Tate McRae - don't come back

The flames blew smoke into the sky, blanketing the blue canvas in black. Heatwaves rolled off the van and seemed to scorched anyone that near it. The only option was to wait for the fire department to arrive which meant anyone who was trapped inside was dead or burning alive.

A pained sob bubbled out from her as the imagine of her husband trapped inside the flames - burned and blistered - surfaced. No, he wasn't gone, she told herself, he can't be because he was strong and invincible.

But he was still a mere man and subjected to the conditions that could kill them.

Rory fumbled with the car door and still it won't open thanks to Luci's child lock. With clenched hands, she banged her fists against the glass until her knuckles redden from the force. Desperately she attempted to get out and get to her husband as if anyone inside the wreckage still had a surviving chance.

"Please! Please! Let me out." She begged as the tears blurred her vision. "I want to go to him, please." Her voice bubbled and broke, she pleaded, "I need to go to him, please!"

Rolling her eyes, Luci ignored her and started the engine. As she watched the fire burned out, she felt a sense of accomplishment. Finally, the man who had sullied her life and the life of her loved ones was put into the ground. He deserved nothing less than a painful death.

Like all the merciless years he had ruled over Colombia, Luci intended to show him none too.

As she pulled out the parking lot, Rory's scream grew louder and more desperate to the point, Luci worried someone in the precinct might actually hear them.

Rory twisted and turned in her seat while doing all she could to get the door to open or the windows to break.

"Please!" She cried, "Please turn back around!"

A sharp pain pulsed in her chest. Like, someone had dragged a knife along her flesh and ripped out her heart while she watched the wreckage disappeared in the distance. Rory's lips trembled and she rested her head against the glass. Once and twice she banged her head helplessly against it.

So many unsaid things needed to be said between them and now they would never get the chance because her husband was dead.

Gideon Torres was dead.

Another heart aching scream crawled out her throat at the realisation; painful and utterly pitiful.

Pitiful.

Eventually, with her hand laying on her bump, a calmness settled in the car. Green eyes slanted to the side, to Luci who appeared far from remorseful for killing her flesh and blood. She looked hopeful - happy even. And that rubbed Rory in the wrongest fucking way possible.

Before she could even considered her actions, Rory dived; grabbing the steering wheel causing the car to swerve in the road.

A struggle played ensued between them; with Rory losing sight of her condition. In that moment, when those flames were still burning brightly, she wanted nothing more than to burn along with those flames. To let her flesh set alight; to cry in agony and she suffer for all the wrong choices she made.

A feeling, nothing like she ever felt before, tore through her chest. Ripping out her heart and crashing it under an impossible weight.

Was this what it felt like when your soul cuts into two? When you lose your other half?

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Luci gasped, taking back the wheel and halting to a stop on the side road.

She faced Rory who wore a smug look; one she had never seen the girl wear. Her green eyes pulsing with something dark. Crazed.

"I think there's a lot wrong with me." Rory replied, "Thought today would be a good day to explore that."

"Oh, fuck you Rory." Luci spat. "I literally just saved you from a lifetime of hurt and heartache. He's dead; the man who gave you nightmares and panic attacks. He's gone."

He's gone.

Rory shook her head - denial still raw. Biting her lip, she hardened her eyes and fixed Luci with a glare. In an instant sharp nails draw lines down Luci's face; blooding her tan skin. She screamed and hissed in pain while she waved her hands in the space between them; trying the squat Rory away.

Moving quick, Rory grabbed a fistful of Luci's hair and pushed her head roughly against the stirring. A crack resonated their confined space - her nose was broken.

As Luci weep and struggled with the pain of her sullied face, Rory reached over and the unlock the car. She dashed outside in a panic, almost slipping on the tarmac. One hand under her belly, cradling protectively, she ran. Towards the wreckage, towards her husband.

But all that slipped threw her fingers.

Something solid, like hard metal, connected with the back of her head - knocking Rory to the ground. She feel to her knees, curled up on her slide.

"Gideon." She barely gasped while her palms crawled along the tarmac, reaching for someone who was not there. No longer there.

Using her foot, Luci rolled her over. One hand clutched her disfigured nose and the other holding a gun, pointing directly at Rory - at first. Then, it moved to the centre of her stomach, causing her blood to turn cold.

She stilled, afraid that one move would end the life of a child who had yet to enter the world. Who will never meet his father. But, wasn't this want she wanted?

It was all a lie.

The life she wanted and her hatred for him. Lies that he'll never know.

"You're pathetic and you deserve to die along with him."

"Then kill me." She dared. Her voice trembling. "Kill me."

Luci shook her head, "If I kill you I'd never get my daughter back."

She leaned lower, lifting the butt of the gun and aiming for the side of Rory's temple.

