Chapter Twenty Nine – Cici

I feel sick. Actually sick like I might throw up. I cannot believe this. I press my back harder against the brick wall so no one can see me while I listen in. Will sounds confident as he agrees to meet with this guy who’s going to kill him and his family for just seeing his face… but he wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t think that he could get out of this alive. He wouldn’t risk me and Jordan. I know that he also wouldn’t agree to turn a blind eye to a massive drugs operation going on under his own nose, but he’d pretend if he had to. His male pride might have caused us problems in the past, but I can see him clearly now. He’s doing what he thinks is best.

Who is it? I think anxiously as I wait. Someone who called Will an old friend. Does he know him?

I’m so glad now that I sent Michelle away with Jordan. She said nothing happened to him but she’s going to take him to the hospital just in case. I need to be one hundred percent certain. Then she’ll also contact the police and send Will some back up. Maybe I should have gone with her, but I trust her with my son, especially since Kingpin is here. I need to be sure that Will isn’t harmed as well. I want us all to survive this.

Will lifts his gun and he points it towards the door while he waits for whoever it is. I keep leaning forward a little bit, just to peek, but I don’t want anyone to see me. I cannot reveal I’m here. Not only will that destroy Will, it’ll also complicate things. Since Kingpin has spies everywhere he might already know, but I won’t risk it.

I hold myself in place while I wait for the inevitable gun shot to ring out. Will or Kingpin is going to kill the other, it’ll just be a race as to who pulls the trigger first. It’s a bit like a Western movie when they have a gun fight. Surely, all police work can’t be like this? It’s so tense it’s horrible. Cops must be a mess all the time!

“No!” Will finally calls out. I lean to see his gun falling downwards. Shit, something has distracted him which means he might well be in trouble. Maybe it’s time for me to step forwards and do something after all. “No, no, no. It can’t be. It cannot be you. I refuse to accept it.” His hand claps to his forehead. “I refuse to accept it.”

Someone, Kingpin, I assume, steps forward but I cannot see his face. He’s shrouded by shadows, but Will can see him very clearly. I can tell by the crestfallen expression he’s wearing. Maybe he does know this person.

“Why would you do this to me? What’s the point? You don’t need to be involved in this.”

“Oh, but I do.” I get a chill. I feel like I recognize that voice as well from somewhere. I just can’t quite put my finger on it. “I do. This is where my true success lies. The rest of it is all smoke and mirrors.”

“So, none of it’s real? And you have this other identity? That is so fucked up. How did I not know?”

“Will, I didn’t want you to know, so you never found out. If it were up to me then you would never know, but since you insist on poking around in my business, what choice do I have? I’ve had to show you.”

“For… for how long?” Will can’t seem to let go of the logistics, which I find very troubling.

“Ever since college. I started this when I was in business school. I met a guy who knows all about this stuff and we set up shop from there. Only small at first, but it grew and grew until I became the king of it.”

“Kingpin,” Will whispers, clearly very distressed as he does. “That’s what we call you, Kingpin.”

“Oh, I know.” He sounds pleased with himself. “I know all about everything. Ten steps ahead, remember.”

I need to make a stand now, I need to show myself. I have to stop this because Will is losing it. Kingpin has him so stunned that he barely even knows his own name any longer. If we’re not careful, he’ll end up dead. Anxiety bursts through my veins as I force my foot forward into the light, I’m about to reveal my location which will hopefully cause enough of a distraction for Will to snap out of it. There’s a chance that my presence will actually work in his favor rather than against him. That’d what I have to hope anyway.

But, just as my foot moves, something happens to halt me where I am. Will staggers backwards and Kingpin moves closer to him so they can keep up their little one sided stand off. The light flickers over him and I finally get to see his face. It has the same effect on me as it does Will, I’m so stunned that I forget about the mission completely. I almost fall to the ground in shock. This changes everything. Absolutely everything.

Landon. Annabelle’s husband. I might not know him well but I would recognize that face anywhere. It’s him, it’s been him all along, he is the man who kidnapped my son. He’s basically family and he did that to us. We have a member of the police in the family and a criminal too. This is insane. Will was Landon’s best man! Landon knew the whole time that his best friend was after him the whole time and he remained his best friend.

It’s sick! It’s almost as if Landon gets off on it. He likes the danger of being a criminal and of ruining his best friend’s life in the process. He must be a really twisted individual. And my cousin married him! Annabelle, she’s his wife and she might not know about any of this. I love the girl but she isn’t exactly the most switched on. She’ll love the money so much that she won’t care where it comes from. She’ll be too busy spending it.

