by L. P. Dover
The second I heard the other man’s voice, I felt sick. Everything closed in around me and I wanted to scream. The man who held the gun up at my father was not only his best friend, but a man I loved—a man I considered family. Micah shifted on his feet, allowing me to see the smile Donnie gave my father. It made me shiver; it was cold and evil, not the caring man I’d thought him to be.
Micah cleared his throat. “I thought you weren’t coming until it was all over?”
Donnie shrugged. “Changed my mind. I thought Richie here would want to know the truth before it’s all over.”
“What truth?” my father demanded.
I wanted to smack the smirk off Donnie’s face. “The truth about what’s to come. Soon Bennett Racing will be all mine. Your soon-to-be widow will make sure of that.”
My father’s face contorted in pain and he leaned against the wall, his face turning white. “What does Angela have to do with this?”
“Why do you think I’m here? We’ve planned to take over Bennett Racing for years. You have no idea how much it killed me to see her with you. Just know that every time she went away with her friends, she was with me. In the end, our plan worked though. You made Sean an owner just like we’d hoped.”
Sean? No. I felt sicker by the minute. These were the closest people in my life, and they were my biggest enemies. The level of betrayal went further than just a knife to the chest. The wound went deeper than that; it went all the way down to my soul.
“Was Sean a part of this?” my father croaked. I held my breath.
Donnie laughed. “I wish, but no. He’s so in love with Kassidy, there’s no way he’d want to hurt her. But now that Logan and you will be out of the way, she’ll run back to him like she did the first time we got rid of Logan, and they’ll run Bennett Racing together.”
“The first time? Oh shit! You caused his accident eight years ago?” Micah chuckled. “That was fucking brutal. Nice one.”
Donnie’s grin grew wider. “Angela’s the one who tampered with his bike. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and it’s up to me to clean up her mess.”
My body shook with rage and so did my father’s. Not only did the truth come out about Angela, but we got the answers we needed.
“Nah,” Micah cut in, glaring right at Donnie. “Looks like I’m cleaning it up.” He pointed his gun at my father and pulled the trigger twice, the blast making my ears ring. My father fell to the floor and Donnie yelled, his eyes full of rage.
“You stupid piece of shit,” he spat.
“No, you’re the stupid one, motherfucker. You brought me here for a job and I did it. Now give me my money, so I can get the fuck out of here. I’m not here to listen to your problems.”
“You want your money? Here,” Donnie shouted, shooting Micah in the gut. “There’s your money.” Micah stumbled into the wall and slid to the floor, grunting in pain.
I couldn’t tell if he was hurt or faking. Frozen in place, I laid there, the walls feeling as if they’d closed in all around me. Was this part of the plan? Panic settled in and I couldn’t breathe. What was I going to do?
The room fell silent as Donnie looked around the room with a smile on his face. Breathing a sigh of relief, he pulled out his phone. “It’s done. Both Logan and Richard are gone. I’m going to grab Kassidy and head to your house. She won’t be waking up for a while, so we’ll stick to the story as planned.” He hung up and marched toward my room, only I couldn’t pretend any longer.
When the door opened, I was ready to fight. Donnie’s eyes met mine and they widened when he saw the gun pointed at his chest. “How could you?” I growled, hissing through clenched teeth. “My father? Levi? You’re gonna rot in hell for what you’ve done.”
Logan appeared behind him and so did Micah and Gary. My father unsteadily rose to his feet, his head held high, even though his best friend tried to murder him. Logan was so overfilled with rage I barely recognized him. “He’s going to go through me before he makes it there.”
Donnie jerked around and Logan struck. He punched him in the face and they fell to the floor. Logan smashed his head into the rotting floor and punched him until his hands were covered in blood.
Micah grabbed Logan around the waist and hauled him back. “That’s enough!” he shouted.
Logan held up his hands and stepped away, his chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. “I’m good.”
I ran over to my dad and hugged him, feeling the bullet proof vest underneath his shirt.
“I’m okay, peanut. It’s just a scratch. Hurts like a bitch though.”
I held onto him and watched Logan and Gary handcuff Donnie and haul him up to his feet. “Dad, I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you about me and Sean. It was a long time ago.”
He shook his head. “It’s all right. There’s nothing to explain.” My father stepped toward Donnie, who stared at him with hate-filled eyes. “Looks like you lost again, my friend.” Then he glanced at Logan and Gary. “Do you mind?”
I didn’t know what was going on, until Logan and Gary stepped to the side to give my father room. He reared back and punched Gary so hard in the face it knocked him out. It only gave him a few seconds of retribution, which was nothing compared to what Donnie and Angela had done to him.
Lights flashed outside the windows and I heard other voices. Gary spoke up, “Looks like my men are here. I found a few cans of gasoline outside. It appears Mr. Baker was going to torch the place.”
“So that’s why I smelled gasoline,” I stated.
Micah stood beside me and my dad as we watched Logan toss Donnie into the back of one of the police cars.
I looked at his unbuttoned shirt. “I see you were wearing a vest too.”
