“DeLuca promised Gaffney that he would win the run for mayor if his son Dean did it,” Ford says. “However, it was my idea in the first place. I paid the Gaffney's off and promised that Dean would never get busted on a DUI charge if he fucked you and filmed it.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you do that to me?”
“I needed to do something to—” he pauses like he can't even say it.
DeLuca gives me a shit-eating grin. “To make sure your pretty face would never end up on the evening news. Where you could slip up and tell the whole world what I did to your daddy. Live from New York. You know, you really should have chosen a different major at NYU.” His eyes blacken and I take a step back, not even caring that Ricardo's gun is still digging into me.
“I run this city,” DeLuca shouts while taking a step forward. “It's mine. My greed, my hunger, my money...but most of all my control and power. I let you live as a courtesy to Ford; after certain assurances were put in place, of course. But, I wasn't going to have your stupid fucking ass mess up what I worked so hard to build. I couldn't take that chance.” His lips turn up in a snarl and he winks. “However, I would like to thank you for being such a willing participant. Nice tits by the way.”
I blink back impending tears...but there aren't any left. There's only darkness and pain.
I look at Ford again. “The way you treated me after it happened. I went to you for help and you—”
“Made her believe she was nothing but a whore. Broke her trust in everyone and everything. Hurt her beyond all repair. And this was all after you had already ripped her heart out. You really are one despicable motherfucker,” Jackson's voice booms from somewhere in the distance.
“No,” I say with my hand on the trigger. “He's one despicable dead motherfucker.”
“No!” Jackson shouts, coming into view and halting me at the last possible second. “Don't do it, Alyssa.”
In my peripheral vision, I see Ricardo aim his gun at DeLuca.
“He deserves it,” I argue as Ford's eyes close and he clutches his stomach.
“He does, baby. I know he does,” Jackson says. “But you need to let me do it.”
“What? No.”
“Yes,” he insists. “You're not a killer, baby. I am. Your soul is still untarnished and I want it to stay that way. You don't know what it's like to take a life, Alyssa. Mike deserved everything I did to him and I would take his life again in a heartbeat. But, murder is a burden that I never want you to bear. I won't let you destroy yourself again because I love you.”
He walks behind Ford and lowers his gun to his head. “And you need to let me do this for you. And after this, I'm going to take out DeLuca. I'm going to take every single nightmare away, baby. I promise.”
“No,” Ricardo barks in DeLuca's direction.
Ricardo moves closer to DeLuca and grabs Lou-Lou right before DeLuca has a chance to shoot Jackson. “Don't you even think about it, Babbo,” he says before he puts the gun to her head.
Everyone's attention turns to DeLuca and Ricardo at that moment.
As thankful as I am to Ricardo for not letting DeLuca shoot Jackson, I'm equally petrified for Lou-Lou. I never thought Ricardo would kill her. I regret ever bringing her here now.
Then, before anyone's brain can catch up to what's happening. Ricardo leans down and kisses Lou-Lou's tear-stained cheek. “Ti amo. Sii libero,” he whispers in her ear.
Lou-Lou reaches behind her and pulls a gun out of her waistband.
She lifts her chin and aims the gun directly at DeLuca's head. He's so caught off guard, he doesn't even have time to aim his gun at her. “Brucia all'inferno. Burn in hell, Bruno,” she says as she pulls the trigger, four times.
In slow motion we watch DeLuca's brain splatter all over the warehouse, his body falling to the floor with a heavy thud.
I can't contain the smile on my face. I think it's the brightest it's ever been. I barely even hear the sirens in the distance.
I open my mouth to thank Lou-Lou but she runs out the back door in the blink of an eye.
The sirens get louder and blue and red lights illuminate the warehouse.
“Jackson Reid, put your hands behind your head. You are under arrest,” a voice says over a megaphone as the doors burst open.
My heart shatters like glass and I drop to my knees.
That's when Ford lifts his head and smiles at me.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Alyssa
THREE WEEKS LATER
I learned the world was unfair at an early age. I knew that the bad guys sometimes won and that the good usually paid the price for their sins.
What I don't understand, is why I was forced to learn the harsh lesson twice in my life and why it had to involve the two men I loved the most.
Ford's living his life free as can be while Jackson's sitting in a jail cell.
For murdering Lilly's killer.
Ford attempted to get him for the murder of DeLuca but Ricardo and I vehemently fought those accusations without incriminating Lou-Lou.
Besides, it's not like anyone would be able to find her even if we did give her up. She skipped town right after killing DeLuca and no one's heard from her since. Not even Ricardo.
I have no idea what the story is between the three of them, but something tells me that Lou-Lou needed to kill DeLuca way more than I ever did...and that's saying something.
As fucked up luck would have it, the secret wire Ford was wearing in the warehouse didn't support his claims that Jackson killed DeLuca, either.
Ford couldn't pin that on him no matter how hard he tried.
Unfortunately, the tape didn't get any incriminating evidence on Ford himself, the tape just magically happened to 'pick up' right when Jackson walked in and admitted to being a killer. Then it cut off.
And since Ford played both sides of the fence, he claims that he was working undercover at the warehouse. And since he did call for backup he's not being investigated.
But little did Ford know...I have my own brand of justice that I want to personally serve him.
After tracking down and talking to a few of my dad's old friends who are still members of the FBI, it was finally going to happen.
Jackson was right...I'm not a killer. My soul isn't tarnished, but my childhood was.
I make sure that I have everything in place before I walk into Ford's office. I'm surprisingly feeling calm. The look on his face tells me that he most definitely wasn't expecting me, but he's pleased nonetheless.
“Alyssa,” he says.
He stands up from his desk and it's so reminiscent of that day, nausea overwhelms me.
I fight through it, though and take a deep breath.
He walks around his desk and smiles at me. “I knew you would come to your senses. I knew you would realize that I was only protecting you and I knew you would forgive me sooner or later. I love you, Alyssa. Everything I did was for you.”
I just stare at him, dumbfounded. It's never occurred to me before that Ford might be downright delusional.
Or maybe, he's lied so much that he just can't tell the truth from all of the different worlds he's created.