“Yes, you do!” He clenched his perfect teeth together. “Your brother did, too.”
A sickening realization began to seep in. “It was you, wasn’t it?” Nauseated, Brynnon stared back at the man who’d claimed to be like family. “Y-you shot Billy.”
“I had to!” he yelled. “It was his own fault. He’s the one who started this mess in the first place. All I ever did was try to protect him and your father.”
Martin shook his head, erratically pacing the immediate area before her. The entire time he moved, the gun remained pointed directly toward her.
“Billy got scared after the bomb destroyed your cabin,” he continued on. “He called me after he spoke to you. Said he was going to tell your father everything.” Dark eyes pleaded with her to understand the unforgiveable. “He would’ve ruined both our lives, and I couldn’t... I couldn’t let that happen.”
He moved back and forth some more before stopping directly in front of her. An almost hysterical laugh escaped the back of his throat. “You want to know the most ironic part?I’mthe one who set the bomb in the first place.”
Anger worked its way passed her fear, Brynnon forgetting for a second about the gun. “Youblew up my cabin? Martin, I could’ve been killed!”
“I didn’t have a choice!” he shouted back, his voice echoing off the concrete structure. “Besides, you weren’t even supposed to be there.”
“Oh.” Brynnon couldn’t contain her sarcasm. “I’m so sorry for nearly ruining your plan.”
“No one was supposed to get hurt.” The crazy man shook his head, then looked back at her with an apologetic frown. “I never really wanted to hurt you. Y-your father mentioned you were coming back to the city, so I went there and waited. I watched you and Coop leave.” He laughed again. “I even waited an extra ten minutes to make sure you hadn’t forgotten something.”
“Ididforget s-something, asshole. And if I h-hadn’t seen the b-bomb when I did, Coop and I both would’ve been k-killed.”
“I know!” The gun shook in Martin’s hand as he yelled.
Jesus.The man was clearly unstable. With no one else around, Brynnon knew she was on her own.
“Where’d you even get the bomb?”
His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “You’d be surprised at how easy it is to acquire something of that nature.”
Feeling like she’d stepped into some sort of alternate universe, Brynnon forced herself to calm down and try to buy herself some time. She was freezing, but if she could keep him talking long enough, someone else would come by. If not, she’d try to get the gun from him herself.
“Tell me what happened, Martin.” She took a cautious step closer. “Tell me what Billy did, and I promise, my father and I will do whatever we can to help you.”
As she spoke, Brynnon started to slide her hand in her back pocket, thinking maybe she’d have a signal now that they were outside.
“Don’t!” Martin screamed, immediately changing his mind. “On second thought, yeah. Take out your phone.”
Shivering worse than before, Brynnon did as she was told.
“Now, throw it over there.” He tilted his head toward the space behind him.
More tears escaped. With no other choice, she tossed it over his shoulder, glass and plastic shattering into pieces as it landed. Still, she tried reasoning with him. “M-martin, please. Why are you d-doing this?”
He scowled in anger. “Why? Because of you.”
“Me?”
“Yes,Princess. You.”
Hearing him spit out Grant’s nickname for her made Brynnon want to shove her fist down the asshole’s throat. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He took another step closer, the barrel still pointing back at her.
“You just couldn’t leave well-enough alone, could you?” he seethed. “Had to keep sticking your nose in where it didn’t belong. I thought when Jessica Price nearly ran your ass over, you’d stop snooping around. Instead, you made friends with the bitch and her father. Then you got your boyfriend and his little friends to start helping, too.”
“Wait.” Brynnon pushed past her fear to try and understand what was happening. “You’re t-talking about the b-bridge.”
“Ding, ding, ding!” he shouted loudly. “Give the lady a prize!” Martin’s lip curled in disgust. “Jesus Christ, of course I’m talking about the fucking bridge.”
