Page 138 of The Kiss Of Death
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he blurted out, his face contorting.
“Oh, but I do. Four years ago, I hacked into your enterprise, and after many weeks of extensive research, I found the payment. The dates matched perfectly,” I deadpanned, putting the family photo on his desk upside down. “You fired the wrong person that day.”
I had used Patrice’s identifiers to sneak up on him as a snitch in his company. Mercier had fired him for nothing.What a tragedy.I had shot two birds with one stone.
And our friend here, Bruno Mercier, remained quiet like a trained animal on steroids.
“I believe you received threats after that. Threats you hid from your family and ignored because you think you’re that powerful. Threats aiming to kill your wife if you don’t cooperate.” A sinister grin took over my features. “So Dalia and her mother leave for Pantheon, like every year, while you stay here hidden in your office like a coward on Christmas. Lots of famous people, an opportunity for so many of them to die, while covering who truly was the target.”
I tilted my head to the side, my fingers spreading like claws. Blood rushed to my skull. I wasn’t in the mood to smile anymore.
“Dalia’s mother.”I delivered the last blow to checkmate him. “They killed her with your guns. The same guns you sold to them. Yet you stayed out of the blame, your partnership with them untouched. Dalia could have died because of you. They could have fucking killed her too.”
On some poor quality videos on the dark web, I noticed Los Calaveras had Mercier’s old model guns. The rest was mostly deduction and common sense, but I knew I was right the moment his lower lip shook and shoulders slumped.
“How do you think Dalia will react when she hears the truth about her daddy?” I said, slow and deadly. “You sold them the guns right after the incident like a damn cockroach. I assume that new export contract is with them.”
“You won’t tell her,” he begged. “You’ve had that info for some time already. If you care about her, you won’t do this. I’m all she has left, and I’m handling the situation.”
I wasn’t that much of a saint. He was a monster too, and he’d pay one way or another.
“She has me now,” I said. “As you pointed out, I can destroy you, and I will.” But this time, I had to think of Dalia. Of us. I had to protect her. “I either leak what I have on you right now, destroy your life piece by piece, or…” My lips thinned, my nails digging into my trousers. I couldn’t believe I was offering that bastard a way out. “You stop interfering and leave Dalia out of it. You stop all contact with her. Then you’ll be free to continue your little illegal activity with them, and she’ll be free of you.”
Monsters would always act. They would always find a way to create chaos, but if you controlled the monsters, you could survive. It was every man for himself, and in my case, only one human being mattered, and for once, I wasn’t talking about myself.
Turning in Mercier would drive the spotlight on her. Those mercenaries would find another supplier. They’d still continue to act, and worse, if they were driven by revenge, they could target the woman who just said she loved me. The only beauty in my world.
No, I had to play a safer card, betting on Mercier’s cowardice. That way, he was out of the picture, and Dalia’s safety and freedom were secured. I didn’t give a fuck about doing the right thing. I didn’t want her mixed in with this. If everyone had to die so she could live, I’d be the one slaughtering each of us.
What other than ugliness could understand the ugliness of this world? And I was that ugliness.
That was the first step in my plan, while continuing spying on Mercier’s phone and computer—as I was doing right now, hacking his Wi-Fi from under the table with my phone. Oldhabits died hard. It would allow me to monitor him, and maybe, hopefully, Los Calaveras. I’d found nothing on them. No traces. They were ghosts, securing their digital fingerprints even better than I did. They never committed one mistake.
I snapped my fingers at Mercier, who had frozen like a perpetual glitch that had damaged his system forever. His eyes were wide open, his lips parted, it was like his soul had left his body. Well, I surely didn’t plan that. If he wasn’t sitting up, I would’ve thought he had gone into cardiac arrest.
“Well.” I stood from the chair, readjusting my long black coat, which he didn’t even offer to take when I arrived. Talk about manners. “My offer ends after dinner.”
It wascheckmate.
I paced the room, gripping the handle, when Mercier got back his voice. “Delombre, wait, there’s something—”
I swung the door open.
I thought I had won until Dalia’s bloodshot eyes settled on me.
Iwas back inside one of my nightmares, but this time it was real.
I felt trapped. Hollow. My head throbbed with pain. My eyes burned with tears. I wanted to scream but was unable to, the shock blocking any words to be spelled out loud.
I initially came to tell them Grandma was complaining about their boys’ talk, but I heard everything, their words leaving a relentless buzzing in my ears.
“Dalia, I—”
Levi started to speak, but I raised my hand, my focus shifting to my father. His head was lowered; he avoided any direct eye contact with me.
“Mom died because of you.” My voice cracked as if my heart was pierced by hundreds of needles. “All those years, I felt responsible to have dragged her to this silly opera, but it was because of you! You lied to me! You caged me, making me feel like I was the problem!”
He handed them the guns that took my mother’s life.
