Page 40 of The Echo of Forever

Carmen had her gun pointed at my first appointment of the day. He was flat on his back, her foot pressed into his stomach with the gun trained on his dick.

Men only complied when you threatened what was important to them. This one would rather keep his little manhood in one piece than challenge me right now.

I leveled the nine-iron club with the golf ball, eyeing it and then my target—specifically, his head.

“Still needs work,” Carmen mused. “But, I think you might strike on the first try today.”

My father’s minion struggled to speak with the gag in his mouth. I pretended to take the swing, and he flopped around to try to avoid it.

Carmen was laughing her ass off, but made sure that the gun stayed where it needed to be.

My head wasn’t swimming today, and I planned to take full advantage.

“If I step back a little further, it’ll do the maximum damage. What you think, Carm? Is he ready to obey or…”

Michale was nodding, eyes wide as Carmen removed her foot and kneeled to pull the gag out.

He started apologizing the second she stepped back.

“I’m sorry! I was only following orders.”

I scoffed and kept my stance.

“Who’s your boss, Michale?”

“Y-You are!”

I nodded.

“And when my father comes around asking you to let him into my office while neither Carmen nor I are on site, what will you do?”

He was silent for the briefest of seconds, and I knew I’d have to kill him. Even the slightest hesitation was enough for me.

“I-I won’t—”

I hit the ball with enough force to dent the side of his face. He was barely awake when I approached, club lifted on my shoulder.

“The Collective thanks you for your service. Be blessed.”

I brought the club down and beat him in the face with it until he was unrecognizable.

Carmen had to pull me away.

“He won’t die a second time, Forever,” she said, wiping blood from my forehead. “Go shower, your two o’clock will be here soon. I’ll take care of the body.”

I nodded and pushed the hidden door leading directly into my office open and slipped inside. All the lights were still low, while the vanilla candle I ordered burned on the desk.

It wasn’t the real thing, but it helped.

My mind felt clearer, which didn’t make sense.

They’re all lying to you.

Were the headaches and migraines trying to tell me something? I hadn’t felt like myself in almost a year.

One morning, I woke in bed all discombobulated, head pounding so bad I could barely breathe. My body ached, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember what I’d done the day before. It was my parents who filled in the missing pieces, telling me I went on a job, and when I didn’t check in at the proper time, they’d used my beacon to retrace my steps and found me passed out across town.

No bodily harm, at least visibly.