CHAPTER THIRTY
“This is the house?” asked Saint.
“This is it,” said Griffin. “Matthew informed me that I was not bound to the property. That helped me a great deal. I was free to search, and it’s amazing the instincts you’re given as a ghost. She’s packing her things now, but she believes she’s gone mad after seeing me.”
“Good. That will be helpful for us,” said Saint. “Nice job, Griffin.”
“Even dead, I still got it,” he smirked. The others just chuckled and then watched as he walked through the front door of the house, ready to make Michelle even crazier.
“We all agree she cannot live,” said Eric.
The others nodded, moving to their locations to surround the house. The beach was clear, the surrounding properties empty. She was alone and losing her grip on reality.
Saint and Brax walked through the front door to see Michelle screaming at the image of Griffin. She kept trying to touch him, only for him to disappear and then reappear.
“You! You see him, right?”
“See who? Are you crazy, Michelle?” asked Saint.
“Wh-who are you two? Why are you here? How is he here?” she yelled at them.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” said Brax, slowly circling the woman, ensuring that she had no weapons.
“Don’t worry. She had one gun, but I emptied the chamber,” said Griffin. “There was a knife, but she didn’t grab that. Maybe she’s not comfortable with knives.”
“This is madness. It’s a hologram. You lived somehow, and this is a hologram!”
“I’m no hologram. You killed me, and you’re going to pay for it,” said Griffin. “You’re going to pay for killing my brother.”
“The bear killed your brother,” she said, shaking her head. “He was trained. I didn’t train him.”
“You killed my brother.”
“Did you know that you’re a clone?” asked Saint. She turned swiftly, staring at the men. “You didn’t know.”
“I’m not a clone.”
“You are. The original you is quite lovely. A schoolteacher who is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. She’s not a psychopath with delusions of power.”
“No. No, I was raised alone with my parents,” she said.
“No. You were raised in a lab along with your parents and some other people who saw to your education. But you’re not the real deal,” said Brax, swallowing the bile rising in his throat. He would never say such a thing to Stephanie. Or did he?
“You’re the ones who are mad. Not me. You!”
“You can’t live, Michelle. You’ve caused too many problems, risked too many lives. We’re going to have to end things for you,” said Saint.
She was backing up toward the deck of the beach house. It was a significant drop to the rocks below and the beach beyond, but if she jumped carefully, she could make a run for it.
“No. You won’t kill me. You won’t kill a woman.”
“They won’t. But I will,” said Griffin. “I’m a dead man. How would anyone be able to pin a death on a dead man? And more importantly, why would anyone care?”
Griffin began moving closer and closer to her and then let out a banshee-like scream, forcing her to cover her ears as he shoved her over the edge of the deck and to the rocks below.
Landing with a sickening thud and snap, Saint and Brax stared at the mangled body. She was still breathing. Barely. Suddenly, Griffin was standing over her, whispering to her as her eyes bulged.
“You didn’t know that our daughter was the engineer, did you? No. You didn’t know, and you wouldn’t have cared. She’s beautiful and perfect, and she’ll be married soon. You won’t live to see it. But I will. By the grace of a man who is far too good to be near you, I will see it.”
“C-crazy,” she gasped.
Placing his knee on her forehead, he pressed down and heard her neck snap. No one would suspect anything except a fall.
The only thing that mattered was that Michelle Fryar was dead.
As the others started to enter the home, they searched for electronics, documents, anything that might have information pertaining to the radioactive particles and the people exposed.
“I found it,” said Trevor, walking out with a large paper file. “It’s got almost all of the information in paper format.”
“I found two laptops,” said Bogey, nodding at his son. “I think you’re going to find everything that she possessed on these.”
“Good work,” said Eric. “Get everything outside to the vehicles, and we’ll get back to the plane. Saint? Burn it to the ground. Leave her body at the bottom of the deck but burn the house down.”
Saint nodded, grabbing several cans of gasoline from the garage, as well as some lighter fluid and barbecue starter. The place would be torched. Burned to the ground.
When the flames began kissing the sky, they boarded the jet to return home. Saint and Pax noticed that Brax was seated in the back of the plane, chewing on his fingers.
“What are you going to do about her?” asked Pax.
“I don’t know.”
“You love her, Brax. I know that you do,” said Saint. “This shouldn’t be that hard.”
“I’m not good enough for her. You guys know that. I’m not good enough for her.”
“Brother, you’re more than good enough for her. Just give her a chance. Tell her the truth, and she’ll listen. Don’t you think she carries her own insecurities about things? This won’t matter to her,” said Saint.
“I kissed her. It was a mistake because I’ll never experience anything like it again,” he said with a sad tone. He felt someone slap the back of his head, and it jerked forward. “Hey! That hurt.”
“It should hurt,” said Eric. “Don’t be a fucking idiot. Everyone can see that you have feelings for the woman, and God help her, she’s got feelings for you. Stop drowning in your pity party. Get your shit straight and talk to her. She’s worth it, Brax.”
“He’s right,” said Luke. “Did you know that she interviewed with the Comeaux brothers for their construction company?”
“What?” he yelled. The entire plane turned to stare at him. “Why in the hell would she do that? That’s beneath her.”
“Why don’t you ask her? Nicely. She did it because she can’t stand to look at your ugly fucking face any longer and know that you don’t want her,” said Luke. “God, I swear sometimes you guys are dumb as fence posts.”
The others all chuckled, but Brax didn’t find any of it funny.
“Don’t worry, lover boy,” smiled Evie. “We’ll be home shortly, and hopefully, you can stop her.”