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“Don’t move, or she’s dead,” Toby hisses from behind me just as Fallon tries to take a step toward us. “I’m not kidding. I will kill her.”
“Yeah, we believe you,” Kellan replies, raising up a hand to halt Fallon.
Charlene takes a step forward. “Listen, boys. No one has to get hurt here. I came back to reclaim my seat and my fortune. I only want Wolfhound Security. It’s got enough capital and a high value on the stock market. I’ll sell it and use the money to restart my own business. It seems like a reasonable compromise for what your do-good bullshit cost me.”
“Do-good bullshit?” Luke scoffs. “Charlene, you were financing terrorist groups abroad. You embezzled and defrauded the shit out of Lincoln County before we even met you. Did you really think we’d just sit back and let you destroy more innocent lives over money?”
“You knew who we were before we knew who you were,” Kellan adds. “You deliberately lied to us. You inserted yourself into our lives and our bed. What did you expect to happen once we learned the truth? That we’d simply roll over and let you keep fucking around with people’s money and livelihoods?”
Charlene rolls her eyes. “None of that matters anymore, though, does it? It’s done. What isn’t done is my retribution. The government seized all of my assets and froze my accounts. So, here we are. Hand over Wolfhound Security, and we’ll call it even. The three of you are smart. You can start anew. I’ve got a criminal record and the law giving me a constant stink-eye.”
“You’re out of your mind,” Fallon says.
“No, I’m just being practical.” She nods at the manila folder, now in Luke’s hands. “Sign each page on the dotted line. Toby will act as an official witness. Once that’s done, I’ll take ownership of the company, including all of its accounts and assets, and the mansion in its entirety. I will, of course, give you boys a week to pack up whatever you need and move out of there. And then that’s it. You’ll go your way, and I will have my way.”
“Charlene, any signature made under duress is not legally binding,” Kellan replies. “Even if we do sign tonight, you won’t have a leg to stand on.”
“You can either be civil about it, or I can add more pressure to the wound,” she says. “I can hold on to Avery here until you submit to me completely. You thought you won, but you didn’t. I’m merely proving that you can’t come for the queen and miss, darling. You had your chance, and now it’s my turn. Sign, or Avery dies.”
“You’ve lost your goddamn mind,” Fallon says, shaking his head.
Pure hatred burns in the green pools of his eyes. There is a lot that he’s been keeping inside since Charlene’s return. I can see that so clearly now. I wish I had trusted my men, but instead I let my own past wounds cloud my judgment. We are all in this situation because of that. This cannot be the end, though. Charlene has a plan that she intends to see fulfilled. Toby is but one man with a gun against three former Navy SEALs. I’m the only reason why he’s not dead yet.
“It’s really very simple. You won’t be able to prove any kind of duress,” Charlene adds. “Toby has initiated a cell phone jamming signal that is keeping your phones out of service. So, there will be no evidence.”
“Toby shot Helen,” I hiss, my blood boiling.
Charlene heard me the first time, and it’s clear she doesn’t like hearing it again. “You’re going to have to prove it. You see, my criminal record aside, I’ve got some top-notch lawyers ready to drag whatever it is you’ll want to bring my way through dozens of courts until y’all die of old age. I’ve done my homework this time around.”
“Wow, Fallon is right, you really are delusional,” I sigh harshly, then look at Toby. “Do you understand what you’ve gotten yourself into?”
“He understands,” Kellan interjects. “I don’t think Charlene understands.”
“There you go again, trying to be the smartest person in the room,” she says. “It’s done, darling. Just sign the papers and hand Wolfhound Security over to me. My lawyers will take care of the details, and I will make sure you are adequately compensated for the sale.”
“I thought you were smarter than this,” Kellan says. “I didn’t think you’d resort to putting a gun to a pregnant woman’s head in order to get your hands on our company. Shooting Helen certainly wasn’t a smart idea. Assuming you get away with this whole signature nonsense, there will be evidence back at Avery’s house. Someone is going to get arrested, and that someone is pointing a gun at my girlfriend’s head. How do you think that’ll work out?”
“Not to mention the attacks and Marcus’ death,” Luke adds. “We’ve been gathering evidence, Charlene. It will all link back to you, it’s only a matter of time.”
“I knew you’d bring that up,” she says. “I didn’t have anything to do with any of it, though.”
“You’re a liar,” I spit.
“Kellan, I had nothing to do with the attacks,” Charlene insists. “My only goal was to get close enough to Avery to figure out what leverage I could hold against you so you’d sign your company over to me. If anything, I’m pissed off because the attacks actually forced me to go to this particular extreme, of which I’m not proud of but do consider necessary. It wasn’t supposed to go down like this, but as soon as they started coming after you, I knew you’d look at me.”
Kellan, Fallon, and Luke exchange curious glances. I can’t help but notice the flickers of bitter amusement in their eyes. Yet Charlene sounds serious. I’m actually inclined to believe her, for some reason.
“How well do you know your employees, Charlene?” Luke asks, giving Toby a brief look.
“I trust Toby with my life,” she says. “He proved himself trustworthy a long time ago. He’s the reason why any of this was possible to begin with.”
“Do you know his real name?” Luke asks her.
It dawns on me that they know something that Charlene doesn’t. It’s obvious from Luke’s tone of voice, from the confidence with which he’s steering her into a realm of doubts and unpleasant possibilities. And I can tell from the growing look of concern on Toby’s face that he’s on to something.
“What are you talking about?” Charlene says. “It’s Tobias Jones.”
“That is correct,” Toby adds.
