Chapter 68
Jayce is dead. And as much as it hurts to think about it, to let the words play in my head, it won’t change the fact that I lost my brother today. The man who understood me better than anyone ever has; the man who protected me so fiercely that in the end, it cost him his life.
A life that was far more valuable than mine.
I’m not someone who dwells on things – or people, for that matter.
But Jayce – him and I were bonded. He was an extension of my darkness; my morals.
He balanced me out, and I knew that if I needed his advice, or his presence, all I’d have to do is look to the side, and he’d be there to guide me, to stop me if I were about to mess shit up.
Not anymore, though, and the pain of that truth is enough to crumple me on the inside.
It has petrified me to the point where everything feels constricted, and I don’t know how to get rid of the fucking weight of it.
Of the guilt and the loss. It’s too much; too strong.
A series of gunshots are fired just outside the estate, which startle me out of my trance.
“What the fuck was that?” Varsha asks.
Alex doesn’t say anything; he’s lost in his own head while he holds Jayce to his chest.
“Let’s hope it’s Solo,” I say, then touch the scar on my right cheek, only to flinch at its tenderness. It’s not bleeding as much now, but it burns like a motherfucker.
I move my hand away from my face and turn around, and notice as one of the guards – Maverick had called him Ashton, I believe – pulls Cignette to the side when a bullet somehow ends up hitting the chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
He says something to her, then motions for the others to follow him outside.
There’s yelling, more gunshots, and then, I hear a voice saying, “Maverick is dead. He died protecting the people in this estate. Shooting those who have come to their aid goes against everything he taught us, and everything he stood for. I want you guys to stand down, and if anyone wants to disobey me, they can come forward and let it be known.”
Solo is here, then.
The guard’s words ignite strong murmuring from those in the garden. I can’t hear, or understand, what they’re saying, so I instead look at Cignette again.
She’s sitting on the floor now, next to Maverick’s body.
Her hands, and most of her dress, are covered in blood – both Chase and Maverick’s.
There’s color on her cheeks, as if she’s flushed or something, and her hair is a sweaty mess around her.
She’s staring at her hands, and is running the pad of her thumb over my switchblade’s handle.
I don’t remember when or how she took it off me, but then again, I’d been completely out of it when Chase had attacked Jayce, so I wouldn’t have known anyway.
The commotion from outside stops. Silence takes over, but it’s only brief. I hear footsteps marching up the estate’s stairs, and then…
“Dor?”
Varsha lets go of a breath, but it quickly turns into a sob. Alex doesn’t so much as react; he remains as is.
Solo all but runs towards me, with Eddie right behind him. There’s a guy with them who I haven’t seen before, but with the crisp blue suit he’s wearing, along with the earpiece on him, and the pistol he’s holding, he looks like he could be a security personnel or something.
“Dor?” Solo kneels before me and places a hand on my shoulder. “What the fuck happened here?”
Eddie glances around the foyer with wide eyes and a too-shocked face. “Holy
shit,” he whispers, then pulls his phone out of his leather jacket before putting it to his ear.
“Jayce is dead,” I tell Solo, then swallow and look at him. “Chase and Maverick are dead, too.”
His face crumples. “Dorran…”
“My brother is dead, Solo,” I say out loud for the first time, and it sucks. It fucking hurts. It makes me wanna heave, but it also makes me wanna scream until I can’t.
Solo’s eyes mist over, but he sniffs and glances at Alex and Jayce. The former is crying now, and his tears are painting Jayce’s paling cheek.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t come sooner,” Solo says, then grabs one of Jayce’s hands before bowing his head. “Fucking hell, I wish I could kill Chase right now.”
“There’s unfortunately no chance of that happening, since he’s already very dead,” Eddie says, then steps closer to us. “And you guys need to get outta here. Now.”
“I’m not going to leave Jayce here,” I tell him.
“I’ll get the body to you as soon as I can.”
Body…
I’m on my feet so fast that it makes me momentarily dizzy, but I manage to get in Eddie’s face without falling on my ass.
“What the fuck did you just call him?” I grit at him.
He frowns, and his expression softens. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean it like that.” He sighs and touches my arm. “It’s a force of habit, man. Seriously, I’m sorry.”
My throat tightens, but I clear it and give him a curt nod. No use taking my frustration out on him. He’s only trying to help.
I step back, and see that Solo is attempting to pull Cignette away from Maverick. She’s trying to push him off, but he isn’t giving up.
“Just two more minutes,” she’s pleading with him. “Please let me look at him for two more minutes.” She starts crying, and even though I try, I can’t hold my own tears at bay. A few of them drip down to my scar, and to my jaw, and I let them.
How much can a broken human being take before they reach their limit? How much can they push, and push, and push, until they’re tired of it, of losing?
“Grow a fucking pair and come to terms with the fact that he’s gone, kid,” Solo says to Cignette. “Because he really is; Maverick is gone.”
She shoves at his chest – once, twice – and when he takes my switchblade from her before grabbing her wrists, she lets him pull her in for a hug.
“Be strong for him,” he encourages. “Because this is not how he’d want you to behave – not for him, at least. And you and I both know that.”
She cries into his shirt, staining it with blood and tears. “He shouldn’t be gone,” she whispers, then shakes her head. “He can’t be.”
“You live in a world where you can’t hope for things to always go as planned, kid. That’s your truth – one you gotta know by heart.” He holds her tighter, and I see how much he’s struggling to keep it together.
Watching them like this, I realize that Solo knew before I did that Cignette needed this; needed the reassurance, and the hug.
