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Thriller
Date Published: 2/14/20
Publisher: Sunbury Press
Love isn't always champagne and roses and it's certainly not the case in this love triangle thriller with a twist. A dominating, abusive boyfriend is being ousted for a romantic hero, but there are deadly consequences. Step into the gang life and witness the savagery as they stop at nothing to seek revenge. You've heard the old saying: "Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl." Now you can add: "Girl's gang-leader boyfriend doesn’t like the new addition."
CHAPTER
1
In a New York City apartment building, on
an upper floor in an empty hallway, “Snake” Santiago and three fellow gang
members made their way slowly and quietly through the poorly lit, dingy
corridor. When they came to the unit they searched for, Snake motioned for the
other guys to move out of the way while he positioned himself directly in front
of the door. The gang leader forcefully kicked the door with all his might,
busted the frame apart, and the door flew open instantly. With weapons drawn,
they entered the apartment and searched methodically, like a perfectly executed
police raid.
It was a small place, so it didn’t take
long for them to check the entire apartment and figure out nobody was home. The
search of the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom took less than three
minutes.
Snake walked over to the kitchen table
and saw what appeared to be a partially eaten meal spread out across it. He
stuck his finger into a pile of warm mashed potatoes and realized they had
probably just missed their targets.
“The food is still warm. We must have
just missed them. They can’t be far. The stairs are the only exit in this
building, and we didn’t pass them. The only place they could have gone is the
roof. Let’s go, but be quiet, eh. We don’t want to
alert them.”
The four men made their way back to the
stairwell. Snake lead the way as they climbed up three more stories to the door
that led out to the rooftop. He glanced back at his fellow gang members and,
with his
He placed his hand on the silver metal
doorknob and gently turned it. He pushed the heavy metal door open slowly to
minimize any noise it might make. If the door creaked or squeaked, it would
give them away.
Once it opened enough to be able to walk
through, he noticed this side of the roof was empty. This was good luck as it
meant his prey was on the other side of the building. The concrete blocks that
held the door in place created a narrow wall for the criminals to take cover.
The wall gave them a little more time to move closer to their targets.
When all four of them were out on the
roof, Snake quietly closed the door behind him. He didn’t let go of it until it
was securely in place, so it didn’t make a sound. Their cover was still intact,
and their targets were not aware of their presence.
The gang leader cautiously peeked around
the corner and scanned the entire rooftop from end to end. As he suspected, his
two marks were together on the far side of the rooftop. He was relieved to
confirm they were alone, and nobody else was up there to witness what was about
to happen. Witnesses would only make the situation messier than need be.
He placed his back up against the wall,
stared up into the night sky, and watched his breath as he exhaled into the
crisp cool autumn air. He lifted his gun to his chest, looked at his fellow
gang members, nodded his head, and whispered, “Sal and Miguel, you two homies
go to the left.
Diego, you come with me. Vamanos!”
They slowly and quietly maneuvered their
way within a few feet behind the couple, who stood at the edge of the rooftop,
holding hands, looking out over the sparkling New York City skyline. Snake
cleared his throat and said, “Well, well, well, look what I found, ese.”
The startled couple was completely taken
by surprise. Each had a terrified look on their faces when they turned around
and saw Snake.
Emily spoke first, and as she spoke, her
voice turned from fear to anger. “Snake, what are you doing here? How did you
find me? There is nothing to talk about. I told you we are finished. It’s over.
There is nothing to discuss. Move on with your life, and leave me alone. I will
not say it again!”
Standing by her side, her boyfriend,
Noah, picked up on the confidence in her voice, so he managed to muster up some
of his own. “You heard the lady. I’m getting tired of this. I don’t know what
you got against me. She broke up with you. I had nothing to do with it. Why
don’t you just be a man and accept the fact? She don’t want you. Let it go. I’m
tired of running and hiding every time you come around. Just be a man and walk
away. She don’t want you, man!”
Snake couldn’t help but laugh at them and
said, “It doesn’t quite work that way, homie. What I got against you is you
took my woman, ese.
Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t go
after my chica! I’m the leader of the Ninth Avenue
Posse, my brother. I knew something was up when I saw those damn roses. Now,
finally tracking you down with her, that verifies to me that you lied to me and
she been messing with you while she was still with me. You see, Noah, she don’t
get to say we’re broken up, I do.
And where I come from, cheating doesn’t
go unanswered. Now save your breath, homeboy. I know both of you are gonna lie
to my face. You’re both gonna tell me that you weren’t messing around before
she thinks she broke up with me. But I know that’s bullshit, and I’m here to
make it right.”
Noah’s eyes showed he had finally had
enough of the situation. He took two steps forward, put his hands in the air
out by his side, and said, “Let’s go then. Enough of this. Let’s settle it once
and for all right here, right now. Are you going to face me one-on-one like a
man, or are you going to get your flunkies there to help you? Let me know what
I’m up against. But I’m warning you right now; I’m not going down without a
fight.”
Snake pointed his gun at Noah and said,
“No, I don’t need my homies. I can handle this on my own. And I don’t think
you’re gonna put up as much of a fight as you think, pendejo.”
The gang leader pulled the trigger four times in rapid succession. BANG! BANG!
BANG! BANG!
A critically injured Noah let out a
whimper as he fell to the ground.
He pulled himself a couple of feet over
to the edge of the rooftop and propped himself up against the short brick wall.
He couldn’t catch his breath and winced in pain. A pool of blood gathered under
his body from the four gunshot wounds. He had been shot in the leg, arm,
shoulder, and one bullet went through the right side of his chest.