Rory switched off like a light as the butt landed on her skull. Her head rolls and her eyes fluttered close.

~*~

With an ice pack resting gently on her nose, Luci laid on the armchair in the corner of the living room. The TV was on full blast, broadcasting the incident at the precinct. Her dreams have come to realisation.

She smiled softly, knowing her father would've been proud of her for avenging him.

And, Cristian would love and adore her even more now. He would love her even more if Rory would just cooperate. She groaned thinking about the teenage girl locked in the basement of the mansion, causing havoc and screaming down the place.

Somehow she managed to broke Luci's nose giving her two black eyes and marks dotting her face. Thankfully, it was severe and the pain and had yet to spread through the rest of her face.

She couldn't let Cristian see her like this - he would love her even less.

"I can't seem to get in touch with my father and brothers." Cristian grumbled, entering the room with a pissed off expression.

Since the news was broadcast across the country and the top trending news, they must've seen it. Thus, why weren't they answering his calls?

Luci's heart leaped and embarrassment rushed her veins. God, he couldn't see her like this.

He looked up from his phone and his face twisted unpleasantly - she knew it.

"What happened to your face?"

"Rory happened." Luci sighed. "She wasn't too pleased about his death."

"What are you going to do with her now?"

"My sister texted me Gideon's will and of course, Rory is the sole beneficiary of his estate." She winced; rolling her eyes were now out of the question. "I just need her to sign over her rights and we will have everything."

She stood, dropping the ice pack onto the side table. Luci grimaced at herself in the mirror; purple and black bruise donned her face with little specks of blood on her blouse.

In a few strides she reached Cristian. Her fingers tightened on the lapel of his beige suit and she held his gaze.

"Just a couple more weeks." She murmured. "Everything will be ours. Our family will be respected again."

The determination was clear, in her voice and in her eyes. It radiated off her however, Cristian knew Gideon longer than anyone else. They grew up together. They were made and shaped to be made men together. From killing this first men, threatening and looting to drug trafficking and contract killing; they experienced it together.

A man like Gideon Torres cannot be taken down so easily. Cristian had every reason to be skeptical about his downfall.

~*~

Gabbie's heels clicked against the porcelain tiles of the conference room of the precinct. The last couple of days, this place was all she knew. A long oval table and sleek black leather chairs. White binds that shut off the rest of the building and several computers set up - watching everything.

Officer Esmeralda in her usual grey pant suit with blue yarn braided into her hair. She stood, hands in her pockets, watching the firefighters distinguish the last of the burning mess outside the building.

No bodies were retrieved - not in that kind of flames.

Gabbie appeared behind her; chin resting on Esmeralda's shoulders.

"Thanks for everything, babe." She sighed, wrapping her arms around Esmeralda's waist. "We appreciate it."

"I don't enjoy breaking the law but your brother pays well." She stated, "I'll put it towards our wedding plans."

Gabbie chuckled snuggling deeper in her warmth, "How big of a wedding do you want?"

"You two can have ten fucking weddings with the amount I paid her."

They craned their heads, finding him sat with one leg on his knees; dwarfing the leather chair.

"FBI's and Secret Service agents are expensive." Gabbie shrugged, sliding into the seat beside her brother with Esmeralda following suit. "And besides, you had family discount."

A snort vibrated off Gideon and he leaned back in his chair. Gabbie eyed the poor thing; if he leaned back anymore the chair won't be able to hold his size.

"What now?" She questioned, gathering her attention. "She never responded to my text about your will, are you sure that's what she wants?"

"It's what Cristian Herrera and his family wants." Gideon said, "She's doing this for him."

He had to admit, Luci was a smart girl. She was logical and arranged her plans like she was playing a game of chess. To corner her opponent and to deal the final blow.

But like their father, they both inherited his cockiness except Gideon knew his place and his stance. Unlike Luci, he had years of mistakes and success; events which directed him on his path. Which shaped him to be the person he was.

Hence, he was and always had been five steps ahead of her.

"It's too bad." He began again, "His father and brothers couldn't enjoy this moment with them."

Because they were dead, burnt alive in a wreckage they arranged for him.

"And Rory? Will you go after her?"

Every fibre of him froze at her name. He was informed that Rory was not at home nor was she in Cartagena. With Jairo's death, no eyes were on her.

Though he was certain she did not run away because Azul was still at home and her mother happily living her life in the care home. It only meant she chose to join his sister. Was she part of the plan for his demise?

I hate you.

He heard her loud and clear.

"I won't." He swallowed the massive lump in his throat.

A void of nothingness replaced the love he lost. He felt nothing except cold and eeriness just like the day he murdered his father.

"She already made her choice and she chose to betray me." Gideon stood, button the middle of his suit, "I will not go after her."