Fatal Attraction

by Mia Ford

  Will lifts his gun and he points it towards the door while he waits for whoever it is. I keep leaning forward a little bit, just to peek, but I don’t want anyone to see me. I cannot reveal I’m here. Not only will that destroy Will, it’ll also complicate things. Since Kingpin has spies everywhere he might already know, but I won’t risk it.

  I hold myself in place while I wait for the inevitable gun shot to ring out. Will or Kingpin is going to kill the other, it’ll just be a race as to who pulls the trigger first. It’s a bit like a Western movie when they have a gun fight. Surely, all police work can’t be like this? It’s so tense it’s horrible. Cops must be a mess all the time!

  “No!” Will finally calls out. I lean to see his gun falling downwards. Shit, something has distracted him which means he might well be in trouble. Maybe it’s time for me to step forwards and do something after all. “No, no, no. It can’t be. It cannot be you. I refuse to accept it.” His hand claps to his forehead. “I refuse to accept it.”

  Someone, Kingpin, I assume, steps forward but I cannot see his face. He’s shrouded by shadows, but Will can see him very clearly. I can tell by the crestfallen expression he’s wearing. Maybe he does know this person.

  “Why would you do this to me? What’s the point? You don’t need to be involved in this.”

  “Oh, but I do.” I get a chill. I feel like I recognize that voice as well from somewhere. I just can’t quite put my finger on it. “I do. This is where my true success lies. The rest of it is all smoke and mirrors.”

  “So, none of it’s real? And you have this other identity? That is so fucked up. How did I not know?”

  “Will, I didn’t want you to know, so you never found out. If it were up to me then you would never know, but since you insist on poking around in my business, what choice do I have? I’ve had to show you.”

  “For… for how long?” Will can’t seem to let go of the logistics, which I find very troubling.

  “Ever since college. I started this when I was in business school. I met a guy who knows all about this stuff and we set up shop from there. Only small at first, but it grew and grew until I became the king of it.”

  “Kingpin,” Will whispers, clearly very distressed as he does. “That’s what we call you, Kingpin.”

  “Oh, I know.” He sounds pleased with himself. “I know all about everything. Ten steps ahead, remember.”

  I need to make a stand now, I need to show myself. I have to stop this because Will is losing it. Kingpin has him so stunned that he barely even knows his own name any longer. If we’re not careful, he’ll end up dead. Anxiety bursts through my veins as I force my foot forward into the light, I’m about to reveal my location which will hopefully cause enough of a distraction for Will to snap out of it. There’s a chance that my presence will actually work in his favor rather than against him. That’d what I have to hope anyway.

  But, just as my foot moves, something happens to halt me where I am. Will staggers backwards and Kingpin moves closer to him so they can keep up their little one sided stand off. The light flickers over him and I finally get to see his face. It has the same effect on me as it does Will, I’m so stunned that I forget about the mission completely. I almost fall to the ground in shock. This changes everything. Absolutely everything.

  Landon. Annabelle’s husband. I might not know him well but I would recognize that face anywhere. It’s him, it’s been him all along, he is the man who kidnapped my son. He’s basically family and he did that to us. We have a member of the police in the family and a criminal too. This is insane. Will was Landon’s best man! Landon knew the whole time that his best friend was after him the whole time and he remained his best friend.

  It’s sick! It’s almost as if Landon gets off on it. He likes the danger of being a criminal and of ruining his best friend’s life in the process. He must be a really twisted individual. And my cousin married him! Annabelle, she’s his wife and she might not know about any of this. I love the girl but she isn’t exactly the most switched on. She’ll love the money so much that she won’t care where it comes from. She’ll be too busy spending it.

  Or maybe she does know. Their marriage has been weird. Maybe Annabelle found out afterwards – because she still got married far too quickly, way before she could know this man – and she’s been stuck ever since. That’s why she stays despite the arguments, it’s why she didn’t have a big anniversary party where all eyes would be on her, putting her in the spotlight which is her favorite place to be. She’s staying because she’s scared. She knows too much now and Landon won’t let her leave safely. She’s probably been far too scared to tell anyone about her miserable life for fear of what happens next. Maybe her phone call to me was a cry for help which I ignored…

  Of course, I’m very aware that there’s a third option as well, but I don’t want to think of Annabelle as an involved party, that idea is utterly petrifying. We might not be the best of friends now, but she left me to be targeted. I can’t imagine her sitting back and simply allowing bad things to happen to me and Jordan.

  “I told you that we knew each other.” Landon sounds pleased with himself. “You didn’t want to hear it.”

  Will shakes all over, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. The gun is still clasped between his fingers but he doesn’t look as confident as he did before. He might not fire it now. He might accept death.

  “You can’t be a very good cop, old friend, if you don’t know that the man who you were best man for is the criminal that the whole town is after. That isn’t going to look very good with work, is it? You might well be better off dead. Me killing you is probably doing you a favor, and I already owe you so much.”

  “You owe me my fucking life, you asshole!” Will spits back. “You shouldn’t fucking kill me.”

