Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

Jamie

I had no idea how this had gotten so out of control so quickly. In fewer than five minutes, Morrie had almost shot Carlotta, and now I was almost certain he was going to shoot William. I knew I couldn’t risk shooting first, though. There was every chance Morrie would react fast and get a shot off before mine landed. The sheer shock of hearing my gun go off could be enough to get him to pull the trigger, even if that wasn’t his intention.

All I could do was what I had been doing up until this point. Keep the gun on Morrie, stay alert, and wait for an opening. Any opening. Morrie’s moving his gun from Carlotta to William could have been it, but they were standing so close together that there just wasn’t time to do anything about it .

I was pretty sure that I had finally gotten the truth about who had killed Candy, though. I didn’t believe for a second that William relived the moment and jacked off to it. That had been said to rile Morrie and get him to move the gun from Carlotta to William, but I was certain now that I had been right. William had killed Candy.

If only he had told the truth from the beginning, all of this could have been avoided. And while he would have likely served a few years in prison if any at all, it wouldn’t have been first-degree murder, not if he had only done it to save Carlotta. It was like Carlotta had said. Essentially, it was an accidental death brought about by Candy’s own actions which would leave him facing manslaughter maybe, but most likely it would be ruled self-defense.

“Morrie,” I said, knowing he wouldn’t take his eyes off William to look me. “Morrie, look at me.”

I waited, and Morrie stole a quick glance in my direction. William shuffled forward a step and Morrie spun back to face him.

“Come any closer and I swear I’ll blow your fucking head off,” Morrie snapped.

“William, don’t move,” I said. “Morrie, listen to me. You were right, okay? Throughout this whole investigation, you have repeatedly told me that William Alden killed your daughter. I should have listened to you and I’m sorry I didn’t. But I’m listening now, and if you can just give me the gun, I can arrest William and get Candy the justice she deserves.”

“It’s too late for that, Detective,” Morrie said.

“No, it’s not. Listen, Morrie, if William here starts talking about you holding a gun on him, who’s going to believe him after what he’s admitted to? And Carlotta isn’t going to press charges. She understands this is grief making you act out like this, don’t you, Carlotta?”

I risked a glance at Carlotta, praying she would go along with this. I was relieved when I saw her nodding her head frantically, and I turned my focus back to Morrie.

“Yes, yes, of course I understand, and as far as I’m concerned, this never happened. Morrie, you’ve lost your daughter, and I don’t want you to lose anything else. Please listen to the detective,” Carlotta said.

“I don’t think you understand, Detective. You know, for a detective, you’re not so hot with the detecting stuff,” Morrie said.

I ignored the insult and waited for him to go on. When he saw I wasn’t going to bite, he did just that .

“I don’t care what happens to me. The worst has already happened. Because of him.”

He gestured toward William with the gun, and I felt every muscle in my body tighten as the whole room froze. Morrie held the gun steady again, and I heard Carlotta and William let out long breaths and I felt my own body relax again. Well, not relax, exactly. I was still honed for action, but I wasn’t so tight that I would cramp up anymore.

“And now, Detective, I want him to feel the pain I felt. I want him to know what it’s like to have the worst thing happen to you,” Morrie said.

“Mr. Xavier, please,” Carlotta begged. “Listen to Detective Del Rey. You don’t want to do this.”

“You have no idea what I want, lady,” Morrie snapped.

“Then please just listen to me. Please don’t bring even more violence into my home. It ... it doesn’t have to end this way.”

“So tell me then, how does it end? I’ll tell you how it ends. This prick brings in a fancy lawyer and he makes everyone think my Candy was crazy, that she was the villain in all of this. And he gets off with it all, some sort of self-defense crap. Not only does he get away with what he did, he looks like a fucking hero, saving his wife from the loony. And don’t think I’m stupid enough to think this confession of his is going to hold any weight in court. It’s not on the record, and the lawyer will block Detective Del Rey from testifying about it. He’ll say it was spoken under duress.”

He paused for a moment, and then he smiled a cold smile that made me shiver a little inside even as I admitted to myself that he was absolutely right about how this would play out in a court of law.

“Yeah, I watch courtroom dramas the same as everyone else. I’m not quite the stupid redneck you thought I was, living up here in your fancy castle, looking down on people like me. Thinking my daughter was dispensable,” Morrie added.

With each word, he sounded a little more unhinged, and I knew time was quickly running out if I was going to end this without someone getting hurt or worse.

