by JD Faver
Kelso had the water running in her tub. Removing his jacket, he folded it neatly over her vanity chair and loosened his tie. He turned to her with an earnest expression on his face. “Teri, don’t force me to hurt you. Make it easy on yourself and give me the information I need.” He leaned close, peering into her eyes as though he might find the answer there.
“Martin, I don’t know what information you’re talking about. The money is gone and I can’t get it back.”
He laughed, a dry mirthless chuckle. “That money was just a drop in the proverbial bucket, my dear. There are so many millions tucked away in those accounts. I must have access to them.” He turned off the water and rolled up his shirt sleeves.
“I don’t know what you want from me.” She heard the terror in her own voice and tried to steady it. “Colin didn’t tell me anything.”
“But he must have told you. He trusted you with his skim money.” Martin pulled her up by her shoulders.
“I promise you, Martin,” she said. “I didn’t know anything about the money until after Colin was dead and I opened the bag. By that time I was on the run myself.”
“Don’t lie to me. There has to be something, a notebook, a disc. Think, Teri!” He hoisted her to a standing position and lifted her into the water. Her feet slid out from under her and she was sitting in shoulder deep water. Her throat ached with fear. “Martin, please don’t do this.”
“Oh, my dear, I don’t want to hurt you. I wanted you to turn to me after Colin’s death. I wanted to comfort and protect you.” His eyes hardened as he gripped her shoulders. “Now I realize that you have jumped from one pretty boy to another. I just want the numbers and access codes for the off shore accounts.”
Slowly, he lowered her into the water. His fingers formed cruel vises, digging into her shoulders, as he pushed her down and held her under the surface.
Petrified by fear, she stared up through the water at the man she’d thought of affectionately as an alternative father figure. She held her breath as best she could. Her lungs burned and she had to let the air out. Her chest felt as if was being crushed.
Suddenly he dragged her, coughing and sputtering, to the surface.
She gasped for air and blinked away the water clinging to her lashes. Her heart pounded in her ears as she gazed into the eyes of the man who would kill her.
A flash of anger displaced her fear. “Alright, I’ll tell you.”
“I knew we could reach an understanding,” he said. “Tell me where it is.”
“I’ll show you when you untie me.” She glared at him with as much dignity as she could muster.
“Brava! That was excellent, my dear. You must think I’m a complete fool.”
“No,” she said. “I think you’re brilliant. It was you all along. Colin wasn’t smart enough to do this by himself.”
Martin raised his eyebrows. “Absolutely right, my dear. It was I who brought the unsavory client into the mix. Poor Colin’s only talent was his computer knowledge and his greed.”
“I remember when you took him under your wing,” she said. “He was so proud that you’d taken notice of him. He used to run up those damned stairs because you told him it was the habit of a winner.”
“He was my puppet.” Martin’s smile had the effect of chilling her to the bone.
“What happened? How did he cut the strings?”
“He got too greedy. He suffered from hubris, thinking he could step in and take over my operation.” Gripping her shoulders, he shouted in her face, the veins in his neck extended, “My operation!”
He pushed her back under the surface.
Teri held her breath and struggled to break his grip. She kicked both feet and the silky sash came loose from her ankles, but couldn’t get a foothold inside the deep and long ceramic tub.
She jackknifed her body and pulled Kelso forward into the water. He released his hold on her to grab the side of the tub. She sat up, filling her lungs with air, glowering at her former boss.
A look of panic replaced the snide superiority on Kelso’s face. Teri threw her leg around his neck, pulling him face first into the water.
Although he outweighed her by a considerable amount, the choke hold she maintained kept him off balance and he wasn’t able to raise his head above the water line. Teri howled in anger. She was filled with rage and she let it all out, her rage resounding off the hard surfaces.
A round of gunfire splintered her heavy outer door and, moments later, Angel burst into the bathroom with his gun pointed at the individuals in the tub.
“Teri? What’s this?” He holstered his gun and lifted her from the water.
“It’s Martin,” she gasped. “He tried to kill me.”
Angel dragged Kelso’s body from the tub and began to perform CPR. “Call 911,” he instructed.
Teri loosened the wet sash from her wrists. She felt lightheaded but, as she tried to make the emergency call from her bedroom. Within minutes, her condo filled with uniformed police officers responding to a ‘shots fired’ call.
Angel gave the care of Martin Kelso over to emergency personnel and folded Teri into his arms.
She leaned against him weeping, her arms around his neck. “Will it ever be over?”
“What happened?” he asked. “I thought Kelso was your friend.”
“I thought so too.” She shivered as she clung to Angel, pressing her face against his chest. She lifted her gaze to watch as Martin Kelso was removed from her bathroom on a gurney with an oxygen mask covering his face.
