“We have limited options. You have any better ones?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Not really,” he admitted.
He crossed over to me and sat down, taking my hand.
“Are you okay?”
No.
This entire plan was banking on someone wanting to kill me.
But that being said, I didn’t know what other options we had.
So this was it. This was do or die.
If I didn’t, I was going to jail. She’d all but said it.
God, I hated that cop. It took all I had not to jump across that table and try to strangle her then and there. Maybe I will leave Garth alive. Just enough to keep everything on him and send him to jail. Then I’d get out of here and hire someone to do one last kill—I’d have them kill the cop.
It would serve her right for getting in my way. When we’d seen her at the restaurant with the girl, I didn’t realize she was going to be this much of an issue. Otherwise, I would have taken her out of the picture by now.
I lowered my head as I passed a police car. Not that there was anyone in there, but I didn’t want them to catch me going there. To see my friend, who would be dead.
No, that would raise questions.
It didn’t make sense to me that they had the house protected; if it was just going to be outside the building, anyone could slip in.
And just one cop? Were they that understaffed?
It was almost stupid. Almost too easy.
Maybe that was just me, though. Maybe I was too smart for them; I had no trouble getting past them because I was outsmarting them.
I made my way into the lobby and hopped into the elevator, heading up to Garth’s floor.
My hands reached into my pocket where I held the key. The gun tucked safely at my hip, hidden behind my coat. I took a deep breath. This was it.
I was going to kill them, and then I’d be able to be done with it. I could find them, call the cops, and then be in such a state that I needed to go see my family or take a vacation to somewhere that the police couldn’t manage to get me in. I’d run the company from there for a few months while everything blew over.
It was the perfect plan really. It ended with me on a beach—how could it get better?
The elevator came to a stop, and the door opened. I stepped out into the hallway and looked around. There was no sign of any cops on the floor. Stupid. How were they this stupid?
I shook my head, smiling as I headed for the door, pulling the key out of my pocket and getting ready to finish this.
In under an hour, I’d be on a flight out of here, and everything would be done.
Years of planning finally put forth and paying off.
That’s what business was all about really, the pay off.
Time passed so slow. Hours felt like days. Finally, Rebecca looked down at her phone.
“Alright, he’s gone to get his coffee.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Do you really think he’s that stupid?” Garth asked.
“I’m not sure, to be honest,” Rebecca admitted. “If he were smart, he’d just leave.”
“If he left, he would never be charged, would he?”
“No, probably not,” Rebecca admitted. “Although, I might not have told him that.”
Garth and I both turned to her. Her eyes sparkled, but she didn’t say a word.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing I legally couldn’t.” She shrugged.
“Is this how you solve all your cases?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No,” she admitted. “But we know he’s behind it. Alyssa said so herself; she told me everything, but we didn’t get it on record before …” She trailed off and cleared her throat. “Anyways, we don’t have proof. Me repeating what someone else told me isn’t going to hold up with the kind of lawyer he’s going to get.”
“You lied to him,” I said, saying what she wouldn’t admit.
She shrugged, looking away.
“Won’t that lose you your job?”
“It’s not a big deal.” She remained looking away from me.
I didn’t have to know much about being a cop to know that was a lie. “You could lose your job!”
“And you’ll be alive.” She still didn’t look at me.
Pushing herself to her feet, she padded over to the window.
“But ...”
“Don’t,” she snapped. “I made my choice. It’s not a big deal, okay?”
No. It wasn’t okay. It’s not okay.
How was I supposed to live if she lost her job because of me? She’s not thinking, I thought. She wasn’t thinking about how it was going to affect me if she lost her job and it was my fault. I crossed my arms over my chest and sat back. I wasn’t going to fight with her about it. She wasn’t going to budge. Instead, I was going to do the childish thing and give her the silent treatment.
I stared across the room, not really focusing on anything.
And then I heard it.
My heart skipped a beat as the door opened. We’d locked that, I thought.
I turned to see Rebecca slip away into the corner of the room. In the dim lighting, I could hardly see her. Now I understood why she hadn’t wanted all the lights on.
I turned to Garth. His body was tense as he stood there, staring at the hallway.
My pulse raced. What was going to happen next?
Am I going to die? I wondered. What would happen then? Does heaven exist? Would I even go there if I died? Probably not. I hadn’t been a wonderful person in my life. I hadn’t been evil, but there had been a lot of chances for me to be better than I actually was. I took a deep breath and tried not to let my mind wander off.
Footsteps. Slow, almost so quiet that I didn’t hear them.
I took a deep breath.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded in my chest. Faster and faster. I tried to take a deep breath and tried to slow my heart rate. The steps came closer and closer.
I saw his shadow. I blinked, adjusting to the light. It took me a fraction of a second to make out his features.
“Why would you do this?” Garth whispered.
“You didn’t think I was going to give you your payout, did you?” His voice was soft, emotionless.
Money.
He did this for money?