Emily let out a horrific
scream as she rushed to help Noah. She propped him up against the wall somewhat
better than he was so that he would be a little more comfortable. While doing
so, she became covered in blood as well.
She stared up at Snake and yelled at him.
“Oh my God, Snake! What the hell is wrong with you? What have you done? Why
would you do something so stupid?”
Emily tended to Noah as he bled out on
the ground, and she continued to scream back at Snake. “Get it through your
head! We are finished!
I don’t love you, and I don’t want to be
with you. I hate you! You can kill every man in New York City, and I still
wouldn’t be with you.”
Snake glared back at Emily with hatred in
his eyes, and the gang leader laughed at her. He replied, “I’m fine with that,
Emily. Let’s just consider this my official notice that I’m breaking up with
you. I know you were messing around with him while you were with me, so don’t
even try to lie your way out of it, puta. Whatever
your reasoning, I don’t care. In my eyes, you’re just a slut, and that’s all
there is to it. I don’t have room in my life for a whore like you. So now I’m
telling you we’re done.
And I would be very careful with the next
words that come out of your mouth. I would strongly suggest there be none. I still
got two bullets left, and they just might have your name on them. I’ll put you
down too.”
Emily’s grip on Noah slipped because of
all the blood. He started to slump over to the side, so she grabbed him and
pulled him toward her blood-soaked body.
She glared up at her former boyfriend
with tears in her eyes and said,
“I hope you’re happy. Look what you’ve
done. You’re breaking up with me? Then so be it. Only a pussy would do this.
You shot an unarmed man. A real man would have handled it in a completely
different manner.
That’s what I want, a real man, and
that’s something that you’ll never be.
You’ll always be a pussy!”
Snake was embarrassed his ex-girlfriend
spoke to him in such a disrespectful manner in front of the other gang members.
He let his anger take over, and he walked over to Emily and pressed the barrel
of his pistol against the side of her head.
“No bitch is gonna talk to me that way. If you
like breathing, I strongly suggest you apologize, chica,
and quickly. I told you, I got two bullets left, and they would look good right
now inside that pretty little head of yours.”
Emily desperately clung to Noah and
stared up at Snake and yelled,
“Go ahead and pull the trigger pussy! But
if you’re going to do it, just go ahead and do it already. Stop talkin’ about
it. Be a man for once in your life and do what you say you’re going to do. Keep
this in mind. I told you to never call me a bitch again! You seem to have
forgotten that. If I get out of this alive, mark my words, Snake, I’m going to
kill you.”
With all the commotion, nobody paid
attention to all the sirens down on the street. After all, it was New York
City, and a minute without a siren filling the air was nowhere near the norm.
There were always some flashing lights or sirens from fire trucks, ambulances,
or police cars in the area. This was an everyday occurrence, and they blended
right in with the normal sounds of the city. What none of the rooftop hoodlums
seemed to realize was someone in the building heard all the gunshots and called
the police. So while Emily and Snake argued, the police had arrived and made
their way up the stairwell and were about to burst through the door onto the
rooftop.
As Emily continued to yell at Snake, the
large metal door flew open, and several NYPD police officers scattered across
the black tar-covered roof. Loud chaos erupted as the officers shouted orders
to Snake and his gang members to put their weapons down.
All three of Snake’s fellow gang members
instantly put their weapons down at their feet and raised their hands high in
the air. They offered no resistance, so the officers turned their guns toward
Snake and commanded him to drop his weapon.
“Put the gun down, man! Drop the weapon
and put your hands in the air! Let her go! Don’t shoot her! I’m only going to
say this one more time. Put the gun down and your hands in the air. I’m telling
you, son; you’re gonna die right here on this rooftop if you don’t comply
immediately!”
“Okay! Okay! You win, pendejo.
Don’t shoot.”
Snake pulled his finger
off the trigger and pulled the gun away from Emily’s head. His eyes met the
officer’s eyes and held them as he moved slowly. He didn’t want the officers to
get the wrong idea from his movements.
“Don’t shoot! I’m putting it down! Just
don’t shoot, eh.”
The officer yelled back, “Do it slowly!
Any wrong moves, and we will fill you full of lead and not even think twice
about it. Put the gun at your feet and kick it over here. Don’t give us an
excuse!”
The gang leader moved as slowly as
possible and placed the gun at his feet. He put his hands on top of his head
and kicked the gun across the rooftop over to the police. As soon as he did,
several police officers rushed over to him, threw him down to the hard tar
roof, beat him, and cuffed him. The others were taken into custody without the
slightest bit of resistance.
Another officer rushed over to Emily and
said, “Where are you hurt, ma’am?”
“It’s not me; it’s my boyfriend. He’s
been shot four times. The blood is his; please help him. Please! He’s dying!”
The officer grabbed his radio and sent an
urgent message to his dispatcher. “Six to Central, we need a bus at my location
immediately!
We have one adult male down. Four gunshot
wounds. Needs immediate medical attention. Get a bus here right away!”
The officer bent down and tried to find a
pulse on Noah. He turned to Emily and said, “He’s in rough shape, ma’am. Don’t
worry; the ambulance will be here in a minute. Let’s just hope they get here in
time.”
He took Noah from Emily and gently laid
him down flat onto the rooftop. He tried to make him as comfortable as possible
and said, “Don’t give up on me, son. Help is on the way, just hang in there.
You can do it.”
About the Author
Scott grew up in New York and is an avid sports fan. He was a sportscaster and then a sportswriter for many years. He loves writing thrillers to entertain readers across the globe. Scott also loves attending events to meet new fans whenever possible.
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