Chapter 436: Going to Need Them
"Miss Ashley, Marshal is still your father. He may not be perfect, but blood is thicker than water. At the end of the day, your father would give an arm for you."
Ashley couldn’t help but let out a shallow chuckle.
Right.
This was it.
These were the twisted beliefs drilled into her head as a child.
And it wasn’t just this priest. Everyone around her had been so twisted that it was no surprise her mind had ended up just as screwed.
"Forgive your father," the priest continued. "Love him. Obey him. Listen to him. No matter what happens, your parent will always be your parent. It’s in the God’s commands to honor your parents."
"I know. That’s why I’m here." Ashley drew a deep breath, staring at the small holes covering the wall between them. "Father, I want to confess and ask for forgiveness."
"I’m listening."
A small, almost deranged smile crept onto her face. "I want to forgive my father."
"That’s good." The priest nodded in satisfaction.
"And I just realized that for me to forgive him... I have to kill him."
The satisfied smile on the priest’s face froze.
"But I promise it’ll be swift," she continued. "He won’t feel a thing. Once he’s on his knees, I’ll use the sharpest blade possible and cut his head cleanly off his shoulders."
"Miss Ashley—"
"Father! Father!"
Before the priest could continue, a desperate cry echoed from outside.
Then, a loud thud followed before a gunshot echoed through the church.
BANG!
Afterward came a deafening silence.
The priest’s breath hitched.
He turned toward the entrance of the confessional and carefully peeked through the curtain, only to catch a glimpse of one of the men working behind the church being dragged away by another man.
Blood smeared the pristine marble floor.
Horrified, the priest quickly pulled his hand away from the curtain and whipped his head toward the wall separating him from Ashley.
"Miss Ashley, what is going on?" he asked, his voice no longer as gentle as before. "If your father hears about this, he’s going to punish you again!"
"He wouldn’t punish me if he never found out I was the one who did this, would he?"
His breath caught at her answer.
"What you said..." Ashley continued, her voice quiet and steady. "Honor my father. Obey him. Listen to him... because blood is thicker than water."
She paused. "But how am I supposed to keep honoring and obeying someone who made me break God’s commandments, Father?"
Silence answered her.
"’You shall not kill,’" she recited.
A soft click followed as she cocked her gun.
"But how many lives did I take in his name?"
The priest stiffened. "Miss Ashley..."
"’You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not take God’s name in vain. You shall not make idols...’" Ashley’s voice remained eerily calm.
"And yet, even the man who called himself a priest—the man who preached God’s word—kept telling me it was okay to worship Marshal."
Her fingers tightened around the pistol.
"That it was okay to follow a man’s commands over the ones you preach during Mass." Ashley paused as a peaceful smile slowly formed on her face. "So, I confess to you, Father..."
Her voice softened.
"You should’ve taken that child in when she came to you for the first time."
The priest’s eyes widened.
"You should’ve seen a child who could still be saved instead of dragging her back to him in exchange for money." She whispered, "If you had, I probably wouldn’t have come back here with a gun in my hand... aimed straight at your heart."
The priest stopped breathing for a second.
"Take them all out and let God sort them out," Ashley added under her breath. "That’s what I kept hearing growing up."
Her smile remained. "So, I’ll let the heavens decide where you belong, Father."
"Miss Ashley, don’t do this—"
BANG!
The priest clutched his chest as an unbearable tightness seized him. His gaze dropped, catching blood rapidly soaked through his robes.
"Miss—"
BANG!
Another gunshot echoed.
Then another.
And another.
At the first gunshot, Tank stepped into the main hall. His eyes immediately shifted toward the confessional booth as a flash sparked from inside once.
Then, second.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Then the gunshots stopped and silence returned to the church.
Tank watched as blood slowly crawled out from beneath the confessional booth.
He let out a deep exhale and wiped the blood from his cheek.
In his opinion, this church was quite an interesting place.
Why?
Because behind the very place where Sunday Mass was held was a drug den.
People worked behind the church, repacking bulk quantities of illegal drugs into smaller portions for distribution.
No one would ever suspect that this quiet church housed one of the country’s main drug distribution centers.
Minutes later, Ashley stepped out of the confessional booth and walked straight toward Tank.
"How was it?" she asked, casually tucking her pistol away.
Tank lowered his head. "They were too easy."
"They mostly just repack the drugs," Ashley muttered.
She tapped his shoulder.
"Let’s go. We’re not done yet."
Tank nodded and followed.
Together, they poured gasoline throughout the church and the surrounding properties.
Thanks to the illegal business operating behind the church, most of the nearby lots were also places where the priest had hidden his wealth.
Once they finished, Ashley and Tank stood in front of the church.
Neither of them spoke.
They simply stared at the building for a moment before Tank handed her a lighter.
"Tank, do you know how much the drugs in this place are worth?" Ashley asked.
She played with the lighter between her fingers, her gaze fixed on the church.
"At least half a billion."
The corners of her lips curled upward until her eyes narrowed with amusement. Then she chuckled.
"He’s going to have a heart attack when he finds out he lost this place... along with half a billion worth of merchandise."
And that wasn’t even counting the value of the other locations the teams had taken down tonight.
"Marshal," she whispered.
Ashley flipped open the lighter and flicked her thumb against the wheel. A small flame appeared.
"Before I kill you, you will lose everything right before your eyes."
Just as Ashley had lost her life—and herself—piece by piece over the years, Marshal would meet the same fate.
Only this time, it wouldn’t take years.
With that, she tossed the lighter forward.
The small flame touched the gasoline-soaked grass.
WHOOSH!
Fire immediately spread, crawling across the ground toward the church and surrounding it.
Seconds later, the flames slipped inside.
Ashley and Tank stayed where they were and watched.
They didn’t leave until the entire place was swallowed by fire.
*****
Meanwhile, at a five star hotel, Scott froze as reports of the night’s attacks finally reached him.
Five major bases had been attacked.
Some had been completely set ablaze.
Scott gulped as his arm slowly dropped to his side, the phone still clutched in his hand.
"She... deceived me," he whispered.
He had thought Ashley called him because her emotions were running high.
Whenever Ashley’s emotions overwhelmed her, she had a habit of charging headfirst into chaos.
But now, Scott understood.
She had done it deliberately.
Ashley had provoked him into heightening Marshal’s security and reinforcing their residence.
In doing so, Scott had unknowingly left their other locations with weaker security and limited communication.
"She..." His voice trailed off.
Scott exhaled and slowly turned toward the penthouse door where Marshal had been staying during his time in the country.
Before delivering the news, Scott raised his phone again and dialed a number.
"Send a doctor and a nurse here," he ordered. "Actually... send an entire medical team."
Scott stared at the penthouse door.
"The boss is going to need them as soon as possible."
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