by Tiffany Snow
“So you’re just going to leave a trail of dead bodies in your wake? You really think no one’s going to question that?”
“Nothing links any of you to me,” he said. “But you and Parker and Natalie…well, that’s a different story. Lovers’ quarrels so often turn deadly.”
I hated him in that moment. I hated his self-assurance and his deadly arrogance.
“You think you have it all figured out, don’t you,” I sneered. “Did you ever stop to wonder why I picked this spot? This building in particular?”
For the first time, doubt flickered in Steven’s eyes.
“I mean, do you really think I’d lure you out to a deserted warehouse, knowing what a fucking lunatic you are?”
In two steps he was in front of me, the barrel of his gun pressed against the center of my forehead.
“I’d be very careful if I were you. This fucking lunatic is holding a gun to your head.”
My breath was lodged in my chest as I stared into his empty, soulless eyes. I swallowed, careful not to move a muscle.
“Explain,” he demanded.
“This is a bad neighborhood,” I said. “The warehouse got broken into a lot. So much so, that we suspected an employee was behind it. So we had security cameras installed.”
“Bullshit. There are none. I looked.”
“They’re not meant to be seen. That would’ve defeated the purpose,” I said. “But the point is, they’re watching and recording. Everything you’ve said and done. You won’t get away with anything.”
Steven’s jaw went tight and I could feel cold sweat break out all over my body. It would take just a twitch of his finger, and I’d be dead. This was a very dangerous gamble I was taking.
“Well,” he said at last. “Aren’t you just full of surprises.” His smile was thin.
I swallowed. “We can make a deal. I can give you the recording.”
“What do you want?” he asked.
“My parents. You call off your guy.”
“Fine.” Reaching for his cell phone, he held it to his ear. “Abort,” he said. “Repeat, I said abort.” He ended the call. “Satisfied?”
“And Natalie. She gets to leave.”
He laughed outright. “That is rich,” he said. “You’re bargaining for her life? She wouldn’t do the same for you, trust me.”
He might be right on that one, but it didn’t matter. “Natalie gets to leave,” I repeated.
Steven took a step back and glanced at Natalie. She wasn’t looking at us. Her gaze was on Jessie and her face was wet with tears.
“Out,” Steven said to her. She didn’t move.
“Natalie,” I said sharply. She jerked, as though awakened from a trance, and looked at me. “Go.”
She took two hesitant steps backward, watching Steven as one would a snake preparing to strike, then she turned and ran toward the office. I watched her disappear into it, then heard a door slamming shut.
Now I just had to hope she had enough sense to send help and I could delay long enough for them to get here.
Steven motioned with the gun. “Your turn.”
Turning, I headed for the far corner of the warehouse. There was a panel there, hidden behind a plain metal cupboard. I opened the cupboard to reveal a number key touchpad. I tapped in ten numbers and a click sounded as the panel unlocked.
Behind it was a black box that held a rotation of tapes. Pressing a button, I had it eject the current tape and handed it to Steven, who pocketed it.
“Now what?” I asked.
The gun went off.
I stared in shock at the smoke rising from the barrel of Steven’s gun, then I looked down.
Blood was spreading on my chest, on the right side. I touched it, certain it couldn’t be real. Red stained my shaking fingers. My knees gave and I collapsed onto the ground.
Steven crouched down. “That’s what,” he said. “You’re an idiot. Giving up your only leverage to save Natalie? Dumb. She would’ve let you rot.”
“No, I didn’t, asshole.”
Natalie stood in the doorway, Jessie’s gun in her hand. Steven whirled to face her and she pulled the trigger.
The impact made him stumble back, and she shot again. And again. And again. His body hit the wall and he slid down, leaving streaks of red in his wake. He hit the ground and didn’t move, his eyes staring sightlessly ahead.
“Help,” I managed to whisper. It was hard to breathe and the pain that I hadn’t felt earlier now burned.
Natalie knelt next to me and pulled out her phone. She was talking on it. “My friend’s been shot…please send help.” She rattled off the address, then listened. “Yes, in the chest. There’s some blood.” She listened again and looked at my mouth. “Yes, there’s like a pink foam.” More listening. “Okay.”
Tucking the phone between her cheek and shoulder, she leaned over and placed her hand over the wound. I groaned at the pain of her touching it, but I could breathe slightly easier.
“Just hurry!” The panic in her voice made my eyes open. They’d been drifting shut. I didn’t want to pass out from shock. I wanted to stay awake. I was terrified if I blacked out, I wouldn’t wake up.
“Please,” I managed. “Please tell—”
“Shh, don’t try to talk,” she urged me. Pity and fear were in her eyes, and I didn’t know which scared me more.
“Gotta…listen,” I whispered. “P-Parker. Tell him…I l-love him…”
It took forever and every ounce of will I had to get that sentence out. It exhausted me.
“Of course I will, but you’ll tell him yourself,” she said, tears wetting her lashes. “The paramedics will be here any second.”
“Y-you even l-look pretty when you c-cry,” I stammered. I could still be disgruntled, even as I lay drowning in my own blood.
