Chapter 25 #2
He let go of her hair and clapped slowly into the quiet room.
“Very good, Mickey. But, I mean, it shouldn’t have been too hard to figure out.
How do you think Pete knew you were in Mexico?
Or that I got Paula to let me into her home when she was alone before I could drug her and get her on a plane?
When you have as many years as I do in the FBI, it’s easy to slip through the cracks to get what you need. ”
The light flicked on and Mickey squinted to protect her eyes from the sudden brightness. “Don’t you mean slither?” Graham’s gruff voice sounded behind them and the man’s body stiffened against her back.
“I wasn’t expecting you here so quickly. I didn’t even get a chance to call and tell you what I had found.” The man turned her so they faced Graham who stood in the arched doorway, a gun pointed toward them. “But this will make things much easier.”
Graham nodded past them at the man hunched over at the table. “Is Harper alive? Or did you kill him too, Eric?”
“I didn’t kill anyone. Just because Pete was smart enough to use the razor blade I gave him, doesn’t mean his blood is on my hands.”
Mickey’s eyes devoured Graham. Her heart slammed into her ribcage and every muscle in her body yearned to fly into his arms. But she couldn’t. Her hands were still bound together and Eric stood at her back. He’d let go of her hair, but there was no telling what he’d do if she tried to move.
Her mind snapped to attention and focused on what Graham had said. “Eric? As in your partner?”
A dark scowl covered Graham’s face and anger flared in his eyes. “One in the same. How did I not see it sooner?”
Eric’s hot breath skimmed over the back of her neck and she shuddered.
“I made sure you always looked somewhere else. Who do you think’s been pulling the strings all these years?
Why do you think Harper was so pissed at you?
I was feeding into his misgivings about your ability to run the case.
‘Graham’s head just isn’t in it, sir. He’s too caught up with this girl, Mickey.
Wants to follow his gut again and not use his head.
’ It was too easy. But Harper started to question my word and poke around.
I needed someone to place the blame on, and you were already looking in that direction.
It would have been a nice, easy way to clean up the mess Pete left me. ”
Mickey ground her teeth together and asked, “What about what happened in Austin?”
“You told her, huh?” Eric chuckled. “Man, watching it eat you up inside the past month has been the funniest shit I’ve ever seen.
And knowing I was the one who put the whole thing in motion.
It killed me keeping it to myself. But then Harper started asking questions and Pete had to fuck everything up.
I couldn’t keep it hidden much longer, so I figured why not let Harper take the blame?
You’ve been bitching about how unfair he is like a whiney girl.
Thought you might find some poetic justice in it. ”
The lines in Graham’s face deepened and he clenched his jaw. “Why? Why would you do any of this?”
A moment of tense silence passed before he said, “It started for the money. I made dick with the FBI, and day after day I chased after drug dealers rolling in dough while I pinched pennies to make ends meet. It didn’t make sense.
When I switched over to the human trafficking division and I saw a chance to break into the market, I jumped in. ”
“You jumped into the market?” she asked through clenched teeth. Her stomach rolled. “You steal children from their mothers and sell them for sex. You are the lowest form of filth on this planet.”
Eric’s large hand shoved hard between her shoulder blades and she fell head first onto the floor.
Her conjoined wrists shot out in front of her to break the fall, but they pushed into her stomach and stole her breath as she landed on the floor.
Feet scurried behind her, and ragged breaths filled the air.
Bang!
“Motherfucker,” Eric yelled.
Bang!
Another shot rang out and Graham dove to the floor.
Eric’s words barely broke through the ringing in her ears, and she glanced up to see blood pouring down one arm, a gun poised in his hand.
Turning onto her back, she shifted her gaze to Graham.
Anger, hot and red, colored his face and his chest expanded with every breath he took.
His long body spread out on his side, and his gun trained on Eric’s head.
Eric fell toward the table and rested his heavy frame on the back of a chair.
His gun never faltered as it stayed aimed at Graham.
“You’re going to pay for that, you dumb shit.
I planned on killing you quickly, but not anymore.
Now I’ll make you watch while your little whore girlfriend begs for her life. ”
Mickey squeezed her eyes shut and tried to erase his words from her mind.
She opened them again and glanced at Eric.
All of his anger, all of his attention, was focused on Graham.
She couldn’t get caught up in the fear that threatened to paralyze her, she had to do something.
Using her core, she pulled herself into a sitting position, her legs still stretched out in front of her and her hands on her lap.
She slowly inched her feet toward her until her legs were crossed beneath her.
“But first,” Eric said. “I need to make sure you won’t get in the way.” He shifted the barrel of the gun and aimed it at Graham’s kneecap.
“What makes you think I’m going to let you shoot me?” Graham asked, as he got to his feet. “My gun is pointed right at you.”
“Because you’re an idiot in love.”
Mickey jumped up on the balls of her feet, lowered her head, and rushed head first toward Eric’s soft middle. Her aching shoulder connected with the spongy tissue and rammed him hard against the dining room table.
Bang!
A bullet pierced her flesh and pain burned into her chest, spreading like wildfire through her body.
She hit the ground hard, but she was so numb she didn’t register the impact.
Her eyes blinked and she tried to keep them open.
All the air left her lungs, but she didn’t have the energy to fill them back up.
She stared up from the floor and darkness misted around her vision.
Bang!
A man’s face hovered over hers and she willed her muscles to move…but it was no use. Her eyes drifted closed and before she gave into the comfort of escape, one thought fluttered through her mind.
She was the idiot in love, and now Graham would never know.