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IT HAD BEEN TEN MINUTES since someone blew Stephen Rowe’s head off his shoulders. And despite the presence of the police, who were questioning people, including Ben Cade’s security detail, about who the potential shooter might have been—we still had no answers as to who had done it, how they’d done it, or why they’d done it.
But it was done. Rowe had been obliterated, and for that, I was grateful.
The man who had killed so many out of pure spite and hatred was dead. The man who had senselessly slaughtered dozens last weekend in an effort to murder Diana Crane and Mike Fine was dead. The man who had killed his ex-wife, Meredith, and his former lover, Janice Jones, was dead.
Earlier, just after the shot that took Rowe’s life, one of Ben Cade’s security men had given me his jacket so I could cover my breasts. I now held that jacket tightly around my shoulders as Alex held me closer than he ever had.
“I love you,” he said in my ear.
“I love you, too. Thank you for what you did. You saved my life.”
“I’m just sorry that I couldn’t have helped sooner,” he said. “I needed to wait for the right moment before I struck. When you grabbed hold of the gun and started to fight with him, you gave me that moment.”
“I sure as hell wasn’t going to go down without a fight.”
“You never do, Jennifer. Just look at how many times you’ve saved my life.”
“I’d do it again in an instant.”
“That’s what worries me...”
I looked down at the bloody remains of the man who had wanted to kill me. I felt nothing but rage for Rowe, because he’d nearly taken me away from Alex, the one person in this world whom I loved more than anyone or anything.
Somehow, we’d made it through yet another strike against our lives.
I looked at Alex. When the police had arrived, they’d given him a damp towel to remove as much of Rowe’s blood and body parts from his face, hair, and jacket as he could. And while he still was stained with Rowe’s blood, at least most of Rowe was off him.
“Where was Ben throughout all this?” I asked. “Where was he?”
“I doubt that he was sitting idle,” Alex said. “My best guess is that he likely was protecting those who were still inside the foundation, most especially Kate. She would have been his first thought and his last thought, for reasons both of us know and understand too well. Once he was certain that she was in a safe place, he probably worked with his team to seal the foundation down so that nobody could enter or leave. And since he didn’t know that any of this had to do with Rowe, he probably scoured the interior with his staff for anyone who might do harm to those still inside. He knew that he had trained men out here. And because of that, his focus had to turn to Kate and to their guests to make sure that nothing happened to them. That’s my best guess. And if any of that is true, Ben made the right decision.”
“It sounds probable,” I said. “I just wish that we could see them soon. Not to mention Epifania and Rudman—they were still inside when we left. What’s taking so long to get those doors open?”
“Protocol,” Alex said. “They won’t open them unless they are certain that it’s safe to do so.”
“Alex!” a voice called out. “Jennifer!”
We looked over our shoulders and saw Cutter running toward us.
“I’m sorry!” he said as he stopped beside us, worry and concern stamped on his face. “I was in traffic a good mile away when I heard the news break over the scanner. I got here as fast as I could.”
“Of course you did,” I said as I leaned forward and gave him a hug. “We both know that you did.”
“I’m sorry, Alex,” he said.
“This isn’t on you, Cutter—and not another word about it. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
“But I should have been here,” he said. “I should have planned this better.”
“We both agreed that you’d come for us when I called you,” Alex said as he put a hand on Cutter’s shoulder. “That was the deal going into the party and upon leaving it. So, stop. You have no blame in this game. Jennifer and I are alive—and that’s what matters. And I think it’s fair for me to say for both of us that we’re very happy to see you.”
“The same is true for me.”
But that wasn’t enough for Cutter—I could see the guilt in his eyes. On his face. He truly felt that he’d let us down, and that he hadn’t done his job. But that wasn’t the case at all. Later, when this madness was behind us, I planned on taking him aside myself and making sure that he knew in his heart that he’d done nothing wrong. After all, who besides Tank had had our backs more than Cutter?
I placed the palm of my hand against his cheek. “Stop,” I said. “OK? You and I will talk about what happened tomorrow. What happened here took place so quickly, you never could have gotten here on time even if you’d wanted to.”
