CHAPTER 11 The Choice #2
“We tell Kim,” Noah said.
“And let police handle it.”
“No.”
Derek crossed his arms.
“Then at least don’t be stupid alone.”
Mason almost laughed.
“This is insane.”
I stepped closer.
“You promised.”
His eyes moved to mine.
“No disappearing.”
“That isn’t what this is.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No.”
“You’re trying to walk into something dangerous because you think protecting me means doing it alone.”
His face tightened.
“That is exactly your pattern.”
Silence.
He knew.
I saw it.
Finally, Mason pulled out his phone.
He called Detective Kim.
Twenty minutes later, the plan was set.
I hated every part of it.
Police would surround the old rink.
Mason would enter through the main door wearing a wire.
No weapons.
No heroics.
No improvisation.
Officers would move when Kim gave the signal.
I was not going.
That condition caused a ten-minute argument.
I lost.
For once, I was grateful.
Noah stayed with me in an unmarked police vehicle two blocks away.
Derek went with another team.
Mason sat beside me in the back seat before leaving.
The officer driving gave us privacy by staring aggressively through the windshield.
Mason held my hand.
“You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“Understandable.”
“You agreed to go inside.”
“With twenty armed officers surrounding me.”
“Still hate it.”
“I know.”
I looked at him.
“If something happens—”
“No.”
“Mason.”
“No goodbye speeches.”
“That wasn’t what I was doing.”
“Sounded like it.”
I swallowed.
He touched my cheek.
“I’m coming back.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I can promise I’ll do everything possible.”
“That’s better.”
He smiled faintly.
“You’re terrifying.”
“Good.”
His forehead touched mine.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Tell your brother I hate him.”
Noah spoke from the front passenger seat.
“I’m literally right here.”
Mason smiled.
“Efficient.”
Then he got out.
I watched him walk toward the darkness.
Every instinct screamed to follow.
I didn’t.
Trust.
That was the practice.
Ten minutes later, Mason entered the rink.
We could hear everything through Detective Kim’s audio feed.
The old building sounded hollow.
His footsteps echoed.
“Mason.”
A voice came through the speaker.
Richard.
My stomach tightened.
Mason’s voice remained controlled.
“Where are you?”
“Center ice.”
Kim looked at her team.
Everyone waited.
Through the windshield, I could see the distant building.
Nothing else.
Then Mason’s voice.
“You killed her.”
Richard laughed softly.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
My hands clenched.
Noah stared ahead.
“Why?” Mason asked.
“You always ask the wrong questions.”
“Then give me the right one.”
“Why did Lily have to die?”
Silence.
Then Richard answered.
“She didn’t.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?” Mason said.
“She wasn’t the target.”
Noah turned toward the speaker.
Richard continued.
“Evan was.”
Mason’s voice hardened.
“Why?”
“Debt.”
“Jason’s debt?”
“Evan’s. Jason’s. They were connected to people who had stopped being patient.”
“So you tried to kill him?”
“I tried to scare him.”
Mason laughed bitterly.
“You rammed his car off a bridge.”
“That wasn’t the plan.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
“Who was the third passenger?”
Silence.
Richard sounded amused.
“So you found that too.”
“Who?”
“Jason.”
No surprise.
Still horrible.
“He was in the car?” Mason asked.
“Yes.”
“And survived.”
“He got out before the impact.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“They stopped on the road.”
Richard continued.
“Jason argued with Evan. Lily tried to leave.”
Noah whispered, “Jesus.”
“Then what?”
Mason’s voice was barely controlled.
“Jason got out.”
“And you followed?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Evan had threatened to expose everything.”
“What everything?”
Richard paused.
“The money laundering.”
Kim’s expression sharpened.
Mason asked, “Through the agency?”
“Yes.”
There it was.
Bigger.
Again.
Richard and Jason had been using sports management accounts to move gambling money.
Evan knew.
Lily found the messages.
They needed the evidence gone.
“Did you know Lily was in the car?” Mason asked.
“No.”
Silence.
“You’re lying.”
“I knew after.”
“Then why didn’t you help her?”
Richard didn’t answer.
Mason’s voice dropped.
“Why didn’t you call an ambulance?”
My chest hurt.
Finally, Richard said, “Because by then there was no saving the situation.”
Mason went silent.
I could imagine his face.
I knew what those words would do to him.
Noah looked at me.
Fear.
Not of Richard.
Of Mason.
Through the feed, Richard continued.
“You think you’re different from me?”
Mason didn’t answer.
“You nearly killed a man because he insulted your sister.”
Silence.
“You built your entire life around violence.”
“Not anymore.”
