“I’ll have to tell it to you. I’m already on my way.”
“How?”
“Jan let me borrow her car.”
“Oh. Do you want to swing by and pick me up?”
“I would, but it’s in the opposite direction,” I said and gave him the address.
“Okay. I’ll leave now. Wait for me to get there before you go inside.”
“I will,” I promised. “Thanks, Flint.”
Unfortunately, when I arrived at the property, I was met with a large gate and had to use a call box to gain entry, which meant I couldn’t sit in my car and wait for Flint to arrive. I took my time putting my phone in my bag and checking the digital camera before I had to get out and go to the door.
Inhaling deeply, I quickly glanced around the exterior before climbing the stairs and ringing the doorbell. It took a few moments longer than I expected for someone to answer. And when she did, I stood frozen in shock, unsure of how to proceed professionally. Because the woman standing in front of me was none other than Tori Bell, the woman my husband had an affair with.
She, however, was not surprised to see me and used my momentary shock to grab the front of my shirt and yank me into her house. I tripped over the threshold and fell to the floor as she slammed the door behind her and slid the locks home.
I had just managed to get to my feet when she turned around with a gun in her hand, pointed directly at me. “You have been the biggest pain in the ass,” she said in an eerie tone.
Instinctively, I raised my hands in front of me and started backing away from her. “What do you mean?” I asked. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I knew Flint was on his way. I just needed to keep her talking until he arrived and could call for help.
“You won’t die!” she screamed. “Why won’t you die?”
“You’re the one trying to kill me?” I asked in shock, followed by a surge of rage that I knew I needed to keep under control. I hadn’t done anything to her. Between the two of us, I was the wronged party. Not her.
“Yes! And you always come out unscathed.”
“Can I ask why you want to kill me?” I continued inching away from her while looking for anything I could use to help me. My purse with my phone and the gun my dad insisted I carry had fallen off my arm and slid across the tile floor when I fell.
“So I can have my money!” she screamed.
She wasn’t making any sense and was clearly unstable. Questioning her seemed to be making things worse, so I tried a different tactic.
“Maybe if you tell me what the problem is, I can help you come up with a different solution,” I offered.
Her face contorted with disgust. “There she is. Little Miss Perfect Daphne offering to help and make everything better. I don’t want your fucking help!”
At that point, I didn’t know what to do, and panic set in. She was going to kill me, and probably kill Flint in the process—and there was nothing I could do to stop her.
23
FLINT
When I arrived at the address Daphne gave me, I understood why she agreed to see the house on such short notice. The property was huge, surrounded by an iron fence with a gated entrance. I could see Jan’s car in the distance, so I knew Daphne was already there. I pulled up to the gate and pressed the button on the call box. It rang several times, but no one answered. I pressed it two more times before I reached for my phone and called Daphne. When she didn’t answer my second call, I began to get worried. She always excused herself and answered her phone when it rang back-to-back. I tried the call box two more times before I decided to take matters into my own hands.
My first thought was to drive my truck through the gate, but I didn’t want to cause problems for Daphne if there was a reasonable explanation for the missed calls, like accidentally leaving her phone in the car. Instead, I got a rope from my truck, looped it around one of the concrete fence posts, and used it to climb over the fence. Then I jogged down the long driveway and right up to the front door. I was about to knock when I heard the shouting.
“You won’t die! Why won’t you die?” a woman screamed.
Moving away from the door, I risked peeking through the nearest window and saw a woman pointing a gun at Daphne as she slowly backed away from her.
Darting back out of sight, I quietly rushed down the stairs and to the side of the house, where I sent a location pin and a text to my dad. I didn’t want to take the chance of someone overhearing me by calling.
Flint:Here with Daphne. Need help. Woman with gun. Send everyone.
My phone buzzed with a text as I was shoving it back into my pocket. I didn’t bother to read the message. I knew it would be some variation of my dad saying he was on his way and to wait for the club to arrive before doing anything. But I didn’t have time to wait for them. I also didn’t have time to formulate a plan. The only thing I could do was move forward blindly and hope for the best.