Part 20
Theresa stood beside Iago on the beach with her hand tucked into the breast of her suit, her fingers wrapped tightly around the grip of her pistol. They stared back to the east, catching the first red and orange glimpses in the sky of the rising sun. She had called him to this place and he had come alone with hesitation. If word had let out that he refused to see her he would be labelled a coward and would lose the respect he had worked years to gain.
They had gone through this all before but Iago was never foolish enough to come alone. Now he had no choice. Sebastian had abandoned him and went on to kill Ox. There were other underlings he could call but he had little faith in their abilities. The time had come to end their feud and he knew it.
Theresa always came alone. This was her moment and would not allow anyone to take it from her. It was her grievance against him that began the feud in the first place. She was the one that was taken advantage of and there would be no satisfaction to be had if she weren't the one to pull the trigger.
"Why must we do this again?" Iago asked.
"You know why," Theresa said quietly.
"Because you refuse to believe me despite the fact that as long as we have known each other I've never spoken a mistruth to you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, of course, you are totally innocent of any wrongdoing. You genuinely needed more money to buy more expensive things you do not need and that is why you left. Now you have innocents murdered. Now you deal with massive amounts of drugs. Now you send goons to beat people because they do not pay you for 'protection'. Yes, you are such a humanitarian," she sneered.
"What I do now is none of your concern," he said. "You couldn't honestly care less about what I do, so don't try to make me feel guilty. You torture people. You inflict suffering-"
"On those that deserve it," she interrupted.
"Those you've been led to believe deserve it," Iago continued. "In actuality you've got no bloody idea if they do or don't. You assume because they're there and you've asked a few questions that they deserve it. Who wouldn't acquiesce when being tortured? You're as fucking monstrous as I am, Theresa. You've never once tried to interfere with my business, so you obviously have no empathy for these supposed innocent people. The only problem you have is the fact that you refuse to face the fact that we had a one-night-stand one night when you were pissed and invented the idea that I took advantage of you. That I raped you."
"I refuse to accept the fact because it is not a fact! I was intoxicated, I was not in my right mind. I am absolutely certain that I would remember deciding to bed down with you," Theresa argued.
"And you're prepared to kill me over what is at best, a guess," he said. "You're going to force me into killing you because of this idiocy."
"I am forcing you to atone for your sins," she said casually. "Whether you defend yourself or not is your choice."
"Of course, fight or be executed, such CHOICES," he sneered.
In the distance a beige sedan turned into the parking lot in front of them. It drove towards them at a steady pace and the driver parked in the space between Iago's red sportscar and Theresa's black sedan. A moment passed before the driver's side door opened and the driver climbed out from inside.
The driver was a man of average height, several inches shorter than Iago, with brown hair that was slicked back over his head. He had a nicely trimmed beard and held a cigarillo between his lips. He wore a blue turtleneck shirt with long sleeves and a pair of black slacks. He looked to be in his late thirties. A black eyepatch covered his right eye.
With a clever smile he approached Theresa and Iago as they began to walk backwards away from him cautiously, Theresa stepping back and to her right, Iago stepping back and to his left. The man came to the place they had initially been standing and stopped. He looked to Theresa, then to Iago.
"Well, hello, Iago, Miss Sebben," he said, his voice was somewhat gruff.
"Who the fuck is this, Iago?" Theresa asked loudly, her eyes focused on the stranger.
"Why are you asking me? He's probably your insurance policy," Iago said.
The stranger chuckled and exhaled a jet of smoke, "No, no. I was informed you two would be here to blow off your little feud. Sadly, it's not to be. Iago knows something of value to my employer and I'm going to have to ask nicely that he comes with me."
"Your employer? Who the fuck is 'your employer'?" Iago asked, drawing his pistol from his jacket and pointing it at the stranger.
"That isn't relevant. Now, would you kindly put the piece away and come along?" The stranger said. "I'm authorized to take you by force if necessary but I think it'd be in both your best interests if you came along peacefully."
Theresa drew her gun from her shoulder holster and pointed it at the stranger as well.
"He is not leaving this beach alive," Theresa said, glaring at the man.
The stranger let out a heavy sigh and reached behind his back, pulling a pistol from the back of his pants. He aimed the sights at Theresa and looked to Iago.
"See what a nasty predicament we're in now?" He asked casually. "Is your revenge worth dying over, Theresa?"
"Am I worth dying over, whatever your fucking name is?" Iago asked as he gripped his handgun tight.
Theresa shifted the sights of her pistol to Iago. Iago kept his eyes pinned to the stranger.
The stranger's hands dropped to his hips and he looked to Iago with a grin.
Iago moved his handgun from the stranger to Theresa. Theresa stepped back with her right foot, turning her body away from Iago. The wind blew in from the ocean, tusselling her hair back in the breeze as the sun began to rise on the horizon.
The stranger raised his left arm, aimed his pistol at Theresa and fired. The small dart from his barrel struck Theresa in the side. At the jolt she pulled the trigger of her pistol. The bullet exploded from the barrel and she clutched her side, the bullet hit Iago's left shoulder as he fired back. Iago's bullet pierced Theresa's stomach as she dropped to her knees and fell face down in the sand.
Iago turned to the stranger and was met with a dart to his chest. He fired and missed, dropping down to one knee. The stranger slipped his handgun back into the waistband of his pants and Iago toppled into the sand.
The stranger casually walked over to Iago's unconscious body and pulled the pistol from his hand. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Theresa struggling to climb to her feet. He turned his attention back to Iago, then looked back to Theresa in disbelief.
Theresa slowly stood up, clutching her bleeding stomach wound with her left hand. She pointed her pistol at the stranger and pulled the trigger. As the shot rang out, the stranger gripped the side of his head, the bullet grazing him just above his left ear. She fired again at his right knee, taking his feet out from under him.
She slowly walked across the sand, dragging her feet as the stranger clenched his teeth. He held the wound tight as Theresa stood over him, pointing her pistol at Iago's head.
"I told you," she said weakly. "He will not leave this beach alive."
Theresa fired the bullet into Iago's head and collapsed, falling over the body of the stranger. Moments passed as the stranger lay beneath her, gradually he pushed her lifeless body off of him and sat up. He crawled over to Iago's body, dragging his wounded leg behind him. He reached into Iago's pocket and drew out his keys.
The stranger smirked and climbed to his feet then limped to back to his car.