‘I would choose your next move, very carefully, Jennifer,’ my father called out as we climbed the stairs. ‘I won’t hesitate to kill Ryder … or your sister.’
‘Let me handle this,’ Jenny said when we stepped onto the grated metal floor covering the tank.
‘I’d love to,’ I replied. ‘But I think this particular lesson is for me.’
Our footsteps echoed over the water as we walked to where my father stood by the large opening in the floor.
‘Well, here we are, Dad,’ I said, trying to keep my eyes on him and not on Ryder. I’d fall apart if I looked too closely at her. ‘What do you think, Jenny? Can you take him out and reach Ryder before she drops?’
She nodded. ‘Shouldn’t be a problem.’
‘I don’t think so,’ my father replied. ‘I press this button here,’ he said, turning around the device Ricky had held, ‘and Ryder dies instantly. Electrocution. I believe in contingency plans.’
I closed my eyes. Of course. Why not?
‘I’m curious, Brianna,’ he said, pacing back and forth a few steps in front of Ryder. ‘What do you think of your hero now?’
I didn’t answer.
‘A bit pathetic if you ask me, but still more than you deserve,’ my father said, watching Ryder’s twisting form. ‘A pathetic hero for a pathetic city.’ I tensed, but Jenny held me still, hand on my shoulder.
My father turned to his security team. ‘You can go now. This is family business.’ He then motioned to Ryder’s double collapsed on the floor. ‘And take that with you.’
Two of the men hoisted her body up and they departed into the shadows at the far end of the aquarium, following the trail of Ricky’s blood.
When they were gone, my father turned back to us to speak, but I cut him off. ‘You know what? I’m not in the mood for another lecture. Are you, Jenny?’
She shook her head no.
‘I mean, family loyalty? What crap. None of this was ever about us. It was all about you. Everything is about you.’ I shook my head. ‘I’ve been giving it some thought, though, and on some level, I think I understand.’
‘Brianna—’ he warned.
‘Somewhere along the way, you made a choice to do a despicable thing, and instead of owning it, you convinced yourself it was for family.’
‘Brianna!’
‘After that, it must have just gotten easier and easier.’ I shrugged. ‘But it wasn’t for us. We were just a concept, a scapegoat, a justification. We—’
‘I am building a legacy!’ he roared. I flinched. ‘Why can’t you see that?’ He took a step towards me, his fists clenched. ‘I am changing the course of history! The St. James name will echo through the centuries.’
‘What is it you want to hear, Dad? What is it you want me to do?’ I let my hands drop to my sides. ‘You win! I can’t stand up to you. I never should have tried. I should have stayed in my gilded cage, looked pretty, thought about fluff, and never once questioned how you were footing the bill!’ My voice cracked. ‘I get it. You’ve proven your point. Bremy St. James is a joke.’
Silence fell over us.
‘Do what you want to me,’ I added, ‘but let Ryder and Jenny go.’
He laughed. ‘Ridiculous.’
‘What do you want!’
Jenny stepped forward. ‘I know what he wants.’ I couldn’t see her face, but there was something in her voice that I did not like at all. ‘Don’t you see, Bremy? He planned this scenario from the very beginning. He knew I had helped Ryder. He knew we would turn on him during the show. She looked back over her shoulder at me. ‘He knew everything, right from the start.’
‘What?’ Cold dread seeped into my limbs. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘He wanted us to get to this moment.’
‘Why?’
‘You still don’t get it?’ She laughed in helplessness. ‘Come on, Bremy! To see if you’ll press the button!’
I looked down at the device in my hand. I had forgotten I was holding it. ‘What?’ I asked, barely above a whisper. ‘No.’
I turned back to my father.
‘Tell her!’ I shouted. ‘Tell her that’s not … this isn’t,’ I said, holding the box into the air, ‘what you want.’
He looked down, shaking his head. ‘Not exactly, no.’
‘Not exactly? What are you—’
‘What I am interested in, my dear,’ he said, ‘is testing, once and for all, to see where your loyalties lie. I certainly know they’re not with me.’
The room swayed. ‘You can’t mean …’
‘A choice,’ he said. ‘You can only save one, Brianna. Ryder or Jenny. Who will it be?’