Harper
“Wade, go now. Now!” I yell at him when he still doesn’t move. “I’m not in danger right now! Colton is. She’s there with him. Go!”
I look to Sadie and she immediately turns back to her computer, clacking away before she writes something down on a neon pink sticky note and shoves it at Wade.
Wade looks over the note and then whips his head back up to ping-pong between me and Sadie. We don’t have time to explain to him. I just need him to go.
“Now, Wade!”
I’m gripping the phone so tight against my ear I can hear the glass groan as he nods once and then beelines it for the door, already calling it in to the rest of the security team.
Wade was calm on the phone when Colton finally answered.
Until he wasn’t. He said Colton’s name twice, and then his eyes connected to mine, and the next thing I knew, the phone was pressed to my ear and I was screaming, only to be met with silence.
I don’t know what’s worse: the silence or hearing Tessa on the other end. Tessa, whom I had trusted. The same Tessa who I watched only a few minutes ago carry a new laptop into my office and leave seconds later, my old one tucked under her arm.
It wasn’t hard for Sadie after that. She was able to get into the security network and unweave the measures Tessa had taken to protect herself.
Sadie keeps muttering something about looping, which apparently shows the same video on a never-ending cycle, instead of the live feed we should have been monitoring.
It was never something Sadie had considered, since there weren’t any signs the surveillance had been tampered with.
After all, there is no evidence your house was broken into when the burglar has the fucking key to the front door.
I gave her the key to the front door, and she had access to everything.
She didn’t change anything that made a breach obvious—no money went missing that sent up flags, no orders from places that wouldn’t be part of our regular inventory all she did was intercept the orders she needed, extra ones I wouldn’t be looking at, and then looped the footage during the delivery.
So all we would see if we looked was an empty delivery space, while she used her own people to move the shipments around and take their goods.
There is rustling on the other end before I hear her voice. The voice of an employee. Of a friend.
“Hello, sweetie. How is your night going?” asks Tessa,
She was smarter than us. She planned this. She had to have been going into my office and copying over software onto the decoy laptop for months before she finally made the swap.
“Hellooo, Harper? You were so chatty a minute ago,” Tessa whines into the phone, and I can practically hear the pout.
I close my eyes, trying to pretend this isn’t the same girl I used to comfort when she got overwhelmed and stay up late with, brainstorming new ways to incorporate carnival theme snacks into cocktails. Because fuck, this is Tessa. Sweet, innocent Tessa.
I hear a muffled groan from the other end of the phone and suddenly the picture I have of Tessa is accessorized by a thirty-eight lodged between her brows.
“What do you want, Tessa?” I ask, rage coating my words. “Or should I call you by your official title, Jester? Stupid fucking name, by the way,” I tell her. Not trying to provoke her, but unable to keep the hate to myself.
“Oh Harper, no one likes a sore loser,” she says in a singsong voice, as if this is all a joke.
“What the fuck do you want, Tessa?”
“Well, you have something of mine and now I have something of yours. I think we should trade.”
“You want to trade?” I repeat, watching Sadie stare at me wide-eyed and point to her ear until I hold the phone out and place the call on speakerphone.
“Yes, I want to trade. God, you’re slow today.”
“And why would I make that trade?” I scoff, hoping she can’t hear the bluff in my voice, or the sound of my heartbeat trying to escape my chest.
“Oh, because you would do anything for this one here. I thought at first you two were just fucking, was trying to get buddy-buddy in the hopes he would let some of your secrets slip. But then his ex-girlfriend shows up, and you absolutely lose your shit?” The memory floods me—Tessa walked outside and caught me letting my rage out with a bat.
“Miss high and mighty brought down by a pretty face. Who saw that coming?” I close my eyes, knowing I’m fighting a losing battle.
I know there is no choice but to agree, and so does she.
“Fine, meet me back here at Cirque,” I tell her. “I’ll have what you want.”
“Ha, I’m not stupid. You have Wade with you. I’ve learned from the best after all, and I’m not dumb enough to get trapped by you.”
“Wade left about five minutes ago with Sadie, headed right to you, Tessa. You learned from the best, but apparently you weren’t paying attention,” I tell her, my voice sweet.
“Did you really think he would be important enough to me for you to use as bait, but not important enough to make sure I always know where he is?”
“Even you aren’t crazy enough to put a tracker on your own boyfriend,” she scoffs, not believing I would have done anything I deemed necessary to keep him safe.
“Try me bitch.”
I hear a mumbled fuck and then some rustling before she comes back to the phone.
“Tell me where it is and I’ll bring him to Cirque,” she growls, mad to be giving any concessions in what she expected to be a one-sided negotiation.
“Suspender buckle, right side,” I answer, knowing she’s running out of time to get out of there before Wade catches up to them. “And Tessa? If you’ve hurt him, I’m going to string you up and watch you bleed out.” I let the words sink it before I end the call.
Sadie stares at the phone for a beat.
“All right,” I say, standing up and straightening my suit jacket. “Let’s get ready for a show.”
I hear the beep of the door before the metal creaks as it’s pushed open.
“Harper!” Tessa booms through the space as she walks into Cirque.
