Chapter 6 - DEREK SURRENDERED, AND SOPHIE MADE HIM ADMIT THE ONE PART OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP FALCO NEVER ORDERED
Derek surrendered at the federal courthouse garage.
No dramatic chase.
No Reed confrontation.
No gunfight.
He arrived with a lawyer and two flash drives.
I watched from another building through a live security feed because Hannah Cole thought it might reduce the chance Falco would intercept.
Derek looked older.
I had not seen him in eleven months.
His blond hair was shorter.
He had a scar near his jaw.
He wore no expensive watch.
I remembered that watch.
I bought him one for his thirty-second birthday.
It cost more than I could afford.
He told me he lost it in Phoenix.
Apparently Falco took it after Derek refused an assignment.
Even my gifts had criminal footnotes.
He was taken into custody.
Two days later, he requested to speak to me.
I said no.
Then he asked again through counsel.
I still said no.
Then his lawyer said Derek had information concerning my mother’s fake death and Michael’s murder that he would provide regardless, but wanted one chance to apologize directly.
That irritated me.
Apologies should not come with scheduling pressure.
I waited two weeks.
Then agreed.
The meeting occurred in a federal interview room.
Glass between us.
Not because prison permanently.
Because he was detained pending charges.
I sat.
Derek entered.
He stopped.
“Sophie.”
“Do not call me Soph.”
“I wasn’t.”
Right.
He sat.
For several seconds we just looked.
I had loved this man.
Not theoretical.
I had fallen asleep on his chest.
Held his hand during ultrasounds.
Bought him birthday cake.
Cried when he left.
Hated him.
Missed him.
Now he existed behind glass like someone from another life.
He spoke first.
“How’s Ava?”
“Safe.”
“Can I see a photo?”
“No.”
Pain crossed his face.
Good.
Then I hated that I liked it.
I breathed.
“Tell me why.”
“Which part?”
“All.”
He looked down.
“Falco recruited me when I was sixteen.”
“My father owed money.”
“Vincent’s father used teenagers because police ignored us.”
“I ran envelopes.”
“Watched doors.”
“Then security.”
“By twenty-two I was full-time.”
“Did you know my father?”
“Only by reputation.”
“The photograph?”
“I was a kid in background.”
“I didn’t know who you were then.”
Good.
One nightmare corrected.
“When did Falco tell you to find me?”
“Four months before we met.”
“Why you?”
“I had clean enough cover.”
“And?”
Derek hesitated.
“I knew what Callaways looked like.”
“Meaning?”
“I had seen Michael.”
“You had seen Margaret.”
“You remembered family.”
He studied me.
“You looked like her.”
My stomach tightened.
“So you saw me in coffee shop and knew.”
“Yes.”
“What did Falco order?”
“Get close.”
“Find out what you knew.”
“Get access to medal if possible.”
“No marriage?”
“No.”
“No baby?”
“No.”
“No three years?”
“No.”
I swallowed.
“When did assignment become relationship?”
He looked at me.
“First week for you.”
I almost laughed.
“And for you?”
“Months.”
“How many?”
“Maybe four.”
“Convenient.”
“I know.”
“Stop.”
He nodded.
I continued.
“Did you love me?”
“Yes.”
Immediate.
“Did you love Ava?”
“Yes.”
“Then why leave?”
“Because Falco found out I was trying to get you both away.”
“You never asked whether I wanted to run.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You would have demanded truth.”
“Yes.”
“And if I told truth, you would leave me.”
“Yes.”
“So I chose for you.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
I hit the glass with my palm.
“Stop saying that.”
He opened.
“Sorry.”
I leaned forward.
“You did not leave because you loved me too much.”
“You left because you were afraid of consequences.”
“Yes.”
“You arranged to poison Mrs. Perez.”
His face broke.
“Yes.”
“You helped Elena put something in Ava’s bottle.”
“I told her two drops of what Falco gave me.”
“You didn’t know dosage.”
“No.”
“You didn’t know substance.”
“No.”
“You knew it was for my eight-month-old baby.”
“Yes.”
Tears entered his eyes.
“I deserve whatever happens.”
“Do not perform remorse for me.”
He stared.
“I’m not.”
“Then answer.”
“Why did you do it?”
