Stupid, he thought, as he shook his head at Lucas’ carelessness. He getting all this money and can’t take the time to lock the door? That was the problem with these ‘new niggas;’ they moved too quickly…to sloppily. They were too quick to do everything… snitch… kill… steal. This mistake would prove costly. Ethic followed the glow through the kitchen and into the living room where Lucas lay on his side, a thick blanket covering his body, and his back facing Ethic. It was almost too easy. Ethic pulled the trigger, firing a full clip into Lucas. The whispers of the silencer barely audible, as blood started to spread through the holes in the blanket.

Ethic walked over to Lucas and reached down to turn him on his back, to deliver a final head shot, for good measure. He reached for Lucas’ shoulder and flipped him on his back, but pulled back in horror when he saw the little girl tucked in the grooves beneath Lucas. She was struggling for air to breathe, as Ethic saw the two bullets that had penetrated her chest. Lucas had been sleeping, with a little girl in his arms. She had been hidden by the cover, when Ethic had fired.

“No!” he whispered. “No, no, no!” He pushed Lucas out of the way, unaffected by his dead body as it hit the floor, but the little girl lying there, bleeding out, splintered him. He knew he should be making his exit, but he couldn’t leave her there, dying, senselessly. Children were supposed to be off limits. I didn’t see her, he thought. He scooped the little girl in his arms, but as he looked in her face, all he saw was Bella. At any moment, his past could come around full circle and affect any of his children. It was a sad truth, and the last thing he wanted was for this child to pay for Lucas’ debt. Lucas’ death wasn’t worth the collateral damage that had been done. Nothing was worth the life of someone so young.

She’s a baby, he thought, his heart shattering at the sight of what he had just done. That was the one thing about triggers, they couldn’t be “un-pulled.”

“Fuck!” He shouted.

His phone was in the car. He turned left and then right, searching for a house phone.