To the average onlooker who watched from afar, it had been probably impossible to differentiate between the two forces that wore the same dark blue uniform, aside from the small black arm bands.
Rather than participate in the battle further, I threw away my emptied shotgun, trudged away from the scene on foot. I refused to let myself get bogged down there. I had an appointment with Elroy.
I wouldn’t be late.
***
Seeing that he was too weak to make any abrupt movements, Noble approached the Vigilante, twirling his knife leisurely. By then, the main course of the fighting had moved over to the upper floors of the headquarters. The additional men who entered the building ignored the personal quarrel as they charged up the stairs, overturning furniture and smashing windows.
Also, to them, Noble appeared to be the Vigilante. His hideous countenance had finally become a blessing.
“I’m going to kill you,” Noble said. “And then I’m going to drop your wretched body in the harbor. No one will ever know you existed. Your friends will die soon afterwards. No one can stop us. No one.”
The Vigilante didn’t seem to listen as he cast his head down. A black rosary hung around his neck. He clutched it with his hand, clicking it habitually.
Noble grabbed the Vigilante by the hair with his spare hand, staring into his eyes as he ripped off the mask.
To his horror, however, he saw another face behind the mask, a slightly older, more mature, and without question less innocent face.
“You’re not him!” Noble roared.
“That’s right, ye bastard!”
Enraged, Noble went to thrust his knife into the stranger’s heart. His actions were stopped, however, as a hand reached out and grabbed his arm just as the knife touched the man’s flesh.
Stunned, Noble turned to find Sean Blood standing there with a determined look. His other hand was placed on his hip where Noble had stabbed him only an hour before. Grimaces and winces indicated extreme pain, albeit controlled.
As the man on the ground watched in disbelief, Sean pushed Noble away, shoving him against the wall. With an intense look in his eyes, he struck Noble in the face repeatedly. Even as Noble tried to block the blows, the force was too strong to break the momentum. Tears streamed down Sean’s cheeks as delivered several violent blows to Noble, as if each blow revived him more and more.
Then, summoning all the rage which stirred inside him, Noble jerked to the side, causing Sean to throw a punch into the air. As he stepped forward, he left himself vulnerable to a strike to his stomach. Choosing his attack with precision, Noble struck with a balled fist against his hip, exactly where the knife wound was located.
Crying out in agony, Sean fell to his knees, groaning as his clothes turned a moist red. Noble wasted no time placing the knife against Sean’s chest.
“This is it,” he said. “Pray for your soul. And while you do that, remember that my story will become the Vigilante’s story. My life will become the legend. Once I stand before the entire city, I will reveal who I am. I will give my name. They will know why I became what I am. They will understand why I did what I did! Fortunately for you, they will never know what weakling you were.”
Noble placed the tip of his blade next to Sean’s heart. He breathed in deeply, relishing the final moments of their encounter.
“I am the Vigilante,” he repeated. “You are the true imposter. That is your true identity, your real face. A fraud! It all belonged to me!”
He then went to shove the blade into Sean’s heart. He peered at Sean’s eyes as he expected them to widen for a brief moment before gradually closing.
Instead, his hand stopped suddenly. He looked down it, stunned to see Sean’s fingers wrapped around the hilt of the knife, halting its incision into his heart by mere millimeters.
Noble then gazed at Sean’s face. Something had taken over him. No longer resigned as he had appeared before, his blue eyes glowed as though he somehow regained the will to live. Trembling, Noble exerted himself even more, only to find Sean’s grip inexplicable firm.
“Die! Just die!”
Locked in a standstill, the two pushed each other back and forth as the blade came close to finding its mark, only to have Sean push it away. Noble gnashed his teeth, pouring all sorts of vile words into Sean’s ear. The longer the struggle continued, the more infuriated he grew until he reduced himself to a primal beast-like state.
