I scramble up the stairs to the top deck, realizing I probably only have one bullet left if I’m lucky. I quiet my steps and peek over the rail to where I can see Kalin and his parents. The lanky man has the gun pointed at Peter, and he yells. “Eddie! What the hell’s going on up there? Goddammit.” He glances around while keeping the gun on Peter.
I point the gun through the railing and aim for his chest. I hold my breath, and fire and scream. Blood splatters over his right shoulder, and he drops the gun. Kalin and the lanky man both charge for the gun on the dock, and Kalin rams his shoulder into him, causing him to fall backward and hit his head hard on the dock. He squirms for the gun, and Kalin kicks the gun away from his hand, grabs a fistful of his shirt to turn him toward him, and rams his fist into his jaw hard. The lanky man is dazed and bleeding badly from his shoulder.
Kalin darts across the deck and stoops down to pick up the gun. He swings his head up to find me. “Annabelle! Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” I scream in a cracked voice. “The other guy’s dead.” I crumple by the guard rail. “He’s dead. He tried to shoot me.” I sob.
“It’s okay. Annabelle, you did good. I’m proud of you, baby.”
Peter pulls Lauren close to him, and asks her if she’s okay. She nods with a tense expression.
I stare at Kalin through watery eyes, sobbing and shaking from the shooting.
Kalin checks on his parents, rubbing his mom’s shoulder, when the lanky man moans. “She fucking killed him.”
Kalin turns his eyes to him. “Shut up. Who were the board members who hired you to do this?”
“I don’t have to tell you a fucking thi… Aahhhhhhh…fuck…motherfuck!” Kalin kicks him hard in the shoulder that was shot, so that his sentence is finished with an ear-piercing scream.
“Give me the names,” Kalin barks, pointing the gun at his head.
“Kalin,” Peter admonishes. Kalin puts his hand up with his eyes fixed on the wounded man. “Please, Dad.” He lowers his hand. “Names,” he growls.
“You know who they are, Mr. Davis,” the man gasps in pain. “At least some of them. That’s why we came here to kill you.”
Peter pulls Lauren close to his side with a pained expression.
I reach for my cell phone and click on the video recorder.
“I want to hear it from you,” Kalin says.
The lanky man’s mouth twists into a demented smile. “You were right about Dale. He wasn’t going to go through with it. Not until your little Madison got a hold of him. She could get him to do anything. She can bring a dead man back to life.” He laughs with painful grimace. “And that’s what Dale was, a dead man, until Madison showed him a whole new world. And what a sweet world it was. A world that could be his if only he would do one thing for her.”
“I don’t believe you, you lying sack of shit,” Kalin says, his voice low and guttural.
“Does it really surprise you? Madison hated you for what you did to her. She worked for you for five years, and then you hire another marketing assistant, and give her a twenty percent stake in the company. She could even handle that. But what really pushed her over the edge was when she was there for you when no one else was, and you not only rejected her, but gave it all to someone else just a few months later. Now that was too much for her to take. She was going to take it out of your hide.” He laughs. “You wanna know the funniest part?”
“Names,” Kalin growls.
“Jeff Corman and Brian McMillan just wanted you dead. They hired us to kill you after you planned on going through with the stock transfer. They just wanted you dead, but your little Madison convinced them to kill both of you. You and your little Annabelle.”
I swallow hard and wipe my eyes, still recording him.
“She even gave Dale a few perks to come on board, if you know what I mean. Dale was a ruse. He was never going to get out of this alive, and he started to figure that out. But Madison was too much to resist. Dale felt like he was living your life, if only for a few weeks. And who wouldn’t want your life for a few weeks, Mr. Davis? You’d be surprised to find out how many people would trade it all if they could just have that. But in the end, as he suspected, we had to kill him,” he snickers. “He was gonna die anyway,” he shrugs. “We did him a favor by giving him a taste of the good life. A taste of your life.”
“Who drove the truck?” Kalin asks him.
“Dale gave in. Madison convinced him. She was very convincing,” he snorts.
