by KD Jones
The monitor for the guest house at the back of the estate was showing a breach in security. It could have been caused by the the overload of power, but there was a back road that allowed access to the guest house. Someone could have gotten through that way. He thought about telling someone, but what if he was wrong? He didn’t want to distract the others from catching Roger.
He walked over to the steps that led to the gardens from the basement. He could go through the gardens to the guest house to check on things, then be back before anyone knew it. Just a matter of ten minutes and he would know if the area was still secure. He’d be right back.
Decision made, he went up the steps and unlocked the basement door. One more flight of steps and then he was in the gardens. There was tall shrubbery to provide privacy. His mother had loved this garden. He had so many memories of playing while she and her assistant planted flowers. Maybe he could bring Elsa out there once things were done. Would she want to live there with him or go back to her own planet? Would she want him to go with her? Would he give it all up for her? So many things they needed to figured out. He stopped to look at the house and the garden. It was only a building. He could take his memories of his family with him anywhere.
He threaded his way quickly through the garden maze, since he knew the place like the back of his hand. He came out of the maze opening and approached the guest house. It looked dark, as it should. As he got closer, though, he could hear arguing from inside. Just a little closer, and then he was against the building near the window. He peered inside. It was dark, but with the moonlight shining in, he could just make out the shape of one man with his back to the window and another man pacing back and forth. The pacing man was definitely not familiar, but he couldn’t tell about the other one. Finally, the man with his back to him turned to the side and he could see a profile. Roger. He was here! Turning, he started to make his way back to the maze. He had to let the others know about Roger. He stepped on a twig and it snapped. Voices called out behind him. He took off for the path at full speed.
Chapter 22
Elsa was on the roof of the mansion facing the front gate. There was no sign of anyone and she was getting nervous. Something felt wrong.
“We have a problem,” Isaac’s voice came over their communications link.
“What is it?” Elsa asked.
“Felix is missing.”
Her heart squeezed tight. “What the hell? Where is he?”
“We were experiencing power fluctuations, so he volunteered to go to the basement to reset the breaker. He didn’t come back. Jade went to look for him and found that there was a door in the basement that led to the back garden. She’s trying to find him, but the garden is arranged in a maze and she’s having a hard time finding her way through.”
“Where are the drones, Isaac?” Elsa asked as she started to moving across the rooftop.
“I’m getting them up and going.”
Elsa began to run as fast as she could to the other side of the roof. It felt like she was moving in slow motion. She finally reached the other side of the room and stood up on the ledge, not caring if anyone saw her. She could make out Jade, but it was dark for the most part. Then she saw Felix, running towards the maze with people giving chase. She saw someone aim a weapon at him.
“Oh hell no!” Elsa took the rifle, aimed, and fired. The guy went down. Another guy came for Felix and she shot him in the leg. Then three more men ran at him, following him into the maze. Her view was obstructed. “Damn it!” She held the rifle and her breath, waiting and praying that he made it to the house safely, or at least to Jade.
*****
Felix didn’t know who was shooting, but it had to be someone on his side. Several of the men following him had gone down, but now he was in the maze, and three men had made it in with him. The shooter wouldn’t have a good view, so that left him on his own.
He remembered a niche in the shrubbery that would allow him to move from one path to another as a shortcut. Felix dropped down and rolled under the niche. Heavy footsteps ran past on the other path. Had it been two people or just one? He couldn’t tell.
Getting up, he started to move down the new path, listening for the men following him. He came to an opening where there was a fountain. The path to the left led to the basement entrance, while the path to the right led to the balcony entrance. The path in the middle was a dead end. He started for the left path. Just as he passed around the fountain, a body slammed into him, knocking him into the fountain.
“Got you now, asshole!”
He stood up dripping wet and stared at the man in black.
“Who are you?” Felix asked, trying to stall while he looked for a weapon.
“Don’t matter, you’re dead. Every day you evaded us cost us money.”
“I can offer you double, I’m a billionaire.”
The man paused to think about the offer, lowering his gun while he did.
“I’m getting a hundred thousand.”
Felix snorted. “I can easily triple that.”
The man shook his head. “The team leader would kill me if I tried to take that offer.”
“Kill him. I’ll add a bonus to it,” Felix offered. His conscience squirmed to hear him ordering someone’s death, but all he really needed to do was buy time.
“No.”
“Too bad.” Felix kicked water at the guy, jumping out of the water and rushing to hide on the other side of the fountain. The guy tried to fire his weapon but hit the stone part of the fountain. Felix looked around but found nothing to use but the water. He stumbled but managed to catch himself. Looking down at his feet, he acted quickly. He leaned down to take off one of his boots, then moved in the opposite direction from the man with the weapon, keeping him in his sights.
“Give up, Roberts, you’re outnumbered. My partners will be here any minute when they hit a dead end.”
“I don’t think so,” Felix told him. He faked to the left, then went right. He ran at the man and used his shoe to knock the weapon out of the man’s hand. It was going to be hand-to-hand combat. The other man was much bulkier than Felix, but Felix was faster and had more to fight for.
