Chapter 9

I didn’t kill him. I wanted to. My hand shook with the effort of not doing it. But I drove the sword into the wall beside Ellis’s head and let go.

“You’re going to live,” I said. “You’re going to live in a cell, and you’re going to think about every day you kept her in the dark.”

Ellis laughed. “You think you can put me in a cell? I know every judge in this city.”

“Not the federal ones.”

I zip-tied his wrists with a cable from the boiler. Vance limped in, wet and furious. He saw Ellis and raised his gun.

“No,” I said. “He’s going to answer for it in court. Every crime. Including the ones I helped him hide.”

Vance stared at me. “Boss, you can’t.”

“I can.”

We carried Danielle up the ladder. Toby climbed on his own. When we reached B-2, the crew was waiting. Rourke. Pryce. The security captains. They saw Danielle, thin and gray-haired, clutching her son. They saw Ellis, bound and silent. They saw me, swordless, carrying the fireproof box.

“Ellis Crowe held my sister prisoner under this casino for ten years,” I said. “He forged her death. He fathered her child. He stole from us all.” I held up the ledgers. “These prove it. They also prove every crime I’ve committed. Every bribe. Every fixed fight. Every illegal loan.”

The room went silent.

“I’m done,” I said. “The Phoenix Casino is closing. The crew is disbanding. If you want to run, run now. I won’t stop you. But if you stay, you’ll answer for what you’ve done.”

No one moved. Then Vance took off his jacket and dropped it on the floor. One by one, the others did the same. Not all of them. Some ran. But enough stayed.

I took the ledgers to the old boiler room. I poured lighter fluid on them. Ellis screamed when he saw the flame. “You’ll destroy us both!”

“Good,” I said.

I struck a match. The ledgers burned. The names, the accounts, the debts. All of it. The fire climbed up the wall. The smoke filled the room. I stood there and watched my empire turn to ash.

Then I called the FBI. I gave them my name. I told them where to find me. I told them about Ellis. I told them about Danielle and Toby. I told them I was ready to confess.

When I hung up, Danielle was standing in the doorway. She was leaning on Toby. She looked ten years older than me.

“You didn’t have to burn the ledgers,” she said. “You could have used them to get a deal.”

“I don’t want a deal,” I said. “I want you safe.”

She touched my face. “You were always my brother, Marcus. Even when you were a monster.”

I heard sirens. Red and blue lights flashed through the high windows. Toby took my hand. His fingers were small and cold.

“Is it over?” he asked.

“It’s over,” I said.