Richard laughed.
“Please.”
Mason’s breathing became audible.
“You know what I did for you?”
Richard asked.
“I protected you.”
“You controlled me.”
“I made you.”
“No.”
“You were nothing when I found you.”
“No.”
“You were a broken kid waiting for someone to tell you where to point your anger.”
My stomach turned.
Richard knew exactly where to cut.
“I gave you hockey back.”
“No.”
“I buried your assault.”
“No.”
“I kept Noah away from you.”
Mason went quiet.
Richard continued.
“And now you think some photographer changed you?”
My chest tightened.
Noah looked toward me.
I stared at the speaker.
“Leave her out of this,” Mason said.
There it was.
The warning.
Richard laughed.
“There he is.”
Kim lifted one hand.
Not yet.
“Mason,” Richard said, “you want to hit me.”
Silence.
“Don’t you?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“But I won’t.”
Richard laughed.
“Because she asked you not to?”
“No.”
Mason’s voice changed.
Calm now.
Strong.
“Because you don’t get to decide who I am anymore.”
The entire vehicle went silent.
Even Kim’s expression shifted.
Richard said nothing.
Mason continued.
“You spent years telling me anger was the only thing that made me useful.”
His voice echoed through the rink.
“You were wrong.”
“Were we?”
“We?”
Kim looked sharply at the audio operator.
Mason caught it too.
“Jason’s here.”
Silence.
Then running.
Kim shouted, “Move.”
Everything exploded.
Police vehicles started.
Officers ran toward the rink.
Through the feed came shouting.
A crash.
Mason swore.
Then static.
“No.”
I reached for the door.
Noah grabbed my arm.
“Emma.”
“Something happened.”
“Stay.”
“Mason—”
“Stay.”
I hated him.
I stayed.
Gunshot.
One.
My entire body froze.
Then another.
The feed erupted with voices.
“Shots fired.”
“Suspect moving east.”
“Officer down?”
“No.”
“Cole secure?”
Static.
I couldn’t breathe.
“Where is Mason?”
Kim was already running from the vehicle.
Noah got out.
I followed.
He turned.
“Emma.”
“No.”
Not this time.
We ran toward the rink.
Police lights painted the snow red and blue.
Officers surrounded a side entrance.
Someone shouted that Jason was fleeing through the parking lot.
Another officer tackled a man near the fence.
Richard.
I barely saw him.
My eyes searched everywhere else.
“Mason!”
No answer.
I ran inside.
“No, ma’am—”
I ignored the officer.
The rink was dark except for emergency lighting.
A chair had been knocked over.
Glass shattered near the boards.
Then I saw him.
Center ice entrance.
Sitting against the wall.
Blood on his sleeve.
My heart stopped.
“Mason.”
His head lifted.
“Emma?”
I ran.
Dropped beside him.
“Where are you hit?”
“I’m not.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“Richard.”
I stared.
“Not mine.”
My lungs started working again.
I touched his face.
His chest.
His arms.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“You swear?”
“Yes.”
Then I saw his right hand.
Bruised.
Knuckles split.
My heart dropped.
“Mason.”
“I hit him once.”
Silence.
“He pulled a gun.”
“That was the shot?”
“Jason fired first.”
“You hit Richard?”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
Fear moved across his face.
Not because of punishment.
Because of what I would think.
“One time,” he said.
“He came at me.”
I took his hand.
“I believe you.”
His breathing broke.
“I stopped.”
“I know.”
“I wanted to keep going.”
“But you stopped.”
He looked at me.
“I stopped.”
I kissed him.
Right there on the filthy floor.
Police shouting around us.
Sirens outside.
Blood on his sleeve.
I didn’t care.
Mason held my face with his uninjured hand.
When we separated, his forehead touched mine.
“I came back.”
Tears burned my eyes.
“Yes.”
“You told me to.”
“I know.”
“I’m getting very good at listening.”
“Don’t overstate your progress.”
He laughed.
Actually laughed.
Noah reached us.
He looked from Mason to me.
Then at Mason’s hand.
“You hit him?”
“Once.”
Noah nodded.
“Reasonable.”
I stared.
“Noah.”
“What? He had a gun.”
Mason smiled weakly.
“Thank you, Bennett.”
“Don’t make it weird.”
Derek appeared behind him.
“Jason’s in custody.”
Mason’s expression changed.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“And Richard?”
“Also.”
Mason leaned his head back against the wall.
For the first time, I saw relief.
Not satisfaction.
Relief.
They were alive.
Which meant answers.
Trials.
Consequences.
Not revenge.
Police escorted Richard past us several minutes later.
His hands were cuffed.