by Laura Burton
As if by slow motion, Julie fell forward, startled and her ears ringing. Hands caught her body and someone thrust a scratchy sack over her head. Julie’s brain froze. As if it had lost signal to her limbs, she fell limp as multiple hands secured her legs and arms and carried her forward. She thought it would be a good idea to scream, but her headache was a full-on migraine now after the hit, and would anyone hear her with a sack over her head? So she lay still, and didn’t fight back.
Emily’s words played in her mind. Had it been her fighting back that helped Harry in London, or had it all been a ruse and she really had no power to fight and defend herself?
Julie’s shoulders banged a carpeted floor and someone tucked her legs up by her chin her gown ripped at the seam up to her thigh. A rumble underneath her told her she was in the back of a vehicle. Something slammed above her head, then, she heard muffled talking.
Julie kept her breathing steady as she berated herself for not being more streetwise. She was on her way to her imminent demise, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The Wolf and the Lamb
Harry spotted Emily in the crowd of well-dressed guests. He adjusted his tie nervously as he made his way through the people and waved to her. She glanced at him and finished her conversation with a bright smile before turning toward Harry with a look to kill.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her eyes narrowed, and lips pressed tightly together.
“I’m looking for Julie,” he said, scanning the room for her familiar form.
“Oh, and what about Ebony?” Emily asked, crossing her arms with an unimpressed look.
“What about her? I’ve told her we’re not getting back together. She won’t be a problem,” he said. Emily gave him a look that said she wasn’t convinced. But there was no time. Now he was here, he needed to see Julie. To hold her hand and look into her amber-colored eyes. Tell her he loved her.
“You’ve just missed her. She left to call a cab a few minutes ago.”
Harry nodded and made to leave but Emily grabbed his arm; he tensed and surveyed the intense expression on her face.
“She’s my best friend, you know. If you hurt her again, I will kill you.”
“She’s lucky to have you,” he replied. Emily’s resolve broke as her lips curved upward.
Without another moment wasted, Harry rushed through the crowd of people and ran out onto the street. A line of cabs sat by the side of the road. He jogged alongside them peering in through the windows to catch a glimpse of Julie. At the corner of the street he looked left and right, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Sir, do you think this is a good idea?” Benjamin said, catching up to him.
“We can work through this. I can feel it. Besides, nothing is going to stop me trying. I love her, Benjamin. What else can I do?”
His phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket.
“Benjamin…” He lost his voice. A picture loaded on the screen of a woman tied up, wearing a purple gown with a brown sack over her head. He showed the phone to Benjamin, who took it out of his hands.
“See that graffiti on the wall? I know where that is,” he said. “Come on.” He gestured for Thomas, who opened the car door and the two of them climbed in. Harry’s hands were trembling and a tightness spread across his chest. He pulled out his inhaler and took a deep breath.
He didn’t listen to Benjamin giving Thomas directions, nor did he pay attention to the nausea rising from the pit of his stomach. He just stared at the image on his phone, with four accompanying words.
She dies at midnight.
This was it. No turning back now. Julie was in danger, and it was up to him to save her. No matter the cost.
The car pulled up alongside the Brooklyn Bridge.
“Down here,” Benjamin said, as they stumbled down the slippery path. The area was entirely deserted. It was the perfect place to take a hostage—only sewer rats came this far down to the drains. They rounded the corner and Harry saw two men standing next to a woman lying on the ground. Harry, pulled off his jacket and rolled his sleeves up. The men had black ski masks covering their faces, but there was no doubt who they were and what they wanted.
“What’s your price?” he asked. The woman twitched and made a muffled cry.
“One million. Each,” one of the masked captors said. He raised a gun to Harry, his finger on the trigger.
“Done. Now release her,” Harry said. The two men laughed.
“Not so fast, we want the money first.”
Harry dragged a hand through his hair.
“I don’t think you understand; I can’t just do an online transfer for that amount of money. I’d need to go into a bank.”
“You don’t understand. She dies at midnight if you don’t bring us the money.”
Harry grit his teeth. Jonas’ grin flashed across his mind’s eye. He wouldn’t stand for this. Whoever these people were, they knew Harry would roll over and do whatever they wanted. But who was to say they wouldn’t pull this stunt again next time they want more money? This needed to end. Harry took a step forward. The two men flinched. Both of them held a gun pointed at him now.
“Easy,” one of them warned, as Harry took another step.
“That’s close enough,” the other one said. Harry clenched his fists and blinked at the sight of the two masked men. The sound of his voice was unsure. He could hear his fear.
“Take that bag off her head. We can be more civilized that this.” Harry was less than two feet away from the men now. He watched one of the men hesitantly pull the sack and drop it on the wet cement. Julie’s blotchy face came into view; her platinum hair fanned across her cheeks and she blinked at him, adjusting her eyes to the streetlight.
“Are you all right?”
Julie stared at him, blinking, as if she was in shock or deciding whether this was a nightmare. She finally gave a nod. Harry turned to the men. One of them was watching Julie, while the other remained focused on Harry. He was close enough now that in one sweeping motion, he could disarm one man. The problem was, he wasn’t sure if he could be fast enough to deal with the other guy before Julie got hurt.