Chuckling, he finished taking off his shirt, showing me his vest and the wire he had strapped to it. “Never leave home without one. It’s saved my life more times than I can count. Not to mention, we have enough evidence to put douchebag and your whore of a stepmother into prison for life.”
“Good, but they deserve a lot worse than that.”
“Their time will come.” He squeezed my shoulder and walked outside. Now that the police had lights on everywhere, I could see Donnie’s red Camaro. Maybe they’d be able to find the evidence where he ran Levi off the road. I never knew Donnie had a car like that.
“Richard, come here. Let’s get that arm looked at,” Gary demanded.
My father kissed my cheek. “Be right back. I think Logan wants to check and make sure you’re okay.”
I met Logan’s gaze. He approached me cautiously, trying his best to keep his bloody hands hidden from sight. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice soft. “It killed me having to leave you in there.”
Wrapping my arms around his waist, I breathed him in. “I’m fine. I think I’m just in shock. I never expected it to be Donnie and Angela.”
He hugged me back, his grip tight. “Me either. Imagine how Sean’s going to take it when he finds out.” My heart broke. I didn’t want to have to tell him the vile things his mother did. But he had to know.
Gary bandaged up my father’s arm and they came back. “We need to bring in Mrs. Bennett,” he announced. “I’ll ride over there now to issue her arrest.”
“And I’m coming with you,” my father said. “I want her to know I’m alive and well.”
“Same here,” Logan snarled. “That bitch has tried to kill me not once, but twice. If I wasn’t a nice guy, I’d beat the shit out of her.”
Anger boiled in my veins as visions of Levi, Logan’s accident, and the betrayal to my father ran rampant through my mind. All of them could easily be dead right now. I squeezed Logan’s arm, my body ready for a fight. “That’s what you got me for.”
While some of the other officers stayed at the cabin to collect evidence, Logan and I hopped in the backseat of Gary’s car, and my father got in front. Micah opted to stay behind to help the others.
It seemed Donnie wasn’t going down without taking my stepmother with
him. According to him, it was all her idea to conspire together in the first place. They had to keep their schemes going, until my father made Sean a co-owner. Once that took place, they put everything in motion. Micah was the icing on the cake. When they saw how volatile he was, and how much he hated Logan, they figured he’d be a good candidate to pin everything on. That was why Donnie was going to torch the cabin with him and my father in it, to make it look like a gambling deal gone bad.
Donnie also revealed how Angela had in fact switched Janie’s brake line with a rusted one, so it would fail. Apparently, she grabbed an old line from our shop. We would have the actual proof when Logan and Micah searched through the video feed on the cameras they left in our garage.
Logan put his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder. His muscles were tense and I could feel the rage inside of him. Angela wanted him dead, so Sean and I could be together. Just knowing she could think like that made me sick to my stomach. I dreaded having to tell Sean the truth.
Gary cleared his throat. “I’m going to park down the street, so Mrs. Bennett won’t see us coming.”
My father stared at me, his face full of pain. I couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling, to be betrayed by his best friend and wife. “I’m so sorry, Dad.”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just glad Logan and Micah were here to figure it out before anyone else had to die.”
Gary pulled over to the side of the road. My father’s house was just around the corner. “All right, we’re here.”
Logan kissed me, then opened his door. “I’ll take the back door, in case she tries to make a run for it. Make sure to get at least one punch in for me.”
“I promise to give her more than that.”
We all got out and I watched Logan dash across the yard to the back.
“I’ll be right behind you, peanut,” my dad said.
I glanced down at his bandaged arm, where blood seeped through. “And after this, you’re going to the hospital.”
Gary nodded toward the house. “As soon as we’re done in there, an ambulance will be waiting.”
I hugged my father. “Let’s end this, once and for all.”
By the time I got to the front door, more officers arrived and waited outside. Angela had the music up so loud I could hear it from where I stood. I opened the door and didn’t bother shutting it as I walked inside. I could see her reflection in the window as she sang and danced around the living room, cleaning the various paintings on the walls with a duster.
The whole scene infuriated me even more. While my father was supposedly being murdered, she was happily cleaning the house.
Turning the corner, I stood there, waiting for her to see me. She finally danced around to face me and gasped, her eyes wide in shock. Her gaze darted around the room, most likely searching for the one man she was never going to see again.
“Kassidy . . . what? Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay? Were you expecting me to be drugged?”
Her breath caught and she searched the room again. “Where’s Donnie?”
I took a step toward her. “He’s on his way to jail, like you’re about to be. But what I don’t understand is why aren’t you worried about the husband you wanted murdered? Or maybe my boyfriend you tried to have killed twice?” I growled angrily.
A look of panic crossed her face, but then she stood up straight. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Obviously, Donnie does. He was quick to throw you under the bus. Although, I do have to say it was kind of stupid to hire an FBI agent to kill my father and Logan—especially considering Micah is Logan’s partner, who’s an FBI agent as well.”
Logan walked in from the back door, his face a mask of fury. Angela backed into the wall, dropping the duster from her hands the second her gaze fixed on something over my shoulder. My dad walked up beside me and I could see the betrayal in his eyes. “It’s over, Angela. I’m just glad I never have to see you ever again. What breaks my heart is having to tell Sean the truth.” Turning on his heel, he stormed out of the house.
