Chapter 17 #2
The nightclub is now so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
The only sound is of heavy footsteps coming toward me.
When I move again, I lift my hand to my chest to feel if there’s a pool of warm blood there.
To my surprise, I haven’t been shot anywhere at all.
It was a warning shot, and it worked to prevent me from reaching the door.
I turn my head to see the mafia boss walking slowly toward me.
One of his men is at his side with his gun drawn.
The door hasn’t gone anywhere; it’s still right within my reach, but now it’s locked by two bouncers who fill the width of the doorframe with their broad shoulders.
If I wanted to go anywhere now, I’d have to get through them first.
“Leaving so soon?” the man asks as he steps closer. “But we’re just starting to have some fun. Do you know what we do with cops here?”
Laughter erupts all around me, and the music suddenly plays again. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, but I know it’s not going to be good.
I brace myself for whatever is coming next. But before anyone can lay a hand on me, the door to the nightclub bursts open and knocks both of the bouncers out of the way.
I look up to see what's happened and am shocked to see Nico standing there.
Instantly, a wave of whispers spreads as someone in the club recognizes him as the Ghost. Without hesitation, Nico grabs me and pulls me out of the nightclub, not waiting to exchange words or shots with anyone there before making my narrow escape from whatever dangerous fate awaited me had he not arrived just in time to prevent it.
Once outside on the street, Nico threads his hand in mine and hurries me along toward his car. It isn’t until we’re safely inside his vehicle and driving away that he finally speaks.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he asks, audibly upset that I lied to him and put myself in danger. “I thought I told you not to go to that club and to do whatever sleuthing you needed to do from afar? You promised me you wouldn’t go near that place.”
“Yeah, I did,” I say as I try to catch my breath. My heart is still pounding in my ears. “But I needed to find some answers. You would have done the same thing.”
“No, I wouldn’t have,” he scowls. “And did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Find answers.”
“No,” I say with a heavy sigh. “Unfortunately, a woman there ratted me out as a cop before I could discover anything.”
“Jesus, Elle. You’re really damn lucky that I got there when I did,” he says, sounding more relieved than angry now. “Do you have any idea what they do to cops?”
“No, but I think they were about to show me.”
Nico rolls his eyes at me and lets out a groan as if he doesn’t think I’m taking any of this seriously. Trust me, I am.
“What were you doing there anyway?” I ask, suddenly realizing how remarkable it was that he arrived at the exact moment that I needed him. “How did you know I would be there and that I needed your help?”
He raises a brow at me. “Have you forgotten who I am?” he asks sarcastically.
“Of course not,” I let out a small chuckle as relief finally settles in and my adrenaline starts to fade. “You’re the infamous Ghost. But seriously, your timing was impeccable this time.”
My last couple of words sting us both. They’re a keen reminder that this time he was able to prevent tragedy from happening, unlike the night my mother was killed.
Nico is quiet for a few minutes, and it makes me feel unsettled, as if he’s holding back from me again. After a few long minutes, he answers.
“I need to tell you something,” he says as he pulls the car over to the side of the road and turns to face me.
“I wasn’t sure that I wanted to divulge this to you.
I was hoping that you’d find out on your own, but considering that you’re not going to stop throwing yourself into danger until you find out the answer to your single most important question, I now feel compelled to reveal this to you. ”
“Okay,” I say hesitantly. “What is it?”
“I told you before that I suspected your father’s involvement in covering up the investigation into your mother’s shooting,” he says slowly.
“And I told you the truth about not knowing who exactly was responsible for killing her and who orchestrated the whole thing. But what I didn’t tell you about that night is that there was another person there in that alley. ”
Shards of my own memories resurface and cut through me again. I knew I had seen someone else, too. I knew it wasn’t just my imagination or a stupid coping mechanism.
“I honestly wasn’t certain who it was until today,” he continues. “But today, while you were undermining my warnings and breaking your promise by going on some risky undercover mission that exploded into chaos at the nightclub, I went to the police station to confront your father.”
“You what?” I ask in shock. “Confront him about what? How he mishandled the investigation?”
“No, I went to confront him about having your mother killed.”
A ringing starts in my ears as if my mind is trying to disassociate from what I’m about to hear.
“He admitted it, Elle. It was your father that night in the alley with us. He’s the one who hired the gunman to shoot your mother.
He confessed all of it in his office today.
Your mother had a lot of dirt on him and the corrupt shit he was doing while hiding behind his badge.
She was getting ready to leave him and expose your father, and he was trying to save his own ass. He is your mother’s true killer.”
“I don’t believe you,” I say, even though I know in my sinking heart that what Nico is saying is true. Perhaps deep, deep down, I’ve always suspected it.
“You don’t have to,” he says as he pulls a small recording device out of his jacket pocket. He presses a button, and the sound of my father’s voice fills the car.
I listen with tears streaming down my face as my father confesses to having orchestrated my mother’s murder. And by the time the recording is finished, the front of my shirt is soaked with tears.
My father betrayed me, and Nico watched it happen.