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I know this tactic. It’s the same one my father used to do when me or my older brother Foster were in trouble. He would casually go about his business like what we did wasn’t a big deal, like it amused him actually, but then he’d flip just as quickly and turn into a deranged animal when he punished us. Threatening to write us out of his will or to publicly humiliate us in one fashion or another. It was his signature weapon, psychological warfare. Something that Dane has taken great pride in learning himself.
“But it’s no worry; the plan is still perfectly in motion.”
“I didn’t tell her.”
“No?” he says, a touch amused.
I shake my head. “I just took her to my place.” A look of something flashes across his face. Jealousy maybe? “Where she will be safe.”
“Safe?” Dane laughs again. “You took her right into the devil’s den, Mads.” His eyes have that look in them, the same one they had tonight when he told me he was going to kill her. “Like I said, the plan is working perfectly because you, Mads, are going to kill her.”
“Yeah? And how is that going to work?”
He pulls open his bedside table, reaching inside and producing a handgun that he points directly at me. The tip of the barrel presses against my forehead. “Because if you don’t, you’ll die too.”
“And when is this supposed to happen?” I keep my cool.
“Right now, actually. Call your men. Tell them to bring her home.”
“And what? I just kill her and we come up with a story later?”
“Always two steps behind.” He shakes his head at me. “You’re going to make it look like a robbery. She was home before I was tonight, someone broke in, tossed the place, and shot her in the process.”
“And the fact that the security cameras will show me coming over tonight doesn’t play into your plan at all?”
He smiles. “I guess you are thinking things through. It just so happens, we’ve been having issues with the cameras the last few months. They’ve been glitchy, not recording and sometimes even erasing footage. The company already has a complaint in from me. So the fact that there won’t be any footage of her coming home or the robbery won’t be questioned. That being said, if you think after tonight you’re going to snitch or grow a conscience and tell someone, I do have you on video entering my home tonight.”
“Ah, the cameras just happened to be working perfectly for that. Got it.”
“Enough small talk. Call your men now.” He pushes the end of the gun harder against my forehead. “And don’t even think about doing something stupid.”
I lift my hands slowly, showing him they’re empty as I reach into my front lapel. Slowly, my hand emerges from my pocket. His eyes squint as he looks at my hand, then before I can even say anything, the click of his gun echoes through the room. Shock registers on his face as I hold up the clip.
“I got the one in the chamber too.” I grab for my gun, pulling it out and aiming it at him as I show him the single bullet I pulled from the chamber of his gun. “Now, Dane”—I smile, reaching for his empty gun—“have a seat. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“So now what? You thi—”
“Shut the fuck up, Dane,” I interrupt him and his always open jaw snaps shut. “That’s your problem, you know that? You never shut up. You’re always fucking talking, running your mouth. You’re always talking too much to stop and listen and realize that everyone around you thinks you’re full of shit. You’re so goddamn arrogant that you walked in here tonight knowing I was here yet thinking I wouldn’t have a loaded weapon? That I didn’t do a sweep of the room? Me? After knowing my family, you still think I’m the fool in this?” I can’t help but laugh. “You always think you’re the smartest person in the room and you miss what’s happening right under your nose.”
“Fooled Emery, didn’t I?”
“You mean a woman who’s in love with you and trusts you? That’s your big brag? You’re a pathetic human being, a void, a stain on society.” I crouch down in front of him, placing the gun right beneath his chin. “I’ve done my due diligence, Dane. I know that you send Andy home on Friday nights so you’re all alone here. I also know that with your merger falling through, you’re ruined financially unless you get Emery’s money. You’re desperate and ashamed. Sounds like the perfect solution to all of this… is suicide.”
He tries to remain stoic, but he knows it’s over. His eyes search for any shred of hope. Any shred of humanity. But there’s nothing left for him.
“You know I have to do this, right?” I smile. “And let me tell you, it feels fucking good.”
Before he can reply, I pull the trigger, sending a bullet straight through his brain and out the back of his head.
* * *
Iwatch Emery sleep. I doubt it’s restful.
When I came back home, I could see her eyes were swollen, her face still red from probably hours of crying. I sink deeper into the chair in my bedroom, watching her. My original plan was to play the recording for her, at least up until the point where he openly admitted that his plan was to kill her.
It would hurt to hear the truth, to know it was all a lie, but then she could move on… and so could I, maybe even together. She would finally understand why I wasn’t happy at her wedding. Why I was miserable around her… because I’m in love with her.
But this isn’t my story and that’s not how it’s going to play out. This isn’t some redemption plan where my hands will now be washed clean because I killed the man who was going to kill her. I’m just as culpable in this story.
