Page 23 of Guilty As Charged
“And he’s shitting himself.” I almost laugh at the sight of Geoff at his table. He’s gone completely pale, and he’s totally alone.
When I get to the table, I make a show of placing Abbie on top of it for a second. She waves to the crowd, and their roar of excitement is deafening. Once I put her back on the ground, Scout is at her side to help control the line so people come up one at a time while I stand by and act as security.
I’ve got my eye on Geoff when I feel my cell phone buzz. It’s hidden in the back pocket of my cape, and I pull it out to see a message from Taylor. I grin to myself as I put my phone back in my cape and go over to Abbie.
Bending low so only she can hear me, I whisper in her ear, “You’re going to want to watch this.”
Just then Taylor appears, but nobody would know it’s him. He’s wearing a Deadpool costume complete with a mask that hides his face. Abbie, Scout, and I watch as Taylor pretends to ask for an autograph, then passes Geoff the papers and informs him he’s been served.
But before Taylor walks away, he directs Geoff's attention to the jumbotron screen that’s high over our heads in the rafters. They must use this place for indoor sporting events because it’s in the middle of everything and huge.
“What’s going on?” Abbie says a second before a video starts.
“I think this is what Scout was talking about,” I say and wrap my arms around her from behind.
A man comes on the video and starts talking about the story he wrote. The same story Geoff stole from him. He shows images of straight plagiarism before it fades to another person. A woman is next, and she has almost the same story as the one before, including Geoff stealing from her and passing it off as his own. The crowd is totally silent as one after another comes forward and unmasks Geoff’s deceit.
Lastly, there’s a video of Abbie dressed as Delphine, then screen shots of the harassment she received online. People in the crowd start to boo at all the hate but then go silent when the video shows that Geoff is the one that was making the comments. You could hear a pin drop as the slides keep going, and then there’s a loud gasp. The next photos are of Geoff stalking us when we were at the house in the country.
I’d called Taylor that night after we got home and told him I had a feeling he was watching us. He had security do a sweep, and sure enough, he was there, trying to find Abbie and get her alone. The photos of Geoff in the bushes and sitting in his car watching us are creepy as fuck, and I feel Abbie shiver in my arms.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” I kiss her cheek, and she relaxes into me, giving me her trust while I keep her safe. “The world knows what he did to you, and I’m going to make sure he pays for it. He pays for all of it.”
Abbie turns in my arms, and I see unshed tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”
“I love you, Abbie,” I blurt out. This wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to go, but I need her to know. I need her to understand that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make her happy. “You’re my soul mate, and I knew it from the moment we met. You were meant to be mine, and if you’ll let me, I swear to love and honor you for the rest of my life.”
“Spencer,” she gasps before a few tears finally fall. “I love you too.” She hardly gets the words out before I’m pressing my lips to hers.
The sound of the crowd cheering startles both of us, and I don’t know how I could have forgotten we weren’t alone. We laugh as we kiss again, but I force myself to hold back. They can see her get a kiss, but the rest is for my eyes only.
There’s a ruckus at the table beside us, and we look over in time to see the cops cuffing Geoff. He’s pissed off and yelling that they can’t arrest him, but with all the people that claimed he stole from them, there’s a good chance he’s going to see some jail time. Not to mention the charges we got against him for breach of contract, online harassment, and now stalking.
“It’s over,” Abbie says as she cups my face. “All thanks to my Superman.”
“You’re the real hero,” I tell her. “I’m just the cute sidekick.”
“You are pretty dang cute.” She pulls me in for another quick kiss, and then Scout clears her throat.
“Um, guys, could you save that for later? We’ve got a few hundred people here that want a selfie.”
“Time to get to work,” I say and straighten behind Abbie. “I’ve got a feeling you’re about to have a lot of new commissions.”
Epilogue
ABBIE
Years later
Halloween is hands down my favorite holiday. It’s even better now that I have little ones that get dressed up with me. Our three girls are bouncing from the sugar rush already, and we’ve only hit a few spots.
We do our best to come out to the country house for the holidays. It feels the most like home when we can go into the small town where we know everyone. Plus, the girls love seeing all the houses there and then the tents in the center of town.
A lot of people have homes far from town, which means they don’t get trick-or-treaters. So the city sets up tents for families to decorate and pass out sweet treats. This way everyone can participate if they want. That’s one of the many reasons I love it out here.
Spencer takes my hand in his as we follow two of our girls. The third climbed into the wagon and looks like she’s about to pass out. I guess the sugar crash came sooner than she expected. She’s dressed up as Catwoman and refuses to say any real words, only meowing. It's adorable, and I’m impressed with her dedication.
I’m dressed up as Wonder Woman this year and rocking my small baby bump. I’m only three months along, but it’s already popped out. This time we’re having a boy, and I have a feeling he’s going to be as big as his daddy.
