by D. B. Henson
As she grew, she made it known he was her hero. And he tried his best to live up to the title.
But her carefree childhood didn’t last long.
She blossomed early. Needing her first bra when other girls her age were still playing with Barbie dolls.
That was when his fear began.
He saw the way his mother’s boyfriends leered at her. Bringing her candy and other gifts and asking to be called “uncle”. Nico was always quick to step in. Making it clear that any man who dared even think of touching his sister would pay with their life.
And the day finally came when one of them did.
The twentieth of January.
Many years had passed since that bleak winter day, but for Nico, it sometimes seemed only moments.
Warned of an approaching snowstorm, the principal of his sister’s school made the decision to send the kids home a few hours early. Jake Gardner, their mother’s flavor of the week, was alone in their trailer. Left there to sleep off the previous night’s whiskey.
If only his sister had known Jake was still there. She never would have gone inside. But she didn’t know. And Nico had not been there to protect her.
Jake had raped the innocent girl and then beat her until she was unconscious. His sister had been just twelve years old.
Jake was the first person Nico had killed. There were witnesses who saw the fight. They testified Jake had been the first to pull his knife. It was a lie, of course. Nico had gone to the bar with one goal in mind. He could not let Jake live. Even if it meant he too had to die in the process.
Nico suffered a few cuts and bruises, but other than that, he was fine. He never even stood trial. The killing had been ruled self defense.
His sister didn’t fare quite as well. Her physical wounds had long since healed. But emotionally, she had never fully recovered. In many ways, she would always be the same frightened child who had come home too early.
But unlike that January day, Nico would always be there to shield her. As he had done in the past. And as he was doing now.
He vowed to protect his family. Even if it meant someone else had to die. Strike before you were stricken. That was the true meaning of self defense.
“You know what to do?” he asked.
Gloria smiled at her brother.
CHAPTER 35
The trunk lid popped up.
Toni’s back was toward the opening. She lifted her head in an effort to see who was there.
Cold steel pushed against her cheek.
“I’m going to cut your hands and feet loose, but if you move a single inch, I won’t hesitate to shoot you. Do you understand?”
It was Jill’s voice. All hope that Toni had been holding, her wish that by some miracle her friend wasn’t really involved, disintegrated.
The gun pressed harder into her face. “Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Once her bonds were cut, Toni rolled over and sat up.
They were at the hotel site. As usual, the night security lights were on. Jill had parked inside the fence, around a hundred feet from the main entrance to the building. As far as Toni could tell, neither Nico nor Brian was there yet.
“Get out,” Jill said.
Toni swung her legs out of the car. She realized the rain had stopped.
“Put these on.” Still pointing the gun, Jill threw Toni’s clothes into the trunk.
“You took my clothes from the dryer?”
“Just shut up, and do what I tell you.”
Toni stripped off Mark’s sweats and pulled on her damp jeans and shirt.
It was clear Jill aimed to kill her. If she could get her faux friend talking, maybe she could buy herself some time. Figure out a way to get the gun. “What’s your plan, Sylvia?”
Jill smiled. “So you know.”
“Yes. And not just your name. I know all about the dummy corporations.”
“Good for you.”
“There never was a problem with the construction of the hotel, was there?” Toni inched away from the car. “Scott never had a reason to commit suicide. He found out the truth about AlquilaCorp. So you and your gang of thieves murdered him.”
“That’s right. And because you couldn’t keep your damn nose out of things, now I have to kill you.”
“If you’re just going to shoot me, then why bring me all the way out here?”
Jill pulled something out of her coat pocket. It looked like a plastic Ziploc bag with a paper inside. “I could put a bullet in you, but what I have in mind will be much more fun.”
She held up the bag. “This,” Jill said, “is a note written on your stationery. It’s a very sad story. After losing Scott, you couldn’t bear to keep on living. So you decided to go out the same way he did. By jumping from the top floor of his hotel. The signature is perfect. I doubt even you could tell the difference. And while you were unconscious, I took the liberty of putting your fingerprints all over the paper.”
“What about Mark? Did you kill him?”
“Not yet. Should I?”
“No. I didn’t tell him anything,” Toni lied. “I was going to, but I didn’t get the chance.” At least Mark was safe. Hopefully, he had already made it to the police station with the disk.
“We’re wasting time. Get moving.”
Toni took a step toward the building. “You’ve got quite an enterprise set up. How much are you making? Millions?”
“What do you care?”
“I just don’t get it. Scott built Chadwick & Shore into a virtual gold mine. And he did it legally. Clint has all the money he could ever need. He had to know eventually you’d be caught. Even without the murder charge, he’d be facing serious prison time. Why would he risk it all? Is he that greedy?”
“I guess you don’t know everything after all.”