“Because Falco said if I didn’t, he would send someone who wouldn’t care if Ava woke up.”
I felt sick.
“So you convinced yourself your version was safer.”
“Yes.”
“There it is.”
Same pattern.
Control by comparative horror.
Derek continued.
“I was trying to buy time.”
“You drugged my babysitter.”
“Yes.”
“You manipulated my manager.”
“Yes.”
“You let armed men enter the restaurant.”
“I didn’t know Falco would send them.”
“Do you understand why I don’t care about distinctions right now?”
“Yes.”
I stood.
He panicked slightly.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“One thing.”
I almost walked.
Then stopped.
Derek said:
“Falco did not order Ava.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He never told me to make you pregnant.”
“You said.”
“I need you to believe that.”
“Why?”
“Because one day she might ask.”
My throat tightened.
“She might ask if her father wanted her.”
Derek started crying.
“She was not part of a mission.”
“She was not leverage when she was conceived.”
“She was ours.”
I hated him.
I hated that the answer mattered.
I hated that someday it might matter to Ava.
“Did you want her?”
“Yes.”
“Before birth?”
“Yes.”
“After?”
“Yes.”
“Then you left.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
Good.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Testify.”
“Against Falco.”
“Yes.”
“And plead to what you did.”
“My lawyer is negotiating.”
“I didn’t ask legal strategy.”
He looked.
“Yes.”
“Do you expect me to bring Ava to prison?”
“No.”
“Do you expect visitation?”
“No.”
“Do you expect forgiveness?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I turned.
Then he said:
“Sophie.”
I stopped.
“Your mother did not know I was assigned to you until after you became pregnant.”
“I know.”
“She tried to pay me to leave.”
I turned.
“What?”
“Fifty thousand.”
I laughed once.
Of course.
“What did you say?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because by then I loved you.”
I stared.
Then:
“You don’t get credit for refusing my mother’s money while taking Falco’s.”
His face fell.
“I know.”
I almost yelled.
Instead:
“Goodbye, Derek.”
I left.
Family court later granted me temporary sole decision-making authority and no-contact protection regarding Ava while Derek’s criminal case proceeded.
His paternity was not erased.
I did not lie.
He was her father.
He was also dangerous.
Both.
A DNA test confirmed what none of us doubted.
Ava was his.
Reed asked:
“What do you plan to tell her?”
“She’s eight months.”
“Eventually.”
“The truth.”
“All?”
“Age-appropriate.”
He nodded.
Then:
“Michael would approve.”
I looked at him.
“Stop using dead people to grade me.”
He almost smiled.
“Fair.”
The federal task force used Derek’s flash drives.
They contained Falco communications.
Payments to Elena.
Orders regarding Mrs. Perez.
Surveillance of my apartment.
And something else.
A message sent five years earlier.
FALCO TO VANCE:
MARGARET HARPER MUST DISAPPEAR WITHOUT BODY. SHE KNOWS LOCATION.
DEREK:
KILL?
FALCO:
NO. DEAD PEOPLE CREATE INVESTIGATIONS. GHOSTS CREATE FEAR.
Margaret’s fake death had not been entirely her own plan.
Falco had forced it.
Derek had helped her turn the order into an escape instead of actual disappearance under Falco’s control.
Again.
He had harmed us.
He had also, at moments, diverted worse harm.
Complicated did not mean innocent.
It meant true.
Then one more message.
VANCE TO FALCO, sent six weeks before Ava’s birth:
I’m done.
FALCO:
No one is done.
VANCE:
Then come for me. Leave them.
Falco:
You have confused affection with leverage.
Derek had tried.
Too late.
Badly.
Still.
I closed the file.
Reed sat nearby.
“What?”
I asked.
“Nothing.”
“You’re doing face.”
“What face?”
“The one where you want to tell me what to feel.”
He leaned back.
“I’ve learned.”
“Good.”
“What do you feel?”
I looked through glass toward Chicago.
“Angry.”
“And?”
“Sad.”
“And?”
“I don’t want to hate him every day.”
Reed nodded.
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is.”
Then Ava laughed from the next room where Danielle played with her.
I looked.
“That is more important.”
Reed followed my eyes.
May you like
“Yes.”
For once, every adult agreed.
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