Chapter 5 - The Man Who Stood
Rain hammered the roof of the old carriage house.
Dean waited beside Carla.
Her wrists were tied, but she was unharmed.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said.
Dean paced.
“You weren’t supposed to see anything.”
“I saw Dr. Hale changing the pills.”
“You should have walked away.”
“I work for Massimo.”
Dean laughed.
“You clean his house.”
Carla looked directly at him.
“That seems to be more loyalty than you managed.”
Dean stopped.
Before he could answer, headlights swept across the windows.
Massimo arrived.
Marco pushed his wheelchair inside.
Dean immediately raised a pistol.
“I said alone.”
Massimo glanced at Carla.
“You hurt?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Dean pointed toward Marco.
“Leave.”
Marco looked at Massimo.
Massimo nodded.
Marco walked outside.
Dean approached.
“The papers.”
Massimo placed an envelope on his lap.
“Release Carla.”
“Papers first.”
“Carla first.”
“You’re not negotiating from a position of strength.”
Massimo smiled faintly.
“That’s what you think?”
Dean stared at him.
Massimo handed over the envelope.
Dean opened it.
Blank paper.
His face hardened.
“What is this?”
“The last chance I’m giving you to tell me the truth.”
Dean raised the gun.
“You really don’t understand your situation.”
“I understand perfectly.”
Massimo’s eyes stayed on him.
“You arranged Brooklyn Avenue.”
Dean’s expression changed.
“You poisoned me.”
“No.”
“You paid Hale.”
“Camille paid Hale.”
“But you knew.”
Dean looked away.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Which part?”
Massimo’s voice sharpened.
“The bullets? My spine? Three dead men? Or six months of making me believe my life was over?”
Dean shouted, “I saved you!”
“Yes.”
“I took two bullets for you!”
“And then you destroyed me slowly.”
Dean’s hand trembled.
“You were never going to step aside.”
“So you decided for me?”
“I gave twelve years to you!”
“You were paid.”
“I built half your empire!”
“And you could have walked away with enough money to live ten lifetimes.”
Dean laughed bitterly.
“That’s the problem with men like you. You think money is the same as respect.”
Massimo stared at him.
“No.”
He gripped the arms of the wheelchair.
“Respect is what you lost.”
Then Massimo stood.
Dean’s face emptied.
Carla stopped breathing.
Massimo’s legs shook violently, but he remained upright.
Dean lowered the gun without realizing it.
“No.”
Massimo took one unstable step.
Dean backed away.
“That’s impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
Another step.
Pain shot across Massimo’s face.
But he kept moving.
Dean stared at his legs.
“Hale said—”
“Hale lied.”
Dean suddenly understood.
“The pills.”
“We stopped them.”
“When?”
“Before you decided to kidnap the woman who helped save my life.”
Dean raised the pistol again.
The carriage-house doors opened.
Marco entered with two guards.
Behind them came Dr. Hale.
His hands were restrained.
Hale looked terrified.
Dean stared at him.
“You talked?”
Hale swallowed.
“They had everything.”
Massimo stopped several feet from Dean.
“You’re finished.”
A second voice came from behind them.
“No.”
Camille stood at the side entrance.
She held a pistol.
Everyone froze.
Camille looked at Massimo standing on his own feet.
Her expression transformed from shock to rage.
“You were supposed to stay in that chair.”
Massimo looked at her.
“And there it is.”
Camille aimed at him.
Dean stepped between them.
“Camille, stop.”
“Move.”
“It’s over.”
“It’s over for you.”
Dean stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“You were useful.”
His face changed.
Camille smiled coldly.
“Did you really think I was going to split anything with you?”
Dean lowered his weapon.
For the first time, he seemed to understand the full extent of the betrayal.
Camille aimed past him at Massimo.
“I only need one thing now.”
Massimo remained still.
“My death?”
“Your signature would have been cleaner.”
She tightened her finger around the trigger.
“But yes.”
Then Carla kicked the wooden chair beside her.
It crashed into Camille’s legs.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Marco crossed the room before Camille could recover.
Seconds later, she was disarmed.
Silence followed.
Massimo’s knees finally gave out.
Carla caught him.
“Easy.”
He looked at her.
“I had it.”
“No, you didn’t.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Seven minutes?”
May you like
She smiled despite herself.
“More like seven seconds.”
