Page 10 of His Witness To Have

"I wanted to ask for one more chance, Brie," he said finally before pausing.

That was now what Brie was expecting to hear. Her confusion indicated with a "What?"

Bryan placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I want you to please give me another shot. Another chance to prove to you that I can be the man you want me to be."

"Listen, Bryan, it's getting late," Brie finally managed to say, breaking free from his gaze, "I have to leave soon if I want to getback on time. I can't have Rachel and her grandparents worry about my whereabouts. I'll call you…"

And with that, she slipped away from his hold and walked quickly into the taxi cab. She looked away from him as the taxi started moving, but she could feel that he was still standing, watching as the vehicle disappeared into the road.

Where exactly was her life heading to?

CHAPTER TEN

Mack got home that evening. Frustrated from every part of his life. Somebody had somehow been watching him as he entered the former den of the Brotherhood of Blood. As soon as the shrine of kidnapped women was discovered, and when he left to get back up, everything disappeared.

Everyone in the police force and the FBI thought he had gone insane on arriving at the scene. He could swear with every nerve in his body that he saw what he saw, but nobody believed him.

Then on getting to the police station to try to convince them there, he encountered another unexpected event. Brie was back in Chicago. His joy grew no bounds when he saw her, but it was immediately diminished when he saw her with someone else, her hand in his. Why did it have to be Bryan, of all people?

He knew of her past relationship with him. He knew how he made her feel, so what was she doing holding hands with Bryan at the police station? Did he convince her to leave Destiny Falls with him to mock him? Did she by some chance still love him? He had so many unanswered questions and so few answers to them.

Mack felt heartbroken. He felt bad for leaving her in the firstplace. Maybe she would’ve been his instead. He reminded himself of the beautiful night they shared a bed in Destiny Falls. Her body, her soul, her everything was his for the night, but he didn’t stay to own it longer. He left her wanting, and she probably felt rejected by him.

Mack was confused. All parts of his life were falling apart. He was well on the way to losing his job and the woman he loved at the same time. How much worse could things get?

He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, letting the drops of the cold waterfall to his feet before getting in. He stood, allowing the water to wash his entirety from top to bottom. He wished the water could wash away his rotten luck. He had too much of it to handle on his own.

When he stepped out of the shower, he spotted his phone on the counter. It lit up, and he went to check out what had come in.

It was a text from an unknown number. It had a picture attached to it, and when he opened it, he saw an image of the shrine he saw at the building earlier in the day. Brie’s picture was encircled in a red outline, and he read the text below:

I’m really coming for her this time.

Mack went rigid. Whoever this was must be the same person who cleared up the shrine before he got there with his team.

Mack got angry. He responded to the text:

Where are you?

He waited patiently for a reply, and after two minutes, he didn’t get one. This was getting harder and harder for him.

After he dried up and got dressed, another text came in:

Come along, and let’s negotiate. November 27th. Under the South Gate Bridge. 8:30 pm.

Something felt off. He had studied Kamal for years, and he knew his tactics, but he was always somehow one step ahead of him. He didn’t want to mess up this time, so he needed to have a plan. He checked the date and realized that it was November 21st. He had six days to do something different this time.

Brie was the main target. His heart twitched when he thought of her as a victim again. He knew Brie was the one who brought Kamal into the light, and he would stop at nothing to have her killed; he was sure of it.

Mack navigated to his call log and placed a call to Brie. It was almost 9 pm, and he feared she would be asleep by now, but he had to get to her as soon as possible.

She picked up at the last ring and answered in a groggy voice. She was definitely sleeping and didn't look at the caller ID before she picked up.

"Hello?" she said, the sleep evident in her voice.

"Hi Brie," Mack said nervously.

Brie jumped from the bed as soon as she recognized the voice. She walked out of the room because she didn't want to wake Rachel and went to the balcony.

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