She huffed a laugh. “Don’t be stupid. Stop bleeding and you’d look prettier, too.”
There was something else I needed to say. “I’m sorry,” I said, unable to do more than whisper. My lips felt wet. “About Jessie.”
Tears tracked down Natalie’s cheeks. “Me too.”
I couldn’t understand why Parker hadn’t come. “P-Parker…”
“I’ll get him for you. I promise.”
My eyes closed and I lost some time. When I opened them again, I saw two men I didn’t know kneeling next to me. They wore latex gloves and uniforms. Where was Natalie? And Parker? I needed Parker…
I lost some more time.
Vague impressions hit me then and I couldn’t tell when I was awake or if I was dreaming. People talking, their voices urgent. Being lifted and moved. Sirens. Then the white of ceiling tiles and fluorescent lights going by fast overhead. More voices, saying things I couldn’t understand. I closed my eyes.
* * *
The next time I opened my eyes, I felt no pain, but neither could I move. Everything was blurry and it took a moment to focus.
Movement in my peripheral vision startled me, then I saw it was Parker. He was there.
“You’re awake,” he said, moving closer to me. He’d been sitting, but now stood. I felt his hand cover mine.
I tried to speak, but couldn’t. My eyes widened in panic.
“Shh, don’t try to move,” he said. “You were shot.”
Shot. There was something vague in my memory…Steven. Steven had shot me. I was so tired, it was hard to concentrate. Parker’s hand tightened on mine.
“You’re going to be okay,” he said, his voice thick. “You have to be. I won’t lose you.”
I wanted to reassure him, but I was too tired, and the darkness pulled me back under.
* * *
The next time I woke, I could move. There seemed to be fewer machines around me. I didn’t know if it was morning or evening, based on the weak sunlight coming through the blinds on the window. It did seem like I was in a different place. I didn’t remember a window last time I woke.
I moved my legs, relieved when they obeyed my command. As before
, Parker appeared a split second later.
“Hey, baby,” he said with a smile.
I stared at him. He looked…haggard. There was no other word for it. At least two days’ growth of beard shadowed his jaw, his eyes were bloodshot with dark circles underneath them, and his clothes were so wrinkled they looked like he’d slept in them.
“Why do you look like that?” I asked, my voice hoarse and raw. I winced. Ouch.
“Your throat is going to be sore,” he said. “You had to have a breathing tube for a while.”
“How long?” I didn’t want to say much; it hurt. Hopefully, Parker would figure out what I meant.
“It’s been two days,” he said. “They brought you in and operated. They took the chest tube out yesterday, the breathing tube this morning. You’re very lucky. If Steven had used a larger caliber bullet or if it had hit your heart instead…” His voice trailed off and he stopped to clear his throat. “But you’re going to be okay. You should be able to go home in a few days.”
“Natalie?”
“She’s fine. She called me right after the ambulance got there.”
“Where were you?” I didn’t mean to sound accusatory, but it came out that way.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so damn sorry. It was Jessie. She called me, told me you were in trouble. Sent me on a wild goose chase. I tried calling you, but couldn’t reach you.”
That’s right. Jessie had destroyed my phone. She must have realized I’d sent Parker the same message as the one she’d intercepted to Ryker and made sure he wouldn’t show up.
“Mom and Dad?”
“Your dad is awake,” he said. “He woke up the night they brought you in. You two will probably be going home at the same time.”
I couldn’t believe it. Everyone I loved was okay? Despite Jessie and Steven? It didn’t seem possible.
“SLS Enterprises has declared bankruptcy,” Parked continued. “They were teetering on the brink, the effort to get Sikes and shut you down would’ve saved them, but those options are both gone now. The board of directors voted unanimously, especially considering their recently deceased CEO was guilty of murder and attempted murder.”
Money. It was hard for me to imagine doing what Steven had done just because of money. Then again, most crimes were committed in a moment of passion or because of money.
“Psychotic,” I said.
“Yes. And if I’d known you were going to do something so stupid as to provoke him, I’d have locked you in my apartment.”
There was anger there, and I understood. It was the kind of anger that comes from fear. But I’d nearly lost Parker once because Steven had come after me. I wouldn’t have risked him again by telling him ahead of time.
“Sorry,” I said. “Wrong about Natalie.” It had stared me in the face, the truth about Jessie. She’d been the tie between Ashley and Steven, had known Ashley in high school so knew where she worked at the records department. But I’d been so set on making Natalie the villain, I hadn’t put the pieces together. If I had, maybe she might still be alive. I swallowed down the lump of guilt in my throat.
“I told you to trust me,” he said, but his anger was gone. He took my hand, cradling it in both of his. “Natalie finally came clean about Jessie and what Steven was doing. She didn’t know her sister would double-cross her like that. I was working with her, trying to feed him enough information to keep you and her safe, until I had enough to press charges and have him arrested.” He looked grim. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough.”
Ah. So that’s what he hadn’t been able to tell me. Trying to protect everyone. As usual.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” I asked.
“Steven was watching me too closely. He didn’t trust me not to double-cross him, which was smart of him because that’s exactly what I was doing. If he had an idea that you knew what was going on, I was afraid he’d use you against me.”