“I know enough. I admit, it took me a while to put the pieces together. When I found out Gloria collected the rents for all Chadwick & Shore’s leased properties, I thought she might be underreporting the funds. But it was the exact opposite. The bank deposits are for far more than the actual rental income should be. Who are you laundering the money for? And who owns all those companies? Clint’s fishing buddies in Mexico?”
Jill laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“I can’t believe you really think Clint has the balls to orchestrate this type of deal.”
“You mean he’s not a member of your drug cartel?”
“I’m no drug dealer. I simply manage the finances for a very profitable organization of businessmen. How they make their money is not my concern.”
“And Clint has no idea?”
“Clint is an idiot. He only knows what I allow him to know.”
It was as if Toni was seeing her ex-friend for the first time. Jill’s mask had fallen away revealing a soul of ice. “You don’t even love him, do you?”
“Love is such an abstract word. Let’s just say, I find him useful. For now anyway.”
“Did you have all this planned before you even married him?”
“You want the truth? At first, I had my eye on Scott. Then I realized Clint was much easier to manipulate. All I had to do was play to his ego. You should be glad I decided to take the quickest route. Otherwise, I’d be Mrs. Chadwick.”
Toni wanted to slap her. “Scott never would have fallen for your tricks. And I don’t believe he dated Gloria either, did he?”
“How could he? I went to great lengths to make sure they never even met. Your faithful knight never cheated. That’s the only thing you really care about. You’ve got your answer. Now move.”
“You can kill me, but it won’t solve your problem. Before he died, Scott put together a detailed file on your activities. Including the bank records. It’s all on a computer disk.”
“You mean the disk you left in your jacket? The jacket that’s on the back seat of my car?”
Acid rose in Toni’s throat. She swallowed hard. Mark didn’t have the disk. Even if
he was still alive, how could he prove anything? Would the police act on his suspicions alone? Or would Detective Lewis brush him off the same way he had Toni? “What makes you think that’s the only copy?”
“I’ll take my chances.” She shoved Toni forward. “Go!”
After walking a few steps, Toni slid her foot across the gravel and pretended to stumble.
She lunged toward Jill, knocking her to the ground.
The gun went off.
CHAPTER 36
Nico stopped the car at the end of Toni’s driveway.
“You remember the alarm code?”
“By heart,” Gloria said.
“Good. I’ll call you on your cell and let you know when to phone the taxi. Try to keep your hair across your face. Look out the window. Don’t make eye contact with the driver. When you get to the construction site, have him drop you off at the end of the access road. Make sure to tell him you own the company building the hotel. Then give him the five hundred dollars.”
“Got it.”
When the gun fired, Toni froze.
Her hesitation, though brief, proved to be a mistake. Jill jerked her left arm free and slammed her fist into Toni’s jaw.
The blow thrust Toni to the side, but she managed to hang onto Jill’s right wrist, keeping the gun above their heads.
Toni had never been in an actual fist fight before. She had come close once in junior high, but other than teenage hair pulling, she had no experience with hand to hand combat. She struggled to regain her position, but instead, Jill flipped her onto her back.
Seeming equally matched, the two women continued to wrestle for the weapon. As they rolled across the ground, Toni became aware of another car pulling up to the hotel.
Jill must have heard the car as well. As if bolstered by the thought of reinforcements, she shoved her elbow into Toni’s neck and then pinned her down. Her arm trembled as she put all her weight into bringing the gun level with Toni’s head.
Her strength waning, Toni realized she had to act fast. Still pushing against Jill with her right arm, she brought her left arm down to the ground.
Toni scooped up a handful of gravel and rammed it into Jill’s eyes.
The blonde cried out in pain, and Toni managed to break free. She leapt to her feet and ran. Straight into Mark.
He wrapped his arms around her. “Are you okay?”
“It’s Jill. She’s got a gun. We have to get out of here.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Jill said.
Toni turned around.
Jill had recovered from the attack. She held the gun steady.
Mark took a step toward the blonde. “You don’t want to do this. There are other ways out.”
“Like what?” Jill asked. “Run away, start over somewhere else? Or do you expect me to agree to spend the rest of my life in prison?”
“Just let Toni go. I’ll help you. We’ll work out all the details. You can live anywhere in the world. No one will ever find you.”
“But I have everything I want right here. I intend to stay.”
Jill swung the gun back toward Toni and fired.
CHAPTER 37
When he saw Jill swing her arm, he knew what was coming.
Mark threw himself in front of Toni.
The bullet ripped into his chest.
There wasn’t much pain really. Mostly numbness.
The sensation began to spread throughout his body. With his hand over the wound, he slumped to the ground.
Toni knelt beside him. Her eyes filling with tears.
“Don’t cry,” he said.
Toni stroked his hair. “You’re going to be alright. She has the disk. She can let us go. I’ll get you to a hospital. Just hang on.”
Jill circled the pair. “Such a tender moment. She has no idea who she’s crying for.”
Toni looked up at Jill. “What are you talking about?”
Jill reversed her circle.
“Mark,” Toni said. “What is she talking about?”
