Page 58 of ’Til You Break

Chapter Twenty

Vik

Two Days Later

Clarity.

What a beautiful thing. I almost stumbled at the finish line without it. I almost watched years of hard work come crashing down around me. For a time, I believed Hannah was the cause.

I know differently now. She’s the cure. The last piece I need to see this mission through to the end so we can finally move on together.

“Wasn’t easy pulling this together.” Brian Harris stands at the edge of a pier overlooking a calm, black ocean. Smoke drifts past him from a cigarette burned almost to the filter.

“Old dogs don’t like new tricks.”

We meet in a shipping yard. It’s late, dark, and the cameras in this section have been broken for years. One of my favorite spots. Barring the lone security guard who passes through every couple of hours, it’s about as private as anywhere in the city.

“Which is why I’m paying you handsomely.” I hand him a briefcase stuffed with cash.

“And they can rest easy. It’s the same old trick, just a different master.”

My end goal hasn’t changed. The men who killed my mother will die. Only my reason has changed. What began as vengeance has become something far more selfish.

A future with Hannah. A life free from the weight of the past.

Brian flicks the cigarette into the murky water before turning slightly towards me. He lifts the briefcase in one hand, testing its weight.

“I’d agree, if the bag wasn’t so damn light.”

“Half now. Half when the meeting’s over.”

I’ve faced too many dead ends over the years to take Brian at his word. The money means little to me, but there’s an order to these things. If he tries to cheat me, he dies. Men like him only stay honest when there’s something left to lose.

“Fair’s fair.” He extends his free hand.

We shake. When he lets go, I notice the folded note resting in my palm. I hadn’t felt him slip it there through my gloves.

“All the details I’ve got... everything you need... is on that sheet.”

“Will you be joining us?” I want him there.

He’s done me a great service by arranging this meeting, but I don’t like loose ends. It would be far easier if Brian ended the night alongside the other three than if I had to send one of my men after him.

I have better things to do. Like Hannah.

“Nah. Not my scene.” He slips another cigarette from his pocket. “Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

Disappointing.

But there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

“Then it’s been a pleasure.” I tuck the note into my pocket.

“We won’t meet again.”

Driving home, the reality of it all finally settles over me. Everything I’ve worked towards is almost within reach. For better or worse, life as I know it is about to change forever. And I couldn’t be happier.

What once felt like a noble attempt to right the past has become a burden. Not the killing. Not the men I’ve hurt. Those things have become so ingrained in who I am that my conscience filters them out like spam emails.