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“Let it all out,” Ella said. “When this is done, Dennis is going headfirst in that river back there, so feel free to throw him under the bus.”
Dennis squirmed in his seat, lifting his chair off its feet, and toppling to one side. He began to cry, but Ella didn’t have time for sympathy. This was twenty-five years in the making and she was going to make it count.
“Shut the hell up,” she shouted. “Now, Nathan, your little friend at that building told me you know about my dad. Is that true?”
“Yes. It’s true.”
‘So tell me everything.’
“He was right,” Nathan quivered. He shrank down into the corner, struggling not to stare at the two gun barrels pointed at his forehead. “Your dad wasn’t who you think he was.”
“Oh no?”
“No. He was a thief.”
Ella’s aggressive demeanor quickly faltered. She lowered her pistol. “He was what?”
“A thief. A very good one, apparently. Look, I never met the man, but I know the stories. He was one of us.”
“One ofyou?My dad worked for the Red Diamonds?”
“Yes,” the man nodded. “He was one of the best. A fantastic thief.”
Ella lunged closer, a pistol against Nathan’s forehead as she bounced his skull off the wall. “Stop saying that. My dad wasn’t a criminal.” Ripley stepped in and pulled Ella back.
“What do you want me to say?” Nathan’s hands shot up in surrender. “That’s what I know.”
“He was a good man. He wasn’t some run-of-the-mill burglar.”
“Not in your lifetime. When you came along, he tried to back out. I was only just starting around that time and I remember it well. Ken tried to leave the Diamonds, promised he wouldn’t tell a soul about us. But once you’re in the Diamonds, you can never leave.”
Ella took a deep breath. She had to remove her finger from the trigger in case her emotions took over. “So, what did you do?”
Nathan trembled on the spot. His lips moved but no sound came out. It seemed even he didn’t want to speak the words aloud.
“I think you know,” he said finally.
“You killed him,” Ella said.
Silence engulfed the room. Nathan said nothing, but his reaction said more than words ever could. Ella stepped away, paced around the room a little and counted to ten. At last, she had confirmation, but it didn’t make hearing the fact any easier.
“Who did it?” Ella asked.
“Our assigned… guy.”
“Yourguy?” she yelled.“You wanna die in here or not?”
“Logan Nash. We call him the Cleaner,” Nathan cried. “Been in the Diamonds since the eighties.”
“Who is he?”
“No one other than the top boss knows his identity. Logan Nash might not even be his real name.”
“Are you sure about that?” Ella said, edging closer again. She jammed the barrel of the gun into Nathan’s lips. He turned and spat.
“Okay, it is his real name, but I swear I’ve never met him. Never seen him. He’s our last resort. Our killing machine. A pure, merciless psychopath. Lifelong contract killer, must have taken forty, fifty lives over the years. Don’t try and find him, because you won’t.”
Ella had stopped listening. She was done here.
