King of Ashes: A Novel
by S. A. Cosby
Contents
Chapter Thirty-Three
Overview
Summary
Dante, drunk and high on crushed Percocet, drives to an auto body shop on the edge of Jefferson Run with Tug's borrowed Desert Eagle. He looks at an old family photo, apologizes aloud to Cassidy for letting him down, and steps out shouting for Ernesto Salaazar. Gunfire erupts and the streetlight goes dark.
Meanwhile, Roman lures Torrent and Tranquil to a Skids warehouse under the pretense of meeting Carlos and Ernesto. Torrent reveals he turned Chauncey, who admits Neveah ruined his marriage and that he plans to frame Roman. Torrent orders D-Train and the BBB crew to kill Roman, but Roman has already bought them off with savings, investments, and Shade-backed deals. The crew turns their guns on the Gilchrists instead. Roman confronts Torrent about the attacks on his family, then executes him with his father's gun. A sniper shot from Khalil kills Chauncey through a rear window. Roman instructs his men to plant the money and coke in Chauncey's car to frame him, and to find homes for Torrent's dogs.
Roman returns home to an empty house. Late that night, the medical examiner calls: Dante is dead and Roman must identify the body. At 4 a.m., a devastated Roman calls Neveah home and tells her Dante has been killed. They embrace in grief.
At dawn, Roman arrives at Jealousy's door, broken, telling her Dante was massacred. She pulls him inside and holds him as he weeps. Alone at the house, Neveah gets drunk on her father's moonshine and destroys the kitchen in rage. She smashes the teddy bear cookie jar from atop the fridge and finds it filled with human cremains — and a melted, question-mark-shaped piece of metal with a burnished heart at its base: her mother's ring.
Who Appears
- Roman CarruthersSprings his warehouse trap, executes Torrent with his father's gun, then is devastated to learn Dante has been killed.
- Dante CarruthersDrunk and high, confronts Ernesto Salaazar at the auto body shop to avenge Cassidy and is shot dead.
- Neveah CarruthersLearns of Dante's death, drinks alone, destroys the kitchen, and discovers her mother's cremains and ring inside the teddy bear cookie jar.
- Torrent GilchristBelieves he has turned Chauncey and Roman's crew against Roman; instead is betrayed, shot, and finished off by Roman.
- Tranquil GilchristKilled alongside his brother in the warehouse ambush after reaching for his weapon.
- ChaunceyCorrupt, suspended cop who betrays Roman to Torrent; killed by a sniper shot from Khalil.
- D-TrainLeader of the BBB crew bought off by Roman; turns his gun on Torrent in exchange for savings and investments.
- TankBBB member rewarded by Roman with a Shade deal funding his niece's college; helps execute the Gilchrists.
- CoreyBBB member with mutual fund through Roman; turns on Torrent, citing his injured hand.
- LuciusBang Bang Twin who helps ambush the Gilchrists and pulls the first trigger on Tranquil.
- KhalilRoman's sniper insurance, takes out Chauncey through a warehouse window from outside.
- Jealousy (Jae)Pulls grieving Roman into her apartment at dawn and holds him as he sobs over Dante's death.
- TugDistracted by Raynell's ICU stay, lends Dante his Desert Eagle without question.
- Bonita CarruthersRoman and Dante's late mother, whose ashes and melted heart-shaped ring Neveah discovers in the cookie jar.