by Ivy Smoak
Don snapped his fingers and pointed at the man.
Two other men grabbed either one of his arms and started dragging him down the hall. “Don, I didn’t touch her!” he yelled, but his voice died away.
I didn’t have to kill him after all. Whatever they were about to do to him was probably worse.
“Are you okay?” Don asked as he stepped off the bottom stair.
I shook my head. “The vigilante. I…he tried…” I put my hand over my mouth and shook my head.
“What did he do?”
“He tried to kill me. You were right about him. He’s been ruining this city just like you said. I…I finished the job.” I shoved Miles’ hoodie into Don’s hands.
He looked down at it and a smile spread across his face. “You killed him?”
He seemed so surprised that I’d be able to do something like that. He was about to have the shock of his life.
“I’m so sorry about everything I’ve done. I never should have betrayed you. I’m so sorry.” My tears started up again and I looked down, trying to get a glimpse of where his gun was. “Please forgive me.” I didn’t see his gun. His suit jacket was probably covering it.
“The package has been delivered,” Miles said into my ear. “You’re doing great, Summer. Just keep stalling. They’ll be there any minute now.”
“You came back, doll. That’s all that matters. And this was quite the gift.” He lifted up the hoodie.
I nodded. “Can we maybe…have some privacy?” I was running out of time.
Don tilted his head toward the stairs. But I didn’t want to go anywhere with him. I just needed his stupid minions to leave so I could get this over with. Before he turned to go up the stairs, I threw my arms around him.
The smell of his cologne made me feel sick to my stomach. I tightened my arms around him, pulling him closer to me. I tried not to gag.
I heard footsteps. I pressed the side of my head against his chest and caught a glimpse of everyone leaving the room.
“I missed you.” My words were barely a whisper as I slipped my hands under his suit jacket. The side of my wrist brushed against his gun. Bingo.
“I know. You’ll be safe now.”
Safe? Was he fucking kidding me? I had never been safe with him. I grabbed his gun and took a step back, holding it out in front of me.
He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.
“Don’t say a word, Don.”
Instead of speaking, he smiled. Somehow that was worse. Like he was mocking me.
“I had a whole plan of what I wanted to say to you before I blew your head off. But really I just have a few questions.”
“Summer, what are you doing?” Miles said into my earpiece.
I ignored him. “I want to know if you feel any remorse for tearing my family apart?” I clenched my jaw.
He kept smiling and shook his head.
“Summer, put the gun down!” Miles yelled.
I grabbed the earpiece out of my ear and threw it on the ground. This was between Don and me. No one else. I lifted the gun and took another step back from him.
“For raping me?” I asked Don.
“Doll, you wanted it.” His smile grew. “Don’t pretend for a second that you didn’t.”
He was the devil himself. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. I knew the blood in his veins was pure evil. My finger tightened on the trigger.
“We’ve done this dance already,” he said. “You couldn’t pull the trigger then, and you can’t do it now. Drop the gun.”
He was taunting me. But he was right, I could have already shot him. Why couldn’t I pull the trigger? I was running out of time.
“Weak.” He shook his head like he pitied me. “Your whole family was weak.”
I lifted the gun higher and held my breath for one second.
Weak. For two seconds.
The word tumbled around in my head. For three seconds.
He couldn’t have been more wrong. For four seconds.
And I knew that I needed to do the strongest thing I ever had to do. Because I refused to become him. For five seconds.
I exhaled and slowly lowered the gun. “You’re wrong, Don. I’m the strongest person you’ll ever meet. I lost my parents when I was eight years old. My grandmother a year later. I went from foster home to foster home and kept being told I wasn’t wanted.” I lifted my shoulders. “You kept my best friend away from me. You killed my unborn child.” I tried to hide the crack in my voice. “And I’m still standing, asshole. I’m here despite everything you did to cut me down. And you think I’m weak?” I shook my head. “You don’t know me at all.”
