I thought about the foster families I had lived with. I thought about Don putting his hands on me. And about Miles’ letters stopping. How I’d never felt so alone. I thought about my baby’s life slipping through my fingers. And how I’d never felt so weak. Tears streamed down my face.
A snowflake landed on the tip of my nose. I looked up at the sky. It felt like a sign. A kiss from the dead. When I was 16, my last reason for living had been taken from me in the snow. I remembered the blood in the snow. It haunted me. I touched my stomach. I was fucking going with plan B.
I walked up the steps of Don’s mansion. We had lived in shitholes wherever he took me. But now he wasn’t a criminal. He was New York City’s savior. So many lies. So much blood on his hands.
Before I could even knock on the door, it swung open. Two of his minions stood there. I recognized one of them. He had been in our house before. He had ignored my cries. I clenched my hand into a fist. I was going to fucking kill him too.
“Where’s Don? I…I need him.” I tried to sound pathetic. It was easy. I ha
d been pathetic my whole life. I pretended to wipe my tears away, when really I kept thinking about my unborn child so the tears would keep falling. And I thought about how he robbed me of the future I had wanted with Miles. I had always pictured children surrounding us. A family to replace the one that had been taken from me.
“Pat her down,” the man that I recognized said.
I clenched my jaw when he ran his hands down my arms. My torso. My legs. Fire. I was burning alive. I remembered the way Don touched me. How he left a trail of bruises. My tears fell like the first time he laid his hands on me. I cried for my weakness.
“He wasn’t expecting you yet,” the man I recognized said.
That was the riskiest part of this plan. We could have waited for Julie’s distress call. But that’s what Don wanted. We thought it was better if we were the ones in control. The element of surprise was underrated. Besides, Julie had already led Mr. Crawford into a trap and I was done playing into Don’s hand. And I couldn’t wait until night fell. I couldn’t wait another second.
“Can you please just go get him?” I pretended to wipe my tears away again. “Please.”
He stepped outside, grabbed the collar of my jacket, and pulled me into the house. Such a grand foyer for such a rotten man. Gold trim. Mirrors and glass. It looked like an ostentatious hotel lobby. I took a deep breath. It was time for me to initiate the distraction.
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed. I tried to push his hands away. “Don! Don!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “He’s touching me!” More of Don’s minions appeared. They came through the archways, from the stairs, from the hall.
The man immediately let go of my jacket. He looked bewildered. “I didn’t touch you,” he hissed. “I escorted you inside.”
You practically dragged me you prick. “Don!” I screamed. “Don!”
A few more minions showed up. That had to be most of them. But I kept screaming bloody murder.
Don appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Don.” My voice cracked. I ran over to the bottom of the stairs to meet him. “Don, he put his hands on me.” I pointed to the man that had sat there all those years ago and listened to Don rape me. Fuck him.
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.