Chapter Fifty-Six
Sawyer
I don’t think I’ve gotten such shitty sleep than last night in my entire life. Between nerves about Brynne’s meet-up today and her and Damon arguing all night, there wasn’t much time to sleep. Brynne finally conceded and agreed to allow us in the building while she met with Lantree. I don’t know if she is just delusional or if she actually thinks she is invincible. She can take care of herself, but she will never be faster than a bullet.
“Alright, that is the last one,” I say to Damon. We have been at the meet-up spot since five this morning. We needed to make sure Lantree didn’t get here first and try to set up a trap. We will be the only ones doing that, but only if he tries something fucking stupid. Brynne was very firm about that. None of us hurts Lantree unless absolutely necessary. I don’t understand how she can be attached to him just because she found out who he was. He tried to fucking kill her and Damon.
“Check one more time,” Damon demands. Ryker sighs from behind me.
“We are good Damon. She is safe,” I stress .
He narrows his eyes at me. “This is an awful idea. We should just go to the convention tomorrow and shoot them all in the head,” he says angrily.
“Brynne would personally cut your balls off if you take those kills away from her. She deserves to be the one to take out Westmoore and Featherstone,” Ryker says.
“It’s a good thing I don’t need my balls to still fuck
her,” Damon retorts. “I don’t want him less than two feet away from her. If he is at arm’s length, then that’s too fucking close. I don’t care if she can handle him or not,” he adds before walking away to his assigned spot. We all are going to be hiding out in the building to have eyes everywhere. If Lantree tries to come early to bring other people, we will know.
I contemplated having Brynne wear a tiny camera or at least a wire today, but Lantree would spot it a mile away. We have to rely on Brynne's optimistic mind that this plan will work. Matteo walks over to me and Ryker and points behind him.
“What’s up his ass? I thought he and Brynne finally came to an agreement last night,” Matteo asks.
“I don’t think he will be behind this plan ever, but he knows Brynne will do it with or without us,” I explain.
Ryker looks down at his phone. “It's almost time,” he interjects.
“Let’s get in place just in case he does decide to surprise us,” I say. I still don’t know where Damon went, but hopefully, he is in his spot too. We can't jeopardize this meet- up, especially if it works out. This could potentially be the exact opening we need.
I get in my spot and instantly hear a door creak open. I won't know if it’s Brynne or Lantree until they get to the second level. I know why Brynne picked this build. It was the place where we had our first kill together. Of course, I couldn’t participate, but she made sure I could watch and that’s when I knew I loved her.
Heavy footsteps echo throughout the empty building. There are no windows and birds fly through the openings, masking any little noises made by us or whoever is walking up the stairs. The footsteps stop and moments later there is another set of footsteps but coming from the other end of the building. I see Brynne come out of the shadows at the same time Lantree appears at the entrance to the second floor.
“Well, if it isn’t Dr. Bryne Thornton,” he drawls in a menacing tone. I don’t like her name on his tongue whatsoever.
“Asher,” she says plainly.
“Awe so you do remember me,” he places his hand over his chest. “Let’s get this done and over with. I have work to do,” he pushes.
“You don’t have time for your dear old sister?” Brynne taunts. This goddamn woman is playing with fire and she doesn’t look scared one bit.
“You didn’t seem to have time for me back then so why should I give you my time,” Asher confesses. “Just give me the tape and I won't kill your boy toy,” he taunts. I watch Brynne’s eyes blaze with anger.
“How about we talk about a better deal,” she offers. Asher smirks and starts walking toward her. She keeps her ground and doesn’t back away from him. He stops at arm's length from her. If he tries anything, we will all be on him in seconds. The image of Damon getting carried into Brynne’s house flashes in my head. Seconds could be too long if he decides to give Brynne the same fate.
“What if I told you I could get you out of whatever deal you have with Hachett? Being his little errand boy doesn’t suit your talents anyway,” she shrugs.
“I am not anyone's errand boy. Who says I want out of my deal? I could kill you right here and take the tape and be done with you,” he says. I get ready to strike, but he stands still.
“Except if anything happens to me, the other videotape will get leaked,” she smirks.
“What other tape?”
“You really don’t know much about covering your
tracks Asher. Deleting the security footage at the office would have worked if I didn’t have a friend who was recording from another location. You may have deleted it from your end, but I have a very interesting video of you and Mrs. Hachett,” Brynne pauses. “It truly is a shame that she is missing. The public would be really curious to know who the last person was to see her alive. But I think they would be even more shocked when they find out Mr. Hachett was the one who hired his security to kill his wife. You won't have a deal after that gets leaked,”
Brynne makes a fake sad face.
Asher's eyes darken and I watch his chest rise and fall faster. If Brynne keeps pissing this man off, we won't know how he will react. “What could you possibly offer that would be better than I have now?” Asher asks.
“How about the two million dollars that Mr. Hachett took out in life insurance on his wife last year? He really was thorough with his plans,” Brynne takes a step forward and they are practically chest to chest. Sirens blare in my head, but my body fights me on stepping in. “I just need any opening to get to him. I will take care of everything and you get the money.” She pauses. “All of it,” she adds.
“What do you get out of it?” he asks.
“I get to rid this world of another monster,” Brynne
admits.
“What are you some vigilante now?” Asher teases.
“No, I’m making sure no one has to go through what
we did as kids,” she says firmly. Something flashes in Asher’s eyes and they soften.
“There's no way you're going to be able to get him alone. He has beefed up his security ever since Penfield’s death.” Asher tilts his head to the side. “Not the smartest
timing,” he adds.
“Maybe,” Brynne shrugs. “I don’t need to be alone with him. I just need to make sure that I can get into the conference tomorrow,” she explains. This was the only reason I was behind this plan. No amount of hacking would allow me to change the list of people with clearance to go to the event. They were smart about keeping that list hidden and off the computer. I guess using paper and pen has its benefits after all.
“How can I be sure you won't fuck me over and take
the money and run?” Asher asks.
“Because I could have just killed you when you got here for what you did to Damon. Call it a guilty conscious maybe,” Brynne shrugs. “You will always be my brother Asher,” she adds.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he says firmly. “What about the video?”
“What video?” she winks. “If I get confirmation that you got me into the event, the video will cease to exist,”
Brynne adds .
“And we are supposed to just trust each other?” Asher says plainly.
“Once upon a time, I trusted you with my life. So yes,” Brynne says confidently. I didn’t realize how close she was to this man. She only ever talks about Clara with us. Unless they had a romantic relationship and she didn’t want us to know. I look down at both of them and analyze Asher’s body language. He is like a fucking statute, not showing any emotion. He and Brynne are more alike than we thought.
“I’ll contact you tomorrow morning, I expect my money wired to me next week,” Asher commands.
“Is that when Mrs. Hachett’s body will turn up?”
Brynne smirks. Asher narrows his eyes. “Done,” Brynne says softly. Asher turns around to leave but stops when Brynne calls his name. “I expect you to pay me back for the haunted house,” she says.
“What?” he says confused.
“You saw me naked, it's only fair,” she winks. Asher tries to hide his smirk but fails. There is a weird wave of
familiarity that flashes between them and I hate it. As much as Brynne thinks she knows this man, at the end of the day he still works for Hachett. Anybody who associates themselves with these people has got to know their sinful secrets.