Or maybe she does know. Their marriage has been weird. Maybe Annabelle found out afterwards – because she still got married far too quickly, way before she could know this man – and she’s been stuck ever since. That’s why she stays despite the arguments, it’s why she didn’t have a big anniversary party where all eyes would be on her, putting her in the spotlight which is her favorite place to be. She’s staying because she’s scared. She knows too much now and Landon won’t let her leave safely. She’s probably been far too scared to tell anyone about her miserable life for fear of what happens next. Maybe her phone call to me was a cry for help which I ignored…

Of course, I’m very aware that there’s a third option as well, but I don’t want to think of Annabelle as an involved party, that idea is utterly petrifying. We might not be the best of friends now, but she left me to be targeted. I can’t imagine her sitting back and simply allowing bad things to happen to me and Jordan.

“I told you that we knew each other.” Landon sounds pleased with himself. “You didn’t want to hear it.”

Will shakes all over, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. The gun is still clasped between his fingers but he doesn’t look as confident as he did before. He might not fire it now. He might accept death.

“You can’t be a very good cop, old friend, if you don’t know that the man who you were best man for is the criminal that the whole town is after. That isn’t going to look very good with work, is it? You might well be better off dead. Me killing you is probably doing you a favor, and I already owe you so much.”

“You owe me my fucking life, you asshole!” Will spits back. “You shouldn’t fucking kill me.”

“I gave you the chance to life, I offered you a way out and you refused to take it.” Landon shrugs as if this logic makes any sense at all. “You didn’t want to be a part of it and I have to get you off my trail one way or another. The companies which have been very good to me over time are getting annoyed. I don’t want them to freak out and back out of our agreement. I need them, you know. You’re spoiling things for me.”

Where the fuck are the other police? I can’t hear anyone coming. Michelle must have contacted them by now. I’m sure she got out of here, I don’t have any doubt that she’s succeeded in escaping. I have to believe that. I have to try and be patient and hope that they arrive soon enough. Before something really bad can happen.

My heart thumps so loudly I’m sure they must be able to hear it, but neither Will or Landon turn to look at me. They’re locked in a fight, like stags with their horns locked as they battle for territory. Half of this is just a male ego fight that neither of them want to back down from. It’s ridiculous.

“Unfortunately for you, Will, it’s too late for you to change your mind now. You’ve seen me. You know my business and my plans. I could pay you off like I was originally going to, but a rich man is only quiet for so long. A dead man is silent forever. I don’t want it to end this way. It shouldn’t be me verses you, that’s not how I wanted any of this to go down. Just know that you will always be my friend, and I’ll always regret this.”

I wait for Will to do something. I’m expectantly looking at him, desperate for him to act. There must be something that he can do to make all of this end in a better way. Or even just stall it. The cops are coming, I’m sure. But as Landon lifts his gun, it doesn’t seem like Will is going to do anything. He’s been shocked so much that he can’t react. I don’t blame him, but being shocked isn’t good. This isn’t the time.

“No!” All of a sudden, this word flies from my mouth and I stagger forwards. My body has taken control of the situation for me. Foolishly, instead of helping now I’m in view. From the look on Will’s face he isn’t impressed with me acting this way, but what was I supposed to do? Should I simply step aside and let him die? “No, Landon. Don’t do this, please don’t do this.” I clasp my hands together in a prayer gesture. “You don’t want to do this. Think about Annabelle, she wouldn’t want this. She’s… well, you know. She wouldn’t want this to happen. You’re going to tear our family apart.”

“Oh God, you’re still here.” Landon rolls his eyes at me. “That wasn’t part of the plan. You do realize that you’ve just written your own death warrant, don’t you? You’ve seen my face now, you have to go.”

“No, but Annabelle,” I gasp. “She wouldn’t want me dead. She wouldn’t…”

“Annabelle ordered this,” he sneers back. “She wanted this to happen. She wanted all of you dead, baby included, but I might be a criminal but I’m not that sick. But that cousin of yours… she’s something else. That’s why I like her.”

“No.” I refuse to accept that. He’s just trying to psyche me out. “No way. There’s no way.”

I shake my head desperately, trying to get a grasp of myself. He’s winding me up, trying to get me to react. But I’m not going to.

It’s a shame I’m not the only one here…