Ford Security

by Clara Kendrick

  When they finally part ways, it's a sigh of relief. But the relief doesn't last long because it's a visual nightmare I can't unsee. My head is running wild with possibilities and theories, and the worst part of it all is that none of it matters. It doesn't matter why they're embracing or kissing. It only matters that they are.

  "You had to have known it would always come to this," she says to me softly, as softly as I remember her voice always being. "From the day you sold me out until today."

  "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," I grunt out, half in pain and half in frustration and confusion. "How could you be with someone like that?"

  "Someone like me?" Christopher snickers and shakes his head sideways like he doesn't know what I'm talking about. "You mean someone who is loyal and loving and takes care of his wife." His lips hitch into a wild sneer and I know at this point, he's doing nothing but taunting me.

  I notice that they're both wearing rings on their left ring fingers. Hers sparkles underneath the lights of a blinding diamond chandelier. I shake my head in disbelief because I can't believe this is happening. There has to be an explanation and even if I die trying to find it, I'm going to figure it out.

  "You sold me out, Dominic." Her lips quiver as she bites into her lower lip. "For the longest time, I thought you'd come for me. But the days went by and then the months too. And then years, and I just slowly realized that you weren't coming." She passes Christopher a quick look, almost like she's asking for permission to speak, before she looks back to me with glistening eyes. "I thought you were going to save me because that's what you've always done. Back when we were younger, you saved me. And then you went away to the war and you became an actual hero. But you never came…"

  "I woke up every day and tried to find you." I grunt out in pain as I force myself to stand. And just when I have the strength to do so, Christopher lunges forward and kicks me square in the chest so that I am thrown back onto the floor. My back lands with a painful crack against the hard floor. Still, I resist. I force myself back to at least sit on my knees so I can look them both in the eyes. "I never once gave up hope."

  "I didn't need your hope," she seethes. "I needed your help like you have helped so many other people before." Christopher, in an effort to taunt me I'm sure, reaches around my sister’s back and holds her close. His eyes bore into mine and I'm sure that I can't hide the disgust written all over my face. "I spent nine years in captivity. I spent nine years hidden in a small room, locked away from the rest of the world. I never thought I was going to live to see a normal life again until this man came and saved me."

  I'm starting to get a picture of what's going on and though I don't like it, I can't help but to chuckle lightly. That light chuckle soon turns into all-out laughter and I can no longer control it. Maybe it's because of the blood loss, but I just cannot believe the story Christopher has sold to her. It's no wonder she was ready to kill me because he's probably told her so many damn stories. After Seth was thought to be dead, he swept in and grabbed a few of the people Seth had held captive under the guise of saving them.

  I think I'm going to enjoy killing him even more than I enjoyed killing Seth Grimm.

  "What the hell is so funny, Dominic?" she screams at me and rips the gun out of Christopher's hands. She stretches out her arm and points the gun rights at my face.

  I don't laugh anymore. I wipe away all hints of finding this funny in an instant. "He's sold you lies." I shrug because there's not much else I can say. "That man used to work for the very man that had you kidnapped." I know I have to tell her as much of the truth as I possibly can and I have to do it fast. I know that I have to make her understand and believe my side of the story. I know that I have to get her to turn on the man who is apparently her husband in just a few short seconds. "I'm sorry, Shelby," I cry out to her but it's more of a plea for her to listen to me. "I'm sorry because you were taken because of me. You were taken as leverage to be used against me by Christopher's employer."

  "No…" She shakes her head furiously. "You're lying." She passes a quick glance to Christopher. "He said you would do this." She looks back to me and takes another step towards me, her finger dancing along the trigger as if she's about to pull the trigger at any second. "He said that you would try to blame anyone else."

  My entire body grows tense with anger and rage, but it’s not directed at her. It's directed at the man who I will kill even if it takes my last dying breath. "Why do you think I'm here?" I ask her, because I need her to understand this one simple question. I need her to think about why I would be here if I really did give her up.

  "You know, when he first told me that you were responsible for my kidnapping, I didn't believe it. You were my older brother and protector, so I didn't want to believe it." She's shaking now too. She's unable to control her wildly changing emotions and that's something that's always been hard for her. "It wasn't until another man he rescued described to me in complete detail about the man that had kidnapped him." With her free hand, she wipes away tears that are now streaming down her face. "He described you, Dominic. You kidnapped him for that man, Seth Grimm. The same man you gave me away to."

  "He's full of shit," I grind out. "Seriously, Shelby! Just ask yourself this one damn question. If I gave you away then why the hell am I standing here today trying to get you back?" I have to scream at her because I don't know any other way to get her to hear what I'm saying. It shakes me to my very core to have to talk to her like this, but it's the only way I'm going to be able to get through to her. "Think about it!" I demand with another shout.

  She cocks her head sideways and her eyes flicker once and then twice. Tears that are heavier than the ones before begin dripping down her cheeks. And we make eye contact, perfect eye contact for probably the first time. Our eyes linger on each other for a while before Christopher is marching forward to try to take the gun from her hands.