Angel brushed her damp hair out of her eyes. “Friends don’t try to drown you, Teri”
“He knew about the money all along. That’s why he was so anxious to find me. He was the real boss of this money laundering scheme. Colin wasn’t in the least bit creative, but he was a brilliant tech guy. Kelso brought him in to manage the IT. Kelso said Colin got greedy and tried to rip him off.”
Angel motioned the emergency medical tech over. “Is Kelso going to be okay?” he asked. The EMT shrugged. Angel turned to the officer accompanying the gurney. “This man is under arrest. He tried to kill my fiancée. Make sure to read him his rights and keep him under guard until he’s in a cell or in the morgue.”
“Your fiancée?” A grin spread across her face.
He turned on her, his hands on his hips. “Just who did you think you were? Do you imagine that I go around seducing witnesses with no thought to the future?”
She felt a bubble of joy rise in her chest. “I was hoping for a romantic proposal. Do you think I could get that, you know, to tell our children?”
Angel gathered her in his arms. “Yeah, I can give you that...when the time is right.”
“What will make it the right time?” she asked.
“When someone hasn’t just tried to murder you.”
“Okay, then,” she said. “I have two things to look forward to.”
A uniformed officer accompanied the gurney to the ambulance. Another police officer was assigned to guard the damaged door and Seymour managed to locate someone who would replace it at that late hour.
Angel supervised the people coming and going and held on to Teri as though she might evaporate if he let go. When the locksmith had gone, he secured the new door.
“I know what Mr. Kelso wanted.” Teri whispered. “Angel, I know what he was looking for. I had it all along but I didn’t know what it was until tonight.”
“What are you talking about?” He cupped her chin in his palm.
“The list. I found it in the blue bag, but I didn’t know what it was. It’s Colin’s handwriting so I kept it. Apparently it’s part of this whole mess.”
She related what Kelso told her about the money and the accounts. Retrieving the list from under the tube of Thalo Blue paint, she held it out to Angel.
He took the paper from her and tucked it behind his badge. “We’ll figure this out tomorrow. This will probably get you off the hook for the cash you so generously donated to the church. In the
meantime, I’m starving.”
“I cleaned out the refrigerator.”
“Wonderful,” he said, grinning at her.
“I bought groceries. I was going to cook.”
“I can cook,” he said.
“We can do it together,” she said.
He dropped a kiss on her lips and said, “I think we’re alone now.”
“And the new door is locked.”
He dropped down on one knee. “Is this romantic enough for you?”
Teri grinned as he reached in the pocket of his pants. “Yes, I think this is romantic enough.”
“Will you, Teresa Slaughter, do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
She giggled. “Do you mean forever and ever until death do us part?”
“That’s what I’m proposing,” he said.
“Yes, I want you to be my husband, my forever man.”
“I didn’t have time to shop for a ring, but, as a token of my love, I offer you these earrings that have been worn by two previous generations of Garcia brides.”
“Your grandmother’s earrings,” Teri said. “How come you have them?”
“My mother gave them to me...for you, Mia.”
“Why do you keep calling me Mia?” she asked.
“I’ve been telling you all along that you’re mine.”
A flush of pleasure swept through her. “I guess you’re right. I’ve been yours from the start.
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About the author:
J.D. Faver lives near Houston, Texas with two spoiled, rotten cats, Emily and Daisy, and a rescue dog, affectionately called Heart of Darkness, Horrible/Adorable, or Minx for short. She writes humorous contemporary romance and romantic suspense, both seasoned with plenty of steamy passion. Even the darkest murder/suspense is riddled with numerous snarky sentiments. She is actively involved in several writer’s organizations, including National RWA and three of its local chapters, West Houston RWA, Houston Bay Area RWA and Northwest Houston RWA. She also belongs to Bay Area Writer’s League and Houston Writer’s Guild. She loves to spend time with family and friends. She writes daily but has time for other interests including painting, cooking and gardening.
She Tweets. http://twitter.com/#!/JDFaverauthor
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She loves to hear from readers. jdfaver.com
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Available soon from Smashwords:
TEMPTING FATE
By J.D. Faver
Worlds collide when a Sex in the City girl meets a little House on the Prairie guy. Mel Hannigan is a slick, savvy New York City commercial photographer who knows what she’s doing and where she’s going…that is, until she heads upstate for a little drive time and ends up with her sports car in a ditch. That’s where Helmut Engle finds her. He is a solid, down to earth farmer. In spite of their differences, Mel and Helmut give in to an irresistible magnetic attraction and share an exciting, intimate interlude. She returns to the city but can’t get him out of her mind. She attempts to drag him into her world by the scruff of his red neck and he tries to remodel his world to suit her.