Kalin lowers his head and slackens his shoulders, as if he can’t believe what he has just heard.
Crouching down, I continue to record the video in silence and shock. I take a breath, straighten up, and stand to my feet. Kalin dials the number to the police and tells them everything that happened. Handing the gun to Peter to keep the lanky man in place, he runs up the stairs to check on me.
“Annabelle.” I’m in part shock and part haze, and the sound of his voice sounds like a dream. “Annabelle, are you okay?”
I nod my head and wipe the moisture from my eyes. “I shot him, Kalin. I think he’s dead.” I lift my eyes to his. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe this is happening.”
Kalin wraps his arms around me and holds me for a while. I sniffle in his sleeve, and wipe my eyes.
“Where’d you learn to shoot a gun?”
“My dad. I lived in Texas, you know,” I say with weak grin.
Kalin smiles and embraces me, and I welcome the relief from the traumatic moment.
“Why did she do it, Kalin?” I ask against his chest.
Kalin pulls away from me and looks into my eyes. “Who?”
“Madison. Why would she do it?”
“I don’t know, baby. I don’t know.”
“She was in love with you the whole time.”
Kalin places his hand over my head and holds me for a moment, and the words hang in the air like the aftershock from the afternoon.
I go with the police and give them the video with Charlie Cattano’s confession regarding the board’s plot to kill Kalin. When the police arrest Brian McMillan, Jeff Corman, and Madison Jacobs, I can’t help but think back to when I asked Madison about whether or not my relationship with Kalin was an issue. I was trying so hard to be honest, like friends would do. Why couldn’t she just tell me?
After reading more about how Brian McMillan and Jeff Corman operated ProEast Energy, leaving a trail of destruction and damaged lives along the way, it is not surprising to me that they would take one more life for the right amount of money. But Madison? I still can’t believe it.
Lia breaks through my thoughts with a bright smile and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. “Chocolate always makes you feel better,” she says with an encouraging smile.
“That usually works for a bad date, Lia, not attempted murder.” I frown.
“You haven’t tried these cookies.”
I can’t stifle my giggles, and Lia laughs with me. I needed to laugh more than I thought, and the release washes over me, taking the tension wound up in my body like a gentle massage. I also suddenly feel like I could actually eat something. “You’re so good for me, Lia. I hope we’re friends forever,” I say, taking a cookie.
“Why wouldn’t we be?” she shrugs. “If our friendship can survive the past few months, it can survive anything. Oh, your dad called. News travels fast these days. He called your cell phone and our line. I spoke with him and told him you’d be in soon and would call.”
“Dad, really?” My eyes are aglow. She tosses me my cell phone. I press the button to redial.
“Hi Dad.”
“Sweetheart, you’re about to give us a heart attack over here. Are you okay?”
“Yes, Dad, I’m fine.”
“I heard you shot one of those men. Is that true?”
“No, Dad. I shot both of them.”
“You what?” he says in a stressed tone.
“He was trying to kill me. If it weren’t for you teaching me how to shoot, I
probably would have fumbled the gun all over the place. The other guy had a gun pointed at Kalin and his parents. I don’t think we’d be talking about it right now if I didn’t shoot them.” My heart weighs heavy in my chest from the memory.
“Sweetheart, we’re coming to see you. We want to spend a week with you.”
“Sure. That would be wonderful.”
“We also want to meet Kalin, if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course, Dad. He wants to meet you too. When are you coming up?”
“Considering everything that’s happened, as soon as possible.”
“Yes. Please. You know Kalin has a beautiful house in the Hamptons. I am sure you can stay there.”
“Isn’t that where the shooting took place?”
I smack my lips. “Yes, Dad, but it’s not like the place is cursed or anything. After all, it led to the evidence that got them all arrested.”
“Okay, sweetheart. We’ll plan on flying in first thing at the beginning of the week. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, Dad, stop worrying. I have Lia here making me chocolate and everything.”
My eyes dart to Lia and she crinkles her nose at me.
