Disgusted with himself, his hand pulled out the pistol with lightning speed. He shot off seven bullets, blowing the player to kingdom come.
Then he collapsed to his knees and buried his face in his palms.
As he wept and warm tears streamed down his burned, bloody hands, he literally sensed the dark claws of the demon clutching his heart yield.
But it was too late for redemption, wasn’t it?
Chapter 48
May 13, 2019. 09:32 A.M.
Embarrassed that he did not foresee the doors being booby-trapped, Gabriel had no option but to call in the cavalry. So that’s what he did. His thumb, doused in blood like all its neighboring fingers, cut the call. SSA Morgan was sending the units. ETA: five minutes.
Might as well be an eternity away. Didn’t matter, though. Gabriel heard the bloodcurdling squealing of a pig from inside. Meaning the devil finally met the end he so rightly deserved. Good. That was the reason he had come to Detroit. Now he would die gleefully. But arresting Lolly would be a cherry on top.
Gabriel heard shoes behind the door.
First he picked his Glock from the ground, then he applied pressure to the bullet wound with an elbow and pushed himself up, fighting the gravity.
“Fuck!” he cried.
The blood pooling on his midsection cascaded down his crotch, thighs, and eventually spread under his shoes.
The door flew open and a man came out, carrying someone on his shoulder, like a logger. Ryatt. That sense of déjà vu gripped Gabriel again. Ryatt was the man from Gabriel’s almost memory. But he quickly recovered from its surreal clasp. Now was not the time.
They locked eyes.
“Detective Chase.” Gabriel showed his NYPD shield. “You’re under arrest.”
“C-Chase?” Ryatt asked, shifting the guy on his shoulder, who Gabriel assumed was Leo. “Joshua’s little boy?”
“Don’t fucking say his name!” An unused energy surged through Gabriel. “My dad would have been alive if it weren’t for you.”
“Huh?” Ryatt asked, blinking like a squirrel. “I can guarantee you, son, I ain’t got no part in his death.”
“Oh, but you do,” Gabriel said. “The one you killed in there,” Gabriel motioned the Glock at Bugsy’s front door, “he ordered my dad shot dead with a Desert Eagle, just so that I would go after Lolly.”
“What the… how do you know?”
“My dad, he mentioned in his notebook that you’re extremely efficient with your gun. But the crooks who tried to kill him missed several shots in a drive-by. That’s when I began doubting. The slugs recovered from that Audi, and from my dad and his partner confirmed my suspicion. They didn’t come from your Desert Eagle.”
“Someone was trying to frame me real hard.”
“Only Bugsy had anything to gain from it, on top of being the only person—outside of law enforcement that is—who knew that Lolly used a Desert Eagle.”
Ryatt shook his head. “You don’t have to concern yourself with that no more, kid. I roasted him to a crisp.”
Gabriel smiled at Ryatt, weirdly thankful. “A classic cobra effect. The only thing I slightly regret is the fact that I pointed the Detroit Alliance in Thomas’s direction.”
“You set them after my friend?” Ryatt asked.
Gabriel nodded. “Once I uncovered your identity, Bugsy went after your mom. So imagine, what would have happened if I hadn’t given them Thomas and arrested you instead? While you rotted in jail, Bugsy would have been alive and…”
“… hurt my mom to settle his little score with me.” Ryatt looked at Gabriel, his tough world-weary face replaced with gratitude. “Thank you.”
“I did it for Mrs. Durant,” Gabriel said and held up his gun. However, his eyes darkened, aim slipped. But Ryatt, a gunslinger famous for his shooting skills, didn’t even reach for his holster when Gabriel’s gun arm slumped to his side.
“Come on, kid,” Ryatt said. “Let me help you.”
“Up yours.” Gabriel coughed and he was sure he saw pink mist before his face.
“You’re not very smart like your old man, are you?” Ryatt asked.
Gabriel smiled proudly. “Yup, that I can’t deny.”
“Why’d you come here without backup?”
“Because my dad sacrificed his life to catch you. So the infamous Lolly belonged exclusively to Detective Chase from the 122nd precinct, not the FBI or the DPD. And it doesn’t matter which Chase catches you.”
Ryatt shook his head. “Why you and your pops hate me so much? I’m not guilty, you know?”
“Not guilty?” Gabriel raised his eyebrows.
“You put a fat gazelle and a starving hyena in the same forest. A hyena’s gotta do what a hyena’s gotta do to survive. It’s nature. So we are truly faultless because we’ve been given shitty lives and no opportunities. If anyone’s guilty, it’s that unfair God.”
Gabriel laughed, but it ended in him coughing up blood again.
“You think it’s funny? Why?” Ryatt asked.
“Because that’s not how you compare things. You’re interpreting it in an arbitrary manner that reinforces your inexcusable actions.” Gabriel shook his head in contempt. He knew the whole slew of rhetoric criminals used to justify their crimes.
“What you prattling about?”
Gabriel sighed. “Truth of the matter is, you aren’t a carnivorous hyena. You are a human. An omnivore. You have the ability to eat with or without murder. Maybe it’s a test of your resolve. While Mrs. Durant didn’t let the harsh world corrupt her and passed with flying colors, you failed miserably.”
“W-what?”
“You think it’s tough being bad? No, it’s tougher being good. I’ve seen an eighty-year-old janitor. I’ve seen handicapped people winning the Olympics. I’ve seen single moms working two jobs.” Gabriel wanted to laugh but he controlled himself.
Ryatt bit the tip of his lower lip, unable to
