“What deal?” Cignette asks.
Eddie folds his arms across his chest. “Roman has wanted your…daddead for a while now, but he isn’t keen on the idea of getting his hands dirty. Solo and I used that to our advantage and offered him to take the full responsibility of Chase’s murder, and in turn, we guaranteed that you willnotchallenge him for the Administrator’s seat in next year’s election.”
“But I don’t wanna run for the position anyway.”
“That’s great and all, but there’s still the matter of Chase being dead, isn’t it? So, to keep suspicion, and the cops, off our tails, let’s let Roman stay under the illusion that you only backed out of the elections because he consented to our term.” He glances at Aarav. “You won’t tell your boss, right?”
Aarav lifts a shoulder. “I’m sure he’d have agreed to take the credit for Chase’s death regardless of what Miss Adler decided.”
I shake my head. Fuck, this is too much; my brain can’t keep up with this shit.
“I don’t understand,” I say. “Roman said yes to this just like that? Why would he do that? Wouldn’t that disqualify him or, I don’t know,get him arrested?”
Eddie gives me a tired look. “No, Dorran, itwouldn’t. And that’s because the current sheriff is Roman’s man. Roman personally helped him get the promotion, and has assisted him financially on numerous occasions. Letting Roman take the blame for Chase’s death works in our favor because he’s all but untouchable, so there won’t be a case, or any kind of inquiry, and the incident will go down in history as a random, untraceable shootout. The press, the people, the elites – no one will question Roman. And the law?” He chuckles. “He has strings attached way too deep into its crevices for any of us to eventryto comprehend.”
“And yet he lost to Chase during the previous elections,” Varsha points out.
“Chase was a people pleaser. The citizens who voted for him were stunned by his charms. Roman, however, is a brute. He works through power, status, and wealth. The citizens of Riverside are too loud, and their voices have always received prominence. But now that Chase is out of the equation, they won’t have a choice but to accept Roman as the Administrator.”
“And how will this supposed shootout be labeleduntraceable?” Cignette asks. “There are cameras both inside and outside this property. And the guards? Won’t they tell a different story?”
“We killed the ones that were stationed at the gates and the gardens when we got here,” Solo tells her. “The ones that were with you were loyal to Maverick, and have agreed to say nothing. They won’t be a threat to us.”
“The guards we killed will be used as casualties,” Aarav says. “My team is currently outside, staging their bodies. The cameras you speak of will be hacked into to show subterfuge, and even though the sheriff won’t need any of theseproofs, we’ll set the scene here in such a way that it’s believable to his and the deputies’ eyes.”
Cignette glances at Chase, and then at Aarav. “He wasn’t shot to death, though. I stabbed him.”
Aarav smirks. “I’ll just say that I was feeling rather…creativewith my methods.”
“If the sheriff is, indeed, Roman’s guy, why fake shit anyway?” I question.
“Because patriotism and righteousness are things that have a tendency of popping into these lawful bastards’ hearts at unreasonable times,” Eddie asserts. “So it’s good to be prepared.”
Silence takes over us all as the weight of everything sets in. And in my state of quiet contemplation, I notice a few people entering the estate.
A deal has been made and things are being done. It’s over; it’s all fuckingover. Just like that, it’s done. But stuff isn’t the same anymore, becausehe’sgone and life’s still moving forward. The future has already been written, but his – it was taken away from him the moment he decided to step in front of me; to take the brunt of the attack that was meant forme.
God, I wanna close my eyes and sleep. For a week, a month, a year – I just wanna fucking zone out. Because staying awake will remind me of what I lost today, and that’s a scar that’ll forever stay infected, even when it ages. I might fade to nothing one day, but this wound – it won’t leave my side, even in the fucking afterlife.
I glance towards Jayce, and see that Varsha and Alex have now moved away from him. A few members of Eddie’s team are wrapping him up in a body bag, and as Alex breaks down again, I swallow the painful lump in my throat and force myself to look at Jayce’s face right before the bag has been zipped shut over it.
“I’m sorry,” I mouth, just as a tear slips past my lips. “I love you, Jayce, and I’m so damn sorry.”
69.
Ican’t get the images out of my head – of Riley trying to force himself on me, of Mave’s lifeless body bleeding out before me, and of the fear on Jayce’s face when he made that request to me before he died. It’s a constant loop of nightmares, despite me being fully awake. It incapacitates me, tightens my chest to the point where I can’t use my lungs to draw in air. And when I close my eyes, the exact same images come to life. I can suddenly smell Riley’s breath as he tries to lean into me. I can feel Mave’s ice-cold hands grabbing mine as he looks at me with pain on his ashen face, his throat punctured by a bullet wound. And I can feel the weight of Jayce’s final words, and how much they mean, both to him and to Dorran.
Speaking of Dorran…
He’s been standing outside in the rain ever since Eddie dropped us atFinessea few minutes ago. I had asked him to come up to his loft, but he’d refused. I had wanted to insist, but I also didn’t want to trouble him, so I’d let him be. I know exactly what he’s going through right now, and even though leaving him alone has been gnawing at me, I had to do it. I guess it’s because I, too, needed some time to myself – to think, to forget, and to push myself to move forward. And so, when I’d entered the loft, I’d all but slumped against the living room wall – knees pressed to my chest, and my arms wrapped around my legs.
I sigh and glance at a piece of tile in the leftmost part of the room. It’s beige, untouched and unbroken, and I fucking envy it. The idea of it makes me laugh a little, and I realize that I’m crying.
“Fuck,” I breathe, then slide my fingers into my sweaty hair and push them back.
My thoughts go back to Dorran. He’s out in the goddamnrain– all fucking alone. And I need to be there with him instead of cowering in a corner.
Solo has driven Alex and Varsha to his condo. He wanted Dorran and I to come with, but the former said no to the offer so fast, that you’d think Solo had suggested something outrageous. I don’t think I’ll ever fully figure him out in this lifetime.
