Chapter 3

Less than ten minutes later, two mountain-sized thugs dragged Kevin out the front doors like a slaughtered hog.

His designer white shirt was drenched in blood, his face a swollen mosaic of black and purple.

"Kane! Kane, please, I swear! I'll pay! Every single penny!"

He sobbed uncontrollably, the raw terror ripping through his vocal cords.

"Pay? With what, you little rat? Your parents selling their house wouldn't even cover the interest!"

Kane drove a heavy steel-toed boot into Kevin's gut, then spat on his face.

"Toss him in the back! Let's make sure this punk learns what happens when you try to skip town on my tab!"

They shoved Kevin into the back of an SUV, rounded up his terrified drinking buddies, and shoved them in right behind him.

I watched calmly from across the street as the convoy vanished into the rainy night.

A grand celebration, cut short by poetic justice.

I let two hours tick by on my watch. Then, leaning against a damp wall, I dialed my home landline.

It rang for a long time before someone picked up. It was my mother, Sarah.

Her voice was sharp, laced with exhaustion and irritation.

"Who is this calling in the middle of the night?!"

"Your daughter."

The line went dead silent.

Several agonizing seconds ticked by before a piercing shriek came through the receiver.

"G-Ghost! It's a ghost!"

"I'm alive, Mom," I said, my tone ice-cold and steady. "How's Kevin? Heard he was leaving on a world tour. Did his trip kick off smoothly?"

"You... you little jinx! Why aren't you dead?! What did you do?! Your brother just called. Loan sharks took him! They cleaned out the accounts. The whole payout is gone!"

Sarah wailed hysterically through the speaker, cursing me for still being alive and screaming that I'd brought the family bad luck and ruined everything.

I didn't stick around to listen to her finish. I ended the call.

The first sacrifice was officially served.

With Kevin in Kane's grip, the house devolved into pure chaos.

Kane wanted another half a million in three days. If my parents didn't pay, he'd send them Kevin's fingers in a padded envelope.

Kevin had already burned through more than a hundred grand on bottle service, designer clothes, and travel deposits. Kane's men took the rest. Now they were holding Kevin for whatever else they thought my parents could scrape together.

My parents scrambled like headless chickens, burning through their contacts to beg for loans, only to get slammed with dial tones.

The same cousins and family friends who were toasting Kevin's success hours earlier suddenly claimed their funds were tied up, or stopped answering their phones altogether.

When the ship sinks, the rats scatter. Human nature at its finest.

Meanwhile, back at the abandoned auto shop, I continued attending to my sole guest: Leo.

"Next on the list: my mother, Sarah," I muttered, wrapping fresh gauze around his swollen joints.

Leo winced, groaning in agony, looking at me as if I were a demon in human skin.

"Your mom... she..."

"What's her biggest weakness?"

Leo thought about it, gritting his teeth. "Status. Image. Your mom would literally rather die than lose face. She spent her whole life measuring herself against everyone else, obsessed with bragging to her social circle."

I nodded.

He nailed it.

Sarah's favorite pastime was rubbing her supposed wealth in the faces of the neighborhood ladies, boasting about how brilliant my father was, how successful my brother was.

Funny how my name was never mentioned once in those stories.

Even when the fridge was empty and the utility bills were overdue, she would put on her faux-fur coat and paste on a million-dollar smile before stepping out the front door.

The burner phone I'd kept buzzed. A text came in from the neighbor I'd paid:

[Maya, your mom is attending the high-society afternoon charity tea at the Grand Summit Hotel tomorrow. I heard her telling people over the phone that Kevin already landed in Europe, and she's going there specifically to show off.]

Staring at the screen, I laughed out loud.

Even with her son's kneecaps on the line, she still cared more about saving face.

Fine. If she wanted an audience to show off to, I'd make sure she got the performance of a lifetime.

I glanced down at Leo in the corner and smiled.

"Leo, tomorrow afternoon... you're my star actor."