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“I remember. You made me cry in front of cops when I was six years old so they’d let us walk away when you had a bunch of stolen cash in your back pocket.”
“Damn right I did, and you were amazing, kid.” He kisses my hair. “Get going before you start bawling your eyes out again.” I notice that his eyes are wet too, and I wonder if I finally touched something in the cold con man’s heart, but I doubt it. Danny Accardi only ever cries when there’s some benefit to it, and there’s no benefit now.
I get up and walk to the door, glancing back only once. My skinny father still fills the room.
Chapter38
Hellie
“Idon’t want you to kill him.” It’s not the best way to open a negotiation, but it’s true.
Erick paces across his room. I’m sitting at the end of his bed, watching him. This is the only place he says we’re safe to talk freely, and I wonder who he thinks is listening.
“I’m sure you don’t.”
“How do we keep him alive?”
“According to him, he doesn’t have much time left anyway.”
“You know what Gallo and Frost will do to him. Either he can spend his last days here with his daughter or we can turn him over and those two will come up with some terrible way to kill him painfully and slowly.” I spread my hands, feeling desperate and sick. “There’s got to be some way.”
“Sure, there’s a way. He can give back the money then shoot himself in the head.”
I glare and get to my feet. “Why are you being an asshole?”
“Because your father’s got some game going and I don’t know what his play is, but you’re falling for it.”
I scoff, staring like Erick’s lost his mind. “I get why you think that, but my father can’t fake the way he looks. Seriously, Erick, go down there and justlookat him. He’s sick.”
“Maybe, but we have a serious problem. The fact that I brought him here and haven’t told Gallo and Frost yet is damning enough. Keeping him alive any longer than necessary is begging for a war.”
“Why can’t you hide him here? Nobody would ever know, and he can have peaceful final days.”
His face twists, and I can tell the idea of letting my father live is distasteful to him.
“Sooner or later, word will get out, and do you have any idea what Gallo and Frost will do if they learn I have both you and your dad? They’ll start killing people, that’s what. It’ll be very, very bad.”
“I can keep painting. I’ll paint every single day, as many paintings as they want.” I’m desperate and I know this isn’t a real solution, but I’m trying to come up with anything that might work.
“I won’t let you do that.” He stops, his voice softening. “Hellie, listen to me. Your father knew what he was doing when he stole from us. He understood, and he got fucked in the process. I don’t feel sorry for him, and I don’t feel any pity. I hate how it’s hurting you, but I don’t see how there’s a good solution here.”
I throw my hands up in frustration and turn away. I finally got my father back after a year of barely seeing him, after weeks of wondering if he had abandoned me for dead, after days of worrying he’d get caught by the wrong people—he’s finally here, in the flesh, and it doesn’t matter.
He’s still going to die.
“It isn’t fair,” I say, feeling like a stupid little kid. Powerless and tiny.
“I know. You’re right.” Erick’s voice is closer, like he’s standing only a few inches behind me. I shiver but don’t turn around. “I’m sorry, devil girl, I really am. I can give you a couple days with him if you want, but after that, I have to tell the others.”
“Two days.” I take a deep breath and turn around. He’s there, my Erick, my big man, looming, his lips pressed into a deep frown. “We can come up with a solution in two days. A way to save everyone.”
“Hellie—”
“We can at least try. I know it’s unlikely. I know it’s pathetic. But I can’t help myself.”
He sighs and nods slowly. “Alright. Two days. This is against my better judgment. I want him dead as much as Frost and Gallo do, but I care about you more than I care about your worthless father. We’ll try to come up with a solution, but if we can’t think of anything that could actually work, I have to talk to Frost and Gallo.”
“Fine. Okay. I can work with that.”
