The Joy of Revenge

CHAPTER 144 No Excuse
Cristos
54%
I was in Sebastian’s room, still in my hideous camping disguise, waiting for Sebastian to
wake up, so I could tell him I was going home. Xavier agreed to let me go under one condition… I had to tell Sebastian my decision.
Sebastian’s room was a reflection of his personality. It was contemporary and efficient, but styled with boring minimalist pieces in monotonous tones of white, gray and black. Sure, everything looked clean and neat in all its simplicity, however it gave off a rather dull impression.
There was one small object though which contrasted with the simpleness of the room. On his smart nightstand was an old cigar box, its varnished wood gleaming under the soft glow of the yellow light coming from the matte black dimmable table lamp situated right beside it. That box, I knew, was from Joy. Just like our home in Los Angeles, Sebastian’s room had the same subtle Joy touch. There was one piece of vintage furniture that stood out in his monochromatic bedroom, a restored vintage black leather chair located right beside hist
window… another gift from Joy.
Joy and I, we had the same tastes when it came to furniture. We loved antiquing, spending hours and hours during the weekends flittering from one antique shop to another, purchasing unique items created during a certain period of time in history. We enjoyed incorporating each item into our sp acious contemporary home and adored how each carefully crafted piece brought character to our surroundings.
Sebastian, of course, wasn’t the only one who received gifts from Joy. I had a beautiful bla leather antique cufflink box in my office at the pub which I brought with me from Californi while Xavier had an antique pistol case in his office at Bo’s; small trinkets that reminded us
how well Joy knew us.
Our Joy…
I couldn’t believe I almost lost her. I didn’t even think that worn down, fly infested gas station was a hotspot. From outside, it looked completely harmless, yet on the inside, it served as a trap and operated as a prison.
How could I have been so naive? I’ve been berating myself for being so careless since we left that disgusting place.
1/5
CHAPTER 144 No Excuse
When we left New Salem to pick up Ki ki at the airport, I didn’t expect that a somewhat uneventful morning would turn into a tragedy come noon.
Outside, as I waited by the gas pumps, I kind of suspected something was wrong when the ice cream truck music began to play through the loudspeakers hanging on the canopy. It was so loud, I couldn’t even hear myself think.
Through the dirty windows of the convenience store, I manage to see Joy’s silhouette
walking through the aisles as she casually looked around and shopped. After a couple more minutes, I noticed her rushing to the counter to pay. She moved so fast, I expected she would be coming out as soon as she was done paying.
“K, hurry up. V is at the counter paying. Once she’s out, we’ll head down further south a bit,
then make a u-turn back to Mandan. Knowing Bo, he’s probably freaking out,” I yelled to
K iki.
“We’ll contact him as soon as we hit the road again, so he won’t have to worry,” K iki yelled back. “I’m about done. Just give me another minute to tie this thing up and we can be on our
merry way.”
After several minutes had passed with no Joy, I began to fret. Ki ki was already done tying the VSAT system in place on the truck bed while Joy was still inside the store. She should have

been out by now.
“K, I think I should go and check on V,” I yelled, pointing at the convenience store.
“She isn’t out yet?!” K iki asked surprised. She quickly let go of the piece of tarp she was covering the satellite dish with and jumped off the truck. That’s when I saw the worrie
in her eyes.
The expression on her face was enough for me to walk on over to the convenience store. pushed on the wooden door with all my might, but the da mn thing was locked.
I peered through the windows and saw two men pass by, walking towards the counter. Where in the hell did those two come from?!
The hairs behind my neck stood up and my heart began to beat rapidly
in trouble.
in my chest. Joy was
“What’s going on? And why are you still outside?” Ki ki asked loudly as she peered through
the glass windows.
2/5
12:19 Wed, Apr 3 M
CHAPTER 144 No Excuse
54%
“V’s in trouble and the door’s locked,” I yelled, banging on the door and shaking it, hoping for some miracle.
“It’s locked?!” K iki exclaimed, pulling out her gun. She aimed at the window furthest from
where we were and shot at it. I expected the glass to break, but to my utter shock and
dismay, it was bulletproof glass.
“This place looks like it’s falling apart, but their windows are made of bulletproof glass,” K iki
exclaimed. “This dump is a front. We need to get inside before it’s too late. Is there a keyhole?” She looked down at the door. “There’s no keyhole, C. This thing is locked from the
inside.”
A cold sweat appeared on my forehead and my hands began to shake uncontrollably. I felt a sudden pain in my chest at exactly where my heart was, as if someone was squeezing the life
out of me.
I gasped for air; the grip-like constriction in my chest made it difficult for me to breathe. For a split second, I actually thought I was going to keel over from a heart attack.
I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. I needed to get a grip on myself. Joy needed me.
I opened my eyes… We were going to get inside that store… by any means necessary.
I took a step back and rammed my shoulder against the door, but it wouldn’t budge. I took another step back, silently praying the lock would give when I rammed into it again.
Ki ki positioned herself beside me to help and both of us slammed our shoulders onto door. We felt it move, but it didn’t open..
“Let’s use the truck,” I yelled to K iki, who was massaging her shoulder. “Come on. It’s only way in.” K iki nodded her head and gave me a thumbs up sign. I turned to run to th
truck when I heard K iki call out to me.
“Hold on, C,” Ki ki suddenly yelled. “Do you hear that?”
Inspite of the loud irritating ice cream truck music, we heard the unmistakable sound of the door unlocking. Oh thank G od!
I immediately placed my hand on the grip of my gun tucked in the rear waistband of my shorts and gestured to Ki ki.
She took her gun out and glanced inside the store before crouching low. She gestured she
3/5
12:19 Wed, Apr 3 M
CHAPTER 144 No Excuse
had eyes on one bogey standing near the door… right before she barged in.
A wave of relief flowed through my body seeing Joy standing with a gun in her hand aimed. at the poor schmuck crying on the floor. She was okay! Actually, she was more than okay. She had killed two men without any help. A dead man was lying on top of a wooden rack, his blood staining the merchandise. And judging by the blood splatter on the wall, another one
was behind the counter.
I wanted to cradle Joy in my arms and kiss her, but it wasn’t the place nor the time. Good thing K iki had her wits about her. She quickly barricaded the door from where the two thugs emerged from and quickly decided it was best if we set the whole place on fire.
I picked up the wounded man named Douglas off the floor and led him outside to the camper trailer, realizing the filthy m otherf ucker had peed in his pants. He was terrified.
If you want to live, be a good boy. You never know… we might need you for something else,” I whispered in his ear, giving him hope so he would cooperate.
Iin the camper trailer, I had to fight the urge to strangle him with my bare hands while I
ckchained him to the sink in the bathroom.
I toughed in disgust as I inhaled his horrid stench. His smell was so terrible, I had to make thhe conscious effort to breathe in through my mouth, while I binded his arms and legs. together, to prevent myself from puking.