The man rushed at Felix, who ducked out of his grasp. He quickly jumped on the man’s back and put him in a choke hold. He may not be a fighter, but he knew how to knock a man out without laying a punch. He used just enough pressure that the man went down to his knees. He tried in vain to strike at Felix, but he wasn’t letting go for anything. Finally, the man passed out and fell face forward to the ground. Felix checked his pulse; it was weak, but he was still alive.
He was breathing hard and shaking as he managed to get to his feet. He turned to head to the basement but another man with a gun pointed at his head was there blocking him.
“Game’s up, Doc,” the man said as he fired the weapon. Felix dropped down, but to his surprise, the man dropped the gun as his whole body began to shake. The man’s eyes rolled to the back and he fell forward to the ground. Felix looked up to find one of Isaac’s drones hovering behind where the man had been standing.
“Thanks, Isaac,” Felix said as he stood up.
Isaac responded with the drone’s voice. “Get back to the basement now! Jade is taking care of the third man.”
“Wait, I think my cousin is at the guest house with the other mercs.”
“Kalen is handling it. Get to basement now!”
Felix ran down the path leading to the basement. He desperately wanted to go back to the guest house to make sure his cousin didn’t try to make a run for it. If he got free, it was possible they would never find him again. But he had to trust the others to do their jobs.
Once inside the basement, he headed upstairs to the living room, where Isaac shot him a glare and then concentrated on handling his drones.
He felt he needed to say something. “I’m sorry I left without telling you where I was going.”
“It’s not me you have to explain things to...Elsa is going to be pisse
d.”
Isaac hit his communicator. “Baby is back and safe… Yeah, I’ll tell him. Elsa says your ass is hers.”
“Great.” That was not a good thing, Felix realized.
*****
Elsa stayed at her position and helped take out a few more mercs. Finally, she got the all clear from the team. Kalen and Ben had caught Roger and were bringing him back to the house to get his confession. She rushed down the stairs full of fear and fury. She had to see Felix with her own eyes.
She was breathing hard by the time she got down to the first floor. She turned the corner and stormed into the living room. Isaac was still using his drones to keep a check on the perimeter. Her eyes moved past him to Felix. He had a cut on his forehead, and was soaking wet and covered in dirt.
“We need to have a little talk,” she growled at him.
He looked at her, then at the rifle she still held in her hand. “Leave the weapons behind first.”
Elsa was about to say something else to him but the sounds coming from the kitchen had them all turning to look down the hallway.
Jade walked in front, Vic and Ben dragging a still figure between them, with Blade bringing up the rear.
Elsa frowned. “Is he dead?”
“No, just fainted when we burst into the guest house and grabbed his ass. He also peed himself,” Kalen told her.
She looked down at the man’s wet front and made a disgusted face. “He’s not going to confess anything in this state.”
Kalen and Ben deposited him roughly in a chair, pulling his arms behind his back as they placed electronic cuffs on him. Ben reached for his pack and pulled out a bottle of water. He opened it and threw it in the man’s face. Roger choked and spluttered as he came awake.
“What the hell is going on?”
Felix stayed in the background behind the men, watching. Roger couldn’t see him. Isaac was recording the interrogation.
Kalen took the lead. “Roger Theodore Roberts, you are being held for attempted murder and for attempt to swindle your cousin out of his inheritance.”
“Lies! You have no proof of that. I love my cousin.”
Felix stepped forward. “Really? You were with the mercs in the guest house and ordered them to find and kill me.”
“They captured me. I’m innocent. For all I know, these men work for you and you had them kill Bridgette.”
Elsa got a message on her phone. She checked it and smiled. Stepping forward, she held her phone up and pressed play.
“It was all Roger’s idea,” Bridgette’s whiny voice said. She was in a chair being questioned by the authority. “I didn’t plan on killing my husband. I thought it was just a ploy to make it look like he killed me. Roger was supposed to get him to sign over his inheritance in return for his name being cleared. I had no idea he hired mercenaries to kill Felix.”
Elsa stopped the video. “This is being leaked to the local news stations and will be broadcast within the hour. The authority has her in custody and they are on their way for you.”
“She’s lying. It was her plan, all of it. I tried to save Felix.”
Kalen shrugged. “You can tell it to the authority, but the mercs we caught have all confessed that they were getting paid by you. Is there anything else you would like to say?”
“I want to speak with my lawyer.”
“Funny, your lawyer, General Planetary Attorney Stewart Vanderholt, has fled the district. The authority is issuing a warrant for his arrest as well.” Kalen looked at Isaac and signaled for him to end the interrogation video.
Isaac commented, “I will be sending this to all the networks and the authority. In just a few hours, the whole world will know who was behind the whole scheme.”
Roger looked away. “I have nothing else to say.”
“Well, I have something to say.” Felix moved forward and locked eyes with his cousin.
