Mandy

After watching things go down through the binoculars, I’m glad that Anthony kept me back at a safe distance. I was also glad to see Trey get up after the shots were fired. The man with Tommy was actually The Ghost according to Anthony. I could see that he took the shot left-handed and his right hand was in a cast.

“I wasn’t going to give him a second chance,” Anthony says, jumping up and pulling a handgun from its holster. “Bolt, you cover the buildings, while I go help Crusher and Trey.”

Bolt turns his weapon toward the buildings in the distance, while Anthony and I begin running toward the others on the beach. Crusher is holding Tommy, while Trey is walking toward them with the black box. I can hear the woman sobbing, but it’s hard make out what she is saying.

“I’m not going to hurt him as long as you shut the hell up,” Crusher growls at her as we approach. “Tell her to shut up,” he instructs Tommy.

“Vanessa,” Trey says, shaking his head and setting down the black box on the sand next to the chairs. “You guys had this all worked out from the beginning didn’t you?” The look on Trey’s face lets them know that the gig is up. “So, you and Tommy really are a thing, huh? Now everything is starting to make more sense.”

“No one was supposed to get hurt,” she replies, trying her best to look remorseful. “I didn’t know any of this was going to happen.”

“So, you didn’t have anything to do with Dad’s death?” Trey asks, walking right up to her and looking her straight in the eyes.

“No!” she exclaims. ”I didn’t have anything to do with any of it. Other than Dr. Potaturri erasing Tyler’s memories.” She hangs her head, looking down at the sand. It’s obvious that she realizes that everything is over and Tommy won’t be getting away with his perfectly crafted plan.

“You told me that you don’t make mistakes,” Trey says, turning his attention to Tommy who is still being restrained by Crusher. “Your only mistake was a direct result of your humongous ego.” He glances at his diamond Rolex, but doesn’t give away the secret of how we were able to track him.

“What do you mean my ego?” he asks, still seeming shocked by the fact that we were able to track him down so quickly.

“When you act like a cocky asshole and tell everyone that you are too smart to make a mistake…” Trey pauses and moves right in front of him. “It makes everyone work that much harder to prove you wrong.”

He stares silently at Tommy for a few seconds before turning his focus to the black box that is perched in the sand next to him.

Trey

The moment that I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. I turn the combination lock and pop the clasps, lifting the lid to reveal four shiny metallic ankle bracelets. I watch Tommy’s pupils dilate as I pull the first one from the box and hold it up in front of him.

“I’ll have you know, these cost me a small fortune,” I tell him, rotating it in my hand to give him a complete view of it. “I simply open it up like this and place it on your ankle.” I bend down and slip it on him. “Now I adjust it for your ankle size, click the latch and pull this little pin to activate it.” A high-pitched sound emanates as the band energizes and the green lights come on along the side of it.

“So, now I’m under house arrest?” he asks, not understanding the full extent of his dilemma.

“Pretty much, you’ll never be leaving this little island again. We dropped a detonator in the water about two hundred meters off-shore and if you ever get more than a mile away from it, this little baby will release the toxin inside,” I tell him, not wanting him to know that the detonator was actually hidden on the island.

“The toxin?” he asks, suddenly looking more concerned.

“Polonium 210,” Crusher says with a sneer. “Type it into Google and you can read all about it. Since you’re an obvious fan of Russian agents, we used their favorite poison.”

“It’s 250,000 times more deadly than cyanide and one gram of it can kill as many as ten million people,” I add, causing his eyes to widen dramatically. “If you break the seal or go more than a mile beyond the detonator, the toxin will be released and you will be dead in a matter of minutes.”

“You can’t do that to him!” Vanessa protests. “Tommy didn’t kill your father.” She comes huffing toward me, as if she is planning to hit me. Anthony reaches out and grabs her by the arm, restraining her.

“Don’t worry Vanessa, I have one for you too,” I inform her. “But first, I have to know why my father was killed? I know he was an asshole, but that is no reason to murder him.”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “I only know what Carly told me, but apparently he was going to ruin everything,” she mutters.

