27. Life And Death #2
Ares gives me a subtle nod. He looks almost distracted, tapping on his smartwatch when he speaks next. “Ok, then. If that’s what you want, Bex, we’ll be on our way.”
“Yeah, fuck this shit.” I pretend to be mad at her. “So what about the hockey mask that was on Candace’s bedroom floor? And those bruises on your neck and face? Why the break in?”
My words cause her father to tense up. He pulls Bex even closer to his side with a sudden shove.
Bex struggles against his hold.
“He’s forcing me to say this!” she cries out. “Kev and Kurt were working together. Leave, guys, he has a gun!”
“ENOUGH!” her father bellows.
For someone without much of an athletic background, her father moves fast. He grabs Bex by her hair, pulling her in front of him. His taller stature makes it easy to hold her hair on the top of her head, pulling her face back against his neck.
A small, black gun that he must have had pointed at her back is now pressed against the bottom of Bex’s chin.
“Let’s cut the bullshit, gentlemen, shall we?
” he smirks. “Yes, I sent Kevin to get Rebecca and bring her back to me, where she belongs. And yes, Kurt Priestly and Kevin have been working together to make that happen. Stealing your hockey masks and workout clothes was my idea, by the way. The original plan was to convince Rebecca that she wasn’t safe with you and her brother.
That one of you was stalking her. It almost worked.
You had been making things so easy for me at first. You didn’t want her there, and that’s how I got the idea of the hockey mask.
If she didn’t feel safe with you, she would have had nowhere else to go but back to me. ”
Fucking disgusting.
Ares gives me another nod, encouraging me to keep Byron Harper talking.
“How did you know that we didn’t want her with us?” I ask.
His answer confirms my hunch.
“The new phones I gave all my clients. I installed a stealth spy app on each device. I could see and listen to all their communication and listen remotely whenever their device was near them. I knew my plan was working until one of you destroyed her phone.”
I fucking knew it. “So you had to change tactics?”
There’s unbridled rage in Bex’s father’s eyes, but also something else. Something more unhinged, more sinister.
The small hairs all over my body stand on alert, preparing myself for the worst.
“When she started getting closer to all of you and believing that you couldn’t possibly want to hurt her, and I had no way to know what was going on, I had to kick things up a notch.
I had faith in Kurt, but he failed. Things were easier than I thought, though, because once Kurt was arrested, you thought you were safe and you lowered your guard.
You never thought that Kurt stole two masks. So Kevin’s mission was successful.”
“You’re wrong.” Jamie bites out. “Bex doesn’t want to come back to live with you. And we’re here. You can bet every cent you have that we aren’t going to leave without her.”
Byron Harper’s gaze hardens. “You’re the one who’s wrong, Hart. Bex is still under contract with my agency; she’s mine. My flesh and blood, my property. She’s going to fall in line and serve her purpose, and there’s nothing you and your friends, including her brother, can do about it.”
“Bex isn’t a thing.” Connor confronts him. “You can’t keep her here against her will. And you can’t force her to live by your rules. Let her go, Doctor Harper.”
“Dad,” Bex pleads. “Please let me go with them. I’m begging you. If you do, maybe we can work this out in a way that doesn’t completely destroy your life.”
He laughs, digging the gun harder against her chin.
“Destroy my life? And how do you propose to do this, Rebecca? You’ve brought the police with you.
This can end one or two ways.” He looks at each of us.
“It’s either your friends leave and tell the sheriff that you came back here willingly, or things aren’t going to end well for them and for you.
I have armed guards on high alert and believe me when I tell you that unless your friends get back into their car and drive away, they’re not going to live to tell the tale. ”
Ares takes his gun out of its holster with lightning speed. He must have had it open from the moment he got out of the car.
“Doctor Harper, you know I can’t let that happen. Lower your weapon slowly and put it on the ground. Let Bex go and I’ll tell the sheriff that you eventually cooperated. If you don’t, I’ll have to shoot.”
I know what Ares is doing. He’s calling Bex’s father’s bluff.
But I don’t think Byron Harper is really bluffing. He called Bex his property, not his daughter.
My hunch is confirmed by his next words.
“Put your gun away, officer. Or I’ll shoot Rebecca.”
Fuck. I assess the situation, my combat training always at the back of my mind. I have fast reflexes and I wouldn’t hesitate to jump in to shield Bex from a bullet. But the way he has his gun dug deep into her skin tells me that if he shoots, she’s gonna be dead before I even reach them.