“Tell her we look forward to meeting her. Your mom wants to talk to you.”
I tell my mom what happened, and the sound of her voice calms my nerves.
“We’ll see you soon, sweetheart. I love you.”
“Bye, Mom. I love you, too.”
I purse my lips at Lia and call Kalin, showing her his picture on the screen. “Hi Kalin. Guess what?”
“You sound excited. What?”
“My parents are coming in next week. They want to meet you.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“Can they stay at your Hampton house? Pretty please?”
“Of course they can. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
I turn to the side and hold my hand over my mouth. “Can I invite Lia? I know she would love that beach.”
“I would love to see Lia there.”
“Great. I haven’t asked her yet, so not sure if she’s coming.”
I turn around to check on Lia, and she’s standing there quirking her mouth at me and shaking her head. “You know, putting your hand over your mouth doesn’t really work. You have to go into another room.”
“So are you coming?” I ask her in a hopeful tone.
“A weekend with your parents?” she grimaces.
“First of all, the place is huge. You can go to the beach or play tennis. You have to go, Lia. I want you to see the place, and it’s such a nice break from the city. Please.” I plead with my best pout.
“And you need a ride.”
“I really just want you there, Lia. Kalin could send me a car if he wants.”
“I almost forgot who I was talking to, moneybags.”
“That’s right. And I’m turning down a limo because I want to ride with you.”
“Okay. I’ll go. But if it gets too weird, I’m bolting with my car.”
“Deal.” I smile.
Chapter Twenty Four
My parents arrive at our apartment from the airport a couple days later.
My mom glances over me with a warm smile. “Sweetheart, you look wonderful.” She winds her arm around me to embrace me.
“Thanks Mom. You look incredible yourself.”
“It’s settled. You’re both gorgeous,” my dad says with a tender smile.
“Hi Dad,” I say as he pulls us toward him in an embrace.
“I missed you both so much,” I say, smothered into his arm.
“Annabelle, sweetheart, are you okay?” My dad asks, his eyes wide with concern.
“Yes, I’m fine. I wasn’t hurt.”
“Thank goodness. We missed you. You’ve been so quiet,” my mom says.
“If you’re trying to keep us from worrying about you, it wasn’t working,” my dad mutters.
I hug my parents for what seems like forever. I breathe a sigh of relief that I never had to mention all those days that I struggled. I knew they would worry. But it had been too long since I had seen them after moving to New York just over a year ago. Now bigger events made those days pale in comparison.
“This is my best friend and roommate, Lia,” I say with a brush of my hand on her arm. My parents greet her warmly, knowing she means the world to me from my phone conversations with them.
“Don’t worry, Mr. and Mrs. Ried, I’m taking good care of her,” Lia says. I glance at her and press my lips together to contain a smile, knowing there is more truth in her statement than my parents realize.
My parents follow us to the Hamptons in a rental car. “How exciting. I get to see the Kalin Hampton home. So much has happened there,” Lia says with suggestive eyes.
“The full spectrum. Pleasure and pain,” I mutter.
“Are we still talking about the escapades of Kalin?”
“I wish.” A ghost of a smile tugs at my lips and vanishes. “I was thinking about the scumbags who got arrested.” I shake my head and stare at the floorboard for a moment.
“Hey, you know you really are a hero, Belle. You’re the one who got them busted and got their confession. You saved the day.” She turns to me and smiles.
“I just want this to be over,” I groan.
“I know.” I point to the side street and then to the driveway where Kalin’s home is located. The gate is open for us. I know that Kalin is expecting us, but I also cannot help but smile at the thought that the threat has faded and the security has lightened.
Lia parks the bright zinc-yellow Ford Focus in the driveway. “We don’t stand out at all here,” she teases. My stomach flutters from the anticipation of all of us gathering here, and my parents meeting Kalin for the first time. My parents pull up behind us and I can already see the expressions on their faces as they get out of the car.
“You weren’t kidding, Belle. This is beautiful,” my mom gushes as her eyes roam over the property.
