Chapter 12 - THE FATHER AND SON
Victor collapsed.
I stared at Garrett.
He stared at his father’s body.
No emotion.
Nothing.
“You killed him.”
Garrett looked at me.
“He was going to burn everything.”
“You mean everything that could convict you.”
“Same difference.”
Penelope groaned.
Another contraction.
Garrett grabbed her arm.
“Come on.”
I shoved him away.
“She’s in labor.”
“Then we get her out.”
For one insane second, he sounded like a concerned father.
Then he said:
“I’m not losing the baby.”
Not Penelope.
The baby.
His asset.
His inheritance.
I stepped between them.
“You’re done deciding who belongs to you.”
He pointed the gun at me.
“I loved you.”
I actually laughed.
“You wired me into a sinking car.”
“I didn’t say I loved you well.”
“You never loved me.”
Something cracked in his expression.
“You think this was easy?”
“What?”
“Three years pretending to care about your boring meetings. Your dead parents. Your pathetic brother.”
Tobias appeared behind him.
“Careful.”
Garrett turned.
Tobias hit him.
The gun skidded away.
They fought in the smoke.
This time Garrett had a knife.
He slashed Tobias’s shoulder.
I grabbed the fire hose nozzle from the wall.
Turned the valve.
Nothing.
“Come on!”
Then pressure hit.
Water blasted out.
It caught Garrett in the chest and slammed him into the wall.
Tobias kicked the knife away.
Penelope shouted.
“The baby!”
We had to move.
Firefighters finally broke through the lower stairwell.
Penelope was carried out.
Tobias followed.
I turned once.
Garrett was gone.
Victor remained dead on the floor.
Outside, rain hammered the parking lot.
Ambulances lined the street.
Evelyn ran toward me.
“The investigators got the drive.”
I nearly collapsed with relief.
“Is it enough?”
“It has shipping records, bribes, medical documents, everything.”
“Garrett?”
“Missing.”
Of course.
Then a paramedic hurried out.
“Ms. Mercer?”
“Yes?”
“Your sister’s blood pressure is crashing.”
My chest tightened.
“What about the baby?”
He hesitated.
“We may have to deliver immediately.”
As they rushed Penelope away, my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photo loaded.
My house.
My bedroom.
My bed.
And Garrett sitting on it.
The message beneath it read:
May you like
COME HOME, ROSIE.
LET’S FINISH OUR MARRIAGE PROPERLY.
