It took a moment for Ashe’s eyes to adjust to the sudden change in light, the room appearing set in pitch darkness after standing under the early evening sun. Her vision was quick to adjust as she took that first step through the threshold. The walls were painted in a lime green that was offensive to the eyes. There was an antique TV that was half the size of a car on a dresser that had seen better days and shag carpet that likely had been there since the place was built in the seventies.
She took all of that in through her periphery, her attention focused solely on the single occupant of the bed. She’d expected something gruesome, but that still hadn’t prepared her for what she found. Lily was indeed there, laying on the bed, eyes open and staring up at the ceiling, unblinking. She wasn’t clothed, and there were fluid stains that Ashe didn’t want to think too deeply upon. What drew her eye, however, were the marks along her neck that were clear hand prints from where the bastard had strangled her.
“Fuck,” Ashe said, summing it all up.
Crystal stepped past her, taking the room in as she did, but Ashe’s focus never strayed far from the young girl’s face frozen in terror. She knew she was going to die, that much was clear by the blood on her nails. She’s fought as best she could against him, but it wasn’t enough.
She’d need to take steps to ensure something like this never happened again.
That would come after she hunted the bastard down and made sure he felt every ounce of pain and terror that Lily no doubt had in her final moments. It was a calm fury that swirled within her, one that promised pain and death would follow in its wake. She didn’t care, someone had crossed a line by harming one of her own.
“Inferno,” Crystal said softly, a gentle hand pressed to her chest, “breathe.”
Ashe forced air into her lungs, her vision sharpening as she did. She hadn’t even realized the edges were growing dark. Stars prickled across her eyes, slowly fading as she took measured breaths, urging herself to stay in the moment, to not drift off. Right, she needed to gather any evidence that she could, but then what?
If it was called in, would they come hunting for the criminals that reported the murder? Would the death of her girl at the hands of some prick be ignored in favor of attempting to chase down the wanted fugitives? She still struggled sometimes to remember that she was a wanted criminal, Ashe understood it to some degree, but that thought alone was enough to make it sink in. Just like everything else in her life, justice would only be found if she claimed it.
Ashe walked over to stand beside Lily, looking down at her vacant expression of terror. She wondered what her last thoughts might have been, how alone she must have felt knowing she was being murdered without any of her friends there. As morbid as it was, and perhaps cruel, Ashe wished that the girl had still been alive when they got there, if only so she died knowing that someone was there that gave a damn.
She pulled her phone out, not her usual, but a flip phone she kept as a burner. She stared at the screen for a moment before she dialed 911. It took only two rings before it connected and a familiar voice sounded.
“911, what’s your emergency?” Naomi said.
Right, this woman knew her voice, which meant she needed to do something to throw off any investigation. Resolving herself, Ashe cleared her throat and let it settle lower.
“This is Inferno,” she said, her voice deep and husky, but still feminine enough that she didn’t wince in revulsion. “I am at the Hourly Motel in Sutton where one of my working girls was murdered within the last hour.”
“I—I’m sorry,” Naomi said, her voice skipping. “Did you say Inferno?”
“Try to keep up,” she said, growing irritated. “I am only calling as a courtesy. One of my people will forward you pictures of the suspect and their vehicle. Consider it a race, because if I catch them first, I will kill them for this.”
Ashe hung up before Naomi could respond, a shuddering breath followed. Ashe pulled the battery and sim card from the phone before pocketing each. She then took out her phone and snapped several pictures of the scene. Crystal had stepped away, doing the same of the restroom before rejoining her.
“We should go,” Ashe said softly. “They’ll no doubt send half the precinct to this one.”
Crystal nodded, reaching out to grab her hand. Ashe allowed it, relishing the grounding pressure as her friend squeezed. They returned straight to the van after that, the mood within somber as Ashe directed them to drive away. Crystal clarified that they needed to take a path away, and that meant heading north into Viuda territory.
“She’s dead, isn’t she?” Jessica asked, her voice trembling and hollow.