“The banks are closed, so we’ll need to arrange this in the morning. Now I suggest we go back to my apartment—”
“We’re not stupid,” the first man snapped. “You’ll have the cops on us in a heartbeat. I’m telling you, if you don’t give us this money by midnight, she’ll die.”
“Don’t do it, Harry. They’ll just kill me anyway,” Julie said in a resolved tone. There was no sign of fear in her voice. Then everything happened in a flash. The second man threw his leg back to kick Julie, but she must have broken out of the ties. She was suddenly in a crouch position and grabbed his leg pushing it back so hard he tripped and fell back. In the commotion, Harry grabbed the gun from the first man and head-butted him with the handle.
A loud crack echoed under the bridge and the man screeched with pain. Harry grabbed the gun from the first man and head-butted him with the back of it.
“Benjamin, call the police,” Harry shouted as Julie kicked the second man behind the knees, ensuring he stayed on the ground. Harry stood above the men, holding the gun trained on them, then looked at Julie’s determined face and bit his lip to stop himself from grinning. Adrenaline pulsing through his body, making all of his senses sharper.
“Benjamin, did you––” A click caught his attention and Julie and Harry looked up to see Benjamin standing a few feet away with a gun pointed directly at Harry.
“What the––” Then, as if he and Julie had been struck by the same thought they bent down and removed the ski-masks from Julie’s captors.
“No,” Harry moaned. Looking at the two faces. Two men from his security team. Benjamin’s sinister laugh chilled Harry to the bone.
“It was you? All along?” he said faintly. Benjamin raised his free hand.
“Guilty,” he said blankly.
/> “But why?”
Benjamin scratched his chin.
“It was supposed to be simple. You and Ebony would get back together, and then I’d get a nice reward to let me retire early.”
“Money? So my mother was paying you to do this?”
“If I remember correctly, your mother said, ‘break them apart at all costs.’ She was quite upset when the boys beat you up, though, so that was taking it too far apparently, but it seemed like our plan worked. You were in London. She was here. Neither of you were speaking. Soon enough, you’d end up with Ebony and I would get my payout.”
Benjamin took a few steps forward and gave a heavy sigh.
“But then you had to go and have a change of heart. Realizing that life wasn’t worth living without Julie. I had to endure your laughable sessions with your brother. Who do you think you are, Rocky?” He rolled his eyes. “Trust me, if you hand over the money, all of this will go away.” He waved a hand aside to cement his point, then he glared at Harry. “But if you don’t pay up….” He moved the gun to direct it at Julie.
A bolt of energy shot through Harry’s body like someone injected pure adrenaline straight to his heart. It was as if he saw red and nothing else mattered. Seeing Benjamin threaten Julie sent pure rage flooding through his senses. This was it. The moment he had been training for. Benjamin, his most trusted body guard. A traitor. Hired by his own mother. Now threatening to hurt the love of his life.
Not on my watch.
Harry released the safety on the gun in his hand and fired. Benjamin’s knee gave way and he dropped his gun to the ground with a howl. Julie quickly grabbed it and held it trained on the men. Harry walked over to Benjamin who was yelping like a wounded puppy as he cradled his knee.
“You shot me,” he shouted. “You weren’t supposed to shoot me.”
Harry crouched down and muttered into Benjamin’s ear. “You weren’t supposed to betray me, but look where we are.”
Benjamin’s breaths came out rapid and shallow as he raised his hands in the air. “I swear. None of this was part of the plan,” he said between breaths. Harry lowered the gun a little and gave him a hard look.
“Tell me then, what was the plan? And who told you to do this?” he said, surveying every inch of Benjamin’s pale and clammy face, daring him to lie.
“Okay. Okay,” he said, lowering his hands and wincing as he cradled his knee again. “It was supposed to be a simple job. For a long time now, your stepfather has been paying us to feed information back to your mother.”
Harry shook his head in disbelief.
There never was a private investigator.
His mother had his own security team spy on him. The thought made him sick to his stomach.
“When you met Julie, I was ordered to put you off pursuing her.”
“There wasn’t a kid who slashed the tires, was there?”
Benjamin shook his head with his eyes shut.
“And the thugs in London? That was you?”
Benjamin opened his eyes and giant tear leaked out and rolled down his cheek. Harry couldn’t be sure if he was crying with regret over his actions or over the gunshot wound.
“Your mother was angry about that. Told us we took a step too far and the deal was off. Problem is, I had people waiting for that money. A gambling debt that I couldn’t run away from, and I was desperate.”
“So how was all this supposed to work out?” Julie asked, taking a step forward. Harry glanced up to see her dress soaked with dark stains and the seam had been torn.
“Since I wasn’t going to get the money from his parents for breaking you too up, I needed Harry to pay the money. I would have handed in my resignation leaving you two in peace. It was the honorable thing to do, at least,” Benjamin said with a sigh.
“What do you know about honorable?” Harry shot back. He laughed derisively and looked away as he processed the information. “Gambling debt? So this really was all about money for you?”
