Checkmate.

"It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat."

Our eyes met as the words fell off my lips, finally breaking the silence.

"It doesn't count if you were willing to sacrifice everything.

It doesn't count if there was no reason for me to keep going."

"So, you confess." Her caution is logical, but it did catch me off guard. It was the first emotion she displayed after picking me up.

I would call us old friends.

She doesn't like it when I call her that.

“E2 to E3.”

Her home number was installed on every burner phone I owned. And she was the first person I thought of when planning the downfall. Although she was only a part of my game, she was not a pawn. More like a rook. Sitting in the corner, waiting for her turn to checkmate everything. She wasn't aware of her part in all of this. But it was satisfying to watch her play the moves I planned for her. To see how she fulfilled her role as I intended for her.

I struggled to move, trying to find a more comfortable position with my hands chained to the table.

"You didn't win, you know," I wanted her to know that I wasn't weak. I was exactly where I wanted to be, "I was just done playing."

"It does something to a girl," I continue, "Losing her soulmate. I couldn't- I wouldn't let them win."

Detective Mills narrowed her eyes at my words.

"So, you decided to take revenge?” Her face was stone-cold mirroring mine. 

"I’d rather go down with my enemy than let them walk around thinking they won."

“But also,” a smile crept onto my face while talking, “what did I have to lose.”

Mills swiftly stood up leaving without another word. After the door shut, a comfortable silence was all that surrounded me. I knew that they were watching me behind the mirror wall in front of me.

I hadn't looked at it yet, but I knew the time had come to face myself.

“D1 to F3.”

Ever since Jay died, 6 weeks ago, I didn’t like looking at myself. The parts he loved the most faded with him that day. My sparkling brown hair had turned dull and my eyes never smiled anymore. Looking at myself reminded me of the bright light he was in my life. I didn’t need that right now. I needed the remembrance of his dark side, the side that was down for revenge. His twisted damaged side, that turned me on. That made me feel electric and powerful. 

A sudden wave of nausea washed over me resulting in me bending over. My hands being restrained didn’t help and it felt like I was going to puke.

I didn’t notice Detective Mills had come back until she spoke up. 

“You understand you’re going to prison right.”

I wanted to laugh into her face. I wanted to do it so desperately. 

Two days. That’s not so long. 

“Look at me.” Her voice was stern, not concerned in the slightest. I’d love to look at her, showing her, I wasn’t afraid, but I physically couldn’t, or I’d vomit. 

“Why turn them and yourself in through an elaborate scheme. Why didn’t you just kill them? That’s more the way you people handle your problems. That’s how your boyfriend died, right?” 

I knew she was trying to provoke me, but I still couldn’t restrain myself from sitting up straight, inching closer towards her. My voice was low as I spit out my truth. “I wanted them to feel what it’s like to rot away, leaving behind the people you love.”

My body didn’t like my sudden movements and within a second I was bent over again dumping the contents of my stomach onto the floor.

“F3 to F5.”

_______________

I felt better a bit later, but Mills called a doctor either way. After being bored out of my mind during the whole procedure I was ready to go back to my holding cell. God knows how many tests later, I got send into the bathroom with a little cup. Of course, my every way out was heavily guarded and all I could do was sit there and force myself to pee. She took the cup back and told me that everything, as she could see, was okay. And she would get in contact if anything came up from my blood and pee tests.

I didn’t mind the silence that my cell holds. I liked being away from everything. And I wasn’t alone, Jay kept me company. We watched the Black Knights be taken to Haven’s prison and admired the scared looks on their faces. 

I know what prison can do to a person. Jay had been in and out and my best friend Dom went once. It really impacted her. Prison really fucks you up and to be honest. It’s exactly what they deserved. No one messes with the Red King and his Queen. I felt happy and satisfied the rest of that day. It felt wonderful. But it was around the 44^th hour my cell door opened, and the doctor walked in.

“Did you know?”

“Did I know what?”

________________

“F1 to C4.”

“We did nothing to provoke it. Yes, we cost them money but that was just business. They cost us money too.” The detective had taken me back to the interrogation room.

Her face was hard although there was something in her eyes that couldn’t completely place. 

“He stole their biggest sales market. He didn’t just cost them money. He cost them hundreds of thousands. It was a revenge kill.”

My heart dropped, as my mind took me back to that night.

“We were having our anniversary dinner on our balcony. We’re normally really careful with that kind of stuff but that night we didn’t care.”

My eyes wandered off as old memories resurfaced. 

“It was a sniper.” 

I shimmy in my chair pulling my chained hands onto my knees.

“I got showered in his blood. And before I even heard the shot the love of my life lay dead before me. On our 3rd anniversary dinner.”

Silence and tension filled up the room.

“Was it worth it?” Our eyes locked, her question hanging between us. 

“Was it worth sacrificing everything for this revenge fantasy?”

“The thing about sacrificing is that you have to have something to lose. If you got nothing to lose. Nothing to live for, there is no sacrifice.”

My left hand moved towards my belly as my right hand stayed on my knees. I could feel the minutes tick away. 

“The thing is, Red Kings and Queens always wear a trigger on them. I told Dom that if I changed my mind, I would trigger it.” 

A small grin appeared on Mills's face, “But we took it away when we arrested you.” 

“Yes, true. But how coincidental, that my other friend, Max, is a doctor.” 

Our eyes met and I smiled.

“We use handcuffs in the bedroom. You really got to find something better to restrain me.”

“F5 to F7.”

The realization hit her as she stumbled upon her feet at the same time the walls on my right exploded. Throwing her off her feet and kicking her gun out of her hands. I had jumped off of my chair but struggled back onto my feet while I took off my handcuffs. 

Dom appeared in the opening in the wall, patiently waiting for me, no sign of panic in her eyes. 

“I have something worth living for now,” I whisper, putting both hands on my lower belly. 

Mills's head was bleeding a bit as she was closer to the explosion than I was. While grabbing Dom’s hand I turned around, making eye contact one last time.

“Checkmate.”