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Ella
Inever really understood the term, ‘living a nightmare’ but I do now. Time has slowed and yet is passing way too fast. Nothing seems real anymore, and it’s as if I’m watching events unfold through an observer’s eyes. Penelope is pacing, obviously excited about something no sane person would ever imagine. She seems on edge and who can blame her, she’s about to commit murder twice and already thinks she’s got away with it? They say a person’s life flashes before their eyes when they’re about to die. I don’t share that experience, which gives me hope.
I level my voice and say evenly, “Why are you doing this, surely I deserve to know the reason behind my death?”
I feel her watching me with interest and she laughs bitterly. “You deserve nothing, but I’ll tell you, anyway. You are just a pawn in a far bigger game. A disposable by product of a costly war. Lucas needs to be taken out, and this is the perfect way. Nobody has ever been able to get close to him before. His team are tight and Adam was my only hope.”
She laughs wickedly. “He was the easy part. Seduce Adam, get him to marry me and infiltrate Lucas’s inner sanctum. Lure him here and finish him off. Walk away because the trauma was too much and effectively ended my marriage and then live in luxury for the rest of my life with the proceeds of my crime.”
“Who wants him dead?” I already know she’s a pawn in this game herself, and she shrugs. “As if I know. When you play with the big boys, there are many layers to the intrigue. A spider spins her web in a very intricate way, and the reasons why are not always obvious. I have been told what I need to know and nothing more, so if you think I’m going to spill some great master plan to a girl like you—you’re mistaken. You’re just not important enough, and neither am I as it happens. My instructions have been relayed electronically and news flash, I don’t know the person behind them.”
“Then how do you know they will spare you too? You might not be paid and may not even make it to enjoy your new life.”
She falls silent, which gives me hope because if I can cast doubt on this, she might not see this through and it may just end up saving our lives.
I press on. “Maybe you are just as disposable as me. We are, as you say, just pawns in a bigger game. If you do what they say, you are treading a path that could end for us all. If you think about it, they sound like someone who doesn’t like loose ends. If this is what I think it is, there are already two people dead who brought me into this mess. Maybe they got caught up in something they didn’t fully understand and paid the price.”
“What are you talking about?”
I take a deep breath because I am about to tell her something I’m not even sure is my information to pass on, but she needs to have all the facts and it may just cast enough doubt in her mind to save us all.
“I’m here because I was hired, much like you were, to do a job. I never saw the person, I never spoke to them and just carried out their wishes.”
She looks at me sharply and I press on, conscious I don’t have long.
“The person who collected the order was a beautiful young woman. She took the package and when Lucas came calling, it was to find out who my customer was because that woman was dead and so was the man she delivered it to.”
Penelope looks up sharply and I see the doubt in her eyes. “So, you see, Penelope, this game is bigger than both of us. I’m in danger and so are you. If you think this ends here, you’re mistaken. You will always be looking over your shoulder, wondering if they’ve come to finish you off, to keep you from exposing them to their enemies. You are a loose end that will need tying up, so I beg you, don’t do this. Work with us to uncover the person behind this. Save our lives and your own in the bargain.”
She doesn’t answer because we hear someone approaching and the tension in the room is palpable. Penelope moves quickly and stands behind me as three sharp knocks are heard on the door. I make to cry out, to warn Lucas not to come in but a fist is shoved so hard into my mouth, I choke a little and before I can catch my breath a shot rings out, closely followed by another and then all hell breaks loose.
Everything goes black. I’m covered in a liquid that coats my neck and I’m face down, my head facing my knees with something heavy on my back. I hear a man’s voice that I recognize immediately, and my heart pounds so hard I think it will give out on me. The only thought I have right now is one of relief because that voice isn’t Lucas’s. It wasn’t him, but what does that really mean? Maybe that shot found its mark, and he’s dead at my feet. Surely there should be more noise, shouting even, but it’s as if a sense of calm has descended on the room as a voice says softly, “Stay down, Ella, you’re ok.”
I hear someone else come into the room and a voice I vaguely remember says in hushed tones, “Fucking good shot, that man is notching up quite a tally.”
The other voice laughs softly. “He’s earned his cut, that’s for sure.”
“Strong hands pull the weight from my back and as my eyes focus, I see a concerned face staring into my eyes and then he reaches out and places a finger on my lips. “Don’t say a word, don’t look behind you and just come with me.”
I recognize the man that was standing beside Lucas the day I was kidnapped, Ryder King. How can I forget that name and my soul physically shakes. His hard eyes are flashing with danger and his expression is grim. There is blood on his hands and as I look down, I see it has come from me. Have I been shot and am too numb to feel? There is no time for questions as I hear a dark whisper behind me, “Charlie and Eddie are clearing the guests, we don’t have long.”
I make to turn around and Ryder hisses, “Eyes front. Now, come with me, you’re safe now.”
He reaches out and takes my hands that have been freed by the person behind me, and I already know that Penelope is dead. There is no sound other than the two men in the room, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the blood on me is hers.
As I follow Ryder from the room, I catch sight of a reflection in the mirror on the wall and the horror of it will stay me forever. The beast who kidnapped me from the airport is lifting her body, but that’s all that’s left. Her head has been shattered, almost destroyed, and my knees start trembling as I hurl on the spot.
“Eyes forward and walk.” Ryder’s voice is firm and offers no argument and snaps me out of the horror of the scene I just saw happening behind me. Sobbing, I stumble toward him and he catches me as I fall, sweeping me into his arms and carrying me like a baby from the room. It’s all a little surreal because everything is done in almost silence. The only sound was the two shots and as we pass the door, I see a bullet hole embedded in the wood, making the tears run like blood down my face. Penelope obviously fired her gun because it’s at the exact position a man’s head would have been, and I wonder how Ryder managed to survive at all if he was the man through that door.
As we leave the room, I don’t think what happened inside it will ever leave me and as I battle the tears that are threatening to unravel me, there is only one man I want to see.
