by J. L. Berg
“And the suits? Dear god, the suits. And the shoes. My precious fucking shoes.”
My life had been consumed by material goods for years as I collected meaningless crap. Years and years’ worth of stuff that meant nothing.
In a blink of an eye, it could be gone.
And what would I be left with? The memory of a nice watch?
No thanks.
“We’ll figure out how to pay for your classes,” I consoled her, pulling her into my arms.
“How?” she asked, the worry evident in her voice.
“How do normal people do things, Everly? School loans, financial aid, good old-fashioned hard work. It’s your dream. We’ll make it happen.”
“Thank you,” she said, her arms wrapping tightly around me as my eyes closed and peace settled around us.
For once, I didn’t listen to the sound of the waves that night.
No, it was something else entirely that drifted me off into dreamland.
Something I knew I couldn’t live without.
The rhythmic sound of Everly’s heartbeat.
* * *
“We’re all set?” I asked as the wires were placed back on my chest.
“Yep, we’re ready,” Agent Martin replied as he watched the other men in the black van finish me up. I was given the thumbs-up, and I quickly rebuttoned my shirt, feeling antsy in the enclosed space.
We’d selected a neutral, public space for this next push.
Less risk of things spiraling, Agent Martin had said. As I said good-bye to Everly, giving her a long hard kiss, I had to agree. I didn’t say the words, but I knew she felt them. I could see the promise in her eyes as the lock slipped into place and my heartbeat stilled slightly. She was safe, and that was all I needed to know.
“Okay, you’ve got about fifteen minutes to get to the meeting point. We’ll be around the corner. If anything happens, we’ll be there. Got it?”
I nodded once, hopping out of the van into the bright afternoon sun. San Francisco was well into winter, which meant a higher than average number of sunny days. The proximity to the bay made the seasons almost reversed. Summer brought fog. Winter brought sun. It pissed a lot of tourists off, but for us locals, it was like a little secret we never intended to share.
Despite the slight chill in the air, many city dwellers were enjoying the sunny day. People sat outside, enjoying warm cups of coffee and sandwiches. Laughter could be heard as I walked through the streets, approaching the small plaza I’d chosen to lure Trent.
I didn’t know what to expect when he arrived, but I was planning on him being something close to livid.
About an hour ago, I’d sent an e-mail to his work address containing several snapshots of the documents I’d collected over the years.
In the e-mail, I’d written, “Looks like I was the smart one all along. Meet me in an hour.”
The address had been attached and the FBI nerds Agent Martin had been corresponding with had monitored the e-mail to make sure it had been read. When I’d called him this morning, this was the plan I’d given him—to go all in with guns blazing. Thankfully, he’d agreed.
I don’t think I was the only one who was getting antsy.
The location I’d chosen was in a popular shopping area. Boutiques and upscale eateries lined the streets, and in the middle, a small fountain trickled audibly as children threw pennies from their mothers’ purses in hopes of getting their secret wishes fulfilled.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a single quarter I had left over from a toll road. Feeling nostalgic, I walked over to the fountain, seeing in it the glimmer from a thousand wishes at the bottom. I held out my tiny offering.
“What are you going to wish for?” A little girl asked me. She had strawberry blonde hair and bright green eyes. Tiny freckles dotted her porcelain complexion and she wore a bright pink shirt that proudly displayed the words “Daddy’s little angel” with tiny devil horns holding up the halo.
She couldn’t have been much older than five, but I’d never been good at telling ages—especially in children. I was an only child, and with most of my memories still under lock and key, children were still very much a mystery to me. This was something I hoped to change.
“I don’t know yet,” I said, smiling down at her. “What do you think I should wish for?”
Her face scrunched together as she looked me up and down, taking in my faded blue jeans and messy hair. Her eyes went to my hand, checking for a wedding ring I assumed, and then she frowned.
“Are you married?” she asked.
“No, but I have a girlfriend I love very much,” I replied, checking my watch. I still had a few minutes.
“You should get married,” she advised, putting her hands on her hips in a very womanly fashion. It caused me to smirk, and I couldn’t help but ask why.
“Because then you can ask for a kid.”
“And that’s what you think I should wish for?”
She nodded with enthusiasm.
“And what’s so great about a kid?” I asked, wrapping my arms around my chest in mock defiance.
“My daddy says I’m what love made. He says he and my mommy had so much love for each other that it made me! He says when he looks at me, he sees me and my mommy shining back at him.”
She glanced back at a man about my age who was holding an infant in his arms at a nearby table. He waved back at her and she smiled.
“Your daddy seems like a smart man.”
“He is,” she said proudly.
“Well, I don’t know if Everly and I are ready for someone as cool as you yet. But why don’t I wish for happiness?”
“That sounds good. My daddy says my little brother and me bring him happiness, so maybe you’ll end up with everything?”
“Yeah,” I smiled. “Maybe I’ll end up with everything.”
I helped her up on the fountain ledge and with her helpful hand, we tossed the single quarter into the water. I watched as it floated to the bottom, sparkling with promise among the other wishes and dreams.
