Chapter 10 - THE SCHOOL BECAME A WAR ZONE
The floor jumped beneath Willa.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Ruth screamed downstairs.
Willa ran toward the door.
Everett grabbed her wrist.
Weakly.
“Stay.”
“My mother is down there.”
“Tomas.”
Tomas nodded.
“I’ve got Ruth.”
He ran.
Another explosion shook the building.
The windows shattered.
Men shouted downstairs.
Everett tried to stand.
His legs collapsed immediately.
Willa caught him.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting up.”
“You’ve spent eight months in a bed.”
“Noted.”
He tried again.
His knees buckled.
Willa pushed him back.
“Your ego is working much better than your legs.”
Even now, Everett almost smiled.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Willa looked through the broken window.
Three SUVs entered the yard.
Men poured out.
Sterling had brought an army.
Everett looked toward a guard.
“Radio.”
The guard handed it to him.
Everett’s hand trembled.
But his voice changed when he spoke.
Still weak.
Still hoarse.
Yet suddenly unmistakably authoritative.
“North entrance.”
“Fall back twenty feet.”
“Make them think we’re abandoning the east hall.”
The radio came alive.
“Boss?”
The voice sounded stunned.
Everett replied.
“You deaf, Russo?”
A laugh came through.
“No, boss.”
“Then move.”
Men responded immediately.
Willa watched.
This was the man Chicago had feared.
Not because he shouted.
Because when he spoke, everyone moved.
Everett pointed toward the building map.
“Sterling will enter here.”
Willa looked.
“Why?”
“He thinks I taught him everything.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“What didn’t you teach him?”
“How to lose.”
Ten minutes later, Sterling’s men broke through the east entrance.
Exactly as Everett predicted.
They found an empty corridor.
Then Tomas’s men closed from both sides.
The gunfight lasted less than a minute.
Everett listened to every radio call.
Willa watched his blood pressure.
“You’re pushing too hard.”
“Later.”
“No.”
“Willa.”
“If you pass out, you’re useless.”
Everett looked at her.
“I’ve been useless for eight months.”
Something in his voice changed her anger.
“You survived.”
He looked away.
“Seven men didn’t.”
Willa understood.
This wasn’t pride.
It was guilt.
Then a voice came over the radio.
“Boss, Sterling isn’t with them.”
Everett looked up.
A second later, Willa heard Ruth scream.
She ran.
The hallway was empty.
“Mom!”
She reached the stairwell.
Sterling stood below.
One arm around Ruth.
A gun pressed against her temple.
Willa stopped.
Sterling smiled.
“There’s my bride.”
“Let her go.”
“Call Everett.”
“No.”
Sterling cocked the gun.
Ruth whimpered.
Willa’s blood froze.
“Okay.”
She shouted.
“Everett!”
He appeared at the top of the hallway supported by a guard.
Sterling looked up.
For a second, the cousins simply stared at each other.
Everett spoke.
“Let Ruth go.”
“Give me the ledger.”
Willa looked at Everett.
“What ledger?”
Everett didn’t answer.
Sterling smiled.
“She still doesn’t know.”
“Know what?”
Everett’s jaw tightened.
Sterling laughed.
“Oh, this is beautiful.”
Willa looked between them.
“What ledger?”
Sterling answered.
“The reason Everett was put in that bed.”
Everett said quietly.
“Sterling.”
“No.”
Sterling looked at Willa.
“You think this was about his companies?”
“His money?”
“That’s pocket change.”
Willa felt sick.
Sterling continued.
“Everett kept a private ledger.”
“Names.”
“Judges.”
“Police.”
“Politicians.”
“Union leaders.”
“Businessmen.”
“Every person who took money from the Kane organization.”
Everett’s eyes remained on Ruth.
Sterling smiled.
“And every crime they helped cover.”
Willa stared at Everett.
“You kept that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect myself.”
Sterling laughed.
“To control people.”
Everett didn’t deny it.
Willa felt something shift inside her.
She had spent days seeing Everett as a victim.
But he had been the head of a criminal empire.
Sterling continued.
“The ledger is worth billions.”
“Not money.”
“Power.”
“And Everett hid it before the accident.”
He pressed the gun harder against Ruth.
“Give it to me.”
Everett looked at his cousin.
“Let her go first.”
Sterling smiled.
“No.”
Everett lowered his head.
For several seconds, he appeared defeated.
Then he said one word.
“Willa.”
She looked at him.
His eyes moved toward the ceiling.
Willa followed.
A sprinkler head.
No.
Not a sprinkler.
A camera.
Everett had seen something.
Then she noticed Tomas through the glass door behind Sterling.
Moving slowly.
Gun raised.
Willa understood.
She stepped forward.
Sterling tightened his grip on Ruth.
“Stop.”
“You want the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“I know where it is.”
Everett looked at her sharply.
Sterling laughed.
“No, you don’t.”
Willa continued walking.
“I found it while Everett was unconscious.”
Everett stared at her.
She hoped he understood she was lying.
Sterling’s attention shifted completely toward Willa.
“Where?”
Tomas took position.
Willa smiled.
“Closer.”
Sterling aimed his gun at her.
That was exactly what she wanted.
Ruth’s head was no longer in front of the barrel.
Tomas fired.
The bullet hit Sterling’s shoulder.
He screamed.
Willa lunged.
She grabbed Ruth.
Sterling fired wildly.
Everett shoved the guard beside him away and moved in front of Willa.
The bullet struck him.
He fell.
For one second, nobody understood what had happened.
Then Willa saw blood spreading across Everett’s shirt.
“EVERETT!”
Sterling ran.
Tomas fired after him.
Missed.
Willa dropped beside Everett.
The bullet wound was high in his abdomen.
Blood poured between her fingers.
Everett looked at her.
“Mom?”
“Safe.”
“Good.”
His eyes closed.
“No.”
Willa pressed down harder.
“Open your eyes.”
Nothing.
May you like
“Everett!”
The man who had survived eight months of poisoning stopped breathing beneath her hands.
