Chapter 9 - No More Kings and Queens
Pier Seventeen had been abandoned for eleven years.
At midnight, fog covered the Hudson.
Arthur arrived alone.
At least, that was what Preston Hale believed.
Clara watched through a camera hidden inside Arthur’s coat button.
Daniel’s location had been identified forty minutes earlier through a mistake in Hale’s call routing.
An abandoned customs office in Brooklyn.
Salvatore’s team was moving toward it.
Clara remained in a surveillance van two blocks from Arthur.
She hated every second.
Arthur’s voice came through her headset.
“You’re breathing loudly.”
“Focus.”
“I am.”
“You’re about to walk into an ambush.”
“I’ve had worse dates.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“Arthur.”
His voice softened.
“I know.”
He entered the warehouse.
Preston Hale waited beside a metal table.
Four armed men surrounded him.
Arthur stopped.
“You wanted me.”
Hale smiled.
“I wanted the man who murdered the Costello empire.”
“Vincent murdered it. I simply stopped pretending it deserved saving.”
“You became weak.”
Arthur’s expression barely changed.
“I used to believe that.”
Hale circled him.
“A woman did this to you.”
“No.”
Arthur looked directly toward the hidden camera.
“A woman made me notice what I already was.”
Clara’s throat tightened.
Hale removed a pistol.
“Where is Eleanor?”
“Not here.”
“Liar.”
Arthur smiled faintly.
“You should know something about Clara.”
“What?”
“She hates being used as leverage.”
The warehouse lights died.
Clara triggered the system.
Arthur moved.
Salvatore’s men entered through two side doors.
Hale fired blindly.
Arthur tackled him.
The weapon slid away.
One of Hale’s men raised a gun toward Arthur.
Clara saw it through thermal imaging.
“Arthur! Left!”
Arthur dropped.
Salvatore fired.
The attacker fell.
Seconds later, it was over.
Hale lay restrained on the floor.
Arthur stood over him.
Years earlier, Arthur would have killed him.
Everyone knew it.
Hale knew it too.
“Do it,” Hale spat.
Arthur stared down.
Then stepped away.
“No.”
Hale laughed.
“Soft.”
Arthur looked toward the camera.
“No. Finished.”
Police vehicles entered the pier.
Across Brooklyn, Daniel was rescued unharmed.
By 2:00 a.m., Clara stood outside the warehouse as Hale was loaded into a police vehicle.
Arthur approached.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
“Salvatore says he’s fine.”
Silence settled between them.
The old Arthur would have filled it with instructions.
This Arthur waited.
Clara looked toward the river.
“You could have killed Hale.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I’m tired of graves.”
She studied him.
“And the empire?”
“Gone.”
“Completely?”
“Everything illegal either shut down or turned over to authorities.”
“What will Arthur Costello do without people fearing him?”
He considered it.
“I’ve been told golf is popular.”
Clara laughed.
Arthur smiled.
The sound faded.
Then he became serious.
“I owe you something.”
“You’ve apologized.”
“Not this.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“The night you left, I said I never loved you.”
Clara’s expression became still.
Arthur continued.
“I lied.”
She said nothing.
“I knew exactly how I felt. That was why I was cruel. I thought if I made you hate me, you would leave before Vincent discovered what you were investigating.”
“You succeeded.”
“Yes.”
“You made me hate you.”
“I know.”
“For a while.”
Arthur’s breathing stopped.
Clara looked away.
“I hated myself more.”
His brow tightened.
“Why?”
“Because after everything you said, part of me still wanted to turn around.”
Arthur stepped closer, then stopped before invading her space.
“You should never hate yourself for loving someone badly equipped to receive it.”
Her eyes filled.
“That sounded suspiciously emotionally intelligent.”
“I have a therapist.”
Clara stared.
“You?”
“Twice a week.”
She laughed through tears.
Arthur looked embarrassed.
“Salvatore threatened to quit otherwise.”
“That may be the most romantic thing you’ve ever told me.”
Arthur smiled.
Then silence returned.
“Clara.”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
No dramatic declaration followed.
No demand.
No promise that love erased anything.
Just truth.
“I loved you when I was too afraid to name it. I loved you when I hurt you. I loved you when you left. But none of that means you owe me another chance.”
Clara looked at him for a long time.
Then she crossed the distance.
Arthur did not move.
She touched the scar near his side where Vincent’s bullet had entered.
“You almost died.”
“Yes.”
“I was furious.”
“I remember.”
“I’m still furious.”
“I know.”
She looked up.
“And I love you.”
Arthur’s eyes closed briefly.
“But,” Clara added.
He opened them.
“There are conditions.”
“Name them.”
“No employees and bosses.”
“Agreed.”
“No guards following me.”
“Agreed.”
“No deciding what is best for me without asking.”
“Agreed.”
“No calling my consulting work cute.”
“I would never.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I was thinking terrifying.”
“Better.”
Arthur’s mouth curved.
Clara touched his face.
Then kissed him.
Slowly.
Carefully.
May you like
Not like a queen surrendering to a king.
Like two damaged people choosing, for once, to meet in the middle.