“Richard, wait!” Angela screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Wait!”
“I’m sure Sean won’t be too happy when he finds out you tried to kill his girlfriend too. I didn’t realize you knew so much about brake lines. Guess you had us all fooled.”
Her breaths came out in rapid pants and she snarled. “But you and Sean belong together. All I ever wanted was for him to be happy.”
“He already is. He’ll be even happier when you’re gone.”
“Angela Bennett,” Logan growled, “you’re under arrest.” He stalked toward her, reading her rights. But I could see she wasn’t going to go down easy.
Once Gary walked into the room with other officers, she took off for the stairs. I raced up behind her, taking as many stairs as I could. My father always kept a pistol by the bed, I knew that was where she was going.
Angela ran into their bedroom, straight to the nightstand. My muscles burned, but my adrenaline gave me the energy I needed. Opening the drawer, she reached for the gun and pointed it at her head. I jumped onto the bed and lunged for her, knocking the gun out of her hands. The bullet fired straight into the ceiling with a loud bang.
We fell to the floor and I landed on her back, slamming her head into the hardwood floor. Footsteps thundered into the room and Logan bent down to help me. I jerked her arms behind her back while Logan cuffed her. “You are not going to get off that easy,” I spat. “You need to pay for your crimes.” Logan hauled her up and Gary was right there to take her away.
Once she was gone, my heart finally slowed. “She’ll pay,” Logan promised. “Prison isn’t an easy place to live.”
I looked out the bedroom window and watched my dad get into the ambulance. “Neither is living here. I guess it’s a good thing I have someone who can protect me.”
Logan put his arms around my waist. “You do pretty well protecting yourself. I’m just more skilled at using a gun. Now that it’s all over, we can move on.”
“Unfortunately, there’s something I have to do first.”
Kassidy
Logan and I borrowed one of my dad’s cars and headed to the hospital to check on him. I pulled out my phone and gave Sean a call. I was just about to hang up and call again when he finally answered with a yawn. “Hey, Kass.”
“Hey, you asleep?” I looked at the clock, it was closing in on midnight. After everything that’d happened, I completely lost track of time.
“Only because your friend turned on a boring ass movie.”
“Hey!” Janie squealed in the background. They both laughed and I smiled; unfortunately, it didn’t last long. I was about to ruin their night.
“Sounds fun,” I said sadly.
Sean snorted. “Not really. But it doesn’t sound like you’re having any either.”
“I’m not. I need you to meet me at the hospital. We have news, and there’s something I need to tell you.” Especially before the media got involved. Soon, the whole city was going to know what happened.
“Are you okay? What is it?”
Leaning against the door, I rubbed my forehead. “I’m fine. We found out the truth about everything. It’s a long story and I’ll explain it all later, but I need you to meet me. It’s better I tell you in person.”
“All right, I’ll be there in ten.”
Logan reached over and grabbed my hand. “How do you think he’ll take it?”
“Not good. His mother was all he had.” We arrived at the hospital and I’d just gotten out of the car when Sean pulled up and got out too.
Logan kissed my head. “I’m going in to check on Richard.”
“You sure?” I asked. “You can stay.”
“No, it’s okay. He’s not going to want me here.” I watched him walk away and disappear inside the doors.
“What the hell happened?” Sean demanded. “Why was he covered in blood?”
> The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving me tired and weak. “Do you trust me?”
Brows furrowed, he stepped closer. “I trust you with my life.”
“Good, because what I’m about to tell you is something you won’t want to hear.”
“Jesus Christ. Tell me, you’re freaking me out.”
Closing the distance, I reached for his hands. “Donnie and your mother were the ones behind everything. They were seeing each other behind my father’s back.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he growled.
I shook my head. “They were responsible for both Logan and Levi’s accidents, for Ethan getting framed,” I took a deep breath, “and for Janie’s accident as well. Your mother switched her brake line with a rusty one. It was only a matter of time before it failed on her.”
Eyes wide, he shook his head. “How could she do this?”
“That’s not all,” I murmured.
His angry glare bored into mine. “There’s more?”
I blew out a tired breath. “Tonight, they tried to have Logan and my father killed. They hired Micah to abduct me and use me for ransom. Only what they didn’t know is, he’s an FBI agent and Logan’s partner.”
“Partner?” Sean looked confused. “You mean Logan’s an agent too?”
I nodded. “They pretended to be enemies to play both sides. Only, we didn’t know the real enemy was in our own circle.”
“Why would my mother agree to that?”
“She wanted everyone out of the way, so you and I could get back together. Donnie and your mother wanted us to merge Bennett Racing with Baker. That’s why they wanted to get rid of those who’d oppose it.”
“Levi,” he whispered.
“And Ethan and Logan,” I added.
His jaw clenched. “Where is she now?”
“On her way to the station. She’ll probably be transferred somewhere else while she awaits trial.”
Stumbling back, he let my hands go and leaned against his car. “What the fuck am I going to do? Everyone on our team’s going to want me to step down. They’ll think I had something to do with it.”