“All right,” he said.
I saw him glance over at what was left of Stephen Rowe’s body, and while he didn’t say anything to either of us about him, the expression on his face went cold.
“He’s gone,” I said to him. “It’s over with—done.”
When I said that, the doors to the foundation opened and I watched as the remaining partygoers pressed out, including Epifania and Rudman Cross.
“They’ll want to talk with us,” I said to Alex.
“Call them over.”
“Epifania!” I said. “Over here!”
I saw her turn to look at me, and when she did—when she saw the blood on my face and the blood on Alex’s body—her hand flew to her mouth, tears sprang to her eyes, and she rushed over to us with Cross quick on her heels.
Without saying a word to me, she just hugged me as she sobbed.
“It’s OK,” I said. “We’re OK.”
“Through the windows,” she said. “We saw it happen. We saw what that motherfucker do to you. I never felt so helpless in my life, Yennifer. I thought I was gonna lose you both, and Epifania couldn’t handle the thought. I was so scared, and yet you were so brave. You fought him. Epifania never see such courage.” She turned to Alex. “And you,” she said. “Give me a hug now. Let me feel that you alive. Let me know it in my heart.”
“I’m alive,” he said into her ear. “Jennifer and I both are, Epifania.”
“I’m so glad,” she said in a thick voice. “You have no idea. I only have few friends, you know? You are among my closest. And so I couldn’t lose you. I just couldn’t...”
And now I was going to cry. Hardly anybody understood who Epifania was at the core of her heart and soul. She’d alienated too many people because she refused to be anything less than herself. She refused to conform. To fall in line. And I knew how that felt because people had long judged me for being the same kind of outsider—the one who never should have been allowed in. But like Epifania, I refused to change who I was or where I came from for anyone. That’s where she and I had found our bond. It was the reason we’d become such close friends. And now, with Janice Jones presumably dead, Epifania’s circle of friends had just gotten smaller. Had Alex or I died, it would have shrunk even more.
“I don’t mean to sound the selfish,” she said. “But you two are very dear to me. You need to know that. Now is good time to tell you so. Now is best time!”
Rudman came behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist.
“She’s been very worried about each of you,” he said. “As have I.”
“Thank you, Rudman,” I said.
“Know that Epifania and I are here for each of you.”
Epifania and I...?
“We appreciate that,” I said.
“I’m beyond sorry that tonight had to end like this,” he said. “We wanted to help you, but we couldn’t—they locked the damned doors. And so all we could do was watch through the windows. I’ve got to give it to you, Jennifer—you’re one hell of a brave woman. And an even better fighter.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just took his hand in mine and squeezed it.
Alex’s cell rang in his pants pocket. He removed the phone, checked who was calling, and then held out the screen to me—Blackwell.
“Want to take it?”
I did want to take it. I pressed a button on the phone, and answered it.
“We’re safe,” I said. “Alive. All of us are, including Cutter, Epifania, and Rudman. We’re all standing with each other now.”
For a moment, Blackwell didn’t speak.
“Are you there?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said, though her voice was choked.
“Are you all right?”
“It’s just that in the past ten minutes, it’s been all over the news, but with no answers. I didn’t know who... or how...”
She stopped.
“We’re here, Barbara,” I said.
“And thank God for that.”
The emotion in her voice was as deep as it was profound.
“We’re OK,” I said.
“Ever since Tank called, I’ve been out of my mind with worry. I’m not ready to say goodbye to anyone just yet. Especially not to Alex or you. Not so soon. Not this soon. You’ve barely lived your lives. I don’t have a grandchild from either one of you yet, which will come. You’ll see—I know you have your doubts, Jennifer, but it will. But how is it possible that you two continue to be a target. Enough is enough, for God’s sake.”
“Alex is a billionaire,” I said.
“You both are,” she corrected me. “Alex refused to even look at that pre-nup his lawyers pushed in front of him before you wed. He threw it away, married you out of love. He knew you were the one. He knew you’d be together forever. And so did you. What’s his is yours—you know that.”