  “I gave you the chance to life, I offered you a way out and you refused to take it.” Landon shrugs as if this logic makes any sense at all. “You didn’t want to be a part of it and I have to get you off my trail one way or another. The companies which have been very good to me over time are getting annoyed. I don’t want them to freak out and back out of our agreement. I need them, you know. You’re spoiling things for me.”

  Where the fuck are the other police? I can’t hear anyone coming. Michelle must have contacted them by now. I’m sure she got out of here, I don’t have any doubt that she’s succeeded in escaping. I have to believe that. I have to try and be patient and hope that they arrive soon enough. Before something really bad can happen.

  My heart thumps so loudly I’m sure they must be able to hear it, but neither Will or Landon turn to look at me. They’re locked in a fight, like stags with their horns locked as they battle for territory. Half of this is just a male ego fight that neither of them want to back down from. It’s ridiculous.

  “Unfortunately for you, Will, it’s too late for you to change your mind now. You’ve seen me. You know my business and my plans. I could pay you off like I was originally going to, but a rich man is only quiet for so long. A dead man is silent forever. I don’t want it to end this way. It shouldn’t be me verses you, that’s not how I wanted any of this to go down. Just know that you will always be my friend, and I’ll always regret this.”

  I wait for Will to do something. I’m expectantly looking at him, desperate for him to act. There must be something that he can do to make all of this end in a better way. Or even just stall it. The cops are coming, I’m sure. But as Landon lifts his gun, it doesn’t seem like Will is going to do anything. He’s been shocked so much that he can’t react. I don’t blame him, but being shocked isn’t good. This isn’t the time.

  “No!” All of a sudden, this word flies from my mouth and I stagger forwards. My body has taken control of the situation for me. Foolishly, instead of helping now I’m in view. From the look on Will’s face he isn’t impressed with me acting this way, but what was I supposed to do? Should I simply step aside and let him die? “No, Landon. Don’t do this, please don’t do
this.” I clasp my hands together in a prayer gesture. “You don’t want to do this. Think about Annabelle, she wouldn’t want this. She’s… well, you know. She wouldn’t want this to happen. You’re going to tear our family apart.”

  “Oh God, you’re still here.” Landon rolls his eyes at me. “That wasn’t part of the plan. You do realize that you’ve just written your own death warrant, don’t you? You’ve seen my face now, you have to go.”

  “No, but Annabelle,” I gasp. “She wouldn’t want me dead. She wouldn’t…”

  “Annabelle ordered this,” he sneers back. “She wanted this to happen. She wanted all of you dead, baby included, but I might be a criminal but I’m not that sick. But that cousin of yours… she’s something else. That’s why I like her.”

  “No.” I refuse to accept that. He’s just trying to psyche me out. “No way. There’s no way.”

  I shake my head desperately, trying to get a grasp of myself. He’s winding me up, trying to get me to react. But I’m not going to.

  It’s a shame I’m not the only one here…

  Chapter Thirty – Will

  I lurch for Landon, I can’t stop myself anymore. I might have allowed him to talk me around, Landon had me so shocked that I was just about to be killed without even putting up a fight, but Cici being here has changed me. I thought that she was with Michelle and Jordan, I assumed that they were all okay, but now I need to act.

  My fists fly, my legs kick out, I’m attacking Landon like a wild animal. I can feel my teeth baring, ready to bite down on the first bit of flesh that I come across. This isn’t a normal fight, this is a battle for survival, this is an attack on the man that I trusted forever, that I believed was my friend. I can’t believe after all this time that it’s him. I’m a fucking idiot. Maybe the signs were always there. There’s a chance that he’s right, I might well lose my job over this, in which case I don’t know who I’ll be anymore. I need to make this right.

  “You fucking… asshole!” I burst out like a firework being set off. “You prick.”

  “Just calm down…” Unfortunately for me, Landon is giving as good as he gets. I can feel him connecting with me everywhere, hot spikes of pain everywhere but nothing enough to actually derail me. “Stop this.”

  I can hear Cici screaming, and that sound is the only thing keeping me going. The fact that she’s here and she’s in danger brings out an intense need inside of me. I’m an alpha male who needs to protect the woman under my command. A primal urge makes me stronger, more desperate, and much more powerful.

  “You stop this,” I pant back as a trickle of something… either blood or sweat, pours down my face. “You’re the one who’s doing all of this, you can just stop this now. It doesn’t need to be like this.”

  We break apart, almost automatically and stare at one another intensely. Inside of Landon I can see the man who I’ve always been friends with, the person who I stood at the end of the aisle with to send him into married life, the person who I’ve had endless nights out with, laughed with, cried with, talked to, shared my personal issues with, listened to him… but he’s also a stranger. He’s Kingpin, the guy in charge of the most major drugs operation ever. He’s Charles Manz,, the guy who’s been destroying me from this inside out. This version of him is willing to do anything to stay on top. Even kidnap my son, kill me. I just can’t believe it.

  “Landon, we can talk about this.” I don’t mean to plead with him, but I can’t quite separate the two versions of him just yet. My friend is still in there, even if I really don’t want him to be. “Let’s just talk this through.”

