The Boris Walton standing in front of me now could not be any more different. He’s wearing jogging pants and a zip-up hoodie with sweat stains around the pits. His hair is messy and unclean, and he looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks. The dark circles under his eyes make him seem strung out, but for all I know, he could be on drugs.
“Where is she?” he hisses as his eyes dart around frantically.
“She’s not here.” I try to keep my voice calm and even, but he’s not having it.
“You’re fucking lying. I’ve been watching this place all night. She hasn’t left.” He uses the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe his nose, and I see white residue on it. Yeah, he’s definitely put something up there. “If you don’t tell me where she is, I’ll kill you and then I’ll find her on my own.”
“I guess that’s what you do, isn’t it?”
“What?” Boris’s eyes snap back to me with confusion.
“You kill the people that get in your way.” His expression changes to anger as he takes a step toward me. “What I don’t understand is why you had to kill your wife. She seemed perfectly fine covering up for you.”
“She was fine,” he snaps, and sweat runs down his forehead. “Until you came along.”
I’m surprised by this admission because I tried to talk to her, tried to get her to leave or report him. Every time I treated her, she refused to tell me anything or let the police get involved.
“She was planning to leave me.” He lets out a humorless laugh. “Me! Can you believe it? You got in her head, and the next thing I knew she was saying she was going to tell everyone what I’d done to her.”
I’m momentarily shocked that all those times I begged her to leave him, something finally convinced her. If only I’d be able to get through to her sooner. Yes, she made her choices, but I can’t imagine anyone could easily leave a man with as much power as him.
“She was always so fucking stubborn. Once she made up her mind, that was the end of it. Well, I showed her, didn’t I? The sound of her neck cracking after I threw her down the stairs was the peace I’d been waiting on for years. Years!”
He shouts the last part and waves the gun like a maniac. I hold my breath that everything stays calm as I take a small step toward him.
“But then you started in on Kate. With your wife gone, you needed a new punching bag.”
“I’m not going to let that ungrateful little bitch ruin me. She wanted to act like her mother, so I treated her that way. I could have put her in a nice rehab center, but no. She had to be a fucking brat and go the press.” He huffs like this is the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard. “I’m going to find Kate and shut her up once and for all. Right after I deal with you.”
His thumb cocks the hammer back on the gun, and I can feel my heartbeat in my throat. It’s now or never.
“I think we’ve got it,” I say, and Boris’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion. “Come on out.”
There’s a door behind Boris that leads to the utility closet where Officer Niks and her team have been waiting. They snuck down here after she cleared the scene and set up cameras. The emergency exit was the only door not locked, and I knew Boris would be waiting to get me alone. It was a gamble that paid off, and watching Boris drop his gun as they cuff him allows me to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“All right, Kate, you can come on out,” Officer Niks says into her phone.
The dryer has stopped, so I hear footsteps before Kate appears in the doorway and launches herself into my arms.
“Oh my god, that was terrifying to watch on the cameras upstairs. I wanted to run down here a hundred times.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” I say into her hair as I lift her against me and close my eyes. My heart releases a little prayer of gratitude that she’s finally safe. “I love you, Kate.”
She leans back so she can look at me, and I see the tears in her eyes. “You do?”
“Of course I do,” I tell her and place a kiss on her lips. “I love you so damn much, and now that this is over, I plan on spending every damn moment of my life loving you.”
“I love you too,” she says with a laugh as we hold each other tighter.
“You have the right to remain silent,” I hear Officer Niks tell Boris. I put Kate back on her feet but still keep her glued to my side as Officer Niks finishes reading Boris his Miranda rights.
“And you’re in luck,” she tells him. “Our newly elected Senator Delrose is excited to make an example out of you. She set up a sting operation over the state tonight and rounded up you and all your buddies. She’s already set a press conference for first thing in the morning and is going to make sure all of you rot in prison.”
“You can’t do this!” Boris shouts and jerks against his cuffs.
“Do you have anything you want to say to him?” I ask Kate as they start to walk Boris out of the basement.
She turns her attention to me as she shakes her head. “Nothing I say will ever matter to him. Not even words of hate. So I’d rather save my breath for the person I love.”
