by Tom Soule
“I don’t have a choice. I’m broke.”
“How could you possibly be going broke?”
“Well!” Mayor Johnson stammered over his words. “The governor’s event was a last ditch effort to keep this place popular, and it came at a very expensive cost. With the death of that girl, things took a turn for the worst.”
It was just a hellish day for Kim; her child-hood memories of the Johnson Resort were disappearing fast. “What would Mom want?” Kim hoped the memory of her mother would convince her father to change his mind.
“Don’t bring her in this,” Mr. Johnson snapped. “That’s not fair, using your mom like that.”
Kim couldn’t bear it anymore. The conversation with her dad was sparking tension, and before anything else was said, Kim walked out irately.
Mr. Johnson scratched his grey hair and placed his head on his wrinkled hands. He realized in that moment how all his life’s work was crumbling down: his relationship with his daughter, his resort, and his political legacy as mayor. He sat, steeped in his misery.
Kim felt like a family member had died. The loss of the resort was just the ultimate highlight of a rough period in her life, or so she thought.
Chapter 12
It was the last day to bid the Johnson Resort farewell. Kim asked Sam for some alone time, just to say her last tearful goodbyes. She arrived a little after 9:30 in the morning, with Sam dropping her off at the front entrance.
“Babes, call me if you need anything, and remember I love you.”
Kim looked at Sam with admiration. “Sam, I can’t say I love you just yet. I want to focus on the resort, and we can talk later.”
Sam felt like curling up into a ball; he held his head down and mumbled, “okay”.
Kim slithered out the car. She wanted to spend a few last moments with the resort she called home. She walked in the once grand hall, now bland and empty. The rich oil canvasses that once lit up the resort were long gone, leaving markings that showed where they once hung. She walked through all the rooms with pure regret at the thought of her dad selling the resort. How could her dad say goodbye to this?
She finally arrived at her favorite place: her kitchen. As a final goodbye, she had already decided she would make her favorite signature for the last time at the resort. She pulled out her pre-prepared ingredients and commenced making the pie.
After bending down to preheat the oven, she slowly straightened her slender body, only to see a 9 mm gun pressed against her head.
“I finally found you,” a man said.
Kim started to shake like a leaf. He clicked the gun and took it off safety.
“If you scream, I will kill you!” The stranger told Kim.
Very bravely, Kim asked, “Who are you, and what do you want?” She wondered if she would end up regretting talking to a man with a gun pointed directly at her.
“I know you were there in that room when my daughter was murdered. Either you killed Jasmine, or you know who did it.”
“Please, I swear, I never entered the room,” Kim begged Jasmine’s father as he held her at gun point. He instructed her to get down on her knees and she obeyed his command. Her knees bruised on the kitchen tile as she clasped her hands and begged him not to shoot.
“I wasn’t friends with Jasmine, but I swear to god I didn’t kill her or see who did. I saw her in the room that night, but decided not to enter the room just to avoid her.”
Jasmine’s dad was still unconvinced. The short man with curly grey hair held the gun firm. “Stop lying! I know you did something,” he violently screamed.
Fear crippled every bone in her body. Suddenly, Mr. Johnson burst through the door in an attempt to fix his relationship with Kim. He held a photo album in his hand, and had intended to reminisce about the resort one last time. The mayor was not prepared to see a gun pointed at his precious daughter’s head.
“Hold on, fellow, we can work this out. Just let me know what you need,” the mayor pleaded.
“Can you bring Jasmine back? Can you give me a second chance with my daughter?” Jasmine’s father asked bitterly. “I never got a chance to know my daughter, to create a bond, yet here you are getting your chance to be with yours. Get over there beside her and watch her die.”
“Wait! Please wait! I know something about the night Jasmine died!” the mayor said, getting the man’s attention.
“What do you know?” Jasmine’s father asked impatiently.
“If I tell you what I know, you have to let my daughter go. That’s the deal,” the mayor said, trying to get the gun-man to agree.
“That’s not going to happen. I’m the one with the gun and calling the shots,” Jasmine’s father said. His palms were sweating, and he was itching to know what the mayor had to say. The gun- man walked over the door and pushed the chair up against the handle. When his back was turned, Kim dialed Mulling’s number so that he could hear the conversation,
“Okay, start talking, and if you tell any lies, I swear to god, I will kill you both right now!”
“I will give you the truth, but if I tell you, you must promise to let my daughter go. She is innocent.”
“I cannot promise that,” the gun man said sharply.
“That night when I saw Jasmine, she was heading up the stairs with the intention to meet with Sam.”
What are you saying?! Why would Jasmine even want to meet Sam? That makes no sense, Kim thought to herself.
The gunman hung onto every word. He even forgot he was holding them hostage at one point. He got lost in the facts. He finally got a glimpse of her final moments.
