C.A.R.M.A

26

I spent my life demanding to be right, demanding to be in control of every situation. And I have never wanted to be more wrong about anything before. But my eyes confirm Tyler's fate just as soundly as the discussion between Max and Taylor happening behind me does.

Because there, splatter across Taylor's - no, my - desktop computer were pictures that made my skin crawl.

There was a hand that looked exactly like Tyler's touching his lower ranking employees. Their ass, their chest, other intimate parts. Each one showed the girl's face, but never his.

Black mail at its simplest, primal form.

In any other case, seeing this evidence would make my body coil like a snake waiting to get the order to strike.

But I didn't feel that.

No, I felt limb and sweaty and broken and defeated as I looked at the last hope that Tyler was innocent and this was all Alexia's scheming. No, my friend had been lying to me about more than his sexuality it would seem.

What a fool he must think I am. Believing all of his lies and starting to develop feelings when all he wanted from me was a cover.

Stepping away from the desk in the Head Vixen office, I make my way to the large glass window and watch the rain race down its side. Anger made my arms shake as I crossed them in front of my chest.

"So which one do we take out first?", I ask Max and Taylor, who abruptly stop their conversation.

"What?", Taylor asks.

I spin to face them and both are looking at me like I just spoke latin. It only fuels my anger, "Which one of these fucks am I going to execute first?"

Max and Taylor exchange a look. It makes my vision slightly red at the edges.

"I don't think we can kill both of them, Thea", Taylor said, with a tender expression that looks deceptively like sympathy.

I felt my jaw hang open, and swing a piercing glare at Max, "Why?"

Max winces, "Because Red Wolfe is in absolute shambles right now from Sloane's...disappearance."

I flinch and Max sighs, dragging a hand through his short hair.

"We need to pick which one we're going to threaten and which one we're going to kill", Taylor decrees, looking completely unruffled sitting behind the Head Vixen desk.

It's something we've done before when there's massive companies operating at the caliber Red Wolfe is. Kill one high ranking person and give the others a chance to get in line, with check in visits of course.

And, there's always something we decide to take as collateral.

"We never do that when we have evidence that both suspects have been hurting people!" I yell at the pair before me. 'What makes Red Wolfe special?"

"Damnit, Thea", Taylor points a red tipped finger at my chest. "You are not thinking like a Head Vixen at all."

I bristle under her gaze and Max shifts uncomfortably on his feet.

"Yes, we can kill Alexia and Tyler. Yes, we can dress you in red and send you out tonight to put a bullet in both of their sick heads", Taylor continues, taking a deep breath. "But you need to start thinking about how that will affect our karma."

I blink, opening my mouth but Max cuts me off.

"Think about it", Max implores, reaching for me and resting his hands on my shoulders. "Red Wolfe has done incredible things in the name of sustainable energy and they can bring that to the United States."

"With a good person as the CEO. With a good person who won't hurt anybody, and will give people a safe place to work", treacherous tears start to spill down my face.

Max traces a teardrop on my cheek, looking just as shocked at the emotional display as I feel.

Just then, the office door swings open as Becca drags a woman with a bag over her head into the center of the room and throws her onto the floor.

Max takes a protective step in front of me and Taylor is instantly on her feet.

"Is this the rat?", she asks, arching a brow.

Becca gives Taylor a grim nod before she takes the bag off the woman's head, and I stare into the witness's eyes who lead me to kill an innocent person.

"You", I snarl, moving to snap her neck.

But Max's arm blocks my path, "Think like a Head Vixen", he hisses at me.

I freeze. As much as I want to kill this woman, we need her information first.

Taylor gives an approving nod to Max before turning to the woman on the floor, "Would you like to explain why you lied to us?"

The woman's entire body begins to tremble on the floor, "Y-yes."

We all wait for the woman to continue. She rises herself onto her knees and looks at Max for a fraction of a second before she locks eyes with Becca and flinches, touching the cut on her lip.

Becca sneers at the woman, "Your face will heal but you need to start talking or we will kill you."

She flinches again, "H-he said that we need to throw off the trail, that they were being watched."

"Who?", Taylor urges.

Again her eyes drift over to Max, and I remember her saying that she couldn't stand to be in the same room as a man.

Deep down, I know the answer before she says it but it still fills me with rage as she says, "Tyler."

I sidestep around Max and grab the woman in a headlock, dragging her out of the kneeling position. Her legs flail as she tries to break my hold, but I push my arm harder into her throat.

"What are you doing?!" Max screams at me, but I ignore him.

"Swear it", I whisper in the woman's ear. "Swear that you're not lying this time."

"It was T-Tyler", She chokes out.

"Thank you for the information", I say, then I twist my elbow and a sickening crack sounds in the room.

And her body falls to the floor.

Max stares at me like he doesn't know who I am.

I roll my eyes, "Stop acting like that's the first person who's neck you've seen me snap."

Becca huffs a breath out, "Honestly, I came close to killing her myself when I got the tip she was at the airport and tracked her down."

I turn to Taylor and Max, "We kill Tyler and threaten Alexia." I stare both down, daring them to say anything different.

Max nods and Taylor dips her head.

"Great. I'm going to change into red and slit Tyler's throat."

I turn on my heel and set off to kill a man who I thought was my friend.