I said good-bye to my new friend and watched her skip back to her father. It made me wonder where I’d be in five years. Ten, even. Would I have a similar life? Baby bottles and life lessons with a toddler?
Only time would tell, and Everly and I would finally have plenty of it soon.
At the thought of time, I suddenly lifted my watch to my eyes, seeing the specified meeting time had passed. Not knowing what to do, my gaze shifted around the plaza, searching for Trent.
He was nowhere to be found.
Having been so sure Trent would take my bait and meet me, we hadn’t spoken of a Plan B. I had no idea what to do. Did I wait? If so, for how long?
Pulling my cell phone out of my pocket, I contemplated what to do. Before I had the chance to decide, it began to vibrate with an incoming call.
Trent.
“You’re late,” I answered, each word spoken through clenched teeth.
“Now, why would you say that? It seems you are the one who’s late, my friend,” he replied, that cool calm edge to his voice back in place.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, looking around the plaza but still coming up short.
“How’d you like to say hello, sweetheart?” he said, the phone’s sounds becoming muffled, and then I heard a sharp female cry.
Everly.
“August!” she screamed, as more shuffling commenced and I began to run. Darting through shoppers and smiling children, I sprinted until my lungs burned.
“Where are you?” I asked, looking around at the crowd. I felt useless, utterly useless. There were too many people and he was nowhere to be found.
“You threatened me,” he said. “That’s not cool. I just stopped by your house to try and solve the matter—man to man. But you weren’t home. It was so very nice of Everly to let me in, though.”
My car. I had to reach my car.
“If you touch one fucking hair on her head, I swear to god—”
“You’ll what? Do nothing? Come on, August. You’re not really going to do anything—you never do. That’s why you’re you and I’m me. Because I get shit done and you sit around and take orders. Now I gotta give you kudos for this e-mail you sent me. It’s great—really. I can’t imagine how you managed to collect all that over the years. But what exactly do you plan on doing with it?”
I knew we already had what we needed. He’d threatened Everly…broken into my home. He was going away for a long time. Now I just needed to keep him there long enough to get home.
And keep Everly safe in the process.
“I just wanted out,” I lied as I hopped into my car and started the engine. I had no idea where Agent Martin was. He’d said if anything went south, he’d be there. But this was completely north of what we’d planned and I wasn’t taking any risks.
Not when it involved Everly.
“I figured this was my ticket.”
Cars flew by as I sped down the road, inching closer and closer to the cliffs, thankful we’d chosen someplace close by. I only needed another minute and I’d be home.
“Was this something you’d planned all along? Were you going to try to rip me off again and run?”
Rip him off?
He thought the fifty million dollars I’d lost was a failed attempt to steal from the company?
“That money, Trent,” I said calmly. “It was for you, I swear. I was just trying to leave, and I knew your money would help, but I’d never done a deal that big. I got in over my head and lost it all.”
The car skidded to the curb right behind Trent’s flashy black Mercedes. I didn’t even bother parking in the driveway, and I barely took the time to slam the driver’s side door as I raced toward the front door, still wide open from his forced entry.
The small table we used for keys and whatnot had been knocked over, the glass bowl I’d bought at a small antique shop smashed into a million pieces. Tiny jagged chunks of glass caught the sunlight, twinkling in the chaos of Trent’s destruction.
“Is that you, August?” His voice rang through the house. “Come to teach me a lesson?”
Laughter followed, then whimpering.
Everly.
Following the sounds of their voices, I took quick but careful steps into the living room and felt my heart drop. There on the couch where we’d made love a dozen times, the place where we’d shared countless meals and endless memories, the love of my life sat with a gun pointed at her head.
She trembled with fear as tears trickled down her beautiful face. Trent sat next to her, looking passive—as if he was getting ready to go grocery shopping or mow the lawn.
Except for his eyes. I’d almost missed those. Usually steely and ice cold, the windows to his soul were on fire today. Maniacal.
And they scared me to death.
This was not the man I was used to—the one who kept everything and everyone at arm’s length. This was not someone who had everything under control. This was what happened when you capped a volcano too long. It stewed and boiled beneath the surface until there was only one way for the lava to go—up.
Trent was about to explode, and he was planning on taking Everly with him.
“Do you have any idea what I did for you? What I gave you?” he said, his voice shaking with intensity. My eyes were glued to the gun he held. Every movement, every shift or careless jolt had my breath catching, my body rooted to the floor in absolute horror.
“Just put the gun down,” I urged, holding my hands out like a white flag of surrender. “And we’ll talk this out. No one needs to get hurt. Nothing needs to happen. We can all walk away from this.”
“What’s going on with the Yorke deal?” he asked, the words spilling out of his mouth like liquid venom.
“It’s fine, I swear,” I lied, my gaze shifting to him and then back to Everly.
“You lie. You fucking lie! About everything!” His hold tightened around Everly as he stood, and I watched as her eyes filled with panic.
“You think I’m stupid, August? You think I haven’t figured all this out yet?”
I honestly didn’t care what he’d deduced from this. All I wanted was that gun as far away from Everly as possible.
