Something’s got her pissy.
“What’s wrong with you? You should be happy, shouldn’t you?” I mean, she somehow thought this was going to win her Garth—right?
“Nothing,” she snapped.
I shrugged and flopped down, staring up into the blackness. I smiled as I thought about Garth. I reached out and touched the ring on my finger. He loves me, I thought. And that thought alone made me feel better. Alyssa could do whatever she wanted, she could try whatever stupid plan she had, but he wouldn’t love her. He loved me—and that was the difference between Alyssa and me.
“I didn’t need to chase him, you know. He came to me.” I knew it wasn’t right, but I needed to scramble her. “He chased me. He liked it. He hated that you always chased him.” I felt bad, part of me didn’t want to hurt her. I watched her from the corner of my eye. I couldn't see her reaction. She didn’t say anything.
I fiddled with the ring on my finger and took a deep breath. Let’s see if this is going to work.
“He told me he loved me,” I said.
I turned to try and see her reaction. There was none.
I heard something, though. She sniffed. “Good for you.”
She tried to hide it, but her voice broke.
She was crying.
Gad damn it.
Why did I have to feel bad for that? I shouldn't feel bad! She had me kidnapped. She was going to keep me here for God knew how long and then who knew what was going to happen to me?
This is stupid. She should feel bad. Not me. I shouldn't feel bad I’m doing what I have to in order to live.
Or telling her that was going to make her kill me.
My heart skipped a beat.
I hadn’t thought of that before saying it. Crap.
“Are you going to tell me more about it? Try to mess with me some more?”
Crap. She realized what I was doing to her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just making conversation.” My entire body was stiff, listening to her breathing—making sure she didn’t come over here and try to kill me. “Unless of course, there is something else you want to talk about? Hey! I know, let’s talk about this place. Is it the place you brought me to?”
“Nice try.” She snorted, but for a fraction of a second, I thought I heard a little bit of respect in her voice.
I smirked. “Girls gotta try.”
And I was going to keep doing it. I was going to keep trying until I got out of here or someone saved me. I wasn’t going to give up. I’m going to see him again.
And when I saw him, I was going to introduce him to my parents. I wanted him to know them and wanted everyone to know everyone. Let’s get outta here first, I told myself.
I bit my lip wondering how I was going to do that.
I heard her phone beep. Alyssa didn’t lift it to her ear; instead, she just looked down at it, which meant it was a text.
“Boyfriend?” I asked.
She snorted.
I took that as a no, but I was willing to bet it was someone involved with this. If I could get her phone … No. It would be too risky. I need to come up with a plan other than breaking her.
If I could convince her that Garth would love her for letting me go—or at least never love her if she hurt me—that might work, but I needed a backup.
Chapter Twenty-One
I went back to my place, mostly because I didn’t know where else I was supposed to go. I paced through the kitchen and stared down at my cell phone. I couldn't call the private investigator I’d tried to hire—he had a kid and wife, they’d already been threatened through him looking into my case. Brent.
But what good would that do? Was he going to believe me if I told him I thought a cop had kidnapped Ally? I took a deep breath trying to figure out what to do.
I crossed to the fridge and pulled a beer out from it. I knew drinking wouldn’t actually do anything to get Ally back to me—but I had to do something. I could ask for Alyssa’s help, I thought.
But what if she was in on it? Was it a risk I was willing to take?
My heart skipped a beat as my phone rang. I looked down at it. A number I didn’t know. My brow furrowed. Was it a ransom call?
“Hello?” I answered as quickly as I could.
What if it was a ransom? Would I pay? Of course, I will.
“We need to talk. Meet me at the Starbucks on Wilson St. I’ll be there in ten.”
Without another word, she hung up on me.
I stared down at the phone as I pulled it away from my ear.
I guess I found what I was going to do, I thought.
I was getting sick of just laying there. I finally pushed myself into a seating position and forced myself to stand, letting out a groan of pain.
Alyssa stared at me. I saw her straighten.
“Oh relax,” I muttered. “What am I going to do? Thanks to whatever you did to me, my body is aching.”
“I … I didn’t mean to hurt you. I mean, I did.” She sounded like a little kid who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Right then and there, I realized how vulnerable she was. I bit my lip and took a deep breath.
“And what do you think is going to happen to me now?” If I’m right about her … she’s just a pawn in this. She wouldn’t be smart enough to do all this, and if she was, she wouldn’t be stupid enough to be here with me right now. She’d have someone else doing it. “What do you think is going to happen to you?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“I mean you actually think they’re going to let you go?” I tried to get it through to her. “You think they are going to keep you alive? You’ve seen them; you’ve talked to them. You know who they are.”
“I … No.” She shook her head. I could see her body tensing, even in the dark.
I shrugged. “If that’s honestly what you think, but really, think about it. They aren’t going to keep you alive. You’re disposable to them; they put you in danger. They’re setting you up by having you with me when I went missing.”