Steven would absolutely have done that, and I shuddered to think of what methods he would have used on me to control Parker. “So it’s over?” I asked.
“It’s over, baby.”
It was a relief. My eyes slipped closed. “Tired,” I murmured.
“Go to sleep. You need the rest.”
My eyes popped open when I felt him place my hand back on the bed.
“Don’t go,” I said, panicked at the thought of Parker leaving me.
“Shh, I’m not going anywhere,” he soothed. He brushed my hair back from my forehead and smiled. “I promise you. I’m not leaving until you do.”
I believed him, belatedly realizing that’s probably why he looked the way he did. He’d been with me since I came in. I hated that he hadn’t been taking care of himself, but couldn’t bring myself to tell him to leave.
Parker softly stroked my hair and face until I fell asleep.
Chapter Nineteen
Mom, I’m fine. I don’t need a wheelchair.”
“Hospital policy,” the nurse said.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m fine—”
“Get in the damn chair, Sage.” When my father spoke, people listened, and I was no exception.
I plunked down in the chair, feeling ridiculous.
“If I have to be wheeled out, so do you,” Dad said, which was how it came to be that both of us were wheeled side by side down the hallway.
Ryker and Natalie were waiting outside. To my surprise, she came over and hugged me.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said as I got out of the wheelchair. The nurses left and went back inside.
“Thanks to you,” I replied. “But I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not believing you.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t exactly work hard to gain your trust.”
“Natalie,” my dad said, coming up next to me. He was moving slowly and had a cane, but was determined to walk. “My goodness, it’s been years. How are you?”
“I’m fine, Mr. Muccino. Good to see you out of the woods.”
I looked at them in surprise. “You know each other?”
“Since you’re the new CEO, I should probably tell you,” Dad said. “Natalie here helped us out a while back. What, was that ten years ago now?”
“I think so,” Natalie replied.
“What do you mean helped us out?”
“The business with SLS,” Dad said. “We needed someone on the inside, and Natalie here was friendly with Steven for a while. She knew what a crackpot he was, but couldn’t get rid of him. She got me the information I needed. I paid her and helped her disappear.” His gaze switched to Natalie. “Faked your suicide, I believe?”
My jaw was hanging open and Natalie said nothing, just nodded.
“Obviously, that didn’t work out since you’re back here,” my dad continued, oblivious.
“Steven ended up going after my sister,” she said. “She…wasn’t as fortunate as I was.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dad said, contrite. I could see he was tiring and Schultz had pulled up in the car.
“You need to get home, Dad,” I said, taking his arm so he could lean on me because I knew he wouldn’t ask.
“You catch that part about the CEO?” he asked as we headed for the car.
“Hmm?” I was concentrating on both of us not falling.
Dad stopped, making me look at him.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m retiring. The company is yours now.”
I stared. “You’re serious?”
He nodded, the hint of a grin appearing. “As a heart attack. I’m done. Time for me and your mother to settle into our dotage.”
I laughed. “Like you could ever do that.”
“The paperwork’s being done even as we speak,” Dad said. “Hope you’re ready to go on Monday.”
“But what about Charlie?” I asked. “He’s been your right-hand man for twenty years.”
“Charlie’s great,” Dad said. “But you’re my blood.”
And I could tell by the way he said it that
it was final. Family was everything to him. Charlie may have been a devoted employee and friend, but he wasn’t family.
I loaded my mom and dad into the car and watched it drive off. Parker’s hands settled on my waist as he stood behind me.
“Well, that was a nice little bomb to drop,” I said.
“Yep. Do I say congratulations or I’m sorry?”
I turned to him, narrowing my eyes. “Did you know about Natalie?”
He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I didn’t. I swear. I don’t really care why she left. It’s as much of a surprise to me as to you that she was working for your dad.”
“Let’s go have a chat with her,” I said.
Natalie was eyeing us as we headed back to where she stood next to Ryker. I glanced at him. He looked as shocked as I felt.
“…the truth?” he was asking her. “Which is it? Abusive husband or paid-off informant?”
“Both,” she said with a sigh. “I was married to Chad when he went to jail. His best friend was Steven. Steven decided he’d help me through it. He was just as much of an asshole. I met you two during that time.” She indicated Ryker and Parker. “At first, I thought maybe you could help me get away from Steven, but then I was offered the job from Mr. Muccino. I needed the money. Jessie needed the money. So I took the job. And when I needed to get out of town because Chad was released, he helped me get out.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell any of this to you,” her gaze had gravitated to Ryker. “I wanted to. I really did. I believed you did care about me. Maybe even love me. But Chad and Steven weren’t going away, and I was afraid for me and for you. I didn’t want to hurt you by just leaving, so I tried to make you hate me.”
“By sleeping with my best friend,” Ryker said.
Natalie nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “But even then, you still loved me. I wanted you to despise me, think the very worst of me. Everyone else did.”
Guilt washed over me as I listened. I could understand a little too well, and she was right. Everyone—their friends, Parker himself, and even me—had spoken of Natalie with contempt. The only one who had forgiven her was the man who loved her.