Chapter 5 - The District Attorney’s Mistake
Roman could have made Victor disappear.
Instead, Norah stopped him.
“Don't.”
Roman looked at her.
Victor laughed nervously.
“Listen to the girl.”
Norah ignored him.
“If you make him vanish, the evidence becomes another underworld story nobody can prove.”
Roman understood.
“You want him exposed.”
“I want everyone to know what he did.”
Victor scoffed.
“You think a waitress can destroy a district attorney?”
Norah held up Samuel’s drive.
“No.”
She looked at Roman.
“But this can.”
Roman turned to Gideon.
“Make copies.”
Victor's face changed.
“Roman.”
“Several.”
“Roman.”
“Send one to an attorney outside New York.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Falco!”
Gideon blocked him.
Roman continued.
“One to an investigative reporter. One to federal investigators.”
Norah stared at him.
“You'd expose your own organization?”
“Samuel’s evidence predates most of what I control.”
“But it could still hurt you.”
Roman looked at her.
“Your father spent twelve years protecting this.”
He nodded toward the drive.
“I won't bury it because it's inconvenient.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“Samuel would be disgusted by what you've become.”
Roman faced him.
“He might.”
Victor hesitated.
Roman continued.
“But I'm starting to think that matters.”
Sirens approached outside.
Victor’s confidence finally cracked.
“You called them?”
Norah answered.
“I did.”
Roman looked at her.
“When?”
“While Gideon was complaining about the elevator.”
Gideon nodded approvingly.
“Efficient.”
Roman gave him a look.
“Don't encourage her.”
Norah crossed her arms.
“I don't need encouragement.”
Federal agents entered minutes later.
Victor began shouting immediately.
“You have no idea who you're dealing with!”
Norah stepped closer.
“For six months, Caleb made me feel like I couldn't walk home safely.”
Victor glared.
She continued.
“You arranged for me to be trapped at work because you thought fear would keep me quiet.”
She held up Samuel’s letter.
“You picked the wrong daughter.”
Victor was taken away.
But Caleb was still missing.
That problem ended two days later.
Norah was sitting inside Roman's penthouse because her apartment was still being secured.
Roman entered the living room.
“Mercer was found.”
Norah stood.
“Where?”
“Penn Station.”
“Running?”
“Yes.”
“Is he alive?”
Roman stared at her.
“Why does everyone ask me that?”
“Your reputation.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Norah exhaled.
“He was arrested?”
Roman nodded.
“He had messages from Sullivan, payment records and photographs proving months of stalking.”
Norah sat.
“So it's over.”
“The immediate danger is.”
She looked toward the Manhattan skyline.
Then at Roman.
“What happens now?”
“To Sullivan?”
“To me.”
Roman sat across from her.
“You choose.”
Norah laughed.
“That's new.”
“I deserved that.”
“You did.”
He nodded.
“You can leave New York. I'll pay for wherever you want to go.”
“No.”
“A new apartment?”
“I can pay my own rent.”
“Security?”
“No.”
“New job?”
Norah gave him a look.
Roman sighed.
“I'm bad at this.”
“At what?”
“Helping people who refuse money.”
She smiled for the first time.
“Maybe ask what they want.”
Roman considered it.
“What do you want, Norah?”
She looked at Samuel’s letter on the coffee table.
“I want to know who he really was.”
Roman's expression softened.
“That will take time.”
“I have time.”
Roman nodded.
“Then I'll tell you everything I remember.”
Norah hesitated.
“And after that?”
Roman looked at her.
“After that, perhaps you can decide whether you still hate me.”
She tilted her head.
“I never said I hated you.”
“You said it in my office.”
“That was before I knew you had emotional depth.”
Roman stared.
Gideon walked past the doorway.
“I heard that.”
Roman pointed toward the hall.
“Leave.”
Gideon disappeared.
Norah laughed.
May you like
And for the first time in years, Roman Falco laughed too.
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