Chapter 122 The Killer’s Bargain
DAVID
The house reeked of stale alcohol, the kind that clung to your nostrils and refused to leave. Broken bottles crunched under my boots as I stepped inside, scanning the dimly lit room. A toppled chair lay near the corner, and a table was split down the middle as if someone had taken an axe to it. The place wasn’t just messy it was chaos frozen in time.
But Matthew wasn’t here.
I raised my hand, signaling the guards to hold their positions. Something felt wrong. The air had a stillness to it, a suffocating quiet that screamed of a trap. Slowly, we began to back out, each step deliberate, calculated.
Then, I heard it.
"David."
The voice came from somewhere in the shadows, low and hoarse, like it had crawled out of a grave. My eyes snapped to the source.
Matthew stepped into the light, his grey hair wild and unkempt, his clothes hanging loose like they didn’t belong to him. He swayed slightly, his breath heavy with liquor, but his eyes were sharp, unyielding.
"I knew you’d come," he said, lowering himself into a chair with the ease of someone who had nothing left to lose.
I didn’t move. "How did you know I’d be here?"
He chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. "Because I’ve been waiting for this day. Watching you. Reading about you. The infamous David Copperfield." He spread his arms wide, mocking applause. "You’re nothing like your uncle. He was too soft, too trusting. You, though… you’re brutal. Efficient. A man who gets what he wants, no matter the cost."
I didn’t reply. I didn’t need to. The silence between us grew heavy until he broke it.
"I killed your uncle," he said, his voice matter-of-fact, like he was confessing to stealing a loaf of bread. "And his wife. Turned your sister into an orphan. You’ve come for answers, haven’t you?"
I clenched my fists, the leather of my gloves creaking under the pressure.
"I’ll give them to you," he continued, leaning back, his smile twisted with defiance. "But only if you do something for me first."
"Why would I do anything for you?" My voice was steady, but the anger simmered just beneath the surface.
"Because you’ll want what I have to say," he said simply. "Two things. That’s all I ask."
I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"First," he began, his voice dropping, "I want you to make sure Western ends up in prison with me. That bastard let me take an innocent girl from her mother after I killed her father."
I stiffened. The weight of Bella’s loss pressed against my chest, but I kept my face blank.
"Second," he said, his voice faltering for the first time, "my daughter... she’s been taken. By gamblers I owed money to. They took her as payment." His eyes flickered with something regret, maybe fear. "She’s innocent. She doesn’t deserve this."
For a moment, the room seemed to hold its breath. I stared at him, my jaw tight. The same man who had torn my family apart was now asking for my help.
"Why should I save her?" My voice was cold, each word like a blade. "You didn’t care about innocence when you destroyed my family. Why should I care about yours?"
Matthew didn’t flinch. "Because you’re not me," he said softly.
I hated that he was right.
My fists unclenched, and I exhaled slowly. "Fine. Deal. But don’t think for a second I’m doing this for you. I’ll save her so she can see the kind of man you are—so she can watch you rot in prison."
A faint smile crossed his face. "I knew you were a man of your word."
I stepped closer, my voice lowering. "But make no mistake, Matthew. If you lie to me, if you so much as think of double-crossing me, you’ll wish the gamblers had gotten to you first."
He swallowed hard, the first flicker of fear breaking through his bravado.
"I’ll tell you everything," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "I’ll come with you, and you’ll get your answers."
"Good." I turned to my guards. "Take him."
Two of them stepped forward, grabbing him by the arms. He didn’t resist, his head hanging low as they dragged him toward the door.
As I followed, my mind raced. Matthew might finally give me the answers I’d been chasing, but the cost of saving his daughter weighed heavily on me. Still, I couldn’t ignore her. No child deserved to pay for their parent’s sins.
The game wasn’t over yet.