Page 123 of Statler

She’d shot him in the thigh.

William’s gaze slowly grew wide, then eventually turned…blank.

He fell off her with a heavy thud.

Eliza slowly sat up.

What had⁠—?

“I’m sorry, Eliza,” a voice she knew well, rang out from behind her. “I know you wanted to take care of him yourself, but I wasn’t sure you were going to be able to reach your gun. I couldn’t take that chance.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Statler held his breath and lowered his chin to his chest, waiting for Eliza to speak.

She would either forgive him, or hate him for what he’d done.

But no matter which way it went, he didn’t regret it. If Flazer had managed to put those capsules into Eliza’s mouth…

Well, he couldn’t even think about it.

“You… You killed him,” Eliza turned her upper body toward him and blinked slowly, looking at Statler, then at her father’s still body.

“I did.”

Statler wouldn’t make excuses, but knew his future with Eliza hung in the balance.

She sucked in a lungful of air, then let it out slowly.

“Thank you.”

Statler’s head snapped up.

“Thank you?” he repeated dumbly.

Her gaze, as she stared at him, became more resolute. “Yes. Thank you. I’ve hated the man for a long time. And I wanted him dead. I… I just couldn’t do it.” Fresh tears sprung to her eyes. “He admitted he had Holden shot, then he told me… He poisoned my mother.”

“I heard,” he whispered back.

A gutted sob broke loose, but as much as Statler wanted to go to her, he remained in place when she put up a hand.

It was clear she wasn’t finished yet.

She pulled a small recorder from her pocket, looked at the green light, then clicked the device off. “I have it all here. William admitted to everything; the illegal manufacturing, the deaths. It should exonerate you for shooting him.”

Statler wasn’t concerned.

“Nobody is going to think twice over his death, Eliza,” Statler told her gently. “We were cleared by our mentor to use lethal force against him if necessary.”

She sighed. “That’s good. I only regret that he won’t stand trial for his crimes now,” she lamented with a bite in her voice.

“Maybe not an earthly trial,” Statler offered. “But we can hope he’s having to answer to a higher power right now.”

Statler had never wished for a supreme being more than at this moment.

He continued on a stronger, concrete note. “And as for justice being meted out, we still have every one of his minions, including Jeremy. They’ll all be facing a judge and jury, and believe me, the FBI isn’t going to go easy on them. The agency has our files that are now overflowing with evidence.”

“Okay,” Eliza nodded. “I’m glad some retribution will be exacted. But still, I’m…”