“But since that didn’t happen, I get to enjoy saying these words,” I begin and make sure I’m looking into his fuming eyes.
“I win, Frankie.”
“You cunt ass bit—” Another gunshot shoots through the air. Frankie screams and collapses to the floor, his leg the next spot to get hit.
All eyes turn in the direction of the bullet, and there’s Katherine on the second floor, leaning on the railing before pulling back to lower her sniper.
“Finally. Jeez, Andrews. Speeches and shit are so fucking long.”
“My bad,” I reply and toss the gun in my hand to the floor. “Wanted to make sure you had enough time to defuse the bomb.”
“Bomb defused! The whole place is surrounded and clear of any possible traps,” she declares. “Officers. Arrest Frankie Fernandez.”
They don’t waste any time as they rush to grab him before he can try to reach for any weapon.
“You can’t be fucking serious! No! I’m supposed to be the winner of all of this!” He’s looking up at me with those angered eyes. I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to kill me now. “You’re not smarter than me! I’m a fucking genius.”
“You know, when you grow up around people who condescend to your intelligence every chance they get, you secretly try to be better than what they wish for you,” I explain as the officers have to apprehend him with their hands because handcuffs won’t work.
Oops. My bad.
“Everyone enjoyed belittling me in every possible way. Little did any of you know all the late nights I took to research, learn, and get smarter at every obstacle and reminder of my lack of intelligence,” I reveal. “The moment I speculated the side of the spectrum, I researched and asked questions to the only woman I knew would give me the answers my brain sought.”
I look over to my side just as Katherine is walking from the stairwell and straight toward me.
She comes to a stop next to me, her bold stance matching her strong demeanor as she faces the man who’s been a big hindrance in her life for the last ten years.
“The same way I make fitness plans and assessments, I wrote down all the possibilities that could happen involving you, Frankie, and I knew if you were desperate enough to try to ruin Wyatt’s life, you’d do it through me.”
I take a step forward and lean in enough to be right in his face.
“You told me, stupid bitches can’t beat cunning kings like yourself, but I guess I proved you wrong, Fernadez.” My grin can’t get any bigger. “Checkmate.”
The officers pull him away from me before he can try to spit in my face.
“This isn’t fucking over, you hear?! I’M GOING TO HAVE THE LAST FUCKING LAUGH! YOU FUCKERS WAIT AND SEE!” He screams those words again and again, fighting the officers but failing when only one arm and leg is functioning at full strength.
They drag him away while more special force officers encourage everyone off the property so evidence can be collected.
I guess it was a good thing our families rented out a mini castle for this family get-together and not in one of their properties.
Wow. It’s really over. I did it.
“You smart cookie of a hypnotist!” I turn my head in time to be tackled by Katherine as her arms wrap around me. “YOU DID IT! You ACTUALLY did it. I thought you were fucking insane, but everything you suggested hit right on!”
She pulls back with tears in her eyes.
“My supervisor didn’t want to listen to me when I said there was a potential bomb in the building. I told him if I was wrong, he could fire me.”
“Katherine! Wh-Why would you take a gamble like that?” I exclaim in shock. “You love your job! You committed so much to it. Almost lost your life because of it.”
“If your superiors can’t take your word for something, it means you’ve proven to be too soft to continue working in this field,” she admits. “My supervisor thought when Frankie was getting involved that this would be a mission I wouldn’t be able to face. He knows about my trauma and assumes since I’m a woman, I wouldn’t be able to put that aside. He was half-right, and that’s jeopardized my life twice, but I wasn’t going to lose my life a third time.”
She shakes her head and looks proud of herself, even as tears run down her cheeks.
“I most certainly wasn’t going to lose my best friend to that sick bastard,” she exclaims. “So, he took the chance to listen to me, and we’re all thankfully alive.”
“We are,” I whisper as my eyes get watery, realizing it’s really over. We actually survived this. “Thank you, Katherine. For helping me in every department and giving me enough information on Frankie and other stuff to pull this off.”