by Sherri Hayes
She stared back at him with wide eyes.
He understood her disbelief, but he needed her to understand his thought process. “As far as I know, Billy is the only other person who knows his way around the yard.”
“There are the delivery drivers,” she whispered.
“I’ve contacted all our vendors and let them know of the theft. I asked them to check with their other clients to make sure that there haven’t been any other problems on our route. There haven’t been.” Trent let that sink in for a moment. “You said yourself that Billy thought the two of us were having an affair. Would that make him angry enough to want to steal from me?”
She didn’t answer right away. “I don’t know.”
Trent knew that a big part of her world might come crashing down very soon. He rested a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry. I hope I’m wrong. But I need to give this information to the police. Especially now that I know the timeline fits.”
Trinity nodded.
“Can you do me a favor?” he asked. “I need you to keep this to yourself for now. If Billy did do this, if you say anything to him, he might run—or worse.”
“I don’t want to believe he could do something like this.” The way she said it made him think that while she didn’t want to believe it, she was seeing the same pattern he had. She glanced down at the floor, then back up at him before admitting, “Two days before the mulch went missing, we argued about you, too. He’d seen us talking in the parking lot when he came to pick me up from work.” She turned to look at him. “Do you think he did that, too?”
“Remember when I caught you two making out on the security camera?”
“Yeah.”
“Mulch went missing not long before that. And you told me the reason you were all over each other was because you were making up after a fight.”
She gasped and put her hand over her stomach. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Trinity took several deep breaths and he waited for her to calm down some before he continued. “I could be wrong. I hope I am.”
“I’m sorry, Trent. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t brought him here—”
“You can’t blame yourself, Trinity. The only thing you did was fall for the wrong guy.” And whether or not Billy was the one behind the theft, Trent still believed he was the wrong guy for her. Yes, Trent might be jealous of Max and Abby’s relationship from time to time, but he didn’t pick fights with her about it. He trusted her and she hadn’t given him any reason to believe she was being anything less than honest with him.
“What happens now?” Trinity asked, bringing him back to the here and now.
“Just go about your day like normal. I’ll call Detective Travers and give him this new information. That’s all we can do for now.”
“Normal.” She inhaled slowly and then let it out. “I can do that.”
“Don’t worry,” Trent said, standing. “Everything will work out. You’ll see.”
Trent hoped he was right. The last thing he wanted was for Trinity or anyone else he cared about to get hurt.
Alone again in his office, Trent called Detective Travers. The sooner this case was closed, the better it would be for everyone.
Ten minutes later, he hung up the phone, frustrated and slightly pissed. His conversation with Detective Travers hadn’t gone as well as he’d wanted. The detective wasn’t happy Trent had been poking his nose around the case and in no uncertain terms told Trent to let him do his job.
The sound of a delivery truck’s air brakes releasing brought Trent’s head up. He looked out the window in time to see the driver hopping down from the cab of his truck.
Joss headed for the door, but Trent stopped him. “I’ve got this one.” He needed to work off a little steam.
Trent greeted the driver by name as he approached the gate. “How’ve you been, Eddie?”
“Oh, can’t complain. I get paid to sit on my ass.”
Both men laughed as Trent pushed the metal gate out of the way. He stepped aside and waited for Eddie to drive the loaded truck into the yard, then went to get the forklift.
It took a good half hour to unload the twenty pallets of sod they’d ordered. Almost half of it would go out to a jobsite tomorrow. The rest would follow soon after.
Eddie handed Trent the paperwork once everything had been unloaded. “You ever find out who broke in?”
Trent signed his name and handed the clipboard back. “Not yet. The police are still looking into it.”
Eddie nodded and hoisted himself back into the cab of his truck. “Well, I hope they catch ’em soon.”
“Me, too.”
Trent followed behind Eddie as he drove out of the yard, and resecured the gate. The sun had come out from behind the clouds and it was beating down on him. Trent looked at his watch and was surprised to see it was almost one. He made his way back inside.
“Did Trinity go to lunch?” he asked when he noticed she wasn’t at her desk.
“I guess,” Joss said. “She got a phone call and said she had to go take care of something.”
The hairs on the back of Trent’s neck stood up. While he had no reason to think something was wrong, he couldn’t shake it. “Did she get the call on her office phone or her cell?”
“Her cell. Why?”
Trent walked to the window and looked outside. Her car wasn’t in the parking lot. Trent prayed she hadn’t gone and done something stupid, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. Marching into his office, he opened the bottom drawer of his desk and opened his safe. Anyone who stole thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment because they suspected their significant other was cheating on them wasn’t someone he trusted to have a level head.
He reached inside and extracted his 9mm. He checked the magazine, racked the slide, and then tucked it into the back of his shorts.
***
By the time Abby pulled up in front of Trent’s office, it was almost four thirty. She found a spot in the shade and called Max. While she wanted to see Trent as soon as possible, she’d be a bad friend if she didn’t check in to see how Max’s dad was doing.