“Jasmine entered the gentleman’s quarters, and I went in after her. I wanted her gone. I tried to convince her to leave the resort. She was in a tattered dress and she was delusional. She came in rambling on about seeing Sam. I told her to leave, but she refused to leave without seeing Sam.”
“Dad, what are you saying?” Kim asked as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I grabbed her and shook her, but she kept screaming. She cannot get him, not him, not him, not him.’ A few weeks earlier, I’d received a weird call from Sharon, Kim’s friend. She told me about a breakfast that Jasmine and Sam had; they were bonding. He’d just proposed to my daughter. I couldn’t let Jasmine ruin everything in the midst of my daughter’s happiest moment.” Kim cringed at what her father was saying.
He told them about an intimate date that Sam had with Jasmine, and the fact that he was with her before she died. Kim lost sensation in her body. Her father’s confession was killing her softly.
Mr. Johnson didn’t stop talking, he continued until the story was all out.
“She grabbed a steak knife and tried to forcibly leave the room. I just wanted her to drop the knife. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
By this time, the gun man was weeping. His hand shook. “What else?” he murmured to the mayor. The pain in the room was running high. The action of murder was coming off the mayor’s lips.
“I tried to grab the knife away, and the blade slid into her gut. She started to scream, and I didn’t want her to draw attention. I stuffed a muffin in her mouth to stop the screaming. When she stopped, her body was still and motionless. I realized she had died. I panicked for a few minutes and quickly went away to find Sam.”
Kim was shocked. Her dad was the killer!
Chapter 13
The gun man couldn’t hold back his tears. He crawled to the corner of the room to mourn the life of his daughter.
Kim looked at her dad and saw him for the murderer he was. The gunman dropped the gun, and the mayor grabbed for it.
At that moment, Mulling and a team of cops blew through the door.
“Sir, put the gun down,” a police officer screamed. A shot was fired, and then a barrage of bullets; bang, bang, bang, the shots rang out.
When it was all over, the mayor was leaking pools of blood. Mulling snatched Kim up before she could see her father falling to the ground. He carried her out to reunite wi
th her girls and Sam; who arrived with Detective Thompson.
Back in the kitchen, the police apprehended the gunman.
“We heard everything,” Detective Thompson told the girls. “Kim’s phone was on, and it recorded everything in the room.”
“Kim, are you…” Sharon started to ask.
“Please.. please.. let me be!” Kim whispered. Sharon wrapped her slim arms around her, trying to soothe the crying girl. Kim was broken, her eyes stagnant and dull. When the police brought out the gun-man, Sharon was reminded of the same height and built of the home invader.
“That’s him, that’s him! I’d remember that face structure anywhere!” The perpetrator had finally been caught. However, he was just a man searching for answers.
When the news broke about the identity of the killer, the Johnson’s family name was spoken in infamy. Kim moved away with Sharon because of the severe depression she fell into. She couldn’t accept that her father was a murderer. Also, she and Sam officially split after she learned about his date with Jasmine. Kim’s only refuge was in the warm support of her loving girlfriends.
Chapter 14
For weeks, the girls used the seclusion of hiking in the nature to help Kim heal; nothing would work. However, Sharon came up with a brilliant idea. She got Kim a puppy named Millie. The German Terrier became a supporting new companion for healing. Kim slowly loved and cared again. Millie touched her heart.
Six months had passed since the showdown at the Johnson Resort. Kim’s family name and legacy were tarnished. The governor publicly denounced the former mayor. Through the hardships, the girls stood by Kim.
One day, something changed everything; it was 4 months from the murder. Kim got up and cooked for the first time since everything had happened. She made her favorite sunny side up omelet. She took her time and cooked the eggs just right, and sprinkled bacon bits just how her mom made it. After her nice meal, she drove to the cemetery. Once she arrived at the cemetery, she walked around aimlessly as if she was being led by a ghost. She stopped at a random spot, and just as if faith was guiding her, she stood in front of Jasmine’s grave.
“Jasmine, I don’t know if you are listening or if you are really here. What happened to you shouldn’t have happened to anyone. I was cruel and mean because of my fears and insecurities. The first time I saw you… you dazzled the town with no effort. You were so beautiful. You became a sensation overnight.” Kim chuckled as she explained. “I know my role in all of this, and from the deepest depths of my heart, I am sorry. I wish things could have been different. I wish I could have a second chance to make it right. I promise, I will never threaten anyone; the way I threatened you. I wish I could take it all back; maybe we could have been friends.” Kim picked herself up and slowly proceeded back to her car. She was ready for a new start.
A letter from the Author
I just wanted to extend a thank you for all my wonderful amazing readers. I hope you truly enjoyed this story. Let me know what you think of my work by leaving a review ! Every two weeks I will send a new book, so stay tuned and get books for free.
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