To Love and Die (18+)

Chapter Three

Nobody would have guessed that a once shy and timid Melicia would develop a silent reputation. That admittedly was not the goal she had in mind when she started her... hobby? Truthfully, she was not sure what outcome she had been hoping for. All she had known was that the man who ordered her parents' death would die by her gun. One-shot to the head, the same fate as her mother and father. But first, she would savor his last moments as her knife explored every inch of his body.

"And Houston Officials have yet to catch the culprit, but authorities have informed us that they are exploring all leads. If you have any helpful information we encourage you to contact Houston Police Department at..."

Meli tuned out the television. Her heart ached at the thought of being ratted out by some anonymous tip hotline. Even though she admitted to herself she was curious as to what leads HPD had come up with.

She didn't want to kill the two gentlemen who had met El Toro, "The Bull", at the Port of Houston the night before. She arrived early to the location, scouting the docks. She was desperate for answers. For heaven-sakes, all she thought about was how to get closer to all chains of command in the La Paz Cartel so she bring down their organization, one dealer at a time.

No matter how valiant her efforts, she didn't uncover much in her search. There was no drugs exchanged as she had expected, but instead, El Toro handed two young men keys to something. She had considered that maybe she was losing her touch because the two men caught her tailing them before she could see where they stayed. They'd stopped in some dinky parking garage that was under construction and cornered her.

Once again, she was forced to act quickly and killed the one young-looking boy who was hasty in his movements. She felt horrible for taking his life, and the pain still took hold of her stomach every time she thought about it. He looked to be about nineteen, and as much as she didn't want to use her Beretta, she had no choice. His finger hovered too comfortably over the trigger of his pistol, and she could see the dare in his eyes. He wanted to shoot her.

She only did what she had to.

"That is insane, a vigilante purposely targeting people linked to the La Paz cartel, that man must have a death wish." It was Fallon who spoke, Meli's best friend since middle school.

The pair sat at a cute refurbished round table of the breakfast nook in Fallon's downtown apartment. Melicia's best friend moved to Houston immediately after high school. Fallon's husband, a successful FBI agent, had been offered a full-time position with the Houston Division when he got recruited. Marc mostly worked with computers, but he still joined in on the action from time to time. He was also older than Fallon. Something she and her best friend had in common was their interest in older men. Only eighteen, she latched onto the twenty-four-year-old and followed him blindly to the bayou city.

"Yeah", Meli agreed, the secret stinging in her throat. No one knew about her escapades. She was always covering her tracks. The pained woman couldn't let anyone know, especially if she still wanted them to look at her the same.

The most they knew was that Meli could fight because her uncle, Benny, owned a couple of boxing gyms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He would often invite trainers from all over to help her hone her skills in self-defense. Truthfully, Benny had been preparing her for whatever he thought would happen if the LP Cartel found out she was alive.

"Does the Bureau know for sure that it's a vigilante and not just some mafia beef?" Fallon looked to her husband, who was drinking his coffee in the kitchen adjunct to the ladies.

Marc furrowed his brows, a habit he'd had since a kid. "Well that is classified information, but it couldn't be 'mafia beef'", he quoted with his fingers. "All the kills thus far have been closely linked. These two Houston murders are the first ones that don't fit the M.O. of a cartel retaliation."