I saw red and blue lights through the windows.
It’s finally over. “Your game is done. The FBI is coming to arrest you. No one can ever pin you down for your crimes. So my team and I planted evidence on you.” I looked at Miles’ hoodie in his hand. “By the time the news comes on tonight, everyone will believe that you’re the New York City vigilante. V was saving this city, not destroying it. You’ll finally be put behind bars for good deeds. A little ironic huh?”
Something flashed across his face and he dropped the hoodie. For the first time, I believed there was fear in his eyes.
“Although, the rest of it will follow,” I said. “The drugs, the murders. You’ll go down for all of it in the end. You know, I thought I wanted vengeance. I thought I wanted to see your last breath. But I’m my parents’ daughter, despite how you tried to raise me. I’m kind. And good. And fucking strong.” I dropped the gun onto the ground. “I want justice for what you did to my family. For what you did to me. Not vengeance. Because I’m not the monster here. You are.”
Chapter 45
Thursday
It was finally over. All of it. Men in tactical gear flooded into Don’s foyer with their guns raised. I breathed a sigh of relief. But it didn’t last long.
There was just one problem. All their guns were pointed at me. I held up my hands. “What are you doing? Arrest him,” I said and pointed at Don. But no one moved.
Where was Eli? I swallowed hard. These were police officers, not the FBI. NYPD was written across the chests of their tactical gear. FBI agents were supposed to come, not these men. They were all on Don’s payroll.
I had ditched my earpiece. Something must have gone wrong. And then I saw one familiar face in the sea of cops. Detective Lewis.
I had gone to the police after Don had kidnapped me and I had woken up back in my dorm. I couldn’t get a hold of Mr. Crawford. I didn’t know who I could trust. And Detective Lewis made me feel like I was crazy. Like I was just some dumb college kid that had too much to drink. I had doubted everything I thought I was real.
“Good to see you again, Don,” Detective Lewis said. He stepped forward and shook his hand. “We heard that the FBI thought the vigilante could be found here. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Looks like we came at a good time.”
Any fear that had been in Don’s eyes was gone. “She tried to frame me.” He bent down and picked up the hoodie. “Not that having a hoodie the same color as the vigilante’s would have been enough evidence to convict me.”
“Want us to take a look around to see if there’s anything else?” Detective Lewis asked.
Shit. I kept my hands raised and tried to look as innocent as possible. The hoodie wasn’t the main evidence. Although, it would have looked nice if Don was holding it when the FBI showed up.
“Better to be safe than sorry,” Don said.
“You heard him, boys. Check every inch of this place. I’ll let the Feds know your house is clear so they don’t need to bother coming.” Before he put his cell phone to his ear, he winked at me. “Nice to see you again, Sadie. Or was it Summer?” He turned away and started talking into his phone.
Fuck you. I tried to swallow down my rage and focus. There had to be something I could do. I looked down and saw that the gun was only a foot away from me on the floor.
; “Don’t even think about it.” Don grabbed it before I even had a chance to move. “What was it you were saying about winning the game? It looks like the tables have turned.”
“Get off me!” Liza shrieked from upstairs. I looked up to see one of the cops pulling her down the stairs. He pushed her down beside me. The same cop shoved me to the ground too.
“We’re going to die, we’re going to die,” Liza said over and over again. “I knew you’d end up getting me killed. I knew it. Oh God.”
Gunshots fired upstairs. Shattering glass echoed around me. More shots. Kins screamed from somewhere in the house.
Liza grabbed my arm and started crying.
I didn’t know what to say to calm her down. For all I knew, she was right. This was exactly what I hadn’t wanted to happen. “Don, let them go,” I said. “It’s me you want. Please just let my friends go.”
Don crouched down in front of me and pressed the gun to the side of my head. “He’s here, isn’t he? That pesky vigilante?”
A cop fell down the stairs and lay motionless on the floor. Don stood up. “Someone find him!” he yelled.
