Mr. CEO(131)

“Thanks,” I say, still not sure how I feel about it. This was certainly not in my plans, but I have to admit I feel a little thrill about it. “Maybe now I'll get some decent-sized boobs.”

“Either that or you're going to get really good at making formula,” Darcy chuckles. “So you're going to keep it, no matter what?”

I nod, and look at the cake. Hey, I'm hungry, and stress makes chocolate look damn good. “I am. Even if he never comes, I want to keep it.”

“You sound like he may not come.”

I sit back, and turn on the television, where the local news should be starting soon. “Nathan gave him the address, but there's no promise he'll come.”

Darcy gets up and goes to the kitchen area, getting two forks. We've been friends for a very long time, we don't need to worry about plates between us. I start on the right, she starts on the left, and we'll work our way toward the middle. “So are you going to take a chance with him?”

I think about what Nathan told me, about how Jackson had told off Peter, kicking him down when he tried to grab him, and more importantly, how Jackson passed up the money and jewels, taking with him only the handguns to protect his sister while they made their getaway. That's not the Jackson from the limo... hell it's not even the same Jackson who flew with me to Miami and thought that a seventy-five dollar a night hotel was slumming it.

Before I can answer, Darcy sets her fork down, and takes my hand. “You know I love you, right?”

“I know, Darce. You've been my big sister for a long time now,” I reply, letting her speak. “I love you, too.”

She swallows and smiles. “Well, for six years we've known each other, and there's been only one hope that I've had that I haven't been able to see. I've watched as you grew into an intelligent, beautiful young woman and into a hacker even better than me. And we're going to sit here and watch as you get your vengeance, your mission complete. So that leaves only one hope that I've kept inside myself for so long. I want you to find happiness, to find a future. Now, I've only talked with Jackson a little bit face to face. But I saw the way he cares for you, that boy is head over heels for you. Give him a chance. Andrea told me that he's trying to become something, even when it was just the memory of you. Imagine what he can be, what you both can be, together.”

I think, then nod. “Well, first, let's watch the news.”

The six o'clock news comes on, and Peter DeLaCoeur's arrest is top news. We watch silently as the video feed shows him being loaded into an ambulance, his wrist cuffed to the gurney, holding his ribs and groaning. “Damn, Jackson must have really gotten a shot in,” Darcy says. “Wonder how the cops will spin that one.”

The story continues as the lead anchor continues the story. Darcy and I had gone through at my lead and released only about half of my files, the ones that most damaged Peter while sparing Margaret DeLaCoeur and Nathan Black what I could. I spared Margaret because I feel at least a little bit of pity for the woman, who's lived in her own version of hell for the past twenty-five years. She's sick more than anything else, and part of me hopes that she'll get treatment for her sickness, although as I watch the police lead a broken, sobbing Margaret out of the DeLaCoeur plantation mansion, I doubt it.

I spared Nathan what little I could because, despite the evil acts he's done, he's trying to repent, to do the right thing. Maybe I’ve grown a little weak, or maybe I just think the man deserves a second chance, but none of the files that Darcy released have his voice or likeness, and most of the text files don't refer to him by full name. If Nathan moves quickly and uses the contacts I'm sure he has, he'll have a chance to redeem himself.

I couldn't do much for Andrea, but she's told me she wanted her mother's story told. She's got her own mission anyway, and the case of Aiko Mori's death is one of the more dramatic ones, even if it is smaller in terms of scandal compared to the other information the cops and FBI received. A tearjerker for sure, but since it is nearly twenty years old and doesn't have any political sizzle, it doesn't make the broadcast.

“The story of the downfall of what could be the most powerful man in New Orleans, the Don of the Delta, as some people are already calling him, is going to be even more intriguing as the days progress. With multiple sources receiving what is potentially thousands of pages of information along with dozens of hours of audio and video, it will take a long time for the full impact of today's events to be revealed.”

I sit back and feel a great weight lift off my shoulders. I close my eyes and bow my head, resting my forehead in my hands as I start to cry, tears of relief and farewell to the pain that I've carried for a whole decade. I feel a hole inside me finally close, and Darcy rests her hands on my shoulders, letting me do what I need to do.

When the tears are done, I wipe at my eyes and look over at Darcy. “Thanks. I guess there's only one thing left for me to see now.”

There's a buzz at the security system, and Darcy looks at me. “Ask, and you shall receive. Good luck.”

Darcy hurries over to the fire escape and slips out, giving me a thumbs up and a smile as she does. Kneeling once she's out the window, she looks back. “I love you, Katrina. Goodbye.”

There's a finality to it, and I nod, blowing her a kiss. “Goodbye, Darcy. I love you, too.”