Chapter 61

Chapter 61
Killer

The city was a raw nerve, just twitching and jumping with fear. Rhodes's big meltdown on TV and death had really set things off. Protests were everywhere, the news was just screaming about how rotten the city was, and people were looking at cops funny, like they were all part of the problem. It was beautiful, seeing it all unravel just like I planned. The dirty secrets were finally out in the open, not just whispered in dark corners.

And David… he was a mess. A complete, total mess. I could feel it, even from a distance. The way he was burning through those files, not sleeping, not eating. His mind was going a mile a minute, but it wasn't clear anymore. It was like a tangled ball of yarn, getting messier by the hour. He was seeing threats everywhere, becoming jumpy, yelling at people who were just trying to help him. The detective, the one I picked to see the truth, was losing his way. Fast.

His partner, Gracie. I knew what she was going through. I felt it, like a dull ache deep down, even as I pushed it away. She was trying so hard to help him, to pull him back from the edge. Bringing him food, trying to talk sense into him, just wanting the old David back. But he was pushing her away, getting mean. He was getting lost in his own head, seeing enemies where there were none.

Then it happened . Early in the morning. Gracie was hurt. Really hurt. Because of David.

A cold, hard something settled in my gut. This wasn't part of the plan. David was supposed to push the city to the truth, to show them how corrupt it was. He wasn't supposed to turn into a monster himself. He wasn't supposed to hurt innocent people. Especially not her.

The rage that surged through me was different from the cold, focused anger I usually carried. This was sharp, personal. David had crossed a line. He had hurt someone important, someone trying to help him. His mind was so broken by the toxin, by the case, by his own demons, that he was lashing out at the very person who cared about him most. This wasn't justice. This was just raw, ugly violence. These were the kind of men I despised the most. And it couldn’t be tolerated.

My original plan for him was simple: let him figure it all out, let him expose the whole dirty business, and then let him deal with the fallout. He was the city’s last hope, the one person with the guts and the brains to pull this off. But now? He was a wild card. A liability. His public breakdown was getting close, and if he hurt Gracie again, if he ended up hurting someone else publicly, it would just mess up everything. He wouldn't be the hero who exposed the truth; he'd just be another crazy cop who snapped under pressure. Another symptom of the rot, not the cure.

He was spiraling out of control too fast. He couldn't be trusted to play his part anymore, not out in the open, where everyone could see him unravel. He needed to be contained. He needed to be removed from the board, at least for now. Not to kill him. No, he still had a role to play. But he needed to be where I could control him. Where he couldn’t hurt anyone else. Or himself. And yes, where he could finally pay for hurting Gracie.

The decision was cold, clean. He had to be taken. Kidnapped. It was a drastic step, but a necessary one. The city was almost at the breaking point. Rhodes had screamed out his half-truths then his brutal death. The public was hungry for more. David was the key to unlocking the final doors, but he couldn't be left loose, a wild dog in the street.

I started planning. He was an easy target now. Isolated. Paranoid. Not sleeping. He wasn't looking for me anymore, not really. He was looking for shadows, for conspiracies that only existed in his own mind. He was so far gone, so lost in his own head, that he wouldn't even see me coming.

I knew his routine, or what was left of it. He was holed up in that apartment, surrounded by his files, a broken man in a shrine of his own making. Ben had taken Gracie away. Good. She was safe for now. That left David alone. Perfect.

The tools needed were simple. A dose of a different kind of sedative this time, something fast-acting, quiet. A way to get in and out without being seen, which was easier than ever now that everyone was so focused on the chaos outside. His own apartment, usually his fortress, was now his cage, and I knew how to open it.

The purpose of his abduction would be dual. First, to contain him. To stop him from doing more damage, to himself or to others. Second, to put him in a place where he could finally see the whole truth, without all the noise and paranoia of the city. A place where I could show him the final pieces, the real masterminds, the ones who truly built this empire of rot. And then, he would understand. He would see his own role.

This wasn't an act of revenge, not exactly. It was an act of control. Control over the narrative. Control over the city's fate. And control over David's own terrifying spiral. He had hurt Gracie, deeply. And for that, he would face consequences. He would become a prisoner of the very truth he sought, held by the one he hunted. The irony was almost sweet. This was the final move in my game. And David, the brilliant detective, was about to become my captive.

David was a heavy dead weight, slumped in the backseat of the stolen van. The shot I gave him worked fast, just like it was supposed to. No yelling, no fight, just a quiet collapse into darkness. He looked peaceful now, finally. The wildness had drained from his face, replaced by the tired look of someone who’d been running on empty for weeks. Good. He'd get some rest now, whether he liked it or not.

Driving through the quiet streets of Newport City in the dead of night, I felt a strange calm settle over me. The city was still buzzing with the shock of Vance's meltdown, with the fear of me, the Killer, still out there. They wouldn't even know David was gone yet. Ben would be busy getting Gracie settled, making sure she was safe. That gave me time. All the time I needed to tell David the real story.

I drove him to the spot I'd picked out weeks ago. An old, empty warehouse down by the docks, far away from everything. It was big, dusty, full of shadows and the faint smell of salt and old wood. Perfect. No one would think to look here. No one would even know he was missing.