FiFty Fifty

Chapter Fifty - Four

SHE

Sofia glanced toward Soames. He was bleeding out. Dark blood was already pooling beneath him, his stomach awash with it. Sofia could smell something bad too – maybe the bullet had ruptured part of his gut and bile was leaking into the wound. Soames wouldn't last long. No need to worry.
Still keeping the gun on Eddie, she looked at Tyler. A long shard of glass was in his cheek, another in his neck. He was spasming on the floor.
Eddie Flynn was on his back, on the floor, under the gaze of the .45 in her hand.
'You almost got clear, Sofia. If you hadn't killed Hal Cohen we wouldn't have connected you to the pharmacy murders. Why did he have to die?'
She cocked her head. Smiled. Flynn was far too smart for his own good. She needed a lawyer like him. He was one of the best in the city, and he only defended those he believed to be innocent. He had been perfect for her. She relied on him figuring out the journal had been forged. Sofia had been careful to copy Frank's handwriting, but not perfectly. Enough to throw some doubt on who wrote it. Including hidden inaccuracies in the journal was a risk, but one she needed to take. It was the only way to prove the journal was written by the real murderer. Only someone who was guilty would write a fake journal framing someone else for their crime. It had been the killer piece of evidence in the trial. One that she was still proud of.
'Hal Cohen was like my father, and a lot of other men in this city. They made money from the suffering of others. I needed Hal to find the journal. I'd hidden it in Frank's personal papers after the cops had searched the house. I wanted to Hal to find it, because he would try to exploit it. He was predictably corrupt. He gave the journal to the DA, then tried to make a buck. Depending on who was paying him the most, he would testify for them either saying the journal was real or a fake. I was never going to pay him. I wanted him to give the journal over, and for Alexandra to pay him to testify that it was real. Then, when you burned the journal in court, it would look like Hal and Alexandra had been in on the fraud the whole time. Especially when she was paying him. I couldn't have Hal turn up in court and say I'd offered to bribe him. That wouldn't do. He'd given the journal to the DA, and taken Alexandra's money. After that he'd served his
purpose.'
Flynn backed away, using his feet and elbows to move toward the hallway.
Sofia followed, keeping the gun on him. Her knife was in her backpack in the living room. The smell of the blood, the feel of the weapon in her hand – it was intoxicating. She gestured with the gun that he should keep moving.
She wanted the knife for this. She wanted to feel it in his flesh.