Page 36 of Four Times Forever

Okay, too close to the truth. I didn't like that.

"Carter was kidnapped?" I asked.

Kreuger flashed me a look. Bro with the gun on my wife, his shaking hand was becoming more visible. One of two things could happen there. He could get tired and lower the gun, or in his effort to keep hold of the gun, he could accidentally pull the trigger. No more messing around.

Kreuger ignored my question. "We were like, what the hell did Carter get himself into this time? We did some more research and voila! We found that the bitch he kidnapped was at your wedding." His eyes popped open, a smile lit his face, and he leaned back into the chair with open arms.

"Okay? That's what you think you've got on me?" I pretended to be unflustered, but I was flustered as hell.

They knew about Lily, which meant it wouldn't take much to piece together, not just my involvement, but that of Lily's men. And damn it, I cared about the fuckers. I cared about my wife's best friend.

"Oh, we've got you." Kreuger smiled.

And yet. They hadn't killed us yet. Which must have meant they didn't know everything. But they knew too much. I couldn't risk them finding out about the rest of it. I uncrossed my legs and raised one foot underneath the table, where there was another switch. With one finger, I began to trail a circle into my wife's palm. She knew what to do when I got to the end of the circle. Just like I taught her.

"Okay. Fine. I had something to do with Carter's death." I confessed, just in case they were wearing a listening device, and I kicked the switch beneath the table, temporarily immobilizing them. My wife ducked and grabbed a gun strapped to the bottom of our seat. I grabbed the one strapped to the bottom of the table. The men were vibrating from the shock.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Together, my wife and I eliminated our threats. I'd comfort her later, but for now, we had to move.

Chapter 28

Tyler

Iwas surprised by Ann-Marie. After all the shit she'd given me, I expected her to be freaking out. But since the moment we grabbed our keys, ran the fuck out the door, jumped in the car, called my pilot, and boarded my private jet, she'd been calm.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I caressed her leg next to mine.

"Yes, Tyler. For the millionth time, I'm fine. Just anxious to get the hell out of here." She punched Lily's number into her burner phone. I punched the guys' number into mine. The jet's engine rumbled as it started up.

"Damn it." I hissed when none of them picked up my call. Fuckers were still pissed at me. Pissed or not, they must have known if I was calling, it was a fucking emergency.

"Sir. I'm getting ready to take off," the pilot announced.

"One minute please," I swore.

It was a burner phone, but I didn't want to take any risks with taking it to our next location. I considered just saying fuck it and letting the guys deal with this on their own. Who knew how long we had before the rest of the Colombine family came looking for us? I had no doubt they already knew their foot soldiers were dead. There was no way Carter's father would've sent his goons without listening in to the conversation and setting a plan in action in order to be one step ahead of us.

Why do you think I strung the conversation along for so long and got out of there so fucking fast?

"Fuck," I hissed, tapping my foot against the floor.

"You're making me nervous." My wife scowled at me and got up to move toward the back where I guessed she was having her private conversation.

As long as my wife, my child, and I were safe, that was all that mattered. We'd be out of here in no time.

I hovered between moments, the phone tightening between my fingers. I could send them a message and when I got the pilot to toss the phone in the trash and they found it, what then? If I could, I would bash their skulls together. Damn it, man. Where did this conscience come from? I got them involved in the deaths. All they wanted to do was protect their woman from the pieces of shit. Their woman, my wife's best friend, who she was crying to on the phone.

I called them again and left a message on their voicemail. Still risky. If these fuckers made me regret this, they were going to end up regretting it more.

"Listen, fuckfaces. I've been trying to get you. Me and the wife are skipping town. I suggest you do the same. Carter's family—- well, shit, I guess I've got to fill you in on the details in the small window of time that we have and if you would have just answered the fucking phone, I could make sure that you all got the message at the same time, but —- he's a part of the Colombine Family. A mob family back where I'm from. Sorry I didn't say anything sooner. Anyhow, they came looking for me. Figured I had something to do with his death. For now, they only have my name. But I don't know if or when that's going to change. So get your asses out of town," I barked into the phone. Great, now I had to do that three more times.

By the time I was done, I was yelling at my wife. "You done with your phone call?!"

Ann-Marie

Lily didn't answer either. I kinda hated leaving without hearing her voice one more time to reassure me everything was going to be okay, even if she didn't know why I was leaving. But I guessed a voicemail would have to do.

---