The Fall(56)

“How?”

“Trust me, it’s one of those things you aren’t going to like.”

My mind was too foggy to process what that meant. It didn’t sound good and I probably shouldn’t have asked. But I couldn’t make my mouth say the words, so instead I let it go.

All of those concerns would be there consuming my tomorrow; I wasn’t going to give them tonight as well.





“Hey baby, you looking for a good time?” Cecile leaned in on the open window of the car. “Oh hey, sugar. You looking for a repeat?”

I had never f*cked Cecile. I preferred my hookers less diseased and not resembling a corpse with fake tits, but hey, not everyone is as picky about what the hole looks like when they stick it in.

I’d procured her services a few weeks ago, a classic sex in exchange for information. She was too high to remember it hadn’t been my dick buried in her. Worked out well actually.

“Yep, you want to take a ride?” I flashed the small cellophane bag of coke between my fingers, giving her a smile. “I brought party favors.”

“Ohhhhh yeah.” She opened the door and threw herself into the passenger seat. “Whatever you want.” She snatched the cellophane bag before I’d even eased away from the curb.

Sadly for Cecile, this wasn’t going to end well. She was about the same height as Sofia, and if she hadn’t been a crack whore, she might have even had similar features. She was also about two hits away from finding her own way into her coffin, so really helping her along was just a public service.

Her arms and legs were covered in scratches and puncture marks, most of which had scabbed over while still leeching blood at the edges. She also had a solid case of the shakes, so it had been a while since her last hit, something she was in the process of fixing as she took large inhales of the fine white powder.

“Wow, I needed that.” Her hand brushed against my thigh as her head fell against the headrest. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

“We’re just going to drive for a bit.”

She shrugged, her finger digging into the little baggie a few more times as I drove toward the airport. Not once did she ask where we were going or what we were doing, and to be honest, I doubted she cared.

“Hey do you have anything to drink?” Her head lolled to the side, her pupils dilated.

“No, but we can get something later.”

We pulled into an industrial estate, not far from the warehouse, the road too well lit for what we needed. I eased the car up behind a dumpster, putting it in park and engaging the emergency brake.

“Okay.” Cecile looked around and nodded, the surroundings not unlike other places she’d probably been asked to perform. “This is fine.”

“Give me your arm, Cecile.”

She didn’t hesitate, outstretching her arm as she leaned back into her seat, her eyes in a dead stare.

“Just going to give you a little sweetener.” I pulled out the syringe from the glove compartment; her head nodding like an excited puppy.

It was hard to find a vein, most of hers blown out and collapsing as the needle hit them, blood trickling out of the tiny pricks I’d made from unsuccessful attempts.

“My toes.” She slid out of her worn patent leather stilettos and shifted in her seat. Her foot landed in my lap as her head rested on the passenger side window. “I think there’s a good one near my little toe.” She wiggled her pink stubby digits, the red nail polish covering them cracked, hiding the dirt that was living underneath.

She was right, there between here last two toes was a viable vein, or at least one I hoped would hold up so I could pump in the drug. After that—well, after that, she wasn’t going to have much use for any of them.

My thumb compressed against the plunger. The dirty liquid filled her, the mix of Heroin and Fentanyl lethal enough to kill someone twice her size. Her coke appetizer would hopefully speed things along but then you could never tell with junkies. Their meth-filled bodies outliving cockroaches.

It didn’t take long, her arms twitching a little as her eyes glassed over and then finally her eyelids started to droop, her breathing starting to slow down.

“Won’t be long now, Cecile.” I moved her foot out of my lap and recapped the syringe, carefully wiping any fingerprints off.

A used needle wasn’t going to raise any alarm bells on this side of town, but I didn’t need anything tying me to it.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her face losing muscle control. “T-th-annn-k yyy-ouuu.”

Maybe she knew I was ending the cycle, that this was going to be the last time she was going to have to get into a car with a stranger because of her habit. Before meeting Sofia, I wouldn’t have cared. But watching her die, I felt like in a way I was setting her free. And as f*cked up as that sounded, I felt a weird sense of calm in that.

Her eyes closed as her body twitched in the seat, but it wasn’t long before that stopped too.

And then nothing.

Her lungs and heart stopped fighting as whatever little color she’d had drained from her pasty skin.

It was over, just as quick and easy as I’d hoped.

I rearranged her back into her seat and fastened her seatbelt. For anyone who happened to glance our way she looked like she was sleeping. Then I started the ignition and drove back to the warehouse.