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“I’ll send instructions via her assistant.”
“Of course, you will.” There’s a pause at the end of line, then he says tightly, “I’ll be in touch.”
When the phone call is over, the room remains silent. Shea and I are in a showdown. She knows her jig is up. Nobody in the room knows what I know, but I can see it in her eyes. She’s scared.
“I know what you’ve done, Shea,” I say calmly. I watch as her shoulders tense.
“I’ve got nothing to do with this,” she retorts.
“You’re lying.”
“What’s going on here?” Gia’s voice interrupts us.
I hold my hand up to stop Gia from moving any closer. I can tell Shea is about to do something stupid. Her body language is undeniable. When I see Shea’s hand move toward her back, I spring into action. I lunge forward, Shea’s phone flying as multiple voices shout out in the room. Shea’s fast, I’ll give her that, but I’m faster. Just as she’s about to pull out a pistol I manage to grab her arm. I twist hard, bracing it against her back. She cries out, the gun dropping to the ground.
“It’s over, Shea!” I yell, still trying to subdue her. She’s wriggling against me, her legs trying to knee me in the groin. It doesn’t take long for the cops to come help me grab her and soon she’s maneuvered on the ground. It gives me more delight than it should to take a pair of cuffs from the cop and bind her.
“You fucking asshole!” she screams. “You have no idea! Really, you don’t.”
I shake my head. “That’s where you’re wrong. I do know. You should be more careful who you’re friends with on social media, Shea. The internet is full of bad people.”
Her face turns white, and for a split second, I feel bad for her. Her greed and whatever else has blinded her into ruining her young life. I’m not sure of the whole story but I know we’ll find out soon enough.
Once the police have righted her, a silly smirk plasters her face. “Without my cooperation, you’ll never find her,” she spits.
Though her words are a threat, she just admitted in front of the cops that she had a hand in all of this. I bend down so my mouth is next to her ear. “That’s where you’re wrong, Shea. I’m already one step ahead.”
thirty-four
Birdie
HearingLiam’svoicethroughthe phone was exactly what I needed to keep my spirits up. Knowing he’s fine makes my heart clench with joy. I just hope Hammer is okay, too.
Nick on the other hand doesn’t look so hot. He’s sweating and chain smoking as if it's his last night on earth. Clearly something’s wrong. And when I heard him ask for five million, I wanted to laugh out loud. The fact that Shea really thought they could get that much money on a whim is insane. Then once they got it, what would they do with it? Disappear to Panama?
“Your people better get me that money, kid.” His voice is shaky as he takes another drag from his cigarette.
I don’t answer him because I don’t know what to say. Instead, I squeeze my hands and wiggle my toes to bring some life back into them. Hopefully there won’t be any permanent nerve damage. I need my hands to play piano. I hold back a groan as a shooting pain moves through my back from sitting on this hard chair. My ample ass doesn’t help pad me as much as I wish it did.
When Nick starts to pace, I can’t help myself. “Why are you really doing this?”
His hazel gaze, my gaze, stares into me. His smirk is gone, and a sad look is on his face. “It’s unfair. The way you rich live. I served this country, and I can’t even get proper health care. I should own my own shop but instead I work here for a shitty hourly wage!” He chuffs, kicking a loose piece of drywall.
My eyes wander his body and I really take him in from head to toe. The way he stands, the way his muscles look weak and his face tired. “You’re sick,” I say as more of a statement.
“It doesn’t matter what I am.”
“You could have just come to me—”
“And what? You’d just fork over money? Lorri said you wanted nothing to do with me. Time and time again I asked, and you denied me.”
“I didn’t know about you!” I say again. “It’s the truth! I didn’t know.”
He lets out an anguished laugh. “It doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done.”
Sadness fills me. He did wrong here, so did Shea, but nobody deserves to suffer. I take a deep breath and lower my head. This whole situation is such a mess. Once I get out of this, I for sure need to have a long talk with Mom. The fact she kept all this from me, I—fuck. I don’t know what to feel. All I know is that I’m confused, and I really wish he’d untie me so I could feel my hands again.
I’m about to ask for him to loosen the bindings when I hear a faint noise. At first, I’m unsure what it is, but as it gets closer, I know. It’s a helicopter. My gaze darts to Nick as he begins to freak out. He mutters something under his breath, then digs out his phone. I think he tries to call Shea, but there’s no answer.