More shots fired from upstairs.
A cop appeared at the top of the stairs with Kins over his shoulder. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and reaching out for Patrick. One of Don’s minions had Patrick’s arms pinned behind his back and was leading him down the stairs. They were both shoved down onto the ground next to Liza.
Where was Miles? I didn’t have to wonder for long. A cop was dragging his body down the stairs. Each step jarred Miles’ head. But otherwise he wasn’t moving.
No. I had just gotten him back. No!
The cop left Miles’ body in a heap at the bottom of the steps.
“So that’s the boy that you can’t stay away from?” Don asked. “Him? Really?” He walked over to Miles’ body. “You forgot your hoodie, you piece of shit.” He tossed it on top of him. “If you think I’m going down for your crimes, you’re dead wrong.” He turned to look at me. “You’re right, doll, it’s time to end the game.” He nodded and I felt a gun pressed to the back of my head.
Don walked back over to me. “I killed your mother because she didn’t know her place. I guess it runs in the family.” He crouched back down in front of me. “In looks and stupidity, you are most definitely your mother’s daughter.”
I pressed my lips together. He’s ignorant words didn’t deserve a response. Besides, he was right. I was my mother’s daughter. And I was damn proud of that. It was his own lack of awareness that he didn’t know who either one of us was.
Don grabbed my chin in his hand. “What happened to the fight in you?” He looked utterly disappointed.
I was almost swallowed whole by my revenge. Almost. “I’d rather die as Summer than as some reflection of the monster you are.”
He laughed and dropped his hand. “Take a good look, doll. I’m everything you’ll never be.”
“I fucking hope so.”
He shook his head again, like he had never witnessed something so disappointing in this life.
I smiled. I finally felt free.
There was a cracking noise behind me. For a second I thought it was the sound of my own skull exploding. But I felt the gun slide down the back of my neck. There was another cracking noise and it sounded like wood splintering.
“Drop your weapons!” a deep voice yelled. “Everybody down on the ground!” The room flooded with more men in tactical vests. But this time FBI was written on their chests.
Don locked eyes with me. His smile was gone. He lowered his gun to his side.
The look of shock from him was even more satisfying than the look of disappointment.
“On the fucking ground!” one of the men yelled and kicked the back of Don’s leg. He fell to his knees, still staring at me.
The gun on the base of my neck was removed. I didn’t wait to see what happened next. I stood up and didn’t stop when they told me to put my hands in the air. I ran over to Miles and dropped to my knees. “Miles?” I put my hand on the center of his chest. “Miles?” My eyes filled with tears. No. “Wake up. Please wake up.”
Nothing.
“Miles,” I choked. There were still so many things I didn’t get to say. “You have to wake up. You have to.” I cradled his head in my hands. “I was wrong before. You did save me.” I placed my forehead against his. “You saved me, Miles.”
“So I was your knight in shining armor after all?” His breath was hot against my cheek. He groaned as I threw my arms around him.
“Yes.” I kissed the side of his neck and hugged him harder.
“You didn’t kill him,” he groaned.
I pulled back so I could see his face.
He smiled at me. “You didn’t kill him.”
I shook my head. “He ruined my life. But I don’t feel ruined anymore.”
He nodded like he understood. I hoped he did. He was the only reason I felt whole again. He reached out and touched the side of my face. “I knew Summer Brooks was still in there somewhere. It’s good to have you back.”
I nodded and let the tears fall freely. I took a deep breath and the air suddenly smelled sweeter, like a fresh spring breeze. “It’s good to be back.”
“That’s not mine,” Don said. “Check it for fingerprints. You won’t find a single one of mine.”
“You have $100,000 in stolen cash,” the FBI agent said and lifted up the duffle bag that V had planted upstairs. “The first few bills we’ve checked match serial numbers belonging to the cash that was stolen in the North Union bank burglary last year. I bet there’s a good chance that they all do.” He rummaged around in the duffel bag. “Huh, and a gun.” He lifted it up and inspected it. “What are the odds that it’s unregistered?”