Elsa stiffened and wanted to step in front of him but held her ground.
“I trusted you, and the whole time you were plotting to ruin me and take my money.”
“You didn’t care about the money. You didn’t even care about Bridgette. She was just a means to assuage your loneliness. You always acted so holier than thou, as if you were better than me and the rest of the family. You didn’t deserve to inherit all of this.”
He raised his eyebrow. “You think you deserve anything my parents worked for?”
“You’re nothing!” Roger yelled.
Elsa watched the emotions flit across Felix’s face and she knew what she had to do. She walked over to release the handcuffs. Ben and Kalen looked at her in confusion but she stood her ground. She nodded at Felix while stepping back.
Felix stepped forward. “You slept with my wife, you manipulated me, set me up, ruined my life. There’s only one thing more I have to say to you, and then I’ll never see you again.”
Roger puffed up his chest. “What’s that?”
Felix moved so fast Roger didn’t have time to react. He punched him hard in the face, knocking him out with one smooth punch. She knew that had to have hurt his hand, but he didn’t show it.
Ben walked past him and gave him an approving look. “Well done.” He lifted the unconscious man and placed him back in the chair, resecuring the cuffs.
Felix looked over at Elsa, exhausted, then walked over to her. She threw herself in his arms. He was safe, and his name would be cleared as soon as the interrogation videos were released. He would probably even be able to go back to his job at the hospital.
“Elsa, get your stuff and take Felix out of here.”
“No.” Felix shook his head. “I need to finally give my statement to the authority. I’m tired of running.”
Epilogue
It had been a month since the authority took Felix’s wife and cousin into custody. There was a two-week-long trial, but in the end, the two of them had been sentenced to decades in jail. With them having hired mercenaries to kill Felix, there would be no parole in their future. Felix filed for an immediate divorce and the judge granted it.
Felix had gone through the wringer in court as the evidence of what Bridgette and Roger had done to take away his life was displayed publicly for all to see. It tore Elsa up to watch him go through all of that. He claimed it was therapeutic, that whatever feelings he may have had for Bridgette were totally gone now, but she could see that it took a toll on him.
He was offered his job back at the hospital, but he declined it, saying he wanted to start over fresh. Today he was meeting with his father’s lawyer to draw up papers to hand over the estate to charity and to sell off whatever else was left. She would help him over the next few days pack up his personal belongings and family heirlooms, and then help him move in with her.
Elsa wanted to be with him. They still had a lot to learn about each other, but it was something they could take day by day. She just had one more thing to do before she met up with him.
She waited in the visitor room of the authority detention center. She looked up as the door opened and Bridgette shuffled in. She wore a bright yellow uniform and had cuffs on her feet and hands. Her once lovely blond hair was stringy and pale. She sat down in the chair on the other side of the glass partition.
“Who are you?” Bridgette asked.
Elsa smiled as she tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder. She crossed her legs, showing off expensive shoes. She had decided to really dress up for the occasion.
“I’m the future Mrs. Felix Roberts.”
The woman stiffened and watched as Elsa applied some chapstick. “Why are you here?”
“I just wanted to let you know, while you’re here serving out your time, that Felix won’t be thinking about you at all. He’ll be living a life free of you, and I plan to make him happy every day of his life.”
“You’re a bitch!” Bridgette said as she stood up so fast the chair fell backwards.
Elsa stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles in her posh skirt. “I am, and a deadly one, too, if anyon
e tries to hurt someone I love. Keep that in mind.” Elsa walked away, feeling better now that she had gotten that out of the way. She wanted to punch Bridgette like Felix had Roger, but the authority wouldn’t have approved of that. She was satisfied.
She met Felix at the mansion. He was outside, sitting in the swing under the gazebo. She walked up to him and sat down.
“How did things go?” she asked.
“Fine. My father’s lawyer is handling everything. He’ll contact me if there are any problems.”
“Are you okay? You don’t have to move if you don’t…”
He stopped the swing and looked at her. “I want to do this. Are your having second thoughts?”
She laughed. “I just told your ex-wife that I planned on making you happy for the rest of your life while she rotted away in prison.”
He looked at her in shock. “You did?”
“Yes.”
He smiled. “I love you.”
It was the first time he said it. The timing felt right. She cupped his cheek and confessed, “I love you, too.” She kissed him and felt her body heat up.
“Have you ever made love on the gazebo swing?” she asked.
He chuckled, “No, but I’ve always wanted to.”
She straddled his lap and kissed him again. “Well, you’re in luck. I plan to fulfill all your fantasies.”
About the Author
KD Jones has published over thirty books in five different series. She has been a huge fan of both romance novels and science fiction novels since she was sixteen years old. Her favorite television shows growing up were Star Trek and Doctor Who. When not writing, she can usually be found curled up on the couch with a good book, working on her hobby of photography, or spending time with her family. As a single working mom, she wants to show her son that anyone can follow their dreams no matter how old they are and where they are in life. Dreams can come true if you work hard and believe in yourself.