The phone rang twice before a very weary sounding Max answered. “Hey.”
“Hey. I wanted to see if there had been any change?”
“No. He’s still hanging on. The nurse says it’s only a matter of time.” Max paused. “At least he doesn’t seem to be in pain anymore.”
“I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do.” A part of her felt guilty. Her life finally appeared to be coming together while his was falling apart.
“How was work today?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Quiet. I canceled your appointments for the rest of the week.”
“Probably a good idea.”
“An envelope came from the accounting firm you hired. I can bring it over in the morning,” she said.
“That’s all right. They called me earlier. We were right. Emily was just that bad at basic math. She kept transposing numbers and it was screwing everything up. An accounting nightmare, but nothing that can’t be fixed.”
“I guess that’s good news.”
Max released a loud breath into the phone. “Yeah. One less thing I have to worry about right now.”
“Call me if you need anything?” She knew Max wasn’t big on asking for help.
“I will.”
Abby tucked her phone into her pocket and grabbed her purse. The afternoon had turned muggy and the sun beat down on her as she made her way up to the front entrance. A business suit was fine for an air conditioned office, but she couldn’t imagine being outside on a day like today for very long in her dress pants, long-sleeve blouse, and jacket.
For a brief moment she thought about going home to change, but the desire to see Trent, to tell him what she’d decided, was too strong. She’d endure a little discomfort. Besides, she was kind of hoping he’d be helping her out of her clothes before too long.
A blast of cold air hit her in the face w
hen she walked through the door. It felt good—a direct contrast to the heat outside.
She was enjoying the change in temperature so much that it took her a few moments to notice the office was empty. Trinity wasn’t at her desk. Neither were the other two guys who worked in Trent’s office. It was only four thirty. Where was everyone?
Abby was about to call out when she heard a crashing sound coming from the back room. The sound was followed by a gruff voice she didn’t recognize. Whoever it was, they sounded angry.
Something was wrong. She knew it in her bones.
Making a split-second decision, Abby removed her heels, afraid they might make too much noise and tip off whoever it was, and hid them beside a filing cabinet. They would also hinder her if she had to move fast.
Abby tiptoed across the room, drawing closer to where she’d heard the noises. As she got closer, she heard more voices. One was clearly a man and he sounded angry. He must have been the one she’d heard before. The other was a woman’s voice. Trinity. She was pleading with the angry man.
She heard Trent next. His voice was calm for the most part. She only heard a hint of fear mixed in there, but his words caused her heart to clench in fear. “Just put the gun down and we can talk.”
Someone was holding them at gunpoint? Why? Who was he?
“No more talking. I think you’ve talked enough,” the angry man said. His tone sent shivers up her spine.
Abby backed away as quietly as possible and ducked into Trent’s office. Her first thought was to call 911 and then look for some sort of a weapon. She wasn’t leaving while Trent was being held at gunpoint, but she wasn’t stupid enough to hang around with no way to defend herself either.
As she reached for the phone, however, she heard a buzzing sound. Lowering herself to the floor, she crawled around the desk until she found the source. Trent’s cell phone. He must have dropped it.
She snatched it up and saw Paul’s name on the screen. “Paul?”
There was a pause before he answered. “Abby?”
“I think Trent and his employees are being held hostage in one of the back rooms.” Her panic factor had ratcheted up significantly. Nothing could happen to him. Not now.
Paul’s voice changed and she knew he’d switched from a concerned brother to cop mode. “Where are you?”
“I’m in Trent’s office. His phone was on the floor under his desk.”
She heard Paul curse. “Have you called 911?”
“I was about to.”
He hesitated. “Do you still know how to shoot?”
It was only then it dawned on Abby that Trent must have a gun somewhere in the office. “Yes.”
“Bottom right-hand drawer. The code is his birthday,” Paul said.
Abby pulled open the drawer. There in the back was a safe. She typed in Trent’s birthday and the lock clicked open. She lifted the lid, expecting to find a gun inside, but it was empty. “It’s not here.”
“He must have it on him. At least, I hope he does.”
So did she. Because if he didn’t, then chances were that the gun was in the possession of whoever had them hostage.
She was still running that over in her mind when Paul interrupted her thoughts. “Abby, I’ll stay on the line with you, but I want you to get the phone off Trent’s desk and check to make sure it has a dial tone. And stay behind the desk as much as you can. I’d tell you to get the hell out of there, but one, I don’t think you would listen, and two, there’s always a chance whoever it is would hear you.”
“I’m not leaving him.” Abby reached for the phone and then crouched down behind the desk with it cradled in her lap. She picked up the receiver and breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the dial tone. “It’s still connected.”
“Good. Call the police. I’m right here with you, okay, Abby?”
Her hand shook as she punched in the three numbers. She knew she needed to stay calm. Freaking out wasn’t going to help Trent.
