“And you’ll give me that proof and the laptop if I do what exactly?”
“Corrupt the program that activates the kill switch in my heart and kill Priscilla, in that order,” Adam said.
“That easy, huh?”
“You’re the right man for the job. I’ll even sweeten the deal. You’ll get the evidence to clear your name from these pending charges now. After you’ve taken out Priscilla and corrupted the program so it can no longer trigger the kill switch, I’ll give you the laptop. Do we have a deal?” Adam leaned over with his hand extended.
Julian stared back at the man, then said. “Yeah, we have a deal.”
The door to the hotel room burst open, banging against the wall. Trampled stomps of police officers and PIIB agents dressed in SWAT gear poured into the room, guns raised.
“Hands up! On the floor! Get on the floor now!”
Chapter Forty-One
Leaning over the balcony railing, Mena held the warm mug in her hands. The smell of the strong coffee with more than a dash of Bishop’s rum soothed her before she even took a sip.
Lucy Hargrove, the residential manager at Harmony Towers, placed a hand gently against her shoulder. Mena glanced back at the pretty woman with red hair in a low fade. The logo for the iconic television show, “I Love Lucy” was tattooed on the side of her head.
“You sure you’re okay?” Lucy asked. “You’re trembling.”
“I’m fine. Just a bit distracted,” Mena mumbled, then took a sip of the coffee. Lucy’s timing had been perfect. After her neighbor had called down to the front desk complaining about screams and noises coming from the penthouse, Lucy had arrived with a security guard pounding on her door. Mena’s body had trembled with each knock, her body pressed against the other side.
“Mena, if you don’t open up, I’m coming inside. I have our security guard with me,” Lucy had yelled from the other side of the door.
Michael had released her from his grip, allowing her to breathe again. She turned and glared at him as he slowly zipped his trousers and tucked his shirt inside his pants. His face adopted a passive look, professional and calm as he ran a hand over his hair and motioned for Mena to open the door.
Mena hadn’t hesitated to swing the door open wide. Lucy looked shocked to see another man in the penthouse she shared with Julian.
“I apologize for the commotion. Mena’s been really upset with Julian missing. I’m sure you understand. I’m Dr. Marsh, an old … friend. I wanted to make sure she was doing okay under the circumstances,” Michael had explained to Lucy and the security guard.
“It’s late. You should probably get going,” Mena said, urging Michael out of the door.
“We’ll finish catching up another time,” Michael said. The words lingered like a threat between them. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
Mena nearly collapsed once Michael was out of the penthouse and escorted to the elevator by the security guard. Lucy had been kind enough to make her some coffee and stick around.
Lucy said, “You probably need to get some rest, Mena. It’s been almost a week since Julian was abducted from prison. You’ve been so strong all this time, but I can understand if you lost it tonight. Ms. Vincent was concerned when she heard noise coming from here.”
Mena made a mental note to thank Janelle Vincent, the daughter of King Street Lounge owner Bimbo Vincent and owner of Penthouse Suite B. If she hadn’t sounded the alarm, Mena shuddered to think what Michael would have done to her.
“I’ll stop by and apologize to her in the morning. Thanks for coming to check on me,” Mena said.
“My pleasure. I always thought you and Julian were a lovely couple. From the moment I met the two of you when you came to look at the apartment Ella used to live in, I knew you were good people, as they say. I don’t know what happened in the courthouse with Julian and that woman, but I don’t believe for one minute that he tried to kill her,” Lucy said.
Mena nodded. “Thanks. That means a lot, considering what most of the islanders think about him now. The articles in thePalmchat Gazetteonly make it worse, calling him a fallen hero.”
“It’s horrible. I swear that paper has gotten so much worse since it was taken over by the Bronson’s. It was a much better paper when it was owned locally,” Lucy agreed.
“I think I will try to get some rest now,” Mena said, walking back into the penthouse. Lucy followed her inside. Mena pressed the button to close the automated accordion doors.
“I can stick around for the night, if you’d like. You have plenty of space here—”
“No, it’s okay.” Mena led Lucy to the door, then opened it. She couldn’t explain to Lucy the disaster in the master bedroom that she would spend most of the night cleaning up.
“Call me if you need anything,” Lucy said as she exited.
Mena shut the door behind her and shivered. She couldn’t believe what had happened with Michael. He’d become obsessed with her. He’d broken into her home and tried to destroy all of Julian’s belongings. Any hope she had of convincing him to give her a divorce had vanished. He would never let her go without being forced to. And there was only one person who could make that happen.
