Page 73 of Love Over Time

“Henry. If you kill him, they will win. You’ll go to jail. Please. Tessa needs you.”

I blinked several times to focus, but the tears made it hard to see. “He doesn’t deserve to live.”

“He deserves much worse than death. Henry…let it go. Tessa needs you. Please.” She tugged on my arm.

At her words, the buzz of the adrenaline drained from me, leaving a cold sweat in its place and the realization that this hate had already consumed me for too long. Revenge wouldn’t bring Dad back, or the time Nikki and I had lost. I blew out air and pushed against his chest to lift myself.

I took out my gun and aimed it at his head. “Where the fuck is Mom?”

He cowered under the barrel of the gun and pointed a shaking finger to his right. I turned and for the first time saw her, a heap in the dark corner. For a long moment, I considered pulling the trigger. But Nikki’s words stopped me; Jonathan deserved something worse than death. I stuffed the weapon in the back of my jeans and went to Mom. I picked her up gently. Her blouse, warm and wet from the blood, stuck to my T-shirt.

“What happened to her?”

Nikki sighed. “We were trying leave, and she got shot. The place is crawling with guards.”

With a tightness in my chest, I carried Mom to the sofa that had been half pushed away from the wall and placed her on it. “Mom.”

Her eyes snapped open. “Henry. You found us.” She winced.

“Yeah. Don’t move. I’ll get you out of here. Okay?”

She nodded, and I stomped back to the tunnel. Nikki kept her eyes on Jonathan and Francesca while she leaned casually on the wall. The dress she’d worn the night before was covered in dust and God knew what else. She looked as beautiful as ever. But I couldn’t think about that. I had to get us out of here first.

I stood next to Jonathan, glaring down on him. “Tell your men to let us out. Now.” I gritted my teeth, with my gun square on his face.

His entire body shook uncontrollably. “They only listen to her.”

Somewhere deep, deep inside I felt sorry for him. I turned my attention to Francesca. “Call them off.”

“Fine. But I’m leaving with them. Don’t try to stop me. They have orders to shoot you on sight.”

Nikki jerked away from the wall. “Listen, you crazy bitch. I get that you’re completely insane, but you must also be beyond stupid to actually think that we’re letting you walk out of here. Either you let us go, or I will shoot you. I’m so tired. I honestly don’t care which way you choose.”

I sat on my haunches next to Francesca. “What she said.”

A flicker of fear touched her eyes. Even in her delusional state, she could see she’d lost. “Then shoot me. I’d rather see you go to jail than see you stay with her.”

“What?” I squinted at her. I turned to face Jonathan. He looked away, not making any effort to get off the nasty floor.

In that moment, the police barged into the foyer, guns out, doing their usual SWAT team move. They were late getting here, but at least they’d come in time to stop me from shooting Francesca.

“Maybe next time,” I said to Francesca.

I trudged out of the tunnel as two heavily suited cops rushed to Francesca and Jonathan. Stepping aside, I glanced up at the bright lights overhead, and tears blurred my vision.

“Sorry I took so long,” Russ said. “Traffic was a bitch.” He laughed, his hands on his hips. “I’ve always wanted to say that.” He paused, ashen-faced as he took in the room. The door to the tunnel wide open, Mom’s blood smeared on the marble floors, and Francesca and Jonathan passed out halfway into the dark corridor under the stairs. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Good grief, Henry. I’m sorry. Not the time for jokes.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I patted him on the back. “Thanks for coming through for us.”

“Just doing my job, boss.” He smiled at the floor.

“Can you give us a ride? Mom needs help.” I walked over to the sofa and nudged her before I whispered, “Mom.”

It killed me to see her like this after all she’d been through. “Mom,” I said more urgently when she didn’t move.

Was this more than a shoulder wound? Her top was soaked through, but nothing else. For all I knew, she’d also been shot in the stomach, a serious-if-not-fatal wound.

“There’s an ambulance on the way. You know…I figured you might…you know.” Russ came up behind me, his gaze fixed on Mom. “I don’t know when they’ll get here, though. I can check.”

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