She didn’t say anything, and I took that as a sign that the wheels were turning.
I needed to meet with him and get him to relax. I needed to get the evidence on him so I could get him arrested. Her lipstick should be more than enough. Something small that someone could easily miss. It would be enough to get the eyes on him, and if Alyssa came forward and said that maybe the man who attacked her looked sort of like him—I mean, she was suffering from a traumatic accident. People couldn’t expect her to remember every little detail. Implying that he might be the one should be enough to tip the odds.
He’d get arrested and then everything would really start falling into place. Then I would be ready to swoop in and take everything I wanted.
“Rebecca.”
She jumped as she turned to me.
“Oh,” she let out a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m … this whole thing has got me on edge.”
“It’s alright.” I could fully understand what she was feeling. “So, what’s up? You sounded pretty … tense on the phone.” Was there something going on. Oh God. My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. “Did you find her?” I asked; it came out so soft I was surprised when she shook her head—I’d hardly heard it.
“No, thank God. Sort of. We can … we can assume she is alive.” She sounded nervous. “I looked into you.” My heart skipped a beat. “You swear you’ve never met that girl?”
“I swear, why?”
“Because, either you’re lying to me.” I opened my mouth to protest. I had never met that girl before. She cut me off before I could say a word. “Or someone is trying to set you up to take the fall.”
“Why would someone do that?”
“You tell me.” She shrugged. “Who would be out to get you?”
“What?” I snapped. “No. No one would be. That’s … no.”
“So it’s the first option then.” She raised an eyebrow.
My phone beeped.
I ignored it. I’d set Ally to her own ring tone. This was just a normal beep. A call that could be ignored. I hope.
“No!” I hadn’t killed anyone. I hadn’t kidnapped Ally. “I love her; I wouldn’t hurt her.”
She watched me for a couple of seconds.
“Okay, so then it’s the second option.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Who do you know that would want to ruin you?”
My jaw dropped. No one. There was no one I could think of that would want to do this to me. “You’re crazy,” I said flatly. She was crazy. “Why would anyone want to ruin me?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Who have you pissed off recently? Clients? Ex-clients? Who would want you out of the way?”
I opened my mouth but didn’t speak. No one in their right mind would do this. Then I stopped. It wasn’t a question about who would want me out of the way.
“Come on,” Alyssa snapped.
“What?” I stared at her as she pushed herself away from the wall.
“Let’s go!”
I jumped to my feet, my heart skipping a beat. Where are we going? I wondered. I wasn’t sure if I should try to fight her on the stairs. It could be dangerous, but what if it was my only chance? I took a deep breath. I’m going to have to risk it at some point.
And I knew I was right, but when would be the best chance? I bit my lip, trying to figure it out. If we were in a car … I took a deep breath, my mind working overtime.
“Do you want out of here or not?” she snapped. “If you don’t hurry up, I will kill you.”
“Wh—” I stood there frozen. Move! my body shouted. Right. I forced myself to move. One foot in front of the other. That was all there was to it, right? I’d been doing it all my life.
I followed Alyssa upstairs and to the door. She stopped, resting her head against the door. Listening.
“You don’t have much time.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Does it matter?” she shot back. Then she paused. “If he loves you … well, at least you guys can be happy together.”
“What about you Alyssa?”
“What about me?”
“They are going to know you helped me get away.”
She pushed the door open and shrugged. “I’ll go to a hotel or maybe even the cops. They’ll charge me for kidnapping you, but I guess it’s better than being dead.” She stepped out into the hallway.
The house was old. It looked like crap—like people hadn’t lived there in a few years, at least.
Alyssa reached into her pocket and pulled something out. She held keys out to me.
“Take my car and get the fuck out of here.”
“You’re coming too, right?”
We headed for the front door. She reached for the handle but stopped dead in her tracks.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
My heart sped up as I saw a black car pull into the driveway. Oh God.
“Alyssa, we have to get out of here,” I murmured, grabbing her arm. “Come on.”
“No,” she said. “You go.” She swallowed, locking the door and backing up before taking a deep breath. “Lock the back door on your way out.”
“Come with me.” I grabbed her hand, my heart racing.
She pulled me off her. “Just go before I change my mind and decide to kill you myself,” she snapped.
I glanced out the window as the person got out of the car. My jaw dropped.
I can’t believe it.
My legs froze. How? How could this be possible? How could it be them? Were they behind everything?
“Go!” Alyssa almost shouted. She pushed me towards the door. “I’ll buy you as much time as I can.”
I stared at her. Why was she doing this for me? Go! My body screamed, repeating her. I booted it out of that hallway as fast as I could and skidded to a stop as I made my way into the kitchen. My fingers circled around the handle of a door, and I ripped it open.
