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I look at Lucas and Julius at my other side, then nod. “As ready as I can be.”
“Don’t worry, Flower. We got you,” Lucas says.
I glanced at him again. The determination in his eyes tells me he isn’t lying.
In the past few months, I’ve gone from the chief of police’s daughter to a mafia queen. I’ve broken out of my shell and learned more about myself than I have in years. I took enemies and made them friends, and now they’re my family. I’ve found love and lost it, then found it again. Walking into this shop is almost bittersweet because I know at the drop of a hat, I could lose all of that.
I silence my thoughts. Now isn’t the time to be mushy. “Let’s do this.”
As we enter the shop, headlights flash across the window, then quickly turn off. Cameron is here. I look at the twins and Teddy. “Go wait behind the crates. If he sees you when he walks in, he’ll know it’s a setup. I want to hear him admit to everything before we take him down.” They don’t argue. One by one they disappear behind the crates of our guns.
When I hear the door open, I take one last deep breath and put on the best game face I ever will. Cameron is the first to walk in, and luckily, David is in tow.
“Cameron!” I squeal, running into his arms. “I didn’t think you’d actually come.” When he wraps his arms around me, I let all of the tears fall that I’ve been holding back. I sob into his chest.
“Hey, it’s okay, Charlie. We’ll get you out of this.” He pets my hair.
He thinks my tears are for him, that I’m shedding them out of happiness, but that’s so far from the truth. I’m weeping because I know this could be it. I can lose everything I love if I don’t play this act.
I pull away from him and wipe my eyes. “Teddy will be back soon, but I have pictures and documents proving he’s bad.”
I reach into my bag and pull out the same file I showed him the day at the station. Only this time, I included David’s picture and wrote the words “I KNOW” boldly across the front.
I should talk more, keep him under the impression I want his help, but I can’t. Now that the time is here, I just want to end this. To finally get my answers.
I can see the realization hit as soon as he opens it. “You… You lied to me,” he sneers.
I reach into my bag again, but he’s quicker than me. He pulls the Beretta from his waist band and aims it at my face as David does the same. “You fucking lied to me!” he yells.
I close my eyes and wait after I hear the safety click off, but nothing happens. When I open them again, I see Teddy standing beside me with his gun drawn on Cameron and the twins beside him, aiming at David.
“I would think really hard about your next move, cop,” Teddy roars.
Cameron looks to David, then back to Teddy but doesn’t lower his gun.
“Admit it, Cameron. Tell me you killed my dad.”
He shakes his head, letting his sandy hair fall over his forehead, then smiles, and it sends me over the edge. I pull my own gun out and point it at him, then walk closer, letting it rest in between his eyes. “Tell me!” I yell.
“You might as well tell the bitch, cousin,” David starts from beside him. “If they don’t kill us, Sebastian will. So tell her. Tell her how we made sure it was slow—how it was painful. How he scream—” David is cut off by the loud bang of a gunshot.
My ears ring and everything starts to move in slow motion. I lower my gun for a split second, only long enough to look beside me.
David’s body lies on the floor with blood oozing from a gunshot wound to his head. I would think I’d be used to it by now, seeing someone be murdered, but the shock doesn’t go away and neither does the confusion. I always thought when someone is shot point-blank that their head would somehow explode and land all over the room, but that’s not how it works. It’s one of the many things I’ve learned recently.
“What have you done!” Cameron screams, looking to Teddy as he rushes to David’s side.
He picks up his limp body and runs his hands all over him, almost like touching him or shaking him will make him wake up—will make this less real—but it won’t.
“Admit it to her!” Teddy booms, looking down on Cameron, ignoring his soft sobs.
My body won’t move no matter how much I will it to, and my mouth won’t speak. I want to scream, to run away and never look back, but just like when Teddy killed Simon, nothing wants to work.
I look to the twins and see them aiming their guns at Cameron too, but I know they won’t shoot. Neither will Teddy. They’re respecting my demands before they kill him. “Tell her,” Teddy hisses again.
Suddenly, all of the sobs and quiet pleas from Cameron fade away until they stop altogether. He stands, dropping David’s dead body, then looks to Teddy. “You took away the one person I loved.” He raises a shaky hand and points his gun to me. “So I’ll take away what you love.”
Before I can blink, another shot rings out, bouncing off all the crates and filing cabinets, then slamming back into my head. Teddy shoots at Cameron’s hand, his aim almost impeccable, but when the bullet grazes, his hand jerks and his trigger is pulled.
