Chapter 10
Damian
Bishop looked too pleased to see me.
That was reason enough not to move the way he wanted.
My gun stayed on him. Rico spread left. Tone went right. Tammy stood between Elaine and the man claiming to be her father, shoulders squared like the whole room had underestimated the wrong woman.
"You must be Bishop," I said.
"And you must be your father's son."
"No," I said. "I'm worse."
Tone whispered, "That was cold."
Rico cut him a look.
Bishop laughed. "Malcolm would have liked you."
"Then I would have corrected him too."
Elaine stepped away from Bishop. Not enough to make herself clean. Enough to survive.
Tammy noticed. I saw the moment she understood that Elaine and Bishop were not standing on the same side as neatly as they pretended.
Jalen was dragged from behind the altar, alive but barely. He apologized, said they had his brother, said he moved files and did not know Karl would die.
Rico looked ready to end every breathing thing in the church.
Then Elaine told the truth.
Savannah had found records. Children. Trust accounts. Birth certificates. Insurance policies. Property transfers. Malcolm King, Julian Cross, Bishop, Elaine, churches, attorneys, judges, hospitals.
My father's name sat inside the story like rot under expensive wood.
Bishop smiled at Tammy. "You were supposed to be protection."
"For who?" she asked.
"Me."
"That is not a child," she said. "That is a contract."
Elaine's face cracked.
"She ran because Elaine told her to," Bishop said.
The room shifted.
Elaine lifted a small gun and shot Bishop in the arm.
Everything exploded.
Bishop's men came from behind the altar. Rico fired first. Tone dragged Jalen behind a pew. Tammy dropped low. I reached her before the second shot hit where her shoulder had been.
Bishop escaped through the side hall.
Elaine tried to follow, but Rico caught her and twisted the gun from her hand.
Sirens started outside.
We left through the parish office with Jalen barely standing and Elaine between Rico and Darius.
In the SUV, Tammy unfolded the document Bishop had thrown.
Guardian upon death of mother: Evelyn Brooks.
Contingent claim holder: Malcolm King.
Biological father: Julian Cross.
Tammy read the name twice.
"Who is Julian Cross?"
I stared at the paper until my father's old life came back in pieces I had not wanted.
"My father's lawyer," I said.
Her face did not break.
That made it worse.
? ? ?
Back at the clinic, Doc took Jalen. Darius locked Elaine in room two. Rico paced like a man keeping murder on a leash.
Tammy took me into a treatment room and shut the door.
"Sit."
I sat because I had finally learned that sometimes loving her meant letting her win the small fight before the big one killed us.
She changed my bandage with careful hands.
Then her hands stopped.
For the first time all night, tears filled her eyes.
"I don't know who I am," she whispered.
I stood and pulled her into me.
"You are Tammy."
"You keep saying that."
"Because I know you."
I told her what I knew. The woman who argued when she was right and when she was wrong. The woman who saw traps before my men did. The woman who held Maya together. The woman who got scared and still moved.
She cried against my chest.
Not loud.
Enough.
I held her without promising blood.
That was harder than it should have been.
When she pulled back, she touched my face.
"I love you. Not the money. Not the power. Not the name. You."
I kissed her because there were no words clean enough.
The kiss was slow, honest, and more dangerous to me than any bullet.
Soft made me want to live.
A knock came.
Rico's voice. "Elaine says Julian Cross is alive."
Tammy dried her face.
The moment was over, but it had done what it needed to do.
She was still standing.
And this time, I was standing beside her.