Having exhausted themselves, Noble finally was able to gain the upper hand as he struck Sean at a vulnerable spot in his knee, sending him down to the floor in agony. Wasting no time, Noble picked up his blade, shaking uncontrollably from excitement as he knocked down a weak punch by Sean.
In a single motion, Noble shoved the blade into Sean’s chest.
Sean swallowed violently. He gasped, reaching for the blade. Noble didn’t bother to stop him as he let go of the knife. There was no point in it. Nothing could save him now.
Blood flowed from his abdomen as Sean slipped down to the floor, reaching for the wall to rest upon. He leaned against it like he was merely tired and needed rest. With his head tilted back, he looked up at Noble. His fate, for some reason, did not seem to surprise him or alarm him.
Reticent for once, Noble allowed his foe the opportunity to die without further disgrace.
His chest rose and fell slightly as Sean gestured for Noble to come near him. Curiously, Noble obeyed him. He came close, then dropped down on one knee.
“Yes?”
“Come closer.”
Noble leaned forward so that his face was inches away from Sean’s.
“Yes?”
Sean stirred as he grabbed the black rosary with both hands, his fingers wrapped around it. His mouth opened, but no words came out of it.
Then, just as Noble was about to pull his head back, Sean pulled apart the rosary. The bottom section fell off, revealing a thin, yet sleek dirk inside of it.
Before Noble could react, Sean used the last reserves of his strength to stab the dirk into his heart. He then pounded it in with his fist like a hammer.
The dirk killed Noble instantly. His head fell backwards his eyes drifted lifelessly towards the ceiling for an instant, then his body collapsed on the floor.
Sean dropped his hands. Slowly, a smile appeared on his face as he eyes closed.
“Thank you, grandfather. I was right about you.”
As his vision faded away, he saw faint silhouettes of policemen pour into the foyer. All of them wore black arm bands. He didn’t understand why, but he instinctively knew that they were good men, and that soon it would be run by good men. He saw some of them attend to Patrick; he appeared wounded, but in a stable condition. He would live.
With that final thought in his head, Sean’s body became still.
***
On the fifth floor, I burst into the hallway from the stairway, my revolver held above my head. It was a small graveyard. Bodies covered the floor. The battle had been a stalemate. Not enough men to clear it out. Elroy’s goons still lurked in the rooms.
Behind me a group of detectives followed cautiously. With their black arm bands to signify their allegiance, they dispersed carefully, clearing out each room with Tommy guns. They operated in a methodical manner. They approached a door, gave a warning, kicked it open, unloaded a clip, then reloaded as they approached the next door. The process had worked wonderfully on the floors below.
Alone, I ran down the hallway, threw myself around the corner. There, I saw Elroy at the far end of the corridor outside of his office with an automatic rifle.
He stared at me for the briefest of seconds, then fired. I jumped back around the corner, hit the ground violently. My hip ached as I stood back up, chilled to the bone from my wet clothes.
“So you have found me, my enemy,” Elroy said.
“I said I’d come for ya, ya rat! Whadya think I would do?”
“You decided to throw your allegiance in with the rabble? So fitting for a detective like yo
urself. You’re practically a hoodlum yourselves.”
“Look who’s talkin’ here! Ya a comedian, or what?”
Elroy’s tone conveyed his desperation.
“None of you appreciated what I did! I united this city! I did what none of you could do. It was such a beautiful plan. Now it will all be for nothing.”
“Ya wrong!”
I fired blindly around the corner. No groans, no cries. I had missed.
“I was one of the few men in this shithole who didn’t turn bad!” I yelled. “There ain’t much ya can do about it when ya know what right and wrong is. Ya either do the right thing or ya do the wrong thing. Ain’t much confusion there. Ya bastards like to shove all that gray shit into it, but it don’t work. It never does.”
He said nothing.
“It’s black and white, Elroy!” I continued. “Right and wrong. I chose to do the right thing and spent years expectin’ death any day. I lost everything. Ya chose to throw in with Marzio and the rest of his brunos and reaped the rewards until now. All that is comin’ down on ya head.”
