“Listen, I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about. I have never gotten involved with this organization and I—“
The figured steps forward so he is next to me and now fully engulfed in the light. Brian stops mid-sentence a look of disbelief and fear on his face. He is looking at the man next to me like he knows him. “What’s wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost, son.”
Son? Brian said his dad died in a fire. Oh my God. I look up at the man and his partially burned face. This can’t be real. I remember all of the stories Brian used to tell about his dad. The way he beat him. When I look back at Brian, I swear I see a glimpse of a scared child.
“How the fuck are you alive?” he almost whispers in disbelief.
“Brian, what the fuck is going on?” Ryan says from behind him.
“Ah, the cop. You know Brian at least when I told your bitch not to go to the police she fucking listened.” He raises his gun and quickly fires a shot. Ryan falls to the floor and I scream. Mason drops down to Ryan, strips his shirt off and holds it against his body.
The other guys draw their guns once more and point them at Brian’s dad. He trains his gun on me once more. As I hear multiple clicks behind me. “Go ahead and shoot, pussies, one of us will hit her in the head.”
“Put the fucking guns down!” Brian yells as he looks at me with a tormented expression on his face.
“What the fuck is going on!” Jake yells next to him.
“What’s going on is my son thought I was dead, and that he got away with murder.” Murder?
“What is he talking about, Brian?” Hunter asks behind him.
“You thought you won, you little shit, but you will never win against me. I told you that a thousand times. You are nothing compared to me. I have been waiting five years for you to find something that you cared about just so I could rip it the fuck away from you. Unfortunately, the first time you and your little slut were together I didn’t have the connections I do now. When you got involved with her again, it was like fucking Christmas.” He leans down his hand gripping a chunk of my hair and pulling me to my feet. “I’ll be nice and give you a choice. Do you want her or your friends to die first?”
I can see Brian’s chest rising and falling. His eyes are boring into his father’s. “You need to get your fucking hands off of her.”
“You may have all these dip shits fooled but I know you’re still the same little bitch you were when you were younger. Now…” His fist tightens in my hair and I scream. “Who. Goes. First?” Tears start to fall from my eyes as I take in the sight of the men before me. They came here to save me from a stupid decision I made, and now I’ve possibly led them to their death.
“Let her go, fucker.” Brian takes a step forward and the barrel of the gun is pressed into my temple. Pain shoots through my head eliciting another scream.
“Back the fuck off.” Brian begrudgingly takes a step back. “Now like I said you can choose if you want. If not I’ll pick for you. 5…4…3…2…1…” A laugh sounds before a gunshot rings out and I drop to the floor.
I curl into the fetal position not wanting to look up to see what happened. I feel arms circle me and I scream and kick. “Jules, it’s me stop.” Brian’s voice pleads with me and I freeze. His hands undo the material holding my wrists together and when I turn toward him he grips the end of the tape. “This is gonna hurt.” He yanks the tape off and I yelp.
“Get up.” A voice demands.
Brian stands his hands on my waist helping me up with him. Once I’m on my feet he moves me behind him and backs me toward his guys. I look over Brian’s shoulder to see his father lying on the floor blood pouring from a hole in his head.
A man comes out from behind the darkness. It’s the guy in the suit, the one from my office yesterday. “Did you bring the money?” I know he is talking to me but I can’t bring myself to answer.
“She did.” My hands tighten their grip on Brian’s arm.
“I didn’t ask you, now did I? Move.” The man seems so polished and sophisticated, the expensive suit he is wearing is flawless, and his dark hair is slicked back. He talks like he is educated and elicits an air of power.
“No.” Brian’s muscles tense under my hands.
The man raises his gun at Brian’s head. “There are two ways you can move, by using your feet, or by a bullet.”
I step to the side and Brian grips me keeping me in place. I push harder making my way around him. The man looks me up and down before smiling. “So sorry for my ex-associate. He has been with me for five years and this is the first time he has ever done anything to make me doubt his loyalty. I was unaware of his connection to you both.” Connection is putting it lightly. “Now, did you bring the money?”
“Yes.” My voice is barely a whisper. I’m scared out of my mind and completely at the disposal of the man standing in front of me.
“Get it.” I move toward the place I fell when I first came in, but Brian grabs my arm. “Let her go if you know what’s good for you.” Brian’s hand slowly lets my arm go, and I move toward the bag bringing it back to the man. “Is it all here?”
“Yes.” My voice shakes as I answer him.
“As long as you are true to your word, Miss Fisher, then we are done here.” He tosses the bag to a man standing behind him. “I didn’t intend for this to get so…” he looks behind me at Ryan on the floor, “messy.”
Messy? An innocent man is shot and that’s “messy?”
“You are all free to go. I don’t think I need to warn you about the repercussions of opening your mouths.”
He walks away and chaos breaks out around me. The guys pick up Ryan and carry him outside.
“Brian, call 911, tell them that there is an officer down!” Mason shouts his hand still pressing the shirt to what I think is Ryan’s chest.
I want to help, to do something. Everything is just happening so fast and I feel like I can’t breathe. A hand wraps around me and I jump before realizing it’s Brian. He pulls me to him. “Are you okay?” I nod, not finding the words. He takes a deep breath, gives me a kiss on the forehead, and then goes to help the rest of the guys.
I can hear the siren of the ambulance and within a minute, EMTs are jumping out of the truck and rushing over to Ryan. What the hell are they going to say happened to him? Brian comes up to me, takes my hand, and starts to lead me away toward one of the cars.
“Where are we going? Aren’t you going with him to the hospital?” I look back as we are walking and see they are strapping Ryan to the gurney.
“No, the guys and I agreed I needed to get you out of here before the cops show up and start questioning us.”
He opens my door and I sit down in the car. Once he gets in, he speeds away not saying another word to me. I want to talk to him. To ask him all the questions on my mind. There is an air of uncertainty between us, and I have no idea why.
When we pull up to Brian’s house, I get out and start to walk across the street.
“Don’t even fucking think about it, Jules.”
Chapter Twenty Four
I follow Brian into his house and quietly shut the door.
“What were you thinking, Jules? Why would you not have come to me? Do you understand what could have happened to you?” His tone is harsh and his hands are clenched at his sides. I can tell that he is angry, and I understand because of how stupid my actions were.
I start to cry as the gravity of the situation begins to settle over me. The adrenaline fading and the realism coming to light. “I’m sorry. He said he would kill you or Lacey. I didn’t know what to do!”
“You fucking come to me! You don’t go to meet goddamn criminals to pay them off on your own!” His face is red with anger and the muscles in his neck strain with each word.
I run my hands through my hair. I know meeting them was stupid. I know I should have asked him for help. That’s when all the questions I had come back. “How did you know about the money that Dan owed them?”