"She was acting!" I roar. "And you fell for it because you’re not a saint, Kane. You’re just a man. A pathetic, lonely man who wanted to fuck his dead sister’s ghost!"
The words hit him harder than my boot. He freezes. The fight drains out of him.
"You know," he whispers.
"I know everything."
I reach down and grab his hair, pulling his head up.
"Look at the smoke detector, Detective. Look at the lamp."
Kane looks. He sees the blinking red lights of the cameras.
"We have it all," I say. "You pinning a witness down. You ignoring her when she said stop. You losing your badge, your pension, and your freedom."
I let go of his head. It hits the floor with a thud.
I turn to Ivy.
"Are you hurt?"
She shakes her head. She slides off the bed and runs to me. She buries her face in my chest.
"I’m okay," she whispers. "I’m okay."
I wrap my arm around her, glaring at the broken man on the floor.
"Get up," I tell Kane. "Get out."
Kane drags himself to his feet. He holds his ribs. He looks at Ivy, then at me. He sees the way she clings to me. He sees the truth.
"She’s a monster," he whispers. "Just like you."
"Yes," I agree. "And she’s mine."
"This tape..." Kane says, wiping blood from his mouth. "If you release it... I’m done."
"Then disappear," I say. "Resign. Retire. Move to Florida. I don't care. But if I ever see your face in New York again... the tape goes to the Times. And then I come to finish what I started."
Kane nods. He looks defeated. The crusader is dead.
He limps toward the door.
He opens it and walks out into the night, leaving his career and his obsession behind on the dirty carpet of Room 105.
I look down at Ivy.
"He didn't stop," she says, looking at the door. "I said stop, and he didn't stop."
"Men like that never stop," I say. "They think their intentions justify their actions."
I lift her chin.
"You did good. You destroyed him."
"We destroyed him," she corrects.
I look at the hole in the wall. I look at the camera.