“I had to do what was necessary.”
I fired again; this time I peeked around the corner before I shot. Elroy saw me, unloaded an entire clip. Chips of wood from the wall sprayed into the air as he filled the hallway with tiny holes.
“You are trying to make me the villain!” Elroy said. “I won’t let you! I am the hero. I will be remembered as the hero who saved Beverly from its own gradual destruction! History will vindicate me!”
“Don’t count on it.”
I looked around the corner; no Elroy. Suspicious, I took my time, threw a spare marble across the floor to fake footsteps. Feet stomped on the floor below us, masked the sound. I waited longer, knew I had to be patient with this one. I couldn’t act rashly; one slipup would give Elroy the chance he looked for.
I couldn’t give it to him; he had to go down without a single glimmer of hope. No small, lucky break for him.
My ear placed against the wall, I heard furniture slide across carpet. Elroy had decided to blockade himself in his office, make a final stand there. He presumed it would be a long, drawn-out process, result in negotiations for his surrender. The price for it would be protection, a plea bargain or something. Whatever it was, he’d try to walk away clean, beat the rap.
I couldn’t allow it. Elroy had to die; then, there, now.
My temper took command; I walked out into the corridor. More furniture smacked against Elroy’s door. His shaky silhouette was visible from the window. Even in the darkness, his cowardice couldn’t be hidden. He’d send men to die, send men to kill. But he wouldn’t do it himself. Just like Marzio.
My revolver aimed at the door, my face turned red as I screamed at Elroy.
“Come out and take what’s comin’ to ya like a man! I ain’t gonna wait for ya to come out. There ain’t gonna be no bargain for ya out here, Elroy. I ain’t gonna let it happen.”
I fired through the door. Inside, Elroy stumbled back in terror, but was uninjured. I fired three more times.
“It had to be a copper!” I yelled. “Out of all the lowlifes and murderin’ hoods in this town, the worst of the lot had to be a copper! It had to be the one carryin’ a badge!”
“It is the way of the future, Moore!” Elroy replied. “To bring about justice, sacrifices must be made. Hardships must occur. Blood and freedom is the price for security and order. It would have taken years to do it otherwise, and it would have cost us the same lives. I merely accelerated it, so we didn’t have to wait that long. It was mercy to that rabble, not murder. They died quick deaths, rather than the slow ones they would have endured in the slums. You saw it yourself every day. You know it was mercy!”
I didn’t listen to anything Elroy said as I kicked at the door. Elroy fired a stray shot with his rifle, made a clean hole in the window. I fired back, screamed as I smashed the door knob. In the distance, I heard the other detectives as they hurried to join me. I didn’t know if they would arrest Elroy or kill him. I didn’t want to find out.
I moved to the back of the wall, took a deep breath in. With my elbow held up like a shield, I ran up to the door, rammed my elbow into it. The force of my body knocked over some of the furniture that blocked the door from the inside.
I kicked three more times. The heavy impact of my boot broke the knob off. I kicked a final time; the door fell open.
I leapt into the office, my revolver held out with a stiff arm. I saw Elroy at his desk, his back turned. He seemed to look out of the vacant window sill, where the glass had been destroyed earlier. Outside in the heavy rain, dozens of police cars formed an impenetrable barricade around the building. The officers who stood behind the cars all wore the same black arm band I did. Farther out, so many pedestrians filled Cabot Street to watch it appeared as though the whole city’s population had come to witness it.
“What ya did was in secret,” I chuckled. “But we’re doin’ this in broad daylight. Nowhere for ya to hide.”
Elroy swiveled his chair around as he looked at me. He didn’t seem afraid anymore as he reached over for a bottle of cognac. He poured himself a glass, drank it in small, controlled sips. The enmity between us dissipated, made me feel like all the events of the past two days hadn’t happened.
I couldn’t forget it, though. It had happened. Elroy had made it happen. He had to pay for it.
