The Big Enchilada

wasn’t a total surprise. I’ve also seen a lot of death in my time, but this hit me like a rifle butt in the stomach.
    Maria was naked on top of the desk, her legs spread wide, hanging over either side of it. The inside of her thighs and her genitals were ripped and bloody, insanely mutilated. Her body was crushed and flattened, seemingly every bone broken by a great weight. She was like a rag doll with half the stuffing removed. A note was on her breast, held in place by a large safety pin driven into the soft flesh. It said, “Back off or you’re next.”
    I saw white then yellow then red. A howl of rage filled my head and expanded into my body, growing, intensifying, swelling until I felt I would burst. I opened my mouth and it exploded, a scream of anger and agony, a wild, ferocious, insane animal noise. My belly felt like it was in the grip of a giant claw, squeezing and tearing at my insides. I just made it to the sink in the closet in time to heave my guts up. I heaved and heaved and heaved until I was empty, empty of everything. I washed my face and the water helped to revive me. The madness was gone, but it had been replaced by a cold, intense, determined hatred, the like of which I hadn’t known since Viet Nam.
    I went back into the room. In a corner I saw the shreds of what must have been another new dress that Maria had bought for our trip to Mexico.
    It had to have been Mountain. No one else could have broken her body like that. And he didn’t act on his own. He was sent by Domingo. Domingo, who I chased like the faceless shadow in my dream, who had turned and was now striking out at me.
    But he’d made a mistake. Before, it had been more like an exercise, a puzzle. Now it was personal—deeply, intensely personal—and I would make him suffer and pay for this. I’d make them all pay.
    Stupid.Stupid and pointless. Why Maria? They were afraid to take me on directly, but they wanted to scare me off. So they got me out of the way and let Mountain go to work.
    I looked again at what was once the lovely body of Maria. She had been okay—as a woman and as a secretary—and there weren’t too many of that kind around. I spat curses, both at myself for letting it happen and at them for doing it.
    But they would not succeed. I would exact vengeance. Not for Maria—it made no difference any more to her—but for myself. I would shatter their plans. I would shake their power. I would destroy their riches. I would shoot fire into their bellies and make them puke and squirm on the floor. I would splatter the walls with their brains. Vengeance! I could taste it in my mouth. A red haze dropped before my eyes, and
    I saw vengeance, red vengeance. It would be mine. It would be good.
    “Hello there. Anybody here?”
    A voice came from the outer office. Who the fuck was it? Footsteps crossed the room to my door. Shit. I kept my back turned.
    “Ah, Mr. Hunter. There you are. I’ve been trying to get you for several days. I’m Al Allen of Acme Life and Casualty—‘You can trust the people who trust in you.’ Have you considered the benefits to be obtained from a three-way life insurance policy—”
    I whirled around in a crouch. It felt like my eyes were blazing fire. My lips were curled back and a growl escaped my throat. I must have looked pretty frightening because he stopped his patter, his eyes grew wide, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his scrawny throat. His eyes left my face and took in the body on my desk. He started to back up.
    “I see I’ve come at a bad time. Well, I’ll just be going now. I’ll leave my card, and you can get in touch when it’s more convenient.” He was almost to the door.
    “If I ever see your face again, you won’t have it anymore,” I said with complete sincerity.
    He turned and fled. I heard his footsteps retreating down the hallway.
    I felt I should have crushed the worm and was sorry I hadn’t. I took a couple of deep breaths and realized that was stupid. I got hold of myself. If I was going to do what I had to do, I would have to stay cool.
    I tried to force myself to think about my next move. I hadn’t gotten very far before I heard police sirens tearing down the street. They stopped in front of my building, and I knew they were coming to my office.
    Of course the cops would have been alerted. It made sense. Domingo and his crew weren’t worried about anything coming back to them. They felt secure about everything except me. But they knew