Red Jack: End Game
829 Words
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Truth in His Eyes
Ethan’s apartment was warm, the faint smell of roasted garlic filling the air when Aria stepped inside.
He’d actually cooked.
True to the promise in his letter, he’d prepared dinner like nothing in the world was wrong.
They ate. They talked.
Aria asked him where he’d been the past few days.
“Out of town,” he said honestly, explaining he was chasing a lead he couldn’t share yet — not because of her, but because it wasn’t official. His answers were calm, steady… believable.
For the first time in days, she felt herself relax.
After dinner, they ended up on the couch, wine glasses on the table, soft music playing low in the background. Ethan leaned closer, his hand brushing hers, and for a second, it felt like the walls between them were finally coming down.
But then… the question slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it.
“Ethan… are you Red Jack?…I mean..”
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t laugh.
He just looked at her and said, without hesitation,
“No. He was my father.”
The words crashed into her like a storm.
Aria froze, breath caught in her chest.
His father.
Red Jack… was his father.
And Ethan had said it like it was a fact he’d carried his whole life, like it wasn’t something that should make her want to scream, or cry, or run out the door.
Her throat burned, tears stinging at the corners of her eyes as fear twisted with heartbreak.
Because even if he wasn’t Red Jack… he was connected to him.
Too close.
—
Chapter Twenty-Three: Shattered
Ethan’s eyes darkened as he leaned back, voice low but steady.
“The Callahans used my father,” he said. “Promised him power, money… then framed him when things went south. Left him to take the fall for their crimes.”
Aria’s chest ached.
“They killed him, Aria. And when my mother tried to fight back… they destroyed her too.” His jaw tightened. “They ruined my childhood right in front of me. I watched them burn everything we had. Everything we were.”
The silence after those words was heavier than any she’d ever felt.
Finally, her voice cracked as she asked, “How many people, Ethan? How many have you killed to get back at them?”
His eyes locked on hers. “You think I’m like him? Like my father?”
“I think,” she snapped, rising to her feet, “that I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
They argued — about justice, about revenge, about right and wrong — voices rising until she said the words she didn’t mean but couldn’t take back:
“I’m going to reveal your true identity. I don’t care how I feel about you.”
Ethan froze, pain flickering in his eyes.
And then —
BANG! BANG!
Two gunshots shattered the air, glass exploding from the window behind them.
One bullet buried itself in the wall inches from Aria’s head.
The second had met Ethan in his stomach.
The shots were meant for both of them.
Ethan grabbed her, dragging her to the floor as the lights went out and the room plunged into chaos.
—
Final Chapter: The End of the Game
The hospital room smelled of antiseptic and cold air when Ethan opened his eyes.
Aria had been sitting there all night, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest, replaying the gunshots in her head.
When he finally spoke, his voice was rough but steady.
They both looked into each other's eyes without saying a word, then Ethan finally spoke.
“Do what you feel is right,” he said, eyes meeting hers. “And I’ll do what I feel is right.”
Her heart twisted.
“Ethan…” she began, but before she could finish, he closed his eyes like he’d already made his decision.
Aria stood quickly, needing to breathe, needing to think. She went to the pharmacy downstairs to get his prescriptions.
When she returned, the bed was empty.
No note. No call. No Ethan.
A week later, the city woke up to horror:
The Callahans. All of them. Found brutally murdered in their mansion.
The newspapers called it vengeance.
The police called it unsolvable.
But Aria… she knew.
She knew it was him.
And every night since, she cried herself to sleep because she loved him… and because she couldn’t stop him.
Days turned into silence.
Then, one evening, her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered with a trembling hand.
“Aria,” his voice said softly, low and steady through the line.
She closed her eyes, breath catching.
“I love you too.”
The line went dead.
And somewhere in the city, Ethan walked away from everything — justice, love, and the life he could never have — a ghost with nothing left but his vengeance.
—
- Writer