“I’m here,” I call back, making her meet me on the stage, not willing to risk having to navigate around tables and chairs if she tries to make a run for it. Next to me are the wrapped bricks of white powder, out in the open so she can’t miss them.
She’s cast in darkness as she weaves through the tables, pushing a stumbling form next to her. It isn’t until she walks the step to the stage that the spotlight shines on her…and the person she is half dragging.
“I’m going to fucking kill you.” I take a step towards her, hands clenching as if I can already feel the softness of her neck beneath my fingers.
“No, no,” she sings, holding up a gun to Colton’s side. “You stay right there. You’ve caused me enough fucking problems today.”
His suspenders hang loosely at his sides, frayed and torn where Tessa cut off the buckles.
I’ll have to find a new place for the tracker in the future.
His once white shirt is coated in blood around the collar, the blond ends of his hair matted where the wound has continued to bleed.
The side of his head is no better. He has a jagged line that stretches down his hairline, the surrounding area already swelling with a mottled black and blue hue.
I’m going to tie each of her limbs to a different aerial silk and pull.
Tessa stops them about ten feet away. Colton sags against her, looking ready to collapse at any moment.
“Bring them over here,” she orders, thinking this is suddenly her show.
I lean down and grab the first brick, then another, tossing them into the space between us. Like Hell am I going to make this easier for her. She scoffs as if I’m being childish, but I know in order for her to carry out what she came for, she needs to let go of Colton.
“How do you see this playing out, Tessa?” I ask her, putting my hands in my pockets, letting her know I’m no threat.
At least not right now. She lifts the gun in my direction, letting Colton melt to the floor as she takes a tentative step forward, eyeing me warily as she gets closer to where the bricks are scattered between us on stage.
I don’t know how she even got him here. His chest is still moving up and down, but it’s shallow and labored.
“Well, I was thinking a murder-suicide situation fit best. Everyone knows you two are together, and it’s not like anyone would have trouble believing you killed him if he ever tried to leave you.
” She laughs to herself as she shifts a bag from her back with one arm, shoving the brick inside while she keeps her eyes on me.
The other holds the gun, hands steady and comfortable with her finger firm against the trigger.
“I’ll probably have to kill Sadie and Wade now too, which is a shame.
He’s hot. Your sister on the other hand I’m happy to get rid of, never been my biggest fan to be honest. You probably should have listened to her.
Or, better yet, just keep your nose out of my business.
But noooooo, had to go and insert yourself didn’t you.
” She rolls her eyes as she shuffles over to the second wrapped brick, which rolled a little further than the first.
“Yes, because this is clearly my fault,” I laugh, knowing the less I panic, the more under her skin I get. She grabs the second brick and stands to shove it into the bag. I might be getting under her skin a little too much.
“Yes, you dumb, selfish cunt. You have everything and you don’t deserve it.
All you think about is yourself. Do you know how much business we could be bringing in if you just let up on your stupid rules?
This shit,” she holds the bag up, “is good quality product, and it sells. You have no fucking morals, but this is your line. You’re a joke, and you’re holding this place back.
” She spits at me. “So yes, Harper, this is entirely your fault. I counted on that selfish black heart of yours to be your downfall. Did you know that if you had just thanked your sister for the new laptop the minute I switched them, none of this would have even been possible? But I know you, Harper, and you didn’t disappoint.
Sitting on your fucking throne pretending like you aren’t scared of anything, but I found something for you to fear.
” She gestures behind her to where Colton lies, chest barely moving.
“So, you think you can do this better than me? That you watched me for a few years and know all the tricks of the trade?” I nod, pursing my lips as I think about it.
“You did well, Tessa, honestly, you did. You were thorough, you were smart, and you played me.” I shrug, taking a step towards her as she follows my lead, taking a step back, as I knew she would.
I smile. “You did make a mistake though,” I lift a finger, tapping it against my mouth as I take another step forward, pushing her back once again.
“I’m scared of lots of things,” I say, eyes darkening as I scan her from head to toe, lingering on where she stands. “I’m just not scared of you.”
I hear the lever flip, and there is a moment where the whole stage feels frozen. Tessa’s mouth opens, recognizing the sound. With no time to turn and run, the floor beneath her drops, and her eyes lock onto mine for a split second before she falls.
And falls.
And falls.
There is a crash below as she finally lets the hard ground catch her descent to the space below the stage. It’s not a far enough drop for her to be seriously injured, which is why I hear Jame’s voice a second later, reading Tessa her rights as she groans.
Good, I want her alive to play with.
I run around the opening to drop to Colton’s side, turning him over and cradling his head, a poor attempt to put pressure on the wound.
His eyelids flutter but don’t fully open, as Sadie comes to me, already on the phone giving the address to the person on the other line, asking for an ambulance.
“Colton, Colton, baby, you have to stay awake, okay?” I plead, my voice cracking as his lips curve into a smile.
“Sunshine,” he whispers, the word barely audible.
“I’m here, Colton. I’m here. Please, please don’t leave me. I need you okay. I need you to stay here.”
My begging falls on deaf ears as Colton’s smile loosens, his body going slack against me.
No, no, no, this can’t happen.
I didn’t tell him that I forgive him. I didn’t tell him that these last few weeks without him have been agony. I didn’t ask him why he calls me sunshine.
I didn’t tell him I love him.