Page 105 of Three
“Me neither, since he didn’t give a fuck about me,” she mutters. “What did you do, Jasper?”
He grips the gun tighter, and I almost give Uri the order to shoot.
“You don’t get it yet? You’re such a mediocre detective. That little bitch ruined everything the evening she killed Cal. Everything! We had such a good thing going. Nobody suspected us.”
Motherfucker! Did he just admit he abused children with his brother? That he is the other guy from Loretta’s diary?
“Us?” Hunter’s body starts to tremble, his nostrils are flaring, eyes blazing. His fury expanding around him like a tangible, living thing.
“I hated you for so many years!” Jaspers snarls at Hunter. “Wanted to see you dead for killing Cal. For ruining my entertainment. But I knew an ex-cop in a prison was a fate even worse than death. So, I let it be. When you got out, I had found other ways to enjoy my little hobby, and you were so weak and pathetic. Revenge wasn’t tantalizing anymore.” He waves the gun before pointing it at Hunter again. “Then that fucking letter arrived.”
“He got a letter too,” Gabe voices. Malcom wrote two letters then.
“That girl died, but she was still giving me problems.”Loretta.
“Why did you order a hit on her father?” Hunter growls so viciously, I can barely understand him.
“Because at first, I thought it was him who sent me the letter. My mistake. In my defense the letter was anonymous, just like the one you received. Yes, the junkie told me.”Malcom.“He was waiting for me outside the bathroom in that hotel, accusing me of ruining Loretta’s life and trying to blackmail me. Idiot! He figured out who I was from her stupid diary. Found it in an old box her father sent him. So, he had to die, and you as well. It’s only poetic justice that it will happen here, don’t you think?” He points at the bloodstain on the floor.
“Did you order a hit on Hunter too?” Opal’s voice is a weak whisper, her hand is squeezing Hunter’s arm. She looks deeply upset.
Jasper arrogantly raises a brow at her. “He’s a damn P.I., I knew it was just a matter of time for him to start sniffing around, and I have a career to protect. Though, you have to see how incompetent bothof you are at your jobs. You never suspected a thing about Cal and me.”
I need to kill him. Now!
“Nobody did!” Opal finds her voice again, pushing away from Hunter. “You’re so twisted inside, fucking sick. You disgust me, just as Cal did.” She spits on the floor.
“Bold statement when you have a gun aimed at you.” I see that unpleasant smirk on Jasper’s face just before he pulls the trigger. The thunderous sound reverberates along the church nave, making my heart stop beating.
I go from feeling terrified, frantic, fucking furious, bordering unhinged, and deranged to being utterly numb. My hand doesn’t hurt anymore. I can’t feel the soft cotton fabric of my shirt on my skin, nor my jeans. The ache in my muscles is gone. The cold temperature doesn’t affect me, the drops of sweat rolling down my spine disappear. Can’t smell the stale, moldy air anymore. I have the urge to accept this nonetheless. Because if something happened to Hunter, the pain would be too devastatingly excruciating for me to survive.
Then Opal stumbles and grunts in pain. I see a red spot taking shape on her green sweater at shoulder height. “Fuck!” she screams. Hunter moves quickly to push his palm over the wound, sending a homicidal glare at Jasper.
My eyes slide up and down his body.He’s fine. He’s fine. The words keep echoing inside my head, and a shower of sensations abruptly falls on me. I almost jump out of my skin at the sudden, very shocking full-sensory onslaught. I have to steady myself against the wall as the weight of all those feelings pushes heavy in my head and on my body.
“Opal needs to move. I don’t have a clear shot.” Uri says.
“Me neither. The column is shielding Jasper,” Gabe lets me know. Fuck!
“This is getting out of hand,” Uri utters my thoughts. I tried to let Hunter control the situation, but now it’s time for plan B.
“Serena, go,” I whisper.
“You’re surrounded!” The AI voice suddenly resounds in the church, making Jasper jerk back in surprise. “Drop your weapon. We recorded every word you said.”
He’s backing up, looking around, waving the gun, trying to detect where the voice is coming from, but the echoing acoustics of the church make it harder.
“You’re finished. Drop the gun now, or you’re dead.” Serena’s words float down to us from my phone on the second floor.
Two red dots appear on his chest from Gabe’s and Uri’s rifles. “I’m not the only one with red on me, motherfucker!” Opal barks at him, making him look down at his torso.
Jasper still has his weapon up, and I know desperate men can turn illogical when panic assaults them. So I take a deep breath, thinking,this is it.
This is my moment.
I grab my knife by the blade, feeling the metal between my fingers, letting the coldness seep into my skin. My eyes laser focus on Jasper and his hideous, malicious face. I slowly push the air out of my lungs as I aim my knife at his black heart and toss it. As if in slow motion, I watch the blade flying toward him, rapidly spearing the air and hitting…the column to his far left.
Really?So much for my fucking moment.