Chapter 25
Billy had one hand wrapped around Trinity’s forearm, his fingers digging into her flesh, and his other held a gun that he kept pointing at Trent, Joss, and Kevin. For the last ten minutes, Trent had been trying to think of a way to defuse the situation. Billy had caught him off guard. Trent had been on the phone with a client demanding to know why it was taking so long to get the special brick pavers they’d ordered, otherwise he would have taken action as soon as the man walked through the door.
As it was, they were now trapped in the storage room with stacks of boxes and only one way out—a door that was being blocked by Billy. No one was going to come looking for them anytime soon. Best case scenario, they had another hour at least before anyone began to wonder where any of them were.
Trent knew he was going to have to make his move soon. He’d been trying to talk Billy down, but then Kevin had panicked and tried to make a run for it. His actions had sent Billy into a fury. He was waving his gun around, his finger on the trigger.
Trinity was barely holding it together. She was scared. Trent only hoped she didn’t do something stupid. This wasn’t her fault. No, they had Detective Travers to thank for this.
The detective had taken Trent’s information and stopped to have a chat with Billy about the break-in. Whether the detective got any useful information from Billy or not, Trent didn’t know. Billy had called Trinity and convinced her to meet him for lunch. Almost three hours later, they both showed up at the office—Trinity with a black eye, busted lip, and her clothes ripped to the point that Trent wondered if Billy had sexually assaulted her as well.
Trent took a small step forward and to the side, away from Kevin and Joss, trying to redirect Billy’s attention. He looked about a second away from shooting Kevin and that was the last thing they needed.
It worked. Billy swung his arm around until Trent was looking down the barrel of Billy’s gun, only about four feet separating them.
Trent held up his hands in surrender. “You don’t want to shoot any of us.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. Seems like a pretty good option to me.” Billy’s eyes were wild. The hope of talking him down seemed to be dwindling away.
Billy flexed his fingers on the gun. He released Trinity’s arm long enough to wrap his arm around her neck. Her mouth opened and she gasped, struggling to get air into her lungs as he compressed her airway. Something had to give soon.
Trent could feel his gun pressing against his back. He’d considered reaching for it a dozen times but the timing hadn’t been right. He was a decent shot, but he wasn’t a sharpshooter. It was too risky to try and shoot Billy while he had Trinity. And that wasn’t even taking into consideration Billy’s itchy trigger finger. One wrong move from any of them and he had little doubt Billy would shoot.
“Just let Trinity and the others go and we can talk. I’m sure we can figure this out,” Trent said. He was trying to remember all the stuff Paul had told him over the years. His brother had been involved in a few hostage negotiations, but Trent’s adrenaline was getting the best of him, making it difficult to remember Paul’s advice.
Billy shifted the gun again, pointing it at Trinity’s head. This wasn’t going the way Trent wanted it to.
“Not much to figure out. You’ve been screwing my girlfriend. I took what was due me and now you sic the cops on me.”
Trent knew there was no use trying to convince Billy that he and Trinity hadn’t ever slept together. And Trent doubted saying he had a girlfriend of his own would do any good either. The man was clearly unhinged.
Trinity’s face was red and her lips were beginning to turn purple. If Trent couldn’t get Billy to loosen his hold soon, she was going to pass out.
Trent ran through his options. None of them were all that great.
Kevin moved again, drawing Billy’s attention. At the same time, Trent saw Trinity’s eyes roll into the back of her head. Trent knew this was it. He was going to have to act and it would have to be fast. He only hoped he was fast enoug
h.
Out of the corner of his eye, Trent saw Joss reach behind him for what looked to be some sort of old accounting equipment. He wasn’t sure what the man was planning on doing, but it didn’t matter. If Billy felt threatened, he was going to start shooting.
Trent knew he couldn’t wait any longer. He couldn’t think about the fact that in mere seconds he might be shooting—killing—another human being. There were three other people in this room besides himself and he cared about them. They all needed to survive this.
His moment came sooner than he’d anticipated. Trinity slumped in Billy’s arms as the lack of oxygen caught up to her. The dead weight caused Billy to lose his balance and he lowered his gun to compensate.
Trent didn’t hesitate. He couldn’t. It was his one chance and he had to take it.
Reaching behind his back, he pulled his gun out of his waistband and brought it to eye level. He took aim and fired.
***
Abby nearly lost her lunch when she heard the gunshots.
Paul and the 911 operator heard them, too.
“Stay where you are,” they said in unison. It was as if they both knew that her first instinct would be to go check to see if anyone had been hurt—if Trent had been hurt.
“A patrol car is thirty seconds out,” the dispatcher said.
“Paul?”
The dispatcher knew that she had a friend on a cell phone. “I’m here, Abby. Just take some deep breaths. The police will be there any second. It’s going to be fine.”
“But what if it isn’t?”
“It will be. You’ll see.” He said it with such confidence. She wondered if he truly believed that or if he was only trying to be brave so she wouldn’t go into hysterics.
Abby heard the front door creak open. “Someone’s at the door.”
“There are officers on scene. Just stay where you are. They need to secure the scene.”
She heard more footsteps in the main room, and then there was shouting. “Drop your weapon!”