It may not do wonders against what she’s lost, but it’ll help her see that she’s got people on her side who refuse to let her shatter.
Solo’s tough love may seem too much for her to handle right now, but I’m sure Cignette will appreciate it in the days to come.
It’s a lesson for me, too, to be honest, as bitter as it may taste.
“Solo,” comes Eddie’s voice.
When Solo looks at him, he jerks his head towards the stranger. “Him and his team have work to do here. We should leave.”
“Who are you?” I ask the guy.
“This is Aarav,” Eddie answers for him. “He’s Roman Washington’s head of security.”
“Roman Washington?”
“He’s Dad’s opponent at the elections,” Cignette provides, having moved away from Solo.
“I’m sorry, did you just say Dad?” Solo says while staring at her, then goes, “Oh my fucking God.”
Cignette runs the back of her hand under her nose. “Yeah.”
Eddie looks like he’s done with us, and with everything, but he blinks and pushes his fingers into his hair before gesturing at Aarav.
“Um, so yeah. Roman and Chase are competing for the administrator’s seat at the elections, but now that Chase is dead, Roman is most likely to be named Riverside’s new Administrator.
Unless he’s challenged by a member of Chase’s family,” he starts, then nods towards Cignette.
“Solo was sure Chase was gonna die today, so him and I struck Roman a deal – one he couldn’t, even if he wanted to, refuse. ”
“What deal?” Cignette asks.
Eddie folds his arms across his chest. “Roman has wanted your…dad dead for a while now, but he isn’t keen on the idea of getting his hands dirty.
Solo and I used that to our advantage and offered him to take the full responsibility of Chase’s murder, and in turn, we guaranteed that you will not challenge him for the Administrator’s seat in next year’s election. ”
“But I don’t wanna run for the position anyway.”
“That’s great and all, but there’s still the matter of Chase being dead, isn’t it?
So, to keep suspicion, and the cops, off our tails, let’s let Roman stay under the illusion that you only backed out of the elections because he consented to our term.
” He glances at Aarav. “You won’t tell your boss, right? ”
Aarav lifts a shoulder. “I’m sure he’d have agreed to take the credit for Chase’s death regardless of what Miss Adler decided.”
I shake my head. Fuck, this is too much; my brain can’t keep up with this shit.
“I don’t understand,” I say. “Roman said yes to this just like that? Why would he do that? Wouldn’t that disqualify him or, I don’t know, get him arrested?”
Eddie gives me a tired look. “No, Dorran, it wouldn’t.
And that’s because the current sheriff is Roman’s man.
Roman personally helped him get the promotion, and has assisted him financially on numerous occasions.
Letting Roman take the blame for Chase’s death works in our favor because he’s all but untouchable, so there won’t be a case, or any kind of inquiry, and the incident will go down in history as a random, untraceable shootout.
The press, the people, the elites – no one will question Roman.
And the law?” He chuckles. “He has strings attached way too deep into its crevices for any of us to even try to comprehend.”
“And yet he lost to Chase during the previous elections,” Varsha points out.
“Chase was a people pleaser. The citizens who voted for him were stunned by his charms. Roman, however, is a brute. He works through power, status, and wealth. The citizens of Riverside are too loud, and their voices have always received prominence. But now that Chase is out of the equation, they won’t have a choice but to accept Roman as the Administrator. ”
“And how will this supposed shootout be labeled untraceable?” Cignette asks. “There are cameras both inside and outside this property. And the guards? Won’t they tell a different story?”
“We killed the ones that were stationed at the gates and the gardens when we got here,” Solo tells her. “The ones that were with you were loyal to Maverick, and have agreed to say nothing. They won’t be a threat to us.”
“The guards we killed will be used as casualties,” Aarav says.
“My team is currently outside, staging their bodies. The cameras you speak of will be hacked into to show subterfuge, and even though the sheriff won’t need any of these proofs, we’ll set the scene here in such a way that it’s believable to his and the deputies’ eyes. ”
Cignette glances at Chase, and then at Aarav. “He wasn’t shot to death, though. I stabbed him.”
Aarav smirks. “I’ll just say that I was feeling rather…creative with my methods.”
“If the sheriff is, indeed, Roman’s guy, why fake shit anyway?” I question.
“Because patriotism and righteousness are things that have a tendency of popping into these lawful bastards’ hearts at unreasonable times,” Eddie asserts. “So it’s good to be prepared.”
Silence takes over us all as the weight of everything sets in. And in my state of quiet contemplation, I notice a few people entering the estate.
A deal has been made and things are being done.
It’s over; it’s all fucking over. Just like that, it’s done.
But stuff isn’t the same anymore, because he’s gone and life’s still moving forward.
The future has already been written, but his – it was taken away from him the moment he decided to step in front of me; to take the brunt of the attack that was meant for me.
God, I wanna close my eyes and sleep. For a week, a month, a year – I just wanna fucking zone out.
Because staying awake will remind me of what I lost today, and that’s a scar that’ll forever stay infected, even when it ages.
I might fade to nothing one day, but this wound – it won’t leave my side, even in the fucking afterlife.
I glance towards Jayce, and see that Varsha and Alex have now moved away from him.
A few members of Eddie’s team are wrapping him up in a body bag, and as Alex breaks down again, I swallow the painful lump in my throat and force myself to look at Jayce’s face right before the bag has been zipped shut over it.
“I’m sorry,” I mouth, just as a tear slips past my lips. “I love you, Jayce, and I’m so damn sorry.”