Her days consist of teaching kids how to read, keeping spirits cheerful, and channeling their high energy into creative endeavors. She loves kids, but can only balance so much. Between raising me and keeping her full-time job, I was a handful all by myself as an only child. Working on a modest salary, she has only seen houses like this in the movies. My dad is retired, living on a pension from working at an aircraft manufacturer, and his focus is on keeping everything they have saved for as long as possible.
“How many acres is this?” My dad asks.
“It’s five acres.”
“And a beach,” Lia grins.
“It’s true. This house has a tennis court, a sixty-foot heated pool, and a beach. And the gardens and hiking trails are heaven. You guys are going to love it,” I smile.
My dad shakes his head and exchanges glances with my mom. He winds his arm around her as they stroll toward the house. “Don’t get any ideas, sweetheart. I’m not going back to work.”
“Doing what? Robbing the New York Bank and Trust?” she teases. I steady my eyes on them as we walk toward the house, enjoying their playful banter that I have grown accustomed to over the years.
Kalin steps onto the entryway and is looking dashing in a gray cotton sport shirt and navy blue Italian sport jacket.
I step ahead of them and introduce them to Kalin. “Kalin, these are my parents. This is my mom, Emma. She’s a schoolteacher.”
Kalin shakes her outstretched hand.
“What a pleasure it is to meet you. I can see where Annabelle gets her striking beauty.”
“Oh, well, thank you Mr. Davis.” My mom turns to me and smiles.
I blush at his words. Striking beauty. It’s true. My mom was stunning and still is, with a wealth of auburn hair and ocean-blue eyes in an oval, angelic face. I am told I look just like her, which I always considered a great compliment.
“This is my dad, Michael.”
“It’s a pleasure, Mr. Davis.” My dad shakes his extended hand.
My dad
is a rugged Texan, born and raised. His dark hair is thinner and streaked with gray now, but he still has his ruggedly handsome face. I smile at both of them. Our parents are still together, and would do anything for us. Kalin and I have that in common. Maybe love is real after all, and the hopeless romantics were right all along. I smile at Kalin at the thought, and he tilts his head and gazes at me in a curious expression.
“Lia, I’m so glad you could make it. You look lovely as usual.”
“Hi, Kalin. It’s nice to see you healthy and back home.” Lia gives him a hug and I take a breath of gratitude, seeing everyone together.
“You don’t work on that car yourself, do you Lia?” Kalin lifts his chin in an amused and curious expression.
“No, I have to keep my hands clean for when I cook. Annabelle is very particular now, thanks to you,” she says, squinting at Kalin while nudging my shoulder with hers.
“She’s right. She saved me from famine many times,” I confess.
“There will be no starving on my watch. Please come inside,” Kalin says with an outstretched hand. “If you haven’t eaten, we have a breakfast bar and coffee. Or tea if you prefer.”
Lia steps ahead of me, and Kalin turns me toward him and plants a soft and gentle kiss on my mouth.
“At least you didn’t tell them to take a hike,” I whisper.
“I’ll clear the whole house out if I have to,” he whispers hot against my ear. I swallow. I know he’s playing with me, but the thought causes warmth to rush through me just the same.
Kalin turns to my parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Ried, my parents are still in town and wanted to meet you too. They’re out and about right now exploring the scenery. They are also staying here. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” my mom insists. “This is a special occasion. We’re just glad to be here.” Her smile is thoughtful.
“There are eight bedrooms, each with a private bathroom, so there is plenty of room,” Kalin reassures us.
“Oh, my. Eight bedrooms,” my mom says, as if thinking out loud.
Kalin leads us into the sunroom, which is already prepared with an assortment of fruits, coffee, pastries, scrambled eggs, and tea. My dad fixes my mom a cup of tea before grabbing some food and coffee. Lia and I cheerfully prepare a plateful of fruit and set it on the coffee table. After making some more coffee, we indulge in pain au chocolat rolls still hot from the oven.
Undeniably His Page 25