  "I know this is hard for you…" He drops a palm against her back while he reaches for the gun with his free hand. "Let me do this for you so this nightmare can finally be over."

  I don't say anything because this is the choice she has to make. Katie was right; at the end of the day, we always have to make choices.

  She raises her head and her eyes to meet his. And then her eyes twist sideways to meet mine. That's when I give her the nod of approval and I think she finally understands me. She takes two steps back from both Christopher and I and in the blink of an eye, she raises the gun at Christopher. He tries to protest, throws his hands in front of his face, but it's too late.

  She pulls the trigger and this nightmare is finally over.

  I sit there on my knees motionless as I watch the scene playing out before me. It's almost in slow motion as his body collapses dead to the floor, landing with a hard thud against the marble surface.

  She drops the gun and it clatters against the floor, it bounces a few times before it finally comes to a rest. And she twists slowly to look at me and I can see the hesitation in her eyes.

  "It's okay…" I nod at her, signifying that I hold no grudges against her for stabbing me. I can't imagine what she's been through these last ten years so I'm willing to give her a free pass even as my body is screaming out in pain. "It's over now."

  She stands in front of me, her lips trembling and she's unsure of how to proceed. There's a look of utter confusion on her face because she doesn't know how to put all the pieces back together again. She glances back to Christopher's dead body and begins to shake uncontrollably. On some level, I feel bad for her that Christopher is dead. I feel bad for her that she had to be the one to pull the trigger. As much as I hate that man and as much as he deserved to die, he tricked her into believing that he loved her. And she loved him back and she had to put a bullet through his head.

  She's already lost too much in this life and now I make her one last promise that I plan to uphold for the rest of mine, "I will never let you go again."

  She grunts as she rips the diamond ring fro
m her finger and throws it onto Christopher’s still warm but dead body.

  She passes me a solemn nod as I slowly and painfully climb to my feet. I close the distance between us and throw my arms around her back to pull her into a tight embrace. The weight of her body crushing against mine is enough to send me into an unbearable painful state, but I wouldn't trade this hug for the world. I've been waiting for this embrace for ten years. I just hope it doesn't end this time with a knife in my gut.

  I'm joking.

  Sort of.

  "I'm so sorry…" she cries against my shoulder and I hold her even tighter.

  "I'm never letting you go again," I whisper to her, my words slipping past my lips through gritted teeth. "But I should probably get to a hospital."

  She stumbles backwards, realizing that she had been pressing her body against the wound she gave me. "I'm so sorry."

  "I told you it's okay…" I force a smile through the pain, because even though it hurts like hell, I haven't been this happy in ten damn years. The nightmare is finally over. "I'm taking you home now."

  "You're not going anywhere," Katie says from behind me. And when I crane my head over my shoulder, I see her standing right behind me with her gun aimed at my head…

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  DOMINIC

  I’m trying to compute what exactly is going on, but I’m coming up empty with no possible reason for why this is happening. The only possible conclusion I can reach is that she’s been playing me this whole time, but that seems to be so much of a stretch at this point, because what the hell would be the point? I break away from Shelby and shift in place so that I’m shielding her body with mine.

  Shelby grabs onto my side, holding me for safety as Katie steps precariously towards me. Her hand is shaking and her face is tear-stained. Her eyes drop to see the wound hidden by the black fabric of my t-shirt taped to my stomach with pink duct tape.

  “Someone shot you?”

  “Stabbed, actually.” I take a few measured steps toward her, but stop when she reaffirms the grip on her gun and aims it squarely at me. “Have you been playing me this entire time?” I question, not really wanting to know the answer to my question if it’s affirmative. I was really beginning to believe we shared a special kind of bond but that idea is quickly going out the window. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “Stop lying to me!” she screams, tears erupting from her eyes. She takes one more rushed step towards me and then freezes in place as her eyes search all over me. “You’ve been lying to me from the beginning.”

  “You’re confused about something. What it is, I’m not sure, but I’m not the enemy.”

  A man dressed in a business suit, presumably one of the men watching the house, climbs up the stairs behind her.

  “Katie!” I scream. “Watch out!”

  She cocks her head over her shoulder and then turns to face me once more. She shakes her head wildly. “I’m not worried about him.”

  My eyes travel to the man now standing right behind Katie. He’s just about the same height as her, if not a little taller. She’s a tall girl herself so she makes most men look shorter than they really are. He has a familiar looking face, one of those faces I swear I’ve seen before but I can’t quite pinpoint where. I’ve lost a lot of blood so maybe I’m not thinking straight. Still, I need to get to the bottom of what’s happening because I’m not about to lose a future with my sister after everything that’s happened.

  I shift slightly to the right just to make sure I’m completely hiding Shelby behind me. I steady my hands in front of me to remind Katie that I’m not a threat to her or anyone else right now. “Whatever you want from me, you can have it. Just please let me get my sister out of here.”

  “You’re not going anywhere,” she scowls and cocks the gun. “I should have known better. I should have known that you were no better than the rest of them, Seth included. You’ve been playing me from the beginning and I can’t figure out why.”

