Chapter Seventy-One Aubrey
Chapter Seventy-One
Aubrey
The shot lodged in the coffered ceiling. I lowered the gun and aimed it at Lukas’s chest. “Did you actually think I’d come
to a knife fight without a gun?”
Lukas lay sprawled on the floor on his side, lifting his upper body and balancing on his elbow. Jeremy had landed hard but
kept his hand on Lukas, pinning him down. Jeremy also kept his gaze on the knife a few feet away. It would take a lunge to
grab it, and Hanna blocked the path.
Lukas held out a hand. “Give me the weapon.”
The days of him telling me what to do were long over. I didn’t even like that part back then. “Get a fucking clue.”
“What’s the plan here?” Leave it to Hanna to jump right to the big question.
“What does it look like? We’re going to end him.” I pointed the gun at Lukas. His fat head stayed in my sights. All those
afternoons at the shooting range had taught me how to fire and how to hit a target.
“We’re?”
Marni’s voice. She stood beside me.
“Nice of you to join us.” I didn’t mean that, but still.
Marni’s gaze shifted from the gun to the bodies on the floor. She snuck a peek at Stella, but Stella was glaring at Lukas,
clearly too busy contemplating what he would look like with a bullet hole in his forehead to notice.
I snapped my fingers to get Marni’s attention. “Don’t even think about touching the gun. I now know you started the mess that
day that ended my family. You and your affair and that damned bracelet, not Hanna. Remember that.”
Marni slowly nodded.
With that done . . . “Ladies and Jeremy. The bottom line is simple. Lukas can’t win.”
“He’s going to prison.” Stella didn’t sound convinced of her own argument. It was more like she said it out of habit, because
she was supposed to be all law and order.
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s a smarmy attorney. He argues for a living.” He was a liar who picked the pieces of the law he wanted
to follow and absolved himself from the rest. “He’ll argue his way out of trouble. Hell, he fooled you for years.”
Stella’s gaze snapped to me.
Too much? I couldn’t tell yet. I needed Stella pissed and ready to fire but at him, not me. I’d shoot her without hesitation
but that wasn’t the goal here. I wanted his blood.
Hanna tried again. “You needed the truth exposed. It has been.”
Always the naive peacemaker. I hated that about her. She was much more appealing when she lashed out.
Lukas eyed the knife and extended his arm just a fraction. “She’s the one—”
Jeremy pressed his hand harder against Lukas’s side. “You should shut up.”
Enough of this boredom.
I handed the gun to Stella. “Kill him.”
“Stella, no.”
If Lukas kept piping up like that I might take the gun back and shoot him. “Why are you still talking?”
Now. Back to Stella. “He cheated on you with a teenager. Talked about you. Joked about you being a shitty therapist who didn’t
know anything about her husband or any other man.”
Lukas moved another inch. His body stayed still but he stretched. It was subtle. Smart. It wouldn’t work, but good try and
all.
Tension snapped across his shoulders and in his tone. “Jesus. Stella. You know that’s not true.”
Stella frowned. “Do I?”
That’s my girl.
“Stella, don’t.” Hanna moved then. She slid on the floor. Got closer. “Aubrey wants you to do the dirty work so she can keep
her hands clean.”
She needed to stop. “You’re annoying me, Hanna.”
She didn’t take the hint. “You’ve exposed Lukas. That’s enough.”
“Hardly.” Hanna acted like I wouldn’t kill her if she messed this up for me. I had no idea why she thought that.
“I called the police.” Jeremy rushed out the words. Looked at his mom as if asking her if he could grab the gun or the knife
faster.
I admired his spirit. “Nice try but I set off the motion sensor on the far side of the pond. The police will be busy for a little while. We have time to get this done, but not much.”
They forgot I’d been planning this. I didn’t ride into town two weeks ago to wing it. They’d all been dancing and singing
in an opera I designed.
Lukas sat up. “You’re insane.”
I guided my hand until it cradled Stella’s. Wrapped her fingers around the gun. She needed a tighter grip before she could
pull the trigger or she’d shoot poor Jeremy’s head off.
I leaned in. Whispered in her ear. “He ended your marriage, then blamed you for it. Almost stole your ability to have a child.”
Hanna shifted to her knees. “Aubrey, back off.”
Nah, I was winning this round. I continued to work on Stella, forcing her control to stumble. “You’re a strong woman. He tried
to make you weak. Fight back.”
“Stella, don’t. You do this and the spotlight shifts to you. You’ll have to defend yourself.” Hanna had her hands on the floor
like she was going to do something ridiculous like stand up. “You could lose Everly.”
Stella’s love for that kid was a potential problem. I needed Stella’s focus here, not there. “Lukas deserves to die.”
He made his move. He jumped up, knocking Jeremy off-balance. I fired the gun as Stella rammed into me and Marni pushed my
arm up higher. The shot went wide. The window behind Lukas’s head shattered.
He made it the whole way to his feet before Hanna stepped in front of him. She held the knife. Stood only inches away from
him.
Stopped him cold with the blade she looked intent on using. “Don’t tempt me.”
Footsteps pounded in the hall. Police raced toward us. I could see the uniforms and the guns. They called for everyone to
get down.
Well, shit.
Didn’t they all realize we didn’t have much in the way of real evidence against Lukas? That recording from Stella’s weird
mom helped, but there was no way that lady would hold it together against slick lawyer boy. A lot of people saw a lot of individual
pieces, but no one saw everything.
No, Lukas would talk his way into being governor before he did jail time.
Jeremy had a hand on Lukas’s arm, but Hanna’s hand was the one that mattered. She held that knife like an expert. Aimed it
right at Lukas’s stomach.
“Give me a reason to kill you. Because I could do it and sleep just fine,” she whispered.
I wanted him to test her, but he relented. With a painful slowness, he put his hands in the air. The smart man finally recognized
the extent of Hanna’s rage. He’d crossed a line when he touched her son.
Stella took a step forward and punched Lukas. Sent him flying backward.
Not how I wanted this little scene to end but I’d take it. “Game over.”