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Even at my earliest age, I’d been terrified that my mom would die in the line of duty. My head throbbed, and I dimly realized tears were trailing down my face. I tasted salt in my aching throat and closed my eyes.
And that’s what happened. I thought she was so stupid to have sacrificed herself.
Marina had been trying to make the world a better place.
Meanwhile, her daughter had sunk to her father's level, down to the depths of monsters and mobsters. God, how could Mickey even compare the two of us? We were nothing alike. We had never been. We had always butted heads and refused to see eye to eye on everything.
I never imagined I’d disappoint her like this, though. Never thought I’d—
I shut my thoughts off and heard myself ask. “How do you know it was Michaelson?”
A narrowed gray gaze met mine. “I told you so I could warn you, not send you to your death too. You need to get out of town. Michaelson is beyond influential and powerful. If he wants you gone, you’ll disappear. He knows dangerous people and can pull their strings without blinking an eye.”
Like how he saved me from Ryan White.
The fucking irony.
“Michaelson was the one that your mom had the most information on and he must have caught on to her tracking the illegal deals.” Mickey looked away. “She called me not long before she died and said something to that effect.”
“I made a backup of your laptop — her work,” I said, and Mickey whipped his gaze back to mine. “But Michaelson has it now. Maybe I could get it back with the BPD’s help.”
“No, that wouldn’t work. They’d never go after Michaelson head-on like that.”
“This is my mom — one of theirs.”
“I know, kid,” Mickey said and fell back against the pillow, ashen faced. “Damn, if only I wasn’t stuck in here, I could help. Even if I could convince the force to help us, it would take too long. Michaelson could destroy the evidence.” He gazed at me. “Or kill you.”
“I have to do something,” I whispered. “Please, is there anyone who could help us?”
“Maybe,” Mickey said and reached over to the bed tray, picking up a piece of paper. In a shaking hand, he scrawled something and thrust it at me. “This is the address of one of Michaelson's enemies. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that.” He gave me a sad smile. “This is your best bet. I’m sorry. Trust me, after what Michaelson put this guy through, he’ll have no problem revealing that Michaelson killed Marina. Besides, cop-killers don’t do well in the can.”
I looked down at the piece of paper in my hand and then shoved it into my bag.
“Don’t go off on your own or bring attention to yourself,” Mickey warned and then gave me a searching look. “Whatever you do, stay away from the Michaelson family.”
I nodded, bid Mickey a quiet goodbye, and made my way to the door. Outside in the hall, I blinked and then jumped when Daniel appeared in front of me, smiling faintly.
Suddenly, I was glad that I’d insisted on going in alone, even if I’d done it more out of guilt than curiosity. I couldn't even imagine what Mickey might have done if he knew that Daniel was here, if he knew that I was in neck-deep with the crime family responsible for my mother's death, responsible for landing him in the hospital.
It took everything inside of me not to recoil. But I reassured myself that Daniel couldn't know. Didn't Ty try to keep him away from the murderous shit or something? He'd told me that last week.
“Are you okay?” Daniel asked, and I couldn't help but startle. “You seem paler than usual and jumpier.”
“Bathroom,” I said and pressed a hand to my stomach. “Something didn’t agree with me.”
“Up here,” Daniel said, and we hurried towards it. “Lia—”
I gave him a tight nod and all but ran inside. Shaking from head to toe, I barely made it to the stall when I voided the contents ofmy stomach into the bowl. I puked again and again until I had to ease myself over to the wall. I curled up on the grimy, gray tiles and let the cold backdrop hold up my aching body.
Ty, how could you? How could you do this to me? How could I have wanted you so badly that I didn’t see the lies before my eyes?
I slammed a fist into the wall beside me.Was this all part of a ploy to fuck with my head, or to keep me close to see what I know — to make sure that Marina’s daughter wouldn’t seek revenge?I gagged as another thought hit me.Or was fucking me further revenge?
Again, I threw up and I couldn’t hold in my sobs this time. How could I be so stupid? How could I have let myself fall for Ty’s machinations? I’d willfully overlooked all of the dots connecting my mother to Ty — even Sara had pointed it out.
I’d even heard Ty threaten Mickey with staging a suicide. And I’d seen his name on the folder a year ago; not long before she died.
Huddling on the floor in that crappy hospital bathroom, my heart seemed to be breaking on a loop. Just as I’d started to hope again, to feelwholeagain, everything had fallen apart. It was like losing my mom all over again.