“Yeah,” Ashe answered, her own voice distant and detached.
Jessica retched out a sob that quickly turned into ugly tears. Ashe understood it all too well. Lily had been with her in captivity, she was rescued right alongside the others. She was one of the first that Ashe had brought on board, the one’s that hadn’t taken her up on leaving Florida. If she had, would anyone have died today? Would she have lost someone else instead?
Those sort of questions served no purpose, but she couldn’t help it, they were ever present within her mind. Brie hadn’t said anything, just stayed razor focused on driving, though her white knuckled grip on the wheel betrayed how affected she was. Had they been friends, or merely co-workers who knew each other in passing?
Lily lived in an apartment, and had been excited to get her own place. Ashe only knew her in passing, she’d kept a distance because she was afraid of people figuring out that Ashe Hamilton was Inferno. Lily stood out among everyone, always bubbly and happy. They’d far too few words with one another that wasn’t business, and now the girl was dead. It infuriated her, to know that someone she was responsible for had been murdered.
“Brie,” Ashe said, her voice carefully measured. “Make sure the pictures taken are scrubbed of location data, then submitted to the police’s tip line. I want them to have enough information to have his name and face plastered across the evening news. Further, I want Lily to get a proper funeral and burial. She won’t be forgotten.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Brie’s entire body tensed, as if she would lash out had she not been behind the wheel, then, she slowly let the tension bleed away. Ashe knew she wasn’t calm, far from it, but she was distancing herself from the moment.
“Thank you,” Brie said. “That’s more than we would expect.”
Ashe blinked, regarding the woman whom she was absolutely starting to see as a friend. “What do you expect, when something like this happens?”
Brie tried for a casual shrug, but it came off stilted. “Being found in a ditch, half eaten by the wildlife if we’re lucky. No real effort at identification made, and a friend missing for months before someone catches wind of what happened to them.”
That… Ashe couldn’t imagine how horrible that must be for those grieving someone, the lack of closure even though they just know that they’re dead. In this case, Lily would get that closure, and hopefully they would manage to track down the assailant. She would make damn sure that the others knew they wouldn’t be abandoned, that someone was looking out for them, even in death.
“I’m contacting Yessina,” Ashe said. Before Crystal could launch into a protest that was no doubt coming, Ashe cut her off with a raised hand and continued. “I don’t give a damn about any feuds we have, this takes precedence.”
“She’ll use it against you in the future,” Crystal said. “You would be showing her a weakness if you let her know how much this hurt you.”
She wasn’t wrong, but there was a lesson she had learned from a recent read, one that could be applied here.
“It is only a weakness if she thinks I won’t answer any attack tenfold,” Ashe said. “If someone hurts my people, I’ll make them suffer. I will build a monument to their ruin that will be remembered for generations. Alejandro has a reputation because he put in the work to earn it, it’s time I did the same.”
Crystal fixed her with a hard look, but it was Jessica’s expression that drew her in. Fire and fury, raw emotion just crackling under her skin despite the fear within her eyes. There were a myriad of conflicting emotions roiling within her, but Ashe didn’t have the time to even begin to unpack all of that right then.
Ashe opened her phone and scrolled through her contacts and dialed one of two numbers that she hadn’t wanted to dial ever again but knew she would have to. The phone picked up on the third ring.
“Inferno, this is a surprise,” Yessina said sweetly. “How can I help you this evening.”
“One of my girls was killed,” she said, not bothering to hide her emotions. “I’m sending you everything I have on the bastard that did it.”
“So presumptuous, what makes you think I’ll—”
“This isn’t a request,” Ashe said sharply. “This is retribution. Either you assist us, or get the fuck out of my way. I’ll burn whoever the fuck I need to in order to even the scales.”
“Careful playing with fire,” Yessina said. “Those that do so tend to burn.”
Ashe laughed, dark and foreboding. “Oh, that’s where you don’t understand. My name suits me far more than any realize, and someday, everyone will look back and realize just how fitting the name truly was.”
