Page 105 of Cabin Fever

"Wow. This goes way beyond me bribing Mr. Love. You're like, my hero. Except for the killing stuff. I don't think I could kill anyone for money," Derrick said.

Everyone frowned except for the president. He was emboldened by Derrick's words.

"Maybe I won't kill you. You could be my protégé. Come work at Higgins Pharmaceuticals." The president went over to Derrick and put his arm around the loser.

Bea tugged on my hand. I looked up at her and was going to wave her off again. I wasn't going to leave Carter. But Bea didn't want to leave. She held up two fingers, and I almost giggled at what she wanted to do. I nodded.

"Hey, Mr. President," Bea said to get him to turn toward her, "why are you hitting yourself?"

Higgins tilted his head in confusion and before he could ask what she was talking about, I leaped into action. I saw the gun hanging loosely in his hand at his side. With one quick kick, I'd knock it away. But the kick never came because Carter grabbed the president's wrist and twisted it behind his back. The gun dropped to the floor.

Higgins struggled and whined that Carter was hurting him.

"This is nothing compared to what my girlfriend's about to do to you." The corner of Carter's lips quirked up, and he winked at me.

Now was the time for the kick. Right into the stomach that caused him to bend in pain. Then an added one to his groin to make sure he wouldn't try to escape and finally, to make Bea's question come true. I grabbed Higgin's other hand and socked him with it several times in the face.

Carter released the president and he crumpled into a moaning heap onto the ground. I glanced around for the gun, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Looking for this?" Derrick held the firearm in his hand and when he lifted it toward me, I realized the safety was still on.

I wasn't scared because Derrick didn't know the first thing about firing a gun.

Derrick turned his head to Kiki. "This is much heavier than I thought it would be."

I rolled my eyes and then gave a nod to Bea, who happened to be standing behind Derrick. Bea came up behind Derrick, reached over, and plucked the gun from his hand as his grip was loose.

"I'll be taking that and in return, I'll give you this."

Derrick turned in surprise, his mouth hanging open. Bea pulled her arm back, and then lunged forward, hitting him in the middle of his face.

Derrick's head flew back, and blood splattered from his nose. His eyes began to water and the cry that rang from his mouth was so high-pitched that I thought glass might shatter.

Carter chuckled and looked over at me. "What did you ever see in that guy?"

I shook my head.

Kiki ran over to Derrick and tried to console him.

The adrenaline was pumping through my veins again and I wanted to get more baddies again. But I didn't have time to suggest we go out to the party and take out a few of the corrupt CEOs and politicians I knew were guests because the door swung open.

My father stood there with a key in his hand and behind him, Attorney General Dashiell Fitzwilliam. A few more men in suits filed into the room behind him.

"Good work, Carter. We recorded everything," Dashiell said and slapped Carter on the shoulder.

"What's going on?" Bea asked as she stared at our father.

My dad widened his arms and pulled us both into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, girls. There's much I need to tell you that I've kept secret for so long. But I want you to know that everything I did was to keep you safe."

Dad sat us on the sofa and explained that when he realized he was being pulled into a plot to hurt people, he went to the FBI.

"It took two decades of searching for evidence and following people because President Higgins covered his tracks well. But tonight, Carter managed to capture the president admitting the truth of his plan."

I leaned back on the couch and looked over at Carter, who stood in the room with his hands in his pockets, staring at the floor. The president had been hauled off by Dashiell's men and Derrick was being brought to headquarters for questioning, along with Kiki. No one was left in the room but my father, my sister, the man I loved, and me.

"You know about Carter?"

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