  “You don’t understand, do you?” Landon shakes his head as if he’s amused by me. “You don’t get it. I’m a killer, that’s a big part of what I do. Do you even bother to keep tabs on the junkies you let go after they’ve been questioned? Probably not, I mean, they’re just scum of the earth, aren’t they? Not worth your time. Well, if you take a look into it, you might realize that not many of them still exist in this realm. I’ll do anything to keep my empire the amazing thing that it is. I might like you, but I’ve liked them too. I liked them and now they’re gone.”

  All of a sudden, we’re distracted by the sound of sirens. Police sirens, which means back up is coming. Maybe Jones ordered it, maybe someone else did. Michelle’s got away, it could’ve been her, either way Landon’s about to panic now. He’s going to want to get out of here one way or another. I can see it in his eyes.

  Landon lifts his gun again and he points it at me. “I have men everywhere, guys who are ready to take the shot. The fact that you’ve got back up coming really pisses me off. I didn’t want it to be like this. And if you even think about dragging your sorry gun out of your pocket, there’s going to be a lot of trouble.”

  I pause, for a second, I wonder if I should just run. Maybe Landon will let me go. But then I think better of it. If he has men everywhere, I might not survive this, but I need to let Landon know that I won’t back down. I grab my gun and I slowly lift it. I fix my eyes on Landon and I determinedly pull it out slowly.

  Landon looks shook, he shivers in disbelief. He lifts up one hand and then he shoots it down rapidly. After that, a loud shot rings out which makes me hit the deck in an instant. But somehow, the bullet doesn’t come past me. I expect it to whiz through the air somewhere near my body but it doesn’t.

  “Do you see now?” Landon glowers at me. “She’s gone. Do you get how serious I am?”

  No, no, no. I dart my eyes backwards, suddenly recalling that Cici is here. I twist my neck nervously around and instantly it hits me that she’s no longer standing. She’s lying on the ground as blood pools around her. My brain spins, my heart thumps violently, I try inside my mind to whiz backwards over the last few moments to prevent that from happening. I should have just said yes, I’ll walk away, I should’ve backed down once I realize that she was here, I shouldn’t be here now, living, while Cici is potentially dead.

  No, she can’t be dead, she can’t be. She has to be fine, I won’t accept it. I can’t take that in.

  A yell bursts free from my throat and a strong power rises me up from the ground. My head might be everywhere, my thoughts might be darting everywhere, but the red mist has descended and there’s only one thing in mind. I need to get revenge, I need to put an end to this now. Landon is dead to me. Now, he needs to be dead.

  “Fuck you!” I scream as I yank the gun from my holster. “Fuck you!”

  Then I do it. I aim the barrel at my friend’s head and I pull the trigger. I watch as almost in slow motion, the bullet flies from the end and it blasts into his body. It might seem slow, but I’ve acted so fast that Landon didn’t know it was coming. I can see the shock in his eyes as it tears through him. Blood splatters from him, it flies everywhere. I thought the moment I finally took out Landon would be a good one, I was sure that I’d feel an intense sense of satisfaction. I had this feeling it would be a wonderful day… but instead I feel lost. I’m numb and empty inside. I’ve killed someone who was supposed to be in my life forever. The cat and mouse game is over. I’ve won, the cat is dead and the mouse is still standing, but I don’t feel good about it.

  As Landon’s knees give way and he falls to the ground, hot tears fill my eyes. I should’ve worked this out, it never should have become this. I hate the entire fucking world for making this be what it is. How does a man who has a successful company and who seems to have it all turn to crime? Greed, I suppose. I guess some people will do anything for money. And maybe his company isn’t as successful as I thought it was. It was always this.

  I fall forwards to my own knees, half because I’m gutted and half because like Landon promised, shots are flying. I don’t think they’re all one sided though, because the cop cars have screeched up behind me, and they’re fighting on my behalf. It’s a good verses evil battle, and I really hope the good side is winning.

  I watch Landon for a while, seeing his lifeless body. This is an image which will be stuck in my brain
forever more. I know I won’t ever be able to forget it. My best friend, his head exploded, the whiteness of him…

  Eventually, I manage to turn my head away. I don’t want to drag my eyes away, I want to drink this in forever so I know how much I have to blame myself for, but there’s another issue which is much more pressing. Through all the bullets flying everywhere, Cici is on the ground, the blood is pooling around her. I don’t want to know, this is a body that I never want to see, but I need to know. I have to see it for myself.

  I crawl along the ground, my heart sinking the closer I get to her. She’s still, she isn’t moving despite the chaos around her, which isn’t a great sign. Anyone with any sense in their head would be in a state of panic with the gun fire, especially for someone who hasn’t been in the middle of it beforehand.

  “Cici,” I mutter as my aching body slides along the ground. “Cici, no, please be okay.”

  I think about Jordan, I don’t know what he’ll do without his mother. He needs her. Any boy needs his mother, and he’s no different. She’s the good parent, I’m the one who hasn’t been around much. I don’t like to accept it, but when she yelled those nasty words at me she was right. She’s basically done everything all for him. Where will I begin? How will I be able to do anything for him? He doesn’t deserve me. He deserves his mom. I should be the one who’s dead not her. This is so fucking wrong, it makes my insides twist painfully.