I couldn’t believe it. No. I’m not understanding him. That had to be it.
“My payout?” Garth sounded like he felt the same way I did. I tried to follow everything, but my mind was spinning. “This is about money to you?”
“Well, yea. What else would it be about?”
“I thought I was your friend!”
Brent laughed.
A cold chill ran down my spine. My mind screamed to do something, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. I tried. I wanted badly to move. To do something; to save Garth.
A gun aimed at chest level. He didn’t bat an eye or seem to care about it at all.
I stared at my best friend. Ex-best friend, I told myself.
The man standing in front of me smiled as he held a gun to me. This was no friend of mine. He was …
“You’re fucking crazy,” I muttered.
Money. This was about fucking money to him. About my payout. It was in the contract that if one of us wanted to go it alone, we would have to provide our partner with a two-year income equivalent to their pay.
I laughed.
I couldn’t help it.
I know you’re not supposed to laugh at the person pointing the gun at you, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn't believe that my friend would do this to me. How long have you been planning this? I wanted to ask but couldn't bring myself to. I didn’t want the answer. I didn’t want to know how long my friend had been planning to send me to jail, how many women he’d killed, how many years he’d thought about killing.
“Put your hands in the air.”
Rebecca’s voice was calm as she spoke.
Brent turned his attention to her, the gun moving towards her. My heart skipped a beat.
“Drop the gun.”
“And why wouldn’t I just kill you?”
“Because, there are these nifty little things called video cameras.” She smirked. “I have one recording right now. Drop your gun, kick it towards me, and then let me come over there and handcuff you, and maybe you will get a little leniency.”
Brent’s gun wavered for a fraction of a second.
“H-how do I know you’re not just making this up?”
My brow furrowed. He was right. We knew she had lied about things to him alright. Was she lying about this too?
“You don’t.” She shrugged. “But you can find out the hard way if you want.”
“Fuck it,” he muttered. He turned to me, the gun aiming at my head this time.
“No!” Ally shouted.
My heart rate slackened, to my surprise, It should have been racing. I should have been on my knees begging him not to kill me. But I wasn’t.
I closed my eyes. Is this how I’m going out?” I wondered. Is this how I want to be remembered?
No.
The answer was simple. My eyes snapped open and locked on the man I had once called a friend.
I didn’t really feel my body moving or realize what I was doing until it was happening.
I rushed towards Brent, ducking out of the line of the fire. I don’t know what I was thinking and know it was stupid; I guess maybe I wanted to die a hero instead of just someone who let Brent kill them. I wanted to fight.
I closed the distance between us without realizing it. My arms wrapped around him, tackling him to the ground. The gun went off. A gun. I’m not sure which one.
I heard Ally scream.
My heart skipped a beat. If you killed her, I will kill you, I thought, fixing my eyes on his as I tackled him to the ground.
He rolled off me, and I grabbed him, the gun no longer in his hands. I looked around for it.
Rebecca placed a foot on it, kicking it to the far corner of the room as I reached out. I looked up at her, unable to reach the gun anymore. Her eyes locked on mine. Her gun pointed at me. Well, at Brent, I think. I was between them.
I raised my hands.
The door opened, and my head snapped towards it.
“Did I miss anything bo—” A young police officer stood there, a coffee cup in his hand. He walked into the room, his eyes taking everything in. “Why does it always happen when I’m gone?”
“You miss all the fun.” Rebecca smirked. Their eyes locked for a fraction of a second, then he pulled out a pair of handcuffs.
“Both of ’em?”
“No. Just the one with the broken nose.”
Broken nose?
I turned to Brent. His nose was bent towards the left side of his face. I smirked. Serves him right.
My heart skipped a beat. I’d heard the gun go off and Ally scream. Ally.
I turned to her, jumping to my feet.
I sat there frozen. Useless. Unable to bring myself to make a move. I watched Garth stand, his lip bloody. He rushed over to me, his arms wrapping around my body.
“Ally,” he whispered. “Thank God, you’re okay.”
Of course, I was okay. My arms wrapped around him.
“Are you?” I pulled away, looking him up and down.
“Yes.” He gave me a soft smile, and his lips touched mine for a fraction of a second. His fingers tangled in my hair. “You’re okay.” He stared at me, looking me over. “You screamed. I thought you got hit. I was so scared.” His lips crashed against mine.
My heart did a backflip, and I pulled him closer to me.
“I’m fine,” I whispered. I drew away, looking myself over. I hadn’t been shot—right?
Nope. No blood. Thank God. I looked past Garth as Brent was pulled to his feet. He glared at the man in front of me.
The officer took him out of the room.
“Well, I guess that’s that.” She gave us a soft smile.
“So ... he’s going to jail?”
“He pointed a gun at an officer; I’m sure we can make some charges stick. And I wasn’t lying. I was recording this.”
“You were?”
“Of course.” She gave us a soft smile. “With the kind of backing he’s going to have, we need to make sure this is as clean as it can be.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?” She shrugged. “I’ll go back to work.”