He wanted to deny everything. To spare her the grief of his betrayal.
“Go on,” Jill said. “Tell her. Fill her in on what really happened to Scott.”
He owed her the truth. That was all he could give her now.
The cloud of hatred that began to creep into Toni’s eyes pained Mark far more than any bullet ever could. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“You’re sorry?” Toni asked. “Scott is dead, and all you can say is, you’re sorry? He was your best friend. Did you know they murdered him all along? Did they pay you to keep quiet?”
“I never wanted him to die.”
“Then why didn’t you save him? If you knew about Jill’s scheme, why didn’t you tell the police?”
Jill started laughing. “For someone who is so smart, you really are dense. Who do you think introduced me to Clint? And my friends in Mexico? Not too many years ago, the head of our south-of-the-border band was Mark’s client.”
Toni seemed to ignore Jill. She kept her focus on Mark. “You were involved from the very beginning? You helped them launder the money?”
“Yes. I arranged the shell corporations. I had dated Jill on and off. I knew her family, what they were capable of. And I knew she could get close to Clint.”
“I don’t believe this. How could you do it? How could you let them kill Scott? He was like your brother.”
Mark noticed the night air becoming colder. He wanted to shut his eyes. Forget about his past sins. But it was time he confessed.
“The morning it happened,” Mark said. “Scott came to my house. He woke me up. It was early, around four AM, I guess. He said he had something important to tell me. It couldn’t wait until daybreak. About a week before, he was working on a bid for a new apartment complex. When he started putting the numbers together showing the income potential for the investor, he noticed something seemed off with Chadwick & Shore’s property management accounts. He thought Jill and Clint might have altered the books. So he kept quiet and conducted his own investigation. He had just managed to put all the pieces together when he came to see me. He wanted me to go to the police station with him, right then.”
“He didn’t know you were in on the scheme?”
“No. And he didn’t know he was being watched. Jill found out he had been snooping through her files, asking questions. She thought he was only suspicious. But still, she had decided to eliminate the risk. Without telling me, a few days earlier, she had sent Nico here. To work at the site. He was supposed to arrange an accident.”
“You weren’t aware they planned to kill Scott?”
“No. I had no idea Scott even suspected something was going on with the accounts. Not until he came to see me that morning.”
“But then you told Jill. You told her knowing what would happen. Are you the one who planned the fake suicide? Was it your idea for Brian to impersonate Scott?”
“Toni, I’ve been trying to tell you. Brian is not responsible. He didn’t kill Scott. I did.”
CHAPTER 38
In an instant, the man she had trusted, had leaned on, had loved like a brother ceased to exist. In his place, lay a monster as vile and deceiving as the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Toni wanted to put her hands around Mark’s throat and steal the life from his body, the same way he had stolen Scott’s.
“You’re even lower than Jill,” she said. “You deserve to die.”
“I know there’s no excuse for what I did,” Mark said. “But I never planned to kill him.”
“You expect me to believe – it just happened?”
“No. That’s not what I meant.”
“Tell me then. How could you murder someone who loved you like his own flesh and blood?”
Mark tried to shift his position on the ground, then winced. Toni noticed the scarlet stain on his white shirt had grown.
“When Scott told me he knew about the money laundering, I panicked,” Mark said. “He turned his back, and I hit him over the head. He was unco
nscious, but still alive.”
“So you think you showed some kind of mercy by finishing him off?”
“No. I was going to call for help. Once I made sure an ambulance was on the way, I would leave. I already had an escape plan in place, just in case we were ever caught. I had planned to leave the country.”
“Then why didn’t you? Was it the money? Was your greed more important than a man’s life?”
“I was about to call 911. But before I could get to the phone, it rang. And then … everything changed.”
Jill kicked at the gravel. “Can we hurry this along? I don’t think she needs to know every detail. He’s dead. You killed him. End of story.”
“I need her to know,” Mark said. “I need her to understand.”
“Understand?” Toni said. “I will never understand how you could take away the only person, outside of my father, who I have ever truly loved. And I will never forgive you. Don’t even try to justify your actions.”
“I know you can’t forgive me. I don’t expect you to. But please, just listen. Think of it as my last request.”
Toni glanced at his chest. He had lost a lot of blood. It was true; he might not make it. Then she reminded herself, only the just men died young. The evil ones seemed to live forever. Like drunk drivers. You read about them in the newspaper and see them on television all the time. They plow into another car and all the innocent passengers die. But somehow, the drunk driver always seems to survive.
Still, Toni wanted to know. She needed to hear the truth just as much as he needed to tell her. “Go on,” she said.
“You’ve met my mother. You’ve seen the hell her life has become. Scott told you about her accident, but did he tell you what really happened? The real reason for her condition?”
“She fell down the stairs.”
“It wasn’t quite that simple.”
“Don’t try to blame Scott. He wasn’t even in the house when it happened.”