I froze, hearing the front door open.
“Hey!” Alyssa sounded chipper—too chipper. “Did you see him? Is everything going according to plan?”
“Everything’s fine.”
Run!
My body screamed.
I forced myself to move. I forced myself to run.
I ran out of that house as fast as I could.
A scream stopped me dead in my tracks. I circled around the house as fast as I could.
Alyssa screamed, and I heard something hit the door. Run, I told myself.
I pushed myself to move faster, the keys in my hand. I was so close to the car.
I stopped dead in my tracks. No.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I knew she was no good. I knew she would ruin everything, but I hadn’t expected her to let the girl go. I hadn’t expected her to ruin everything before I had a chance to kill her.
“How could you do this?”
Anger boiled inside me, rage. I wanted to kill her. I was going to. Then I’d track the other one down. I needed to focus on the other one first. I grabbed Alyssa and shoved her against the wall. She gasped.
“Fuck you,” she spat.
I had to give her credit, she had more spunk than I thought. I pulled my knife from my pocket as she threw herself in front of the door.
“Get out of my way.”
“Fuck you.” This time, she did actually spit. It landed at my feet. I looked down at it, then at her. Oh, I was going to enjoy killing her.
“Hey!” I heard someone shout from outside.
I looked past her out the window. No. This couldn’t be happening.
There was no way it was going to end like this. I’d figured everything out. I had everything planned. Everything had been going according to plan.
“You.” I pointed to the girl. “You ruined this.”
I knew it had been a bad idea to get her involved. I thought she would be easy to manipulate. I thought she would be easy to deal with.
I’d been wrong. And right now, I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of this—but my mind was already working on a way to fix everything. I’d find a way; I’d find a way to come out on top. I always did. I always made sure I won.
I’d kill the one in front of me, and then I’d kill the girl. If I had to, I would kill everyone else who got in my way. Including Garth. He might outweigh me a little, but I had one advantage—he didn’t know I was going to kill him.
The Billionaire’s Mystery
Book Five: The Last Stand
A Billionaire Romance Suspense Series
Sarah J. Brooks
Copyright © 2016 by Sarah J. Brooks
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Facebook: Sarah J. Brooks
Chapter Twenty-Three
I ran as fast as I could. The car door slammed behind me as I slid into the driver's seat.
My hands fumbled with the keys,
My heart raced as I looked up.
There was still no sign of him. Thank God. I took a deep breath as the car roared to life. I knew it wasn’t my job to save her and knew I shouldn’t even bother, but I had to. It’s her fault I’m here, I reminded myself, but that didn’t matter.
Despite the fact it was her fault I had been kidnapped, I couldn't bring myself to just let her die.
Shifting the car into drive, I slammed down on the gas. The wheels spun as I hit the grass, heading towards the house. I closed my eyes, knowing that what was about to come next could get me killed.
Please don’t die; please don’t die, I prayed as I felt the car collide with the house.
I knew it might not save Alyssa; hell, for all I knew, I could be the one to kill her. But I was hoping it would get him away from her. I was hoping with any luck it would make enough noise to get the cops called here before I
died.
I was banking a lot on those hopes, and I knew it.
I heard a man scream as I felt the car come to a stop.
“What’s going on?” I asked her as we slid into the car.
“I have a location your girlfriend might be at.”
“We’re going to get her?”
“Yes. If she’s there.”
“Why did you call me?”
“Because, this involves you and …” She paused. “And you might be the only way to save Ally.”
I remembered the feelings Rebecca had for my girlfriend. Despite the fact she was a cop, she had asked Ally out.
“So you think that if it comes down to having me or her the … person behind this will pick me?”
“I would if I were them.”
My heart skipped a beat. I was heading into this knowing that I might have to sacrifice myself for Ally.
Pain. Dark.
Move! My body screamed.
I wanted to move. I tried to. I reached for the buckle on my seatbelt.
“Relax,” a woman said. She had a soft voice. I tried to open my eyes to look at her, but it didn’t work. “It’s okay, you’re safe,” she said. I believed her. She sounded nice.
I felt my seat belt come off me suddenly.
My eyes flickered open for a fraction of a second. She was older and short, but she grabbed me gently. She wore an EMT’s uniform. At least, it looked like one off TV; I’d never seen one in real life.
“You got into quite the accident.” She said softly, “but you saved that girl.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Alyssa,” I muttered.
Mistake.
Pain seared through my body.
“She’s alive. She can even walk thanks to you,” the woman said.
I took a deep breath. Thank God.
“Come on, we’re going to get you out of here.”
Yes. I closed my eyes, letting someone pick me up. I allowed myself to be helpless in their hands. It was their job to treat people like me—to save people. I took a deep breath, my body aching. I was going to be okay. I hadn’t died.
The Billionaire's Fake Marriage: A Single Dad Next Door Romance Page 68