I looked around. “But … won’t you be in trouble?”
“Nope.” She smiled at me. “Anyways, I’ll manage.”
She walked out of the room without another word, closing the door behind her. Garth stood looking around. His eyes looked sad, then everything came flooding back. It hit me what had just happened.
“So … are you okay?”
“Will you marry me?”
I stared at him with wide eyes. “Er, what?”
His eyes widened as if realizing what he had just said. “I mean … when you … when I thought you’d been shot. I was so scared. All I could think was that I didn’t want you to die. That if you did …” He trailed off.
Wait … he did just ask me to marry him, right? I stared at him with wide eyes.
He turned to me. “Ally ...” He dropped back down to his knee as he took my hand. “I know this is fast. I know it’s not something I’d expected so soon and it might be crazy, but will you marry me?”
I processed, staring at him like a deer caught in headlights.
“Yes,” I breathed. The words almost didn’t come out of my mouth.
His hand squeezed mine.
“Really?”
“Yes.” I giggled.
I was getting married.
I was going to marry the man kneeling in front of me.
His lips crashed against mine, pulling me into his arms. His eyes sparkled as they locked on mine.
My fingers tangled in his hair, and I sucked in a deep breath,
“We’re engaged,” I squealed.
Garth laughed softly. He stood, pulling me up into his arms, his lips crashing against mine.
“We are.” His lips touched my neck. “You're going to be a wife, missy.”
“No. I’m going to be your wife.”
My heart skipped a beat saying it. I couldn't believe it. It was like a fairy tale
Garth’s arms wrapped around me tighter, his lips touching mine as my heart raced. I couldn't believe anything that had happened within the past day.
Three Weeks Later
When the weekend finally rolled around, we did something I was shocked we were doing. I know I’d told him my mom wanted to meet him, but that had been a lie. In fact, my mom hadn’t really known about him until I called her up the night before and asked if she wanted to meet my new boyfriend—er, fiance. But I didn’t tell her that part!
We were going to go out shopping for a ring later that night, but we had decided not to tell either of the families yet. They would never understand what we went through together and would think we were just rushing things. Hell, maybe we were.
The company, the wedding, everything was moving fast, but if this had taught me anything, it was that I didn’t want to move slowly. Life was short, and I didn’t want to waste any more time on it.
Garth came into the room, a woman following him as my brow furrowed. I was still trying to figure out what to wear to see my mom for lunch. I didn’t want to be underdressed but didn’t know if she would think my new set of clothes were too much.
I looked up, then back down at my clothes. Wait. I looked up again, looking past those grey-green eyes I loved. “Who are you?”
She had short brown hair. She wore five-inch heels, which was the only reason she was an inch taller than me.
She smiled softly, revealing a row of white teeth. “Your husband to be hired me. I’m your wedding planner.”
My heart skipped a beat.
Wedding planner? Was she
going to tell me what to do?
The question must have been written all over my face. She gave a quiet laugh.
“Don’t worry, you get to make all the choices, I’m just here to make sure you get what you want and you don’t have to worry about any of the finer details.”
I stared at her with wide eyes. The idea was nice. I wouldn’t have to worry about anything. All I would have to do was decide what I want. But that was a good question. What did I want?
My brow creased as I turned back to the clothing and held them both out to her.
“I’m meeting his family today, which one should I wear?”
The girl looked taken aback for a fraction of a second, then smiled. “Whatever one makes you feel more confident.”
I grinned, I couldn't help it. Good answer. I set aside the more expensive outfit. I guess you can never be overdressed, I thought and turned my attention back to the girl. “So, what can I do to help you?”
I led her over to the couch.
“It’s not about what you can do for me, it’s about what I can do for you.” Her eyes sparkled. “First, I’d like to get a little feel for you and your husband to be. But, first things first; do you have a budget in mind?”
“No,” Garth said before I could even think about it. “There is no budget.”
Both the girl and I turned to him with wide eyes.
“There isn’t?” I stammered.
Garth gave me a smile as he came over to the couch and sat down beside me. “Of course not.” He smiled broadly. “But I thought we could go to Paris to get your dress. What do you think of that idea?”
My heart did a backflip. A wedding dress from Paris. It sounded like every girl’s dream. And I was going to live it. I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.
“We could look there,” I said, trying to make it sound like this was a normal conversation to be having.
“So, are you thinking a large guest list?”
“No. Just family and some friends,” I said before Garth could answer. I caught his eye. They sparkled at me as he nodded.
I reached out and took his hand in mine, glad we were agreeing on things. I didn’t want our wedding to be the reason we fought. I know a lot of couples had that issue, but right then and there, I promised myself it wouldn’t be us.
“And um, would it be possible to look at venues with you sometime next weekend? Are you planning on having the wedding within the next two years? Depending on the season, venues can be booked up to three or even four years in advance.”
The Billionaire's Fake Marriage: A Single Dad Next Door Romance Page 71
