Chapter 19 - What Mercy Costs
Roman could have stepped away.
For one awful second he saw Danny in the same place, a small hand reaching toward a man who chose a ledger instead.
Roman dropped to his knees and seized Victor's wrist.
“Hold on.”
Victor stared at him. “After everything?”
“I'm not doing this for you.”
Two officers rushed down the steps and hauled Victor back onto the walkway. They cuffed him before he could speak again.
Roman got to his feet, soaked to the knees, breathing hard. Elena stood at the top of the steps watching him.
“You saved him,” she said.
“I didn't want Maisie to grow up hearing that I watched someone drown.”
“That's a good reason.”
Victor was taken away on charges tied to the kidnappings, false records, the fire, and the killing of Malcolm Voss. The investigation eventually uncovered other crimes and several people who had helped him, including Dax. Each case would need evidence and a trial; Roman knew a pair of handcuffs wasn't the same as justice.
He sold his controlling interest in Calder Shipping into a court-supervised restructuring fund, with independent oversight and a substantial reserve for unpaid wages, medical bills, and neighborhood flood repairs. Money couldn't give Tomas back the days he spent in the dark, and it couldn't erase Elena's injuries. It could at least stop the company from demanding another sacrifice in the name of its survival.
Roman also testified about his own past decisions. He admitted pressuring competitors and turning a blind eye to Victor's intimidation. The prosecutor made no promises about consequences for those admissions.
Elena went back to drafting work part-time. A community engineering firm hired her after seeing how she helped rescue the workers. She refused three offers from Roman to fund her education.
“I'm not a charity project,” she told him.
“I know.”
“Then stop looking at me like you're searching for a way to repay me.”
Roman considered that. “What if I'm searching for a way to be your friend?”
She looked at him for a long moment. “That's harder. You'll have to show up without bringing a checkbook.”
He smiled. “I can try.”
May you like
Then the phone on Elena's desk rang. The caller was the attorney handling Victor's criminal case.
“There is something you should hear before sentencing,” she said. “Victor has asked to speak directly to Maisie.”