I let that one slide, because the last thing I’d married Alex for was his money. I knew that many people didn’t think that was the case, but those closest to me did—and that’s what mattered most. I’d married Alex out of love. The only time I even thought about his money was when things like this happened. Sometimes, in my darkest moments, I wished that we were just an anonymous, middle-class couple living far and away from the harsh, calculating eyes that were upon us and wanted to crush us because of Wenn’s power and success.
“I think we’ll always be targets because of Wenn,” I said as I turned away from Alex and the group. There were some things that should go unheard. “I don’t see any of this ending. In fact, it will happen again, Barbara, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be better prepared next time, whenever that happens. Because it will happen again. This isn’t the last one—not by far. It’s only a matter of time before someone comes after us again.”
“Please, don’t say that.”
I could tell that she was upset, so I didn’t press an issue that I knew was true. This wouldn’t be the last time that my husband and I were marked for death. “Back to Tank,” I said. “You’ve spoken to him?”
“He’s on his way there now. And he’s heartbroken. He feels that he and Lisa should have stayed with you. He’s out of his mind with guilt.”
I’ll take care of that, I thought. Because, like Cutter, Tank owns no guilt when it comes to this.
“Would you do me a favor?”
“Right now, I’d do anything for you.”
“Then would you please call him and ask him to turn back? There’s no need for him to come here. This is over. Police are everywhere. And because of that, he won’t get through. The streets are blocked, so it’s a waste of his time. Tell him to go home to Lisa. Tell him that Rowe is behind many deaths. It’s all on record.”
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“He had Meredith killed,” I said flatly. “And Diana and Mike, as well as all of those people who either died or were wounded with them. He also killed Janice Jones.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Blackwell said. “I’m stunned.”
“He’s a fucking serial killer as far as I’m concerned.”
“And yet you escaped from him, didn’t you?”
“It wasn’t easy, but we did.”
“Why do I fear that you were the one who was most at risk?”
I didn’t answer her because I didn’t want her to know just how close I’d come to dying. But Blackwell was no fool. My silence spoke volumes.
“You fought him, didn’t you?”
“I did. I might have even shoved my wedding and engagement rings into his eye to try to stop him from killing me.”
“Always the fighter,” she said.
“When you’re born to abusive parents, you learn to be one,” I said.
“At some point, when you’re comfortable talking about this, will you tell me what happened tonight? How it played out?”
“I will.”
“But only when you’re ready.”
“With that son of a bitch dead, I’m already ready. You’ll find out tomorrow.”
“May that fire in you never die,” she said. “Because it’s what I admire most about you, Jennifer—the fact that you won’t go down without an effort—whatever that effort is. It always changes. It’s always different. But despite all that, you still have the courage to stand up to men such as Stephen Rowe.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kate and Ben leaving the foundation.
“I should go,” I said. “I just saw Kate and Ben step outside, and we haven’t seen them since any of this happened. Alex and I should speak with them. After that? Cutter is here with us, and he’s going to take us home.”
“Thank you for taking my call. I know that it’s mayhem there, but I was just so sick with worry over you two that I had to call. I don’t know what else to say other than I love you both.”
“And we love you,” I said to the woman who had become the mother I’d never had. “But there’s something else I need to say to you, Barbara.”
“What’s that?”
“Life is too short. I’ve learned that too many times. So, I need you to think long and hard about your situation with Marcus. Don’t destroy your life out of fear of being disappointed. Because that’s just cowardice, isn’t it? And you are no coward. Give Marcus a chance. If only for me, please give yourself a chance. Be the fighter that you recognize in me, and fight for your own happiness through him.”
Before she had the chance to answer me, I sent her Alex’s love, and disconnected the line. I handed the phone back to my husband and sank into his arms—grateful once again that we remained together. And that we were even more in love. I felt his arms close around me as I tucked my head firmly against his chest while he told me, over and over again in my year, how much he loved me.