“You must understand I did this with the best intentions,” Elroy said.
“Funny how people say that when it always benefits them and damns everybody else,” I replied. “Let me assure ya, I’m doin’ this with the best of intentions, too.”
“Heroes and villains. It is merely your perspective. One man’s hero is another man’s villain. For now, you are the hero. I am the villain. Someday, however, another will come and take that title away from you. When he does, you will become the villain. Then you will realize that I was right.”
I could hardly control myself as I approached Elroy’s desk.
“Don’t flap ya gums to me about heroes!” I yelled. “I know what a hero is better than ya ever know. And people can call someone a hero or a villain all they want. It don’t make it so. Black and white. Right is right, wrong is wrong.”
I placed the muzzle up to Elroy’s eye. Sweat trickled down Elroy’s forehead as he stared up into the barrel’s black abyss. The pitiful look in Elroy’s eyes as he gazed at me made the me hesitate. It had nothing to do with whether he was guilty or not. That was beyond question.
My sense of justice caused the hesitancy. Was this justice? Was this just?
When it had come down to it, I hadn’t killed Marzio. If I couldn’t find it within myself to kill Marzio, what made it alright to kill Elroy?
I wished Sean, or the Vigilante, was there to do it. He would do it without reservation.
Or would he?
Someone had to kill Elroy. Deep down in my heart, I knew that if Elroy lived he would escape true justice. The court system wouldn’t do it. Had he been a hood or a thug, he’d be executed. But his title would spare him; a jury wouldn’t have the heart to sentence him to death. Or maybe they would. The ambiguity clouded the outcome.
Then I realized the truth.
If Beverly couldn’t administer justice to men like Elroy, it didn’t deserve justice. In order for justice to be given, it had to also be demanded. Today proved they had demanded it. So it would be given, one way or the other.
Slowly, I lowered my revolver. Elroy narrowed his eyes distrustfully even as I holstered it, closed my leather jacket. I lit a cigarette as I stared at Elroy with contempt.
“I can’t figure it out,” he said.
“Can’t figure what out?” Elroy uttered.
“Whether ya made this town what it is, or this town made ya into what ya are. Who came first?”
Elroy didn’t provide an answer. He drank his cognac as I withdrew from his office. In the doorway, I turned around, exhaled a halo of smoke.
“Ya know why I ain’t
ever gonna be the bad guy?”
“Why?”
“Because then I’d become the same bastard who killed my father. He didn’t die quick, and I promised him I’d join him before I’d give in. I ain’t gonna, because I gotta conscience that tells me where the line is. I won’t cross it for nobody. Hard to figure out for people like ya, who don’t got no conscience. That’s why. See ya later, Elroy.”
My hands shoved into my jacket pockets, I walked down the corridor. I pulled my right hand out of my pocket to take out my cigarette. I watched as my hand quivered. My heart suddenly pounded against my chest.
Had I done wrong?
The group of detectives reached me. With sour expressions, they glanced over my shoulder.
“Where’s Elroy?” one of them asked.
“In his office,” I replied.
“Ya bump him off?” another inquired.
“No.”
“Ya left him alive?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Does it matter?”
“Ya arrest him?”
“No.”
The detectives stared at me puzzlingly. They had to think I had lost my mind. I didn’t blame them. I didn’t fully understand myself, either.
The sound of a gunshot crackled through the air. I immediately dropped my cigarette, rushed into Elroy’s office, the detectives close behind me. The blood on the floor gave away Elroy’s demise before we actually saw his body as it swiveled in the chair.
Elroy’s final gift to them had been appropriate; half his head had been blown away by the rifle.
As the detectives gawked at the unpleasant sight, I went over to the window sill, leaned against it as I poked my head out into the open air. I took a long breath in, exhaled loudly. The destruction wrought on the city had not been erased. It would take years to recover. But at least the disease that had caused it was gone. The last remnants had been wiped clean.
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