Before I Go: A dark and tense psychological crime thriller. by Marie Reyes (the false prince series txt) 📗

at them and then stashed it back in the holster, as if he was certain they would do what he said. Julio still held his gun out, keeping his arms raised in front of him. His arms shook, lacking Samuel’s confidence. The third man passed Josie a shovel, and then stood still as a statue, saying nothing.

“Dig.”

“Why would I dig my own grave?” Josie yelled defiantly.

Samuel’s mouth hung open in shock that she dare even ask such a question, then his open mouth turned to a strange grin as he shook his head and tutted. “Ah, sweet girl.” He stepped up to her and bent his knees, bringing his face level with hers. “There are so many things worse than death, and you don’t want to know what they are. Play nice, and maybe you’ll never have to find out.” He brought his face even closer, so they were almost touching. “Now dig.”

She glared at him as she struck the earth below with the head of her shovel. The look on her face resembled a teenager sulking at having to tidy their room, or something equally mundane.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” He turned to Michael. “What are you staring at? Get digging.”

Michael made his first attempt and weakly thrust at the earth with his shovel. It was softer than it had looked, but still hard going. He had to drag this out as long as possible.

“Ha ha, she can dig better than you too.” Samuel lit a cigarette and watched them with a smirk on his face. “Ah, Julio. What would you do without me? You were never very good at following through.” He paced up and down, taking small, sharp drags of his cigarette and kicking up dirt with his shoe. “Put some backbone into it guys.”

Michael decided it was time. If they were going to die anyway, they might as well make a bid for freedom. He and Josie had their shovels. Samuel’s gun wasn’t in his hand. If Josie took out Julio and he took out Samuel at the same time, then all that would be left, would be one man. He glanced over him to see if he was armed but couldn’t tell. He wondered why this man was here, anyway. He did nothing, just watched. Josie looked down at what she was doing, and he tried to catch her eye. They needed to be on the same page.

It was almost fully light now, and the residual orange hue of sunrise was fading fast. Michael scooped another shovel-full of earth and threw it to the side in a pile. He had seen someone dig their own grave in a film once and found himself wondering how someone could do something so stupid. Now he understood. The body seeks to delay pain as long as possible. And he could only imagine how someone who didn’t want to die would react in the situation he was in. No matter how much he wanted to go, it wasn’t time, not yet.

“What did you do with my sister? If you’re going to kill me, at least give me that. Please.” She moved towards Samuel, and Michael tensed immediately. Don’t to it, he repeated over and over in his head as he watched Samuel’s relaxed stance turn defensive.

He took a drag on his cigarette as he locked eyes with her and blew a stream of smoke in her face. “Nah. Keep digging. Once this is done, maybe then I will tell you.”

She threw the shovel to the ground and fell to her knees. Silent tears streamed down her face and the sobs only came when she put her head in-between her knees. Michael went to comfort her. “I don’t think so.” Samuel stepped across Josie and planted his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “Keep digging.”

A shot rang out, filling the empty space like the shock-waves of a nuclear blast. Before Michael knew what the hell was going on Julio dropped to the floor, blood gushing from the side of his head.

Chapter Twenty

Samuel must have been as surprised as Michael had, as it took him a moment before he reached for his gun. As Samuel aimed at the other man, Michael swung the shovel at his head with a force he didn’t even know he was capable of. Samuel’s shot went off in the wrong direction as he crashed down to the floor and ricocheted off the car.

Michael stood there as Josie curled in a ball in front of him. The man still had his gun raised, and Michael wondered if he was next, yet still couldn’t bring himself to move.

“Vamanos.” The man shouted, “Get in the car.”

Josie took her hands from the side of her head and looked up at the man.

“The car, now!” Don’t make me regret this.”

Michael helped Josie up from the floor and they walked shakily towards the car, trying not to look in the direction of Julio’s lifeless corpse. When they were both in the backseat, Michael pressed against the dusty window to see the man stride over to Samuel. He towered over him. Michael half expected him to shoot him in the head, but all he did was nudge him in the side with his foot, checking for signs of life. Samuel’s cell-phone slipped from his pocket onto the ground, and the man smashed it under his shoe before heading back to the car.

The man got in the driver’s seat, started the engine and turned around, heading back in the direction they had come from. Josie looked out the back window as the car picked up speed. “You’re just going to leave him there. Is he dead?”

“I’ll never kill a man if I don’t have to. Besides, if I killed Samuel Hernandez, I would be as good as dead, no matter where I went. At least if I leave him alive, they probably won’t bother to come looking.”

“What about Julio?” She asked, still looking out the back window.

“No-one gives a shit about