And she knew it was right.
She knew it so hard that she stopped what she was doing. She had to, because now all she could think about was what that next move might be. Her head was suddenly full of all kinds of conspiracies and shady dealings, and every one of them ended with him going down in a hail of gunfire.
And they began with him leaving, right now.
God, what if he was leaving right now?
She had to go check. She had to see.
But she didn’t find what she was expecting to. He was just talking on the phone. Just the phone, she told herself. Nothing more, nothing less.
Though once she got a little closer, she was forced to reassess.
He was using a voice she’d never heard before—one that had no tone to it, no feeling in it, none of that light breeze she’d learnt to associate with him. It was calm that voice, but it was somehow also brutal at the same time.
Like the way he’d snapped that guy’s neck,she thought.
And the words he was saying only backed that up.
“Listen to me, friend,” he said, as if the person on the other end had tried to argue. And as soon as he did, that person seemed to listen. There was a heavy silence, a waiting kind of silence, and then Isaac said:
“I gave you a chance. I told you to leave her alone. I told you what would happen if you kept tabs on her, but clearly, you did not listen. Clearly, you let that paranoia creep up on you. What happened? Did your stooge see me with her and report back? Yeah, that was it, wasn’t it. Then, instead of taking a rational course of action, you decided to trymurderingherinfront of me. Honestly, what did you think would be the outcome of that? Did you really think he would bury me, too? You know exactly what I’m capable of. You hired mebecauseI was capable of it.”
He laughed, then, in a way that should have disturbed her.
But it didn’t. Truthfully, she barely even registered it.
Shecouldn’tregister it. Her mind was too busy circling a dozen things that he’d just said, over and over, until she wondered if this was what going insane felt like.Keeping tabs, she thought,hired, she thought,I told you, she thought.
And there was more. There was more.
“Perhaps then, you think most of it was just exaggeration. Well, let me disavow you of that notion. Every word about me is absolutely true. Every skill you’ve heard I have, I have it and more. Every ability you prized, is mine to use as I see fit. And now, I see fit to use it against you. I am coming for you, Smith. And not just you—I am coming for every part of your disgusting little empire. Nothing will hide you from me; there is no action you can take to prevent your own downfall. You fell the second you casually decided that her silence wasn’t enough, and now you’re just waiting for the ground.”
He didn’t turn, the second he hung up.
But that was probably a good thing. It gave all the pieces in her head a chance to slide into place. It let her go over every word he’d ever said to her and everything he’d ever done, so that when he finally did turn, she was sure. In truth, she didn’t even know how she hadn’t been sure before. The whole thing was so obvious, she wanted to laugh.
Yet somehow, when she spoke, it sounded like she was crying instead.
“It was you, wasn’t it? All along it was you,” she said.
Then waited for him to deny it. He had to deny it.
And when he didn’t the whole world flipped upside down.
“I wish I could say no. God, I wish it.”
“But you can’t, because it’s true.”
“Of course it is.”
“You were the one.”
“Of course I am.”
“You shot the guy who attacked me, you did that.”
“Of course I did. Of course, my love.”
