Page 80 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part Two
I stood up and walked onto the balcony to answer. “Tobias.”
“Hendrick?” Tobias sounded a little panicked, which was a bad sign already.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your father’s verdict was today. They found him not guilty.”
I sucked in a breath. “How? Howthe fuckcould they find him not guilty? Fucking hell, Tobias, I laid it all out for them in black and white! Are we going to appeal?”
Fuck. My father must have had his hand up the judge’s ass too. I kicked the giant concrete pot that held some kind of climbing vine, and pain shot through my toes. How could this happen?
“Hendrick, wait. There’s…” I heard Tobias swallow hard. “There’s more. He walked out of court and stood on the steps to give a press conference. And Hendrick, your mother—” He sucked in a deep breath. “Your mother shot him. In the head. At point-blank range. She was in turn fatally shot by security.”
I dropped the phone, and it shattered on impact. I could still hear Tobias’s voice calling to me, but there was a high-pitched ringing in my ears.
Dead.
Dead. They were both dead.
I could hear the faint buzz of people down below, and knew that the press were probably finding out about it just now too. Turning back to the house, I met the worried eyes of Otto. He took one look at me and was off the couch, running.
I was frozen on the balcony like a statue. I couldn’t make my feet move, no matter how hard I willed myself to step inside the apartment. Otto was in front of me in seconds, dragging me toward him and into the house.
“Are you hurt?” he yelled, looking for gunshot wounds or something, but I couldn’t explain. Evan was over too, eyeing the buildings around us for snipers. Sampson had Aviva pushed behind him, like he was waiting for an attack.
“Otto, I’m fine. It’s not that. It’s…” I looked over at Calypso and Matty.
Evan strode toward them. “You need to leave.” It was a command, not a request.
Calypso was nodding, gathering up her stuff and shoving it in her bag. “Of course.” She hesitated, like she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do or say in this situation. “I hope everything is okay.”
Viva gave her a tight smile. “We’ll be in touch.”
And then Calypso and Matty were hustled right out the door and into the elevator. Viva ran toward me, searching my face like she could find the truth.
I shook my head at her. “They’re dead. She kept her word, and now they're dead.”
Sampson reared back, but Otto and Aviva looked even more confused. Sampson’s phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket. I saw Tobias’s name on the screen. I guess he’d gotten worried when he was just talking to air.
“Tobias, what the fuck is—” Sampson’s mouth fell open. “How? I mean, fuck... We’ve got him, Tobias. He’s safe.” He was silent as he listened to whatever it was Tobias was telling him on the other end of the line. “Thanks for checking in.”
Sampson hung up. He looked between us all, his face hard. “Senator Kenley was found not guilty on all charges. He walked out of court a free man. However, while he was giving his vindication speech, Hendrick’s mother shot him at point-blank range from her spot two steps behind him. She was subsequently shot by security when she refused to surrender or lower her weapon.”
My heart peeled open, and black sludge poured out. So much hatred I’d stored away just for them. For her. I’d told her I’d never forgive her, and that’s how she died, my last words to her ones of hatred.
I looked at Aviva. “Guess we don’t have to stay married anymore.”
Aviva looked like I’d slapped her, but then her eyebrows pulled together and she forced herself into my arms until she was wrapped around me so tightly, I could barely breathe.
“I am your wife forever, Hendrick Kenley. Until death do us part. Which won’t be for a long, long, long time.”
Otto’s arms came around me too, and he kissed the back of my head. Then a third set of arms, and a fourth. Everyone who was my blood might be gone now, but these people who were holding me together now? They were my real family.
Epilogue
Aviva
Twelve months later