Ares knows that too. “Doctor Harper, Byron, you aren’t going to shoot your daughter. Let her go.”
“Put your gun away, officer. She stays here with me, or I’ll destroy her rather than letting you take her. It’s your last chance.”
The click of the safety being disengaged tells us that he means it. We need to leave, or Bex is dead. But if we do, we might never see her again and leave her to a fate that might be worse than death.
However we look at it, Byron Harper has us in a chokehold.
Just when I think that everything is lost, a red dot, a laser, appears on Byron’s forehead.
“Let Bex go, Doctor Harper,” Ares demands. “That laser is coming from one of the snipers on the SWAT team that has surrounded your property. There are several of them aimed at you right now. If you press that trigger, you’ll be dead, too.”
“Dad,” Bex loses the battle with her tears, her voice shaking with terror. “Please don’t do this. Please let me go. I know you don’t care if I die, but they’ll kill you, too. Please.”
He laughs again. “And then what? You go back to waste your talents, to being a puck bunny, and I rot in jail? Well done, Rebecca. I guess you got what you wanted. But this is on you.”
With a sudden movement, Byron Harper lets Bex go, shoving her forward. At the same time, he turns the gun to himself.
The single gunshot to his temple breaks the quiet of this new dawn.
As his lifeless body collapses to the ground, blood and gray matter splutter everywhere.
It’s gruesome and traumatic, and I know from experience that we’ll see this scene in our nightmares for a long time.
But that’s something we’ll have to deal with tomorrow.
Right now, the most important thing is to take care of the woman we love.
I run to her, reaching her at the same time as Connor and Jamie.
We’re all crying; I’m not ashamed to admit it.
“Kitten, are you ok?” It’s a stupid question, I know, but it’s what comes out of my mouth.
“Baby, you’re safe. We’ve got you.”
“Bex, beautiful. Please don’t cry. Let’s go home.”
Ares’s urgent voice interrupts our reunion.
“Guys, get in the car. The SWAT team is about to storm this compound. Hopefully the private security won’t put up a fight, but I want you out of here as quickly as possible.”
That’s easier said than done. We barely have a chance to get into Connor’s car with Bex, when all hell breaks loose.
A Bridgeport P.D. helicopter flies overhead around the entire property.
The SWAT team arrives to secure the area, and luckily none of the guards seem to want to put up a fight. They’re just hired security, after all.
Several police vans arrive at the scene, and every occupant of the main house and the other building is taken into custody.
It’s a preventative measure for the most part. But it’ll be the police job to establish who was just living and working here and who was involved in Harper’s sinister plans.
Kevin, Bex’s former dance partner, is one of the people taken into custody, but he’s the only one in handcuffs. One thing is for sure; he’s in as much trouble as Kurt Priestly. There’s no way he’s going to be able to talk himself out of kidnapping and assaulting Bex.
Once we’re given the all clear, we thank Ares as he follows the Bridgeport P.D. to the police station. I’m thankful to him that he talked the captain out of making us go to the station too, as it’s been a rough night. Sheriff Pullin will take our statements after giving us a few hours to sleep.
Bex was checked out by the paramedics who attended the scene and, thank fuck, has just a couple of nasty bruises. So when she declined to go to the hospital, we didn’t insist.
All we want is to be home and forget about this night as soon as humanly possible.
I offer to drive when I see that Connor and Jamie have no intention of letting Bex out of their sight for one second.
Thankfully, Connor’s SUV has a roomy back, because no one wants to take shotgun for the journey back to Star Cove.
“At least,” I glare at my best friends through the rearview mirror as I drive away from this hellish place. “Could someone call Luke and let him know that we’re on our way back?”
Bex asks to borrow one of our phones. “I should do it. I know he and Dad have been estranged for years, but I would rather he heard what happened from me.” She says, pointing at the three TV vans from different networks that are approaching the compound’s gate.
After Bex speaks to her brother, silence descends into our car.
Bex is asleep with her head on Jamie’s shoulder, and both he and Connor have their heads on top of hers.
A part of me wishes that I could have Bex in my arms right now, but I’m actually ok to be the one who drives us home safely.
I need this time to decompress, to come to terms with the fact that we almost lost everything tonight.
The drive is long but peaceful, and I realize when I pull up in front of our condo how Star Cove has become home in the few months since I arrived here for summer training.
I’m going to miss this place after graduation, but the thing about home is that it isn’t a physical place.
Home is where the people you love are. And for me, this is the three people in this car and my kitty cat Poonani.