She hung up right then, and let out a shaking breath. She hated to posture and play games, but sometimes it was needed. There was a lot of work that needed done, and not much time to do it.
“Send everything we sent to the police to her as well,” Ashe said. “It’s up to her if she helps or not, but I have a feeling she will, even if it is more out of curiosity than anything else.”
Crystal and Keiko both nodded.
“Where the hell was this side of you the last four years?” Jessica asked, her eyes wide and jaw set. “Nobody would have fucked with you if you just showed this side more often.”
Ashe sighed, not wanting to explain it. “It’s simple. Everyone expects me to sit back and remember my place. The moment I lash out, people are eager to remind me what happens when I do forget where I belong. This is what happens when I just stop giving a damn what others think and nobody is in position to restrain me. This is the side of me that I’ve kept locked away, the side that is now leading the charge.”
“We’ve been poking a fucking dragon,” Jessica whispered, her voice trembling. “How the hell can you even stand to be around me, knowing I helped set you up that day? Why haven’t you killed me?”
“Been sitting on that question for a while, haven’t you?” Ashe asked, a touch of amusement coloring her words. Hesitantly, Jessica nodded with a heavy swallow. “Because in the grand scheme of things, High School doesn’t count shit for dick. Even college doesn’t amount to much and I only plan to attend to pick up some skills that will be useful in the future and maybe study some stuff I enjoy.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you haven’t tried to take revenge for having you attacked,” Jessica said hesitantly.
“Do you want me to seek revenge?” Ashe asked, leaning forward as she looked right through her former tormentor. There was real fear there, looking back at her, and a part of her wanted to revel in it, to soak it in and enjoy being in the seat of power. “I could have Brie pull over right now, put a bullet in you and leave you to die. Is that what you want? Is that not good enough? Should I drench you in gas and light you up? Laugh as you burn alive for my amusement?”
Jessica had been steadily shrinking back in her seat, eyes wide in raw terror. There was almost something intoxicating about inspiring that reaction, and she wanted to indulge in it further. Ashe wasn’t done however, even if her point had already been made, but that person wasn’t her. She was jaded, but not yet callous.
“Those are all things I am considering doing to this man, and more besides,” she continued, her voice hard. “Yet, I don’t have any desire to subject you to that. I don’t believe in karma, but what happened to you was probably the closest thing I’ve ever seen. Remember who you used to be, strive to be better, and I’ll consider us even once everything is said and done.”
Silence hung in the van following her speech, and Ashe hoped the matter was closed. She didn’t like being vengeful fury, but she would wield it when it suited her, and right now, it felt like a glove she hadn’t worn in years, yet still fit perfectly. She’d played the villain more than once for her roleplaying groups online, she knew she could play it well, and now she would prove it to the entire city.
“Holy shit,” Crystal said. “This city really has no clue just what has been unleashed, do they?”
“Sometimes, the rot needs to be cleansed,” Ashe said softly as the van arrived back at the apartments. “Fire will serve that purpose just fine. It’s time everyone learned not to fuck with me and mine.”
“Oh, this is gonna be a ride,” Keiko said with a manic grin.
Crystal swallowed, and reached out. Ashe accepted her hand and squeezed it to the best of her ability. Things were about to heat up, but she wasn’t going to face any of it alone. Ashe had friends, she had Crystal, and funny enough, she had minions that would help make her will a reality.
Letting go of her friend’s hand, Ashe pushed the back door open and hopped out, the setting sun casting the scene in an orange glow. Fitting, for what she planned to unleash. She’d given the police a heads up, which meant they should be releasing his information to the public, and from there, she would hopefully be able to track down a lead.
There was little doubt that she would find him before the police did. He’d left DNA evidence behind, he would be pinned to the crime, but only if someone gave a damn. She was going to ensure that someone did, and then make him suffer and beg, he would wish that the police had prosecuted him to the fullest extent before she was done with him.
Only then would she allow him to die.