Chapter Six

“Have you seen Becca?” I asked Melina. I wanted to talk to her, maybe telling her the truth was better than losing her. As soon as she walked out of the office, I’d known what I needed to do.

“I thought I saw her head outside.”

“I poked my head out there; I didn’t see her.”

Damnit why had I waited so long? I should have gone after her right away, as soon as she walked out of the office.

“Are you sure?” Melina’s brow furrowed. “I could have sworn on a stack of Bibles that she was out there.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Have you seen Keith?”

“Do you think—”

Yes. That was exactly what I thought had happened. I mean, what else could have happened? Sure she could have just gone home, but I didn’t see it. She wanted to help; if I knew her half as well as I hoped I did, I knew she hadn’t left. She was here somewhere.

“I’m going to check the tapes.” I headed for my office.

“We don’t have any outside.” Melina followed me.

“No, but I will be able to see where Keith went, and with that, I’ll be able to find her.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

Need to talk. Meet me outback.

That was all she said.

My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.

“Is it from her?”

“Yes.”

I held my phone out so Melina could see the text.

“I’m calling the cops.” Melina ripped the phone from my hand. “Go get her. If he’s alone with her for too long …”

“I know; I can’t let him hurt her.”

*

My heart was still pounding as I sat on the picnic bench. He had a gun. He had a mother fucking gun. How was I going to warn Dean? Keith had taken my phone, so I couldn’t try to text anyone. I closed my eyes. Please, please, show up soon … but even if the cops did show up soon, would they know where we were? I had to hope that Dean was smart enough not to come until the cops had shown up, or that they were there before he headed out here. Or that he wouldn’t even come out here—that was the smart thing to do.

I bit my lip.

“I’m not going to kill you.”

“That’s not very comforting when you have a gun.” I opened my eyes and looked at the man in front of me. How could I stall him? How could I make him change his mind? “Has this been all you’re focus … since …?”

“He deserves to pay for what he did to her.”

I knew I had to be careful; I was walking on very thin ice, and I did not want to drown tonight. I chewed the inside of my cheek. “I have to ask, what makes you so sure he did it? I mean … I …”

“I know he did it. The way he treated her. It was obvious he just wanted her for her money.” He turned to me then laughed dryly. “Oh, he didn’t tell you? Did you think it was him who had all the money? No, she paid for them to open the casino, that was the only reason they got together in the first place. I told her again and again that was why he was in the relationship with her, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“You must really love her.”

“Of course, I do. I pretty much raised her.”

“Look,” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but I gotta ask—is this really what she would want you to do? I mean, what if you get caught? You’re going to go to jail.”

“I’ve already been to jail. That doesn’t scare me anymore.”

My mind raced as I thought about the news article I’d found online. Dean had been beaten; the article had said that they had a strong lead on a suspect.

I bit my tongue not saying anything. If I overstepped my bounds, he would realize I wasn’t here to help him.

*

My heart raced as I headed out of my office and caught sight of the men in police uniforms.

I rushed over to them. “Hello.”

“Sir, we need to speak to the manager.”

“I own this place.” I stared at the one in front of me. He was a foot taller than me, so I had to look up to lock eyes on him.

“We got a call from woman; she said she was worried about her boyfriend’s safety.” My heart skipped a couple beats. An hour ago, I would have been mad at her for doing it but now … now it was the only thing that could maybe get us both out of this.

“She was calling about me.”

“Excuse me.”

I took a deep breath. “There is a man name Keith Bright here. He is here to hurt me and now … and now he has Becca.” I realized the cop probably had no clue who I was talking about. “The girl who called you, and I just got a text saying that she was out back and that I should go meet her.”

“Sir, stay here. We will deal with this.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but they’d already started walking away, out the front door.

Fuck that. I wasn’t going to sit around and wait while Becca was in danger. I bolted for the side door.

“Dean!” Melina called after me, but I didn’t pay any attention to her. I knew that if I didn’t get out there first, Becca was going to be in danger.

Before I realized it, I was out the door. The cool air touched my skin, but it didn’t matter. I felt sweat touch the small of my back. God, please make sure she’s okay.

I wasn’t normally the praying type, but I would give (or try) anything to make sure she was okay. She didn’t deserve to be hurt because of me. This was my fault. Keith, Jessica’s death—it was my fault. I deserved whatever he wanted to do to me, but Becca didn’t deserve to have this happen to her.

He saw me as soon as I rounded the corner. Grabbing Becca, he held a gun to her head.

“If you care about this one, don’t come any closer.”

*

My heart rate picked up again as he grabbed me and pulled me close to him. I gasped. The cool metal of a gun touched my temple. I tried to scream, but his hand went to my mouth. Instead, I choked on my scream, and it turned into a sob.

“If you care about this one, don’t come any closer,” he hissed.

Dean held his arms up in the air. “Just let her go. She doesn’t have anything to do with this. I’ll trade places with her … please, just—”

“Shut up!” Keith shouted.

Dean didn’t say a word.

Damnit. He shouldn’t have come. He should have just waited. But he gave me a soft smile as he stepped forward; his eyes locked on mine.

“Becca, listen to me. It’s going to be okay.” He turned his attention to Keith. “Are you here to finish the job?”

“Yes.” Keith turned the gun from me to Dean. I tried to scream, but he still had my mouth covered. “I’m going to kill you for what you did to my sister.”

I struggled against his hold, but he kept a firm arm around me so I couldn’t move. I heard the safety on the gun click. My scream, although muffled by his hand came out louder. My heart raced; I had to do something. I had to save him. I had no clue how I was going to do that, but there wasn’t another option.

“Police!” A man shouted behind me. “Drop your gun, and let the girl go!”

Keith didn’t move. He stood there frozen. The barrel of the gun quivered against my temple. I whimpered. My heart raced.

Was this it?

Was I about to get killed because I’d had sex with a guy a couple times? I bit my lip, but tears ran down my cheek. I mean really, what was the point in trying not to cry while I was about to die?

“Drop your gun.”

The man said it again.

“Keith.” Dean stepped towards us.

No! He couldn’t. If he put himself in danger because of me. No. I was the one in danger because of him. Could I really blame him for this?

*

I stepped towards Keith. If he was going to kill someone, it was going to be me. “Keith, you don’t want to kill her.”

“I’m not the killer! You are.”

“No one move!” one of the police officers shouted.

“I’m not the killer!” Keith repeated. “He killed my sister.”

The gun moved towards me. Good. That was what I wanted, after all. If I could get the gun on me then—

Bang.

My heart skipped a beat.