  “Katie!” I scream at her, sending chills down my own spine and forcing the hairs on my arm to stand on end. “Put that damn gun down and tell me what the hell is going on.”

  “You really think I’m stupid, don’t you?” She tilts her head sideways and uses her freehand to wipe away the tears raining down her cheeks. It doesn’t do much to stop the flow, though, because whatever tears she wipes away are soon replaced by more. It’s a torrential downfall, and I want nothing more than to stop the hurting she’s feeling right now, whatever it is. “I gave myself to you,” she cries out between flat, trembling lips. “I gave my body to you and I opened up to you.”

  I swallow nervously, not only because it’s an uncomfortable feeling to have these thoughts broadcast out loud, but also because something has obviously pushed her over the edge and there’s no telling what she’s going to do.

  “You have nothing to say.” She purses her lips and shrugs with apathy. “You have nothing to admit to and nothing to atone for?”

  “I’m sorry for whatever it is that you think I did…”

  “That’s not enough!” she screams again as the man moves to stand beside her. He passes me an angry glare that steals all of my attention. “You can’t take back what you did.”

  “What did I do?” I question her lowly as my eyes are still trained on the man. More and more, his face is becoming clearer. I now know with absolute certainty that I’ve seen him before but I still can’t recall where. It’s just one of those things that is at the edge of my mind like a word that’s stuck on the tip of my tongue.

  “Victor!” Shelby screams from behind me and races to stand in front of me. “Please tell her this is all just a misunderstanding.”

  “Victor?” I mumble to myself and it all comes flooding back to me.

  I had forgotten. I’ve done so many terrible things and it’s been eight years, but I remember now. I remember going to his apartment and grabbing him in the middle of the night. I remember throwing him in my trunk and driving him out into the middle of the desert to hand him off to one of Seth’s associates on a cool, winter night. I remember it all, and the revelation just about threatens to shatter me completely.

  I pass Victor a quick and somber look before turning my attention towards Katie. “Kill me,” I say in a whisper but everyone standing in the loft can hear the words passing over my lips. “I deserve to die.”

  “What?” Shelby screams and races to stand in front of me, to guard me from the line of fire. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

  “No,” I push her to the side so that I’m staring down the barrel of the gun once more. “I know exactly what I’m talking about.” I turn my gaze to meet Victor’s. “I’m sorry. I know that’s not enough and that it’ll never be enough, but I didn’t do it because I wanted to.” I look back to Katie. “I didn’t know who he was and I honestly had forgotten. It’s been so long ago.”

  “Eight damn years,” she grinds out between gritted teeth, her finger dancing so close to pulling the trigger. “You took my brother and my life away from me.”

  “Kill me,” I repeat my plea from earlier. It’s not that I want to die, but I’ve ended so many other men for far less. I’ve taken lives in the name of saving lives, but more importantly than that, I’ve stolen lives from people that they can never get back. It doesn’t matter why I did the things I did. It only matters that I did them. “Just please leave my sister out of this.”

  Katie passes me an affirmative nod. “She has nothing to do with this.”

  “Right.” I shake my head. “So, let’s keep it that way.”

  “Everyone stop.” My sister rushes into the middle of us once more. I’ve never seen her like this, either. She’s shaking, but there’s no illusion that she’s not in control in the current moment. Back before she was taken, she was so meek and shy. I guess that same exact girl doesn’t exist anymore. There’s no way for any of us to go back to who we used to be. “There has to be an explanation for this.”
/>   “There is,” I grind out. “But it doesn’t matter.”

  “I know the explanation,” Katie says, her grip on the gun weakening. The entire length of her arm is shaking now and I’m fearful that she could collapse and have a stroke or heart attack at any second. “It doesn’t justify it.”

  “Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” Shelby screams, looking at Katie, Victor, and then me, all in that order. “Nobody is going to die today. Not you,” she points to Katie. “And not Victor, not myself, and certainly not my brother.”

  “Your brother kidnapped my brother and committed him to this life here in this place with you.” She shakes her head gently like she’s out of energy and out of fight. “He did what he thought he had to do because he was told he’d get you back if he followed Seth Grimm’s orders. Turns out, one of those things was taking my brother.”

  “I want you to look me straight in the eyes, Katie,” Shelby says as she begins to approach her cautiously with her hands held protectively in front of her. “I understand why you’re angry and I know why you’re upset and nothing I can say is going to change that, but I want to ask you a question… How far would you have gone to save Victor? How far did you go?”

  Katie shakes her head defiantly. “It’s not the same…” Her words trail off, and I can tell that she’s slowly changing her mind. I can see it written all over her face and embedded deep in her eyes. She needs to blame someone, and I’m okay with taking the blame because I’m the one who took Victor. No matter the reasons why, I’m the reason she hasn’t seen him in eight years. But Shelby brought up a great point, and I think that’s what’s finally making Katie realize that I am not her enemy.

  I take matters back into my own hands, step back in front of my sister and step towards Katie. She stretches her arm out wide to push the barrel of the gun against my head as I step within a foot of her. She’s shaking and crying; she’s an emotional mess. A fucking gorgeous, beautiful, emotional mess.