

‘’Garret, what happened?’’ Marlene walked into the room.

‘’June’s pregnant. They bought the building I killed Marco in, and they’re planning something. I just don’t know what.’’

‘’Don’t you dare do anything to that woman. I swear to God Garret, this has gone on long enough,’’ Marlene said. She wasn’t even sure what emotion she was feeling. Anger? Disappointment?

‘’Hun, you need to relax. June’s not involved in this. It’s that b*****d, Quincy. I sent him to get closer to June and see how much she knows. What does he do? He goes and falls in love with the woman and gets her pregnant.’’

‘’Fine,’’ Marlene said as she stormed out of the room. She had to do something. Putting on her jacket and grabbing her purse, she headed out the door. Marlene drove to the coffee house that June was always sitting at and enjoying a nice cup of coffee. Pulling up a block away, Marlene pulled out a piece of scrap paper and scribbled something down. Being careful that her husbands’ henchmen didn't see her. Marlene snuck into the coffee house. She looked around for June. Gazing past the tiny wooden and cast iron tables, the rustic art on the wall, and the playing music in the corner. Marlene spotted June across the room at the front counter. June was ordering a frappe of some kind. Marlene walked past June’s table setting the paper down underneath her phone and snuck back out.

‘’Oh June! Congratulations, that’s so exciting!’’ the barista gushed at June’s news. June was so excited she was telling everyone that would listen.

‘’This one’s on me!’’ the barista exclaimed as she handed June her coffee.

‘’Oh my gosh! Thank you!’’ June, who was so happy, she felt she could burst, walked back to her table. Sitting down, she looked at her phone to see if she missed a call while she was away. As she placed her phone back on the table, she saw a pink piece of paper folded up curious; she unfolded the paper: ’RUN, YOU AND QUINCY ARE IN DANGER  -M’ June felt her world starting to crumble. What could this mean? Who was this ‘M’ person?  June picked up her phone and began to dial Quincy’s number.  ‘’Quincy, something happened.’’

Quincy was driving as fast as he could. He cursed at himself, ‘why now?’ He thought he was in the clear, that it all was behind him. Pulling up to the old building that Marco died in, Quincy set up the C4 trap. Being careful, he threaded the wiring for the trip wire around all the furniture. Taking one last look to make sure everything had been hiding properly and ready to go, he left.

‘’June honey, I’m on my way,’’ Quincy said from the hands-free in the car.

‘’What’s going on?’’ panic started rising in June’s chest.

‘’It’s Garret, er, bossman. He found out that you’re pregnant. He’s not taking it well,’’ he started. After hesitating for a bit he continued; ‘’look, June, there’s something I need to tell you. Bossman was Marco’s brother, and Boss hired me to see how much you knew. It all worked out fine until I fell in love with you.’’

‘’Quincy, I’m not stupid. I know Bossman’s name is Garret, I am aware that you were to spy on me, and I know that he killed his parents. Marco told me everything a few days before he died. I also know that I couldn’t request to call the cops on him. Then you’d know that I was aware of what was going on’’ June was going to continue before Quincy’s phone beeped.

‘’Look. I’m going to have to call you back,’’ switching calls Quincy was about to state his greeting when he heard,

‘’Well, well, well, look who finally decided to man up and spill all the beans,’’ Garret snarled. 

‘’Look, sir, I-‘’ Quincy tried to start but Garret was quick to interrupt.

‘’Sir? Have you the audacity to call me sir? After you disobeyed orders, ignoring my requests, and then ruining all my plans? No, I hope you have all  your loose ends tied up Quincy because this is the end of the road for you.’’  

‘’Now wait. I’ve kept my work and personal life separate. June has no clue that I’ve continued to work for you all these years. She also has no clue about the robberies, the murders, nothing.’’

‘’So I’ve noticed. Still, that still won’t save you. You are a dead man Quincy, better call and tell June goodbye,’’ Quincy hung up on Garret before he could finish. Dialing June’s number, he listened to the ringing. As June picked up, Quincy jumped straight to the point.

‘’June, I love you, never forget that. Now something’s going to happen, and I don’t know what. But I’ve set the C4 up at the building. If I’m not home within the next two hours, you know what to do,’’ as he reached for the end button, he was T-boned. The collision killed him on contact. 

