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.