“You’ll be surprised what people do when they’re desperate,” Benjamin said as he shifted his weight and moaned. “When your mother ended the deal after my guys took it too far, I had no other choice.”
Harry was torn. Part of him wanted to kick Benjamin in the knee, but the other part of him pitied him. He couldn’t imagine being so desperate for money that he would do anything to get it. He was relieved to know his mother was more innocent in this than he had thought. It was a bit of a surprise, however. Ebony was not behind the threats, after all
He opened his mouth to talk but Julie spoke first.
“Harry, not here. Can’t you see how much he’s bleeding? We need to call the police and get an ambulance to take him to hospital,” Julie said, quickly. Harry stared at Benjamin as Julie tugged at his jacket.
“Harry, come on,” Julie urged. Forcing Harry to his feet.
He turned to Julie, as if seeing her for the very first time. He cradled her cheek and smoothed his thumb across her clammy skin.
“I’ve missed you,” he said shakily. Her eyes were like two balls of fire, warming his heart. There were so many unanswered questions and he wasn’t quite sure if he was about to wake up at any moment. But he knew one thing. “I love you,” he said before planting a kiss on her lips. Julie laughed against his mouth and broke away, still attempting to hold the gun on the two men on the ground.
“Is now really the time?” she asked.
Harry opened his mouth to speak when a loud bang almost exploded his eardrums and knocked the wind out of him. Julie’s smile faded and the look of horror covered her face as Harry fell to his knees.
“Harry!” Her scream sounded far away and muffled, as if he was floating in water. An unearthly siren filled the air and there were more bangs. Harry fell down, his cheek pressed against the cold, damp cement, and he tasted blood in his mouth.
Harry blinked slowly as his body became numb and heavy.
“No, please, don’t leave me.”
Never.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Conspiracy Theories
Julie took a shaking hand to her face and stared at the blood drenching her index finger. Harry’s blood. She looked over and was shocked to see Benjamin dead on the ground with his eyes still open.
“Are you all right ma’am?” a police officer approached her as another handcuffed the two men who’d remained silent. They did not even try to fight or argue against their arrest.
“We need an ambulance,” she said to the officer as he inspected Harry. He gave a nod and pressed his gloved hand on Harry’s back.
“We need to keep pressure on the wound. Hold on, there’s a first aid kit in the car. Put your hand here––” He lifted his and Julie pressed down, stemming the blood flow. The officer jogged back up the pass to his car. The lights flashed red and blue, illuminating the entire area. Julie felt Harry’s pulse through her hands.
“Stay alive. Just please, stay alive,” she said.
“Julie, oh thank goodness. Julie are you okay?”
Julie looked up to see Emily running to them while holding her skirt up.
“Emily, what are you doing here? How did you––”
Emily held up her phone.
“After what happened to you in London, I wanted to keep an eye on you. Our friends app shows me your location. When Harry ran after you and I saw you were here, I knew something was wrong. Thankfully, I persuaded these guys to drive me over.” She gestured to the police car.
“Are you all right?” she repeated, kneeling down beside her and placing a hand on her back. Julie nodded but her arms were shaking. She was nauseated and light-headed.
“He’s been shot. It’s bad, Emily.”
Emily nodded slowly with saucer-like eyes.
“Help is on the way. He’ll be okay,” she said in a weak voice. Julie was not convinced.
“We won. We had them, Emily. Then there was a gunshot and Harry just fell.” She broke off and closed her eyes. Tears rolled down her face leaving a burn
ing trail over her cheeks. When Harry collapsed, Julie saw Benjamin on the ground with a gun in hand. He must have had another one on him that he’d pulled out when Harry had his back turned. Then in a flash, there were more gunshots and Benjamin was dead.
The next few hours passed by in a blur of questions, camera flashes, sirens, and Emily’s non-stop talking. She rubbed Julie’s back, handed her a bottle of water, held her hand, and guided her to the waiting room at the hospital. Then, in her anxious state of mind, talked endlessly.
“Let me get this straight, Benjamin was paid to spy on Harry.” She started to pace the waiting room as Julie clutched the cup of hot chocolate in her hand and stared at the floor.
“And all the threats, that fake goat display––” Emily gasped as Julie nodded along.
“Yes. When we saw it, Benjamin got his men to take the sign down and when Harry asked him about informing the police and fingerprints he just dismissed it and told us he would handle it and just needed to get us to safety. Wow, it’s all starting to make sense now.”
“You’ve got to hand it to them for imagination.” Emily noted.
Julie shot her a look. “Really?”
Emily’s face fell as if she realized the seriousness of the situation, then began to pace again.
“So… Ebony is innocent in all of this? She didn’t hire people to beat Harry up?”
“Yes, but she knew what Harry’s mother was doing. I wouldn’t exactly call her innocent.” Julie took a sip of the hot chocolate and sighed as the sugary fluid calmed her nerves.
“But why would Benjamin turn on Harry like that? He’s got money too, probably pays him far more than he should, and he’s so likeable. I don’t get it.”