Garret smirked as he sat in his office. Leaning back in his chair, he looked over to where his wife lay. He had snapped her neck like a twig just moments before he called Quincy. Did that stupid woman think that I wouldn’t know about her tipping off June? He’d had enough of her nagging and stone cold glances she sent his way when she thought he wasn’t looking. Even so, Garret felt good about how the day was going. Two deaths, soon to be three, just waiting for June to head back to her apartment now.

‘’Quincy? Quincy?’’ June dropped to her knees; her world was falling apart. Again. She was going to be sick. Did she just witness another death of a loved one?

‘’Ma’am, are you okay?’’ A Samaritan of a bystander had watched June collapse. ‘’Let me walk you to your car,’’ the man helped her stand, and let June put all her weight on him. June couldn’t get a good look at him; he was wearing dark clothing and a hood. As they approached June’s Volkswagen Jetta, the man slipped a Colt .45 out of the back of his pants.

‘’You’re going to need this. I used to work for Garret. Don’t go home. Whatever you do.’’ Before June could say anything, the man was gone. June climbed into the car and let her head fall onto the steering wheel. How could this be happening again? She hugged her stomach. She couldn’t bring a little one into the world alone. What was she going to do? Who was the man who helped her, and why can’t she go home? Shaking her head to collect herself, she remembered what Quincy said. ‘you know what to do,’ starting her car; she drove to the building Marco died in and waited. While June waited for any news from Quincy, she thought through the plan. Lure Bossman to the third floor, jump out the window into the dumpster, and she was golden. Two and a half hours later, Quincy still hadn’t shown up or called. Knowing what she had to do, she walked into the building. Picking up her phone, she dialed the old familiar number.

‘’I’m here. You know where to find me. We’re ending this now,’’ was all she said before hanging up again. She didn’t have to wait long; surprising, but not. She studied the features of the man she was going to kill. She shocked at how much Marco resembles his brother. They shared many of the same features; only Garret wore his hair bald and was much, much more muscular.

‘’Well Garret,’’ June sneered. ‘’Kill off another person I was close to, did you?’’

She glanced at where he was standing, so close. She backed up a little bit causing him to walk forward. He was almost to the tripwire.

‘’It seems our feisty friend here knows more than she leads on,’’ he said with a smirk. ‘’Just how much does little June know?’’

‘’I know everything, Garret. I know you killed your parents. I know that Quincy was your oldest friend, and he promised to keep eyes on Marco and then me. I also know that you intend to kill me as well.’’ June said as she kept backing up. She needed him to move just another few inches.

‘’So my wife told you everything then huh?’’  Garret scoffed. ‘’that woman could never figure out how to keep her mouth shut.’’

‘’Your wife?’’ June asked, confused.

‘’Yeah, Marlene, but you knew that.’’

Marlene. That’s who left the note in the coffee shop. That’s who ‘’M’’ was. June couldn’t believe that he could kill so many people.

‘’No, actually I never spoke to Marlene. Marco told me everything as he figured it out.’’  June glanced down one last time; just as she did she saw the wire snap. It was time. She looked at the man once more, smiled, and said ‘’it’s payback baby’’ ran to the window and jumped out. As she landed in the dumpster that they piled mattresses in, the third floor exploded. Climbing out, and running before the lower floors ignited. As the first floor erupted into flames, June launched into the air. She lost consciousness as she landed. When she came around, she looked at the damage done. The building was a pile of rubbish. The faded red brick turned white from the dust and debris. Pulling herself up, she walked a few paces, realizing her phone was going off she answered it.

‘’Miss Weller? My name is Kelly from the county hospital. We have your results. I’m sorry, but you aren’t pregnant. You have ovarian cancer.’’  June couldn’t hear what the nurse was saying. Something about it being the most aggressive form she’d ever seen, and only having a few months left. June walked a few more feet away from the building. Feeling numb she pulled out the Colt .45 the man gave her. Taking a shaken breath, she put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger, her body dropping to the ground. As June was falling to the ground, her life with Marco flashed before her.