The street gang knew no boundaries when it came to torture. Frank Atanacio's challenge.

Detective Laura Kimbers couldn't get the horrific scene of the burned corpse wrapped in a tarp out of her psyche. The sadistic killer had made breathing holes in the tarp so he had to watch his body burn.

She canvassed the neighborhood, hoping someone would come forward with info., but of course everyone stayed behind locked doors muttering, " I know nothing. "

When she got back to her office, she scanned dead files, hoping to find a pattern. She knew the killer was an arsonist since they discovered the pour sign where the body burned.

She was home watching the evening news when a picture flashed across the screen. It was a file picture of the girl who jumped out of the third story window at the crime scene. She had a police record, found when they matched her DNA from dental records. Her name was Mia Hernandez.

Detective Kimbers felt sure they could trace the killer through Mia's acquaintances.

She went to the office early the next morning. As soon as she sat down her phone rang. A voice whispered that she was the sister of Mia. Detective Kimbers asked her to come down to the city morgue to identify the body. Andra assured her that she would come and soon arrived at the morgue. Mia's body was still covered in blood, every bone in her small body was broken. Her eye's were hanging lose on her cheeks. Andra screamed, hiding her face in her hands. The only way she could identify Mia was a familiar strawberry birth mark on her neck.

Andra told her that Mia had ditched a boyfriend recently because he was abusive. She was living with the burn victim when she jumped.

The police had him on file. His name was Jose Mendez. It didn't take long to locate him. The voice on the phone told her to come to a shack located on 54th street by the railroad tracks.

When she and Detective Chambers arrived the gory scene made her choke and vomit. Jose Mendez was hanging from the ceiling, both hands were tied behind his back. His intestines were dangling, his bloody tongue on the floor, both eyes were gouged and hanging on his torso.

It seems the Puerto Rican street gang had a debt due for Mia, and it was paid in full.

Here's a link to Frank's story challenge.

http://frankatanacio.hubpages.com/hub/A-Writing-Challenge-for-you