“You don’t think I’ve caught on to your plan? You were never going to give up Yorke. You were just going to dangle him over my head, distract me while you took the money and ran. Then while my head was still spinning, you’d turn over that evidence to the authorities and play the poor innocent partner who didn’t have a clue. Well, fuck that, August! I’m on to you. You may not have had any idea what was going on in the past, but you do now. If I go down, you sure as hell will be going down with me!”
Each word was louder than the last. He was livid, rage and spit flying from his mouth, sweat pouring from his temples. With one arm wrapped firmly around Everly’s waist and the other tightly gripping a 9-millimeter, he made me feel like I was out of options.
I couldn’t play it safe, and I couldn’t hide from this danger. Not anymore.
I inched forward as he rambled on incoherently.
“You’re always fucking me over. I should have known. I should have known a spineless little asshole like you wouldn’t be worth my time. And now look at us. We’re so fucking screwed, it’s not even funny. And it’s all your fault.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to keep him talking as I made my way slowly across the living room. His focus was everywhere. He’d gone completely off the deep end, and because of that, it made my pursuit that much easier.
“I’m bankrupt!” he yelled, finally looking directly at me. I froze.
“All the money we have in the company? Fake. Totally fucking fake. I’ve been grasping at straws for the last three years trying to pull shit together while you wasted away in a fucking hospital bed. You and your fifty-million-dollar mistake. I told you our money was liquid? Well, nonexistent is more like it now. I needed you to keep us afloat, and instead, you ruined us!”
Several pieces of the puzzle settled into place all at once. Memories of him needing help in almost every financing class. His pursuit of me after I’d gotten out of the hospital, the almost stalker quality it had. How he’d seemed to insert himself into my life in every way.
He’d been out for revenge, sure. But that hadn’t been the only reason.
Desperation. He’d lost everything.
Trent was destitute and the only person he’d thought could turn the tide was the one person he despised. The one person who had deceived him and cost him everything.
Me.
Greed made people do all sorts of things. It created a never-ending hunger that would never be fulfilled. I had no doubt the investment blunder I’d made right before my coma had added to the financial distress of the company. However, seeing Trent now—his need, the way he seemed completely desperate—I knew he was the ultimate reason for the downfall.
Fancy boats, multimillion-dollar houses…living well beyond our means. It had all finally caught up.
And now it was time for him to pay.
As soon as he turned his head, distracted by his own deteriorating mind as it poured forth an intangible string of words, I acted, jumping for him before he had the chance to react.
Two things happened simultaneously. The gun went off and Everly let out a blood-curdling scream.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Everly
A shot went off and everything happened at once. All I could do was watch in horror as August and Trent wrestled for the gun. I screamed at the sight of the blood covering both of them, not knowing which man it belonged to.
August took a swing, his face pale, and Trent fell to the floor. As soon as he went down, the entire house erupted in noise. Men outfitted in SWAT gear swarmed the house, guns at the ready.
Both of us held up our hands, unsure what to do, but their focus was all for the man on the floor.
It was over.
Oh thank god, it was over.
I man
aged to lock eyes with August from across the room, seeing his relieved expression moments before I noticed the blood soaking his shirt.
“August!” I screamed. His fingers touched the bullet wound above his heart, near his left shoulder and his gaze traveled back to mine in shock.
And then he collapsed, crumpling to the ground like an oversized rag doll.
“No! Oh God! No!” I cried, rushing to his side.
“We need an ambulance!” One of the men said into a walkie-talkie as they handcuffed an unconscious Trent. His head bobbed to the side as they pulled him to a standing position. Slowly, he began to regain consciousness, and that’s when I saw red.
“You fucking asshole!” I yelled, pushing past several large men to get to Trent. “If I lose him because of you—I swear to God, there won’t be a jail cell deep enough for you to hide in. I will find you!”
His sneer was the last thing I saw before they took him away.
Three of the men stayed behind. While two of the men secured the area and provided communication, the third stayed by August’s side, applying pressure to his wound as I kneeled beside him, praying to every deity I could think of to not take him away from me.
“It’s a clean wound,” the man said, his gaze strong and true. “Clear exit wound. It must have gone through muscle only.” He pointed to the back where several makeshift towels had been applied, soaking up more blood than I’d ever seen outside the human body.
“Will he—” I couldn’t even say it.
Before he had a chance to answer me, the EMTs stormed in, rushing into action. I was asked to step back as they did their job. I watched from the sidelines as they tended to August, feeling useless as they tried to keep him alive.
My hands shook and sobs quaked through my body.
“I’ll take her,” Agent Martin offered, reappearing just as they lifted August into the ambulance. Knowing his situation was far too dire for me to accompany him, I silently nodded and watched as they drove away.
Oh God, what if I lost him?
Again.
The trip to the hospital was quick. So much of the experience took me back—to the last time I’d sat in a spot just like this, waiting, wondering…worrying. After a long while, I was allowed back to a room and found him asleep. He looked so much like the man I left all those years ago. I still remembered holding his hand, wondering if I’d lost him for good as guilt had clawed at my belly.