“He found out that Tommy’s companies were unprofitable and was going to kill the deal?” I speculate.

“She hated how he always had to be in control,” she says softly. “Once he found the accounting issues, he no longer trusted her and then he drew up a ridiculous prenup. According to her, that was the final straw.”

I reach down into the box, pulling out an ankle bracelet for her. I slip it on her leg and adjust it for size, click the latch and pull the activation pin. “You’re all set,” I tell her, still completely blown away by how far she has fallen.

“I’m really sorry that I didn’t choose you, back when I had the chance,” she adds after hearing the sound of the bracelet activating.

“What’s done is done, right?” I stand up and give her one last hug. “I really hope you guys like this island and can all get along. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long life.”

“You really think this is funny, don’t you?” Tommy growls, narrowing his eyes and lunging toward me.

“You know… my father being killed, Tyler being poisoned, you stealing four hundred million from Bill and then killing him… none of it is funny,” I retaliate, going nose to nose with him. “This fucking bracelet on your ankle and you being stuck on this island for the rest of your life? A lot fucking funnier than any of those other things.”

“If you do this to us, you’ll never recover any of the money,” Tommy says, desperately trying to establish some sort of leverage against us.

“I’m not worried about the money,” I assure him. “I’ve got plans to use the resources at Addison Media to make it a profitable venture while letting the whole world know that you were nothing but a fraud.”

“I see there’s a satellite dish on the house, so at least you’ll be able to watch it on TV,” Mandy adds with a giggle.

“You’ll never get it to work,” he grumbles, cursing under his breath.

“It looks like we won’t be needing a bracelet for him,” Crusher adds, glancing over at The Ghost. “Today he became an actual ghost. I hope he haunts this fucking place.”

I take Mandy by the arm and we turn away, walking back in the direction from which we had come. I can hear chattering behind me as the Tommy and Vanessa drill Anthony and Crusher with question after question. Anthony can answer their questions; I’m done here.

“Are those bracelets really as deadly as you told them?” Mandy asks in a subdued tone once we are out of range. “Is that stuff even legal?”

“Anthony had a connection to get the poison, but no, it wouldn’t have been legal and it would have taken us a month to get the bracelets made,” I confess. “We are having a high definition surveillance camera installed on a cell tower that is straight across on Roatan. We will be able to check in on them at anytime. If they ever tamper with the bracelet or go out of range, we will be instantly notified.”

“What will you do if that happens?” she asks inquisitively.

“I haven’t decided yet,” I admit. “Tommy won’t have the balls to test it anyway and I can’t imagine Vanessa taking that chance either.” I smile and add, “I didn’t tell Tommy about the tracking device on his Rolex, because I wanted to save that as a backup.”

“Do you think Tommy used Carly right from the start?” she asks. “Knowing that she could get your dad or his contacts to buy his company?”

“Anything is possible. I was actually surprised that we didn’t find her here today; I can’t imagine that she is actually dead,” I reply, expressing my beliefs. “Whether or not it was all planned from the beginning doesn’t really matter. I’m just excited to be able to get on with life.” I take Mandy’s hand and as we walk back to the dock I have to wonder where our lives will go from here. Up until now, all we have experienced together is chaos. Hopefully now we can really get to know one another.

“What are you thinking about?” she asks, cocking her head and giving me an uncertain smile.

“I’m thinking about taking the long way home. Do you like the boat?”

“It’s beautiful, but you aren’t thinking about making another impulse purchase are you?” She tilts her head forward, giving me a disapproving look.

“Nah, I was thinking more of an eighteen hundred mile test drive.” I slide my hand down along the curve of her back and pull her close. “Just you and me on the high seas; our own private cruise for a couple of weeks.”

“Now that sounds like a great plan,” Mandy replies with a flirty look in her eyes. “So, we’ll drop the guys off back at the SUV and head out to sea? Hopefully the Captain is up for the road trip.”

“If not, he’ll have to show me how to drive a boat,” I tease, taking her lips in mine and giving her a long sensual kiss. Let the fun begin.