“Oops,” I say and bend over to pick it up. I bump the other chair in the process, it falls over and hits the floor again. Hoping that that’s enough, I right both chairs and apologize.
“Sorry, I’m a bit jumpy these days,” I say in a leading way. I would like him to confirm that both he and Ashfield were in this together.
“Ah, I can imagine so. Ashfield just couldn’t get the job done though. It is always up to me to finish everything,” he says thoughtfully. Suddenly I’m angry. I stomp my foot a few times.
“This is ridiculous, you come after someone for doing their job. How old are you anyway? You are acting like a 3 year old throwing a temper tantrum because they didn’t get their way,” I stomp again when I finish, hoping he just thinks that I’m fired up. My phone starts to ring over on my desk. I look at it.
“Ignore it, you won’t be able to answer it in a few minutes anyway,” he says darkly. He takes his hand out of his pocket. The one that has been in there during this whole time. Attached to it is a hand gun.
All of a sudden, I hear footsteps on the stairs outside.Oh no, this isn’t good. If it is Piper, she will get caught up in all of this.Just as my brain thinks it Piper bursts through the door.
“Meg is everything…” she trails off as soon as she sees the gun. Joseph Brookins glares at her.
“Go stand by your friend,” he orders pointing the gun at her. Piper looks at me. Her face a bit paler than normal. Robotically she moves to where I am standing. Still behind the table.
“Look, you don’t have to do this,” I start. Just like every other person in a movie that has a gun pointed at them. If I could hit myself, I would.
“Your friend just made this a bit more complicated, but that’s alright. I always get the job done. Today won’t be any different,” he threatens.
“We can just pretend this never happened, all of us can walk out of here and forget this moment,” Piper speaks up.
“Why would I do that? I don’t want to forget the moment that I got my retribution. This moment is what I have been waiting for for the last month,” he says rubbing his freehand over his face. The hand holding the gun is a bit shaky.
Just great. It would be my luck that he would shoot me accidentally, before getting to his actual plan.
“Sorry,” I murmur to Piper. I got her into this mess. Unknowingly, but still. I should have figured he had a weapon. She silently shakes her head at me. As if to say,shut up. I realize that my hands are shaking. She reaches out to grab my hand with hers.We have to get out of this.
Chapter 32
Sterling
“Yeah,” I say answering my cell phone. I’m almost done with Meg’s truck. Holt is on his way to the garage, so that he can help me lift the gas tank into place. Carter is on the other end of the phone.
“Where is Meg right now,” he asks me quickly. I know that tone. That is Carter’s urgent tone. The one that he has when shit is going down and we need to move fast.
“At her office. Why,” I ask tersely. I’m back on edge, and pissed at myself that I let my guard down so quickly, when obviously I shouldn’t have. It was a rookie mistake on my part. I should have known better.
“I was checking into a Ashfield, and he isn’t working alone. The developer that was going to buy the land was pulling a lot of the strings. I followed his trail. I believe he is in town,” he shares.
“Shit,” I say. I’m standing up getting ready to head to her office when Holt walks in. He raises his eyebrow in question.
“Holt and I will head over there now,” I say to Carter and hang up. Not waiting for a response.
“We need to get to Meg’s office right away,” I share with him. On the way out I relay what Carter told me. We both hop in Holt’s SUV. On the way there, I try Meg’s cell. It rings and rings. No one answers.
“Call Doe’s and see if Piper will pick up,”I direct Holt, as I push down harder on the accelerator. Waiting to see if Holt gets through, I clench my teeth.
He looks at me and shakes his head. Trying again. I can tell it just continues to ring. This doesn’t bode well.
In 5 minutes I pull up behind the shop, right at the stairway to her office. I barely have the truck in park before I am barreling towards the stairs. J
“Hey, slow down. We can’t just barge in there if there is an issue,” Holt reminds me. Taking a deep breath, I nod. We quietly scale the staircase. Crouching down under the window. I hear a man’s voice.
“I don’t want to forget the moment that I got my retribution. This moment is what I have been waiting for for the last month,” I hear him say. Holt looks at me, and motions to the window. Peeking into it, I see a raving lunatic with a gun, but I don’t see Meg.
I know she is in there though, I see her bag on the desk behind him. Crouching back down I tell Holt.
“We have about 2.5 seconds to surprise him before he starts shooting at people,” Holt reminds me. Nodding, he and I move to the door. I hear a female voice.