“How the fuck should I know?” Don seethed. “It’s not mine.”
“I bet the odds are just as high that the bullets will match the ones from the Gavin Moore homicide last year too.”
Don just glared at him.
“Don Roberts, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent…”
I let the words fade away as I watched them handcuff Don. This had happened once before. But he was handcuffed by officers that were on his side. This time? I sighed. This time was for real. Maybe no one could tie him to the murder of my parents. But he’d end up on death row either way. And that? I exhaled slowly. That was justice.
Don stared at me just like he did last time he had been taken away. With a promise in his eyes that it wasn’t over. That he’d find me and kill me. But this time I wasn’t scared. His threats were empty now. Not only was he not going to get out of prison, but I was strong enough to take him if he did.
I watched Julie and her fiancé being pushed out of the house next. Even though I didn’t believe that my father was still alive, it was still hard seeing Jacob. A part of me wanted to believe that my father was the man in the picture, not him.
“We need to check out how bad your wounds are okay?” An EMT had crouched down next to us.
I watched her remove Miles’ shirt.
“You were lucky you were wearing one of these,” she said when she saw his bulletproof vest. “Or else we wouldn’t be talking right now.”
“I’m fine, really,” Miles said. “I just got knocked out. Someone hit the back of my head.”
“Okay, let’s see.” She pulled out a small flashlight. “Follow the light for me.” She watched his eyes. “You might have a concussion. We should get you to the hospital.”
We both helped Miles to his feet. I glanced over at my friends. I hadn’t even seen Eli come in, but he was standing there with his arm around Liza. He was wearing one of the FBI tactical vests. Everyone seemed okay. Kins looked horrified, but still healthy at least.
“I’ll be right back okay?” I said.
Miles nodded.
I walked over to them and smiled at Eli. “I thought you weren’t coming.”
“I promised I’d help you get justi
ce.” He smiled. “Nothing could have stopped me from getting them here, especially a bunch of lying cops.”
I laughed. “And all of you are okay?”
“We’ll be fine,” Liza said. “Go. He needs you.” She nodded at Miles.
I looked over my shoulder. He was arguing with someone about getting on a stretcher.
“Was there any sign of Mr. Crawford?” I asked.
Eli shook his head.
I swallowed hard. “Keep me updated okay?” I ran after the EMT who was wheeling Miles away.
Chapter 46
Friday
I slowly opened my eyes and blinked at the light streaming into the hospital room. I was tucked in Miles’ side. He did end up having a minor concussion and they insisted on monitoring him overnight. They also re-did the stitches in his side. They didn’t even ask any questions about the injury which was a relief.
It felt like the FBI had questioned us all night. But I didn’t mind telling my story. It seemed like it was the last time I would ever have to. And I was glad to let it all go. It was time to move on. My future was right beside me. I didn’t want to bring any darkness into that.
I sat up and stretched. That’s when I saw Mr. Crawford slumped forward in one of the chairs sleeping. One of his eyes was black and blue, but otherwise he looked okay. I carefully slid out of Miles’ arms and sat down next to Mr. Crawford.
“Mr. Crawford,” I whispered and lightly touched his arm. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
When he opened his eyes, they looked wild for a moment. But then he focused on me and smiled.
“Thank you.” I squeezed his arm. “Thank you for everything you did.”
He shook his head. “If I could go back, I’d do a few things differently. Just know that I wanted you to know the truth, but I didn’t think I’d be alive long enough to tell it to you when you were finally safe.”
“Whenever we talked you always said if everything went right you’d never see me again,” I said. He was willing to die to get justice for my parents. “I thought it was because you hated me.”
He laughed. “No. I tried to end all this on my own. I didn’t think I needed any help. It turns out that a team is a lot better than working solo.”
