I lowered my gun. He was right. If anything, he and I were the same. We both were looking to accomplish the same thing. He was just far more productive than I was.
“You’re living a lie, telling yourself whatever it takes to make you feel like the hero in all this,” he went on. “How many people does she kill every day? How many cops are put in the line of fire because of raids against the Iron Hands or whomever they point out to you? If I’d had another few months, I would have had the financial backing to ruin her, or at least to threaten her and save this city from the crime wave we’ve been in the midst of since ’29. My ends justify my means, but for you it’s the other way around. You’re delusional, Roche. You think every problem can be beaten to death and buried.”
I couldn’t think straight. I just stared at him. Sinclair was gone by now, leaving us alone on the darkening rooftop. Looking to the west, I could see the sun finally disappearing. The cold wrapped around me like a glove as the twinkling reds and greens above us shone down. He may have been a dirty bastard, but his plan for the city was far better than mine. What was my role in all this? Was I even a man anymore, or just some story to scare children and Brunos with a conscience?
The hammer on my gun was forward, requiring another pull. My thumb went to it automatically, lining up another .38 round with the barrel.
“Killing me will be the beginning of the end. You kill me … you die. Your friends, your benefactors, this entire city will go up in flames. Do you want that to happen?”
“Better to sift through the ashes than search a broken house,” I said, speaking for the first time since he’d begun his tirade.
And then he started laughing. Laughing at me. “The famous Iron Hand, speechless at his own hypocrisy. Just keep living the lie, then. Thinking must be too much for you.” He looked into my eyes. “At least James isn’t around to see this.”
My brain seemed to snap with those words. Things turned black, and my body went on automatic. I dropped my gun, jumped on top of him, grabbed his chin, and pulled his head up. “You’re going to see why they call me the Iron Hand.”
Masters was still laughing. He may have won the battle, but he had lost the war. He didn’t care, though. He’d done the damage he needed to.
I was just getting warmed up to do my own.
“Welcome to Manhattan, asshole.”
CHAPTER 20
THE EYE NEVER USED THE SAME apartments for meetings; she was always shifting and moving around the city. She even used other people’s apartments while they weren’t home, fixing the places up so well afterward that they looked almost too clean to the returning residents.
After dropping off the case of money and gifting Rudi’s Neural-Interface to Jaeger, I went home. I knew all too well that she would want to see me after what had transpired. Just before I turned the tumblers of my door lock, I heard the knocking behind me. It came from behind the door of my neighbour’s apartment. Two knocks, twice.
I sighed, pulled my key back out, then turned and grabbed the handle of my neighbour’s door. The dark apartment was lit by a small light that faced me from behind a chair. The Eye was sitting there, her hands folded, elbows propped up on the arms of the chair, and one leg resting on the other. Once again, I could see her silhouette, but not her face.
The place looked empty besides her, but I knew there were others lurking in the other rooms, maybe even in the hallway, waiting for me to slip up. She pointed to a folding chair leaning against the wall. I unfolded it and sat down. The blood and filth on my clothes was beginning to stink up the place.
“Really, Elias? Now I have to clean that up, too, along with every other piece of refuse this woman hoards in here.” Her voice was far less stern that it had been the last time I’d seen her. She almost seemed relieved.
“I was on my way home to change. But, knowing how impatient you can be, I decided to humour you.”
“Well, I thank you for your respect, as well as your word. I doubt it was easy to solve this case, given the limitations you were under, but I’m impressed, as always.”
“The only limitation I had was not to kill the wrong man. Honestly, you shouldn’t be too impressed that I decided to use more brain power than your cronies usually do.”
She took the insult without comment. “Then tell me, who was the person who threatened my entire operation? Cory Belik or Andrew Stern?” She actually seemed interested to hear my explanation. There was a first for everything, I supposed.
“Belik, Stern, and even Jaeger were played for fools, scapegoats to a Black Hat named Masters who decided to take the operation to the next level. He was planning on fighting you bit by bit, pulling the rug out from under you and building up his smuggling ring until he could dominate and take out the Iron Hands. It didn’t work, but … he had a plan.”
“A poor plan, seeing as he failed to see what would do him in. Nevertheless, I wasn’t worried. No one will be removing us — not even you, my