“It’s not like that, Mr. Xavier. If Candy was a little unhinged in the end, it’s only because she was hurting. I get that, and William gets it too. No one is going to paint her as the bad guy in court,” Carlotta said. “Please, Mr. Xavier. Candy wouldn’t want you to end up in prison over this. She would want you to live your life.”

Morrie went quiet for a moment, and I dared to believe he might actually be considering her words. He still held the gun firmly on William, though. I really needed him to lower that gun, but if Carlotta’s pleas didn’t work, then I couldn’t see what I could add that would. Morrie would know I was only trying to end this because it was my job to do so. Carlotta’s pleas were different. They were heartfelt.

“You see, Morrie? There’s a way out of this for you. Take it,” William said.

I saw Morrie’s expression change, and I knew William had said the wrong thing. I could only watch in horror as, instead of shooting William like I had thought he was going to, Morrie turned the gun back to Carlotta.

Time slowed down in that moment. What happened next only took two or three seconds maximum, but it felt like hours were going by. It was as though everyone were moving through treacle, each movement slow and sluggish, almost heavy.

“Now you’re going to know what it feels like,” Morrie sneered as he turned his gun back onto Carlotta.

I saw his trigger finger twitch slightly and then his hand started to tighten as he pulled back on the trigger. I opened my mouth, to say what, I don’t know. To shout no, or stop, or something, anything. But I knew we were well past the point where that would work. I still didn’t dare shoot. If I missed Morrie, I could well hit William.

Instead, I tucked my gun back into the holster and dove through the air toward Morrie. At the same time, William saw what was coming and he, too, dove through the air, throwing himself toward Carlotta. He collided with her, knocking her flying to one side, out of the path of the bullet. She went sideways, falling to the ground, and then there was a deafening bang that left my ears ringing as the shot rang out.

I saw an explosion of red and then my body collided with Morrie’s body, and we went slamming to the ground, the gun flying from Morrie’s hand and skittering across the ground.

I stayed on top of Morrie for a second and surveyed the damage. Carlotta was still where she had fallen. She had pulled herself into a sitting position. She had her knees pulled up and her arms wrapped tightly around them. She was rocking gently back and forth, her glassy, unseeing eyes staring at William.

I knew from a quick glance at William that he was dead. He lay on his side on the ground, a tiny bullet hole in his forehead, a single dribble of blood coming from it. Looking at just that, it didn’t seem too bad. I could even have allowed myself to believe he could be fixed. But the back of his head was another story.

The bullet had blasted straight through his head, and the entire back of his head was an open maw of what looked like minced up, raw meat. Bits of blood specked with white bone chips and gray and pink bits of brain coated the wall and floor behind him. I had to swallow hard to stop my gorge from rising when I saw an inch-square piece of scalp on the ground with the hair still attached to it. I looked away quickly after that.

I could hear a wailing sound, which at first, I thought was coming from Carlotta or maybe even Morrie, but then I realized what it was. It was sirens in the distance. My backup was finally getting closer, but it was too late now. I knew I had to get a handle on this situation, and I pushed myself up off Morrie.

“Don’t move,” I snapped down to him.

He didn’t even attempt to move, didn’t so much as glance at me. He just stayed on the floor, lying on his belly, his head turned to the side. The eye I could see looked vacant, his skin pasty white, almost gray. A single tear rolled down his cheek, but I swear I could see a half-smile playing across his lips. He knew he was going down for this; he knew he would be sentenced to life without parole, and he didn’t care. He had avenged his daughter. I was curious as to why he’d tried to shoot Carlotta rather than William, but I knew this wasn’t the time to try and engage Morrie in conversation, and any answers he gave me before he was arrested wouldn’t count for anything, anyway.

I pulled my handcuffs from my belt and grabbed Morrie’s right arm. He offered no resistance, and I snapped the cuff into place around his wrist. I grabbed his left arm and dragged it up onto his back. Again, he offered no resistance, but his body was floppy, his limbs heavy. I snapped the second cuff into place.

“Morrie Xavier, you are under arrest for the murder of William Alden. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford one, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? ”

I paused, although I wasn’t really expecting an answer. Morrie surprised me by nodding his head.

“Yes,” he said.

“With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?” I added.

Morrie pushed himself awkwardly to his knees. I stood close by in case he tried anything, but once he was kneeling, he stopped moving. He looked up at me and smiled, a smile filled with satisfaction.

“It’s finally over, Detective,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper.