Chapter 13 - When the World Heard
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Caroline dropped the gun.
Dominic pushed himself up.
“You’re alive.”
“Unfortunately,” she whispered.
I ran to her.
Her pulse was weak.
Dominic called emergency services using Harlan’s secure line.
This time, he didn’t call one person.
He called ten.
State police.
Federal agents.
Two reporters Sofia had trusted.
A prosecutor who wasn’t in Victor’s files.
Then phones across the country began ringing.
The archive spread.
Videos.
Bank transfers.
Recordings.
Names.
Years of corruption exploded into daylight in minutes.
Victor lay bleeding on the floor.
Alive.
Barely.
He laughed.
“You think this fixes anything?”
Dominic looked down at him.
“No.”
Victor coughed.
“You think people will thank you?”
“No.”
“You’ll go down too.”
Dominic nodded.
“Yes.”
That surprised Victor.
It surprised me too.
“You uploaded your own crimes,” Victor said.
“I know.”
Dominic looked strangely calm.
Victor stared at him.
“You’re throwing away everything.”
Dominic glanced at Marcus.
“No.”
He touched his ear.
“I’m hearing clearly for the first time in three years.”
Sirens approached.
Victor started laughing again.
Then crying.
Maybe they were the same thing by then.
Police arrived.
Then federal agents.
Then more police.
For once, Dominic didn’t tell anyone what to do.
He placed his gun on the floor.
Raised his hands.
An agent approached.
“Dominic Cray?”
“Yes.”
“You’re being detained.”
“I assumed.”
Marcus grabbed his leg.
“No!”
The room stopped.
Dominic looked down.
Marcus wrapped both arms around him.
“You can’t take him.”
My throat tightened.
“Marcus…”
“He’s my friend.”
Dominic’s face broke.
Just slightly.
He crouched.
“Hey.”
Marcus looked at him.
“You’re going?”
“For a while.”
“Because you broke the phone?”
Dominic smiled.
“No.”
“Because you shot the wall?”
“Among other things.”
Marcus frowned.
“Will you come back?”
Dominic looked at me.
He couldn’t promise.
So he didn’t lie.
“I’m going to try.”
Marcus reached into his pocket.
He pulled out his toy truck.
“My favorite.”
Dominic stared at it.
“You keep it.”
“No.”
Marcus pushed it into his hand.
“So you don’t get scared.”
Dominic closed his fingers around the truck.
His eyes became wet.
The most feared man in the city looked away so nobody would see.
The agents handcuffed him.
As they led him out, Dominic stopped beside me.
“You saved my life.”
I shook my head.
“My son did.”
“He got it from somewhere.”
Then he walked away.
I thought that was the end.
I was wrong.
Three days later, someone knocked on my apartment door.
When I opened it, two federal agents stood there.
One held a sealed envelope.
The other said, “Ms. Mercer, we need to talk about Dominic Cray.”
My stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
The agent looked at Marcus behind me.
May you like
Then back at me.
“Someone tried to kill him in custody.”
