Page 75 of Safe

“Oh, cut the reformed criminal bullshit, Landon. You haven’t changed one fucking bit. But I have.”

That seemed to set him off, as he took a few steps toward me. He had the same look on his face I’d seen so many times—dark, remorseless, on the verge of unhinged.

Unfortunately for him, I was no longer afraid, so I stood, took a few steps toward him until we were face-to-face, inches apart. It was here, in this moment, that I would stand my ground and rid myself, rid everyone else, of this man.

“Da—”

Enough of this.

Before he could utter my name one more time, I pulled the knife from my pocket and, in one fell swoop, plunged it into his side. As he tried to stagger back away from me, I twisted it inside him, ensuring I had done what I came to do.

He looked down at the blood already coming through his shirt, dripping onto the floor. Then he looked back at me, incredulously.

“You won’t get away with this,” he managed to say, not knowing any other words to adequately relay how I had bested him after all these years.

I didn’t react, didn’t say a word, as I pulled the knife out of his stomach, plunging it in one more time for good measure.

Landon sank to the ground, leaving blood smearing down the wall behind him. He clutched the gaping hole in his stomach, but he and I both knew it was too late. Blood was spilling out onto the floor, and fast.

“I already have, Landon.”

My voice was surprisingly calm as I sat back in the chair and lit a cigarette, watching the life slowly drain from him.

“You see, you went to visit that gang member this morning, remember? I watched it. Well, unlucky for you, it didn’t go very well. Sure, he let you leave in the moment, but not before following you, stalking where you lived, waiting for the opportune moment when no one would be around to help you.”

“No one will ever believe you, Danielle.”

“Oh, they don’t need to. I drove here in a car not registered to me. Meanwhile, a nice red head who looks enough like me took the $1000 I gave her and took my car on a drive down to Tallahassee, where everyone thinks I am right now. Business trip, you know? I figure right about now she’s enjoying a nice dinner somewhere, using my credit card, in a restaurant that will confirm that yes, a redhead came in, ate dinner, and paid with Danielle Morgan’s credit card.”

“You’re fucking sick.”

I could tell he was running out of time, judging by the amount of blood pooling on his carpet.

“Anyways, I paid cash, drove all the way here under a fake name. I drive back, she meets me, we swap cars, and I go back to my life, under the radar and off the hook for any of this. I guess I can thank you for the ideas.”

Landon took a few of the last minutes he had left to process everything I had just said.

I sat back in the chair and took a long drag of the last of my cigarette, enjoying watching the exact moment he realized that I had used every single one of his tactics against him.

“Why?”

“Why?!” I couldn’t help but laugh at the audacity of the question. “Because you got off easy. And I willnotlive my life in fear of you.”

He didn’t try to fight back, and he didn’t try to save himself. He knew I had gotten the best of him, and somewhere deep inside, he knew he deserved this.

As I put my cigarette out and placed it in a baggie in my pocket, he tried to speak, but nothing but blood came out where words couldn’t. Before I turned to leave, to put him behind me once and for all, I looked at him right in his eyes for the last time in my life.

“Send my regards to the Devil when you get there.”