"Here is to you, Lachance!" Aidan raised his glass of Mama Juana. "You are really something, Commandant! I am stunned by how you played us all! I truly am!" Both men stood by the open-air beach bar waiting for their friends, enjoying the Caribbean breeze.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Lachance scowled.
"Oh! Just the brilliance of your revenge! It was magnificent!" Aidan couldn’t mask his admiration. "How long did you plan Belmont’s downfall? The full twelve years? And how you had pulled in others into your schemes! Wow! That was genius! James Ward, you had him arrested before he went legitimate, when was it? Seven or eight years ago? How did you get him to work for you? Gave him a sweet deal? Be your informant or rot in jail? But I am the most impressed by Samuel. Did you buy his collaboration with a motorcycle, or was he just as eager as you to get even with Belmont? What was it you called him? The catalyst? No, it wasn’t Samuel, the catalyst, or at least not just him; it was you all along!" Aidan nodded approvingly.
"I don’t know what you are talking about!" The man stared at Aidan unblinking.
"Oh! Yes, you do!" Aidan swirled the crimson liquid in his glass. "You wrapped Belmont into a nice little package, with a bright ribbon and handed him to us! You, Ward, and Samuel. It was dumb luck that Belmont went to James for the vault and safe, wasn’t it? I mean, there was the man who had been working as your informant for years, and who immediately tipped you off that Belmont was up to something. Then all Samuel and you had to do was wait. The only thing that does hurt my feelings is that you didn’t trust me! I would have helped you, you know?"
Lachance heaved a heavy sigh and studied the younger man for a long moment as if debating with himself what to do.
"It wasn’t for lack of trust in you, that I didn’t share my plans," Lachance conceded reluctantly. "You know how many times I thought I had that son of a bitch? And each time he slithered right out of my grasp. I wasn’t sure that I could get him this time either, so, I didn’t dare talk or even think about it." Lachance darkened at the memories. "And just for the record, I did not buy Samuel’s cooperation. We had run into each other one night at a bar shortly after Adeline’s death, both, I guess, trying to drown our sorrows. We talked, and agreed that Belmont was behind her death. So, Samuel, who was recently hired as a butler by Belmont, offered to help me out. We were going to do all we could to get the man where he belonged; behind bars. Can you believe it? He hired Samuel so he would spy on his own niece?"
"It was Samuel who told Belmont of the plans?" Aidan’s brows rose.
"Of course not. It was François. Belmont soon realized that the Roma boy was not so easily bought as he had hoped, so they began following the fiancé and uncovered his secret life. So, tell me, how did you figure it out?" The detective turned to Aidan, examining the young man.
"The James Ward thing really bothered me, so, I went back to see the data Savy hacked into and realized that the jobs at Céline and Belmont’s were the only ones available online. It was easy from there on, once I realized that Samuel rode a red Piaggio MP3, the same year as the one you used to ride, and he started using it around the same time you switched to a car. That was a smart move, a used motorcycle, nothing fancy like a brand-new Ducati would have been, an obvious bribe; and Samuel’s bank account remained spotless, nothing to raise suspicion; brilliant!"
"I sold Samuel the Piaggio so he could stay mobile, meet me when we needed to. I swear it was not a payoff. My mother had been nagging me for years to switch to four wheels, and Samuel had no transportation, so this was a win-win situation." Lachance smiled proudly. "You see there was a reason, I wanted you on this job; you are damn good at what you do!"
"You wanted me on this job?" Aidan’s brow furrowed. "I thought Kárpáti called me in."
"He did, but at my insistence. He wanted to do this one solo," the detective sneered. "Wonder why…"
"Well, thank you for your faith in my abilities! Here is to endless patience, a job well done, and to vengeance served warm with justice on the side!" Aidan raised his drink.
"And most important, that Belmont did not take away from me everything, after all… There is still something left for me from Adeline." Lachance’s eyes filled with storms as both men looked at a cheerful Mélisande making her way down the path with the rest of the crew.
"To your daughter!" Aidan toasted with the second glass they had ordered.
"To my little girl!" Lachance teared up, and raw emotion made his voice quiver. "And to unbelievable second chances!"