“Then do what you do best.” Martin demanded, scowling at the other man. “Make them look at someone else!”
“I can’t!” Tolbert clenched his fists, “This town—they’re different here. They don’t listen to me like the others.”
My blood ran cold as I watched the villain in our story reveal himself.
Martin cocked his head to the side, cold and calculated the same way he talked to me on the sidewalk that night, “Then do what you do second best. Make them.”
Tolbert groaned in frustration, “I’m under a microscope here, between that cop and the fucking bitch that got cleared of our charges—” He huffed, “I’m telling you, it’s too hot here. We have to pull out.”
“If we pull out now, they have their case. And we lose. Everything.” Martin warned, a lethal edge to his voice. “And if Bakewell loses this, I assure you, we will take you down with us.”
Tolbert’s body froze solid as he stared the other man in the face. “What do you expect me to do?”
“Get rid of the evidence.” Martin said evenly. “Start with the cop. That will shake the town enough that they’ll stop worrying about property damage and they’ll start looking somewhere else.”
Jasper wrapped his arm around my waist when my knees went lax under me. Tanner! They were talking about my Tanner.
“Then what?” Tolbert snapped, “It doesn’t work off just one disappearance, you know that! We’ve done this too many times before; we know that doesn’t work.”
“Did I say anything about a disappearance?” Martin raised one brow boldly. “Kill him. Make it public. Make it fucking hurt the people of this town so badly they never want to step foot on Main Street again.”
“Jesus.” Tolbert scoffed, shaking his head. “This is too much. It’s too far!”
“One way or another,” Martin adjusted his suit jacket with a condescending glare at Tolbert, “This town will be ours. Maybe eliminating the golden boy cop isn’t the best way for Bakewell Industries to get what we want. Maybe a devoted and highly decorated fire chief dying in the town square will get the job done.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, the vile, crass way they talked about life and death left me sick to my stomach.
“Fine.” Tolbert conceded, choosing self-preservation in the end. “I’ll get it done.”
“Today.” Martin demanded. “After the game.”
“Whatever.” Tolbert shook his head. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Good.” Martin slid his hand into his pants pocket and took a step back. “Or you won’t see tomorrow’s sunrise. We have too much invested, too many assets used up in this godforsaken town to lose it all now.”
“Got it.” Tolbert said, stepping around the man with a huff. “I’ll do it after the game.”
I heard nothing else they said as they walked away, back through the other exit. When they were gone, my knees gave out completely, and Jasper held me up against him.
Leaning around me, he stage whispered to Samantha, “Please tell me you got that, because I am not emotionally prepared to relive that!”
“I have to warn him.” I whispered in shock, ignoring him. My mind spun so fast I felt like I was going to throw up. “I have to get to Tanner.”
“You can’t,” Samantha dug her fingers into my arm, pulling me around to face her as she sent the video off to someone on her phone.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I snapped, shaking her off with anger at her absurd statement. “Of course I have to! He’s in danger!”
“He’s safe through the game.” Samantha urged, “You heard him, he said he’d do it after the game.”
“And if I don’t just believe the insane maniac at his word about not murdering my boyfriend ahead of schedule?” I whispered so loudly that my throat burned. I didn’t know where Tolbert and Martin went, but I wasn’t about to give them a reason to come back.
“I have it handled.” She said firmly, staring me right in the eye. “I’ve got reinforcements coming. They’ll be here before the game is over. If you tell Tanner now, he’ll give himself away to Tolbert, and the man will bolt. I know it. He won’t risk sticking around if he thinks that Tanner is onto him. And then he’ll disappear!”
“At least Tanner will be safe!”
“And what about everyone else?” Samantha snapped angrily, taking me back and throwing me off kilter. She swallowed, forcing a deep breath into her lungs, but tears pooled on her lash lines as she stared at me. “What about everyone else that he’s killed? What about them? And their loved ones? Don’t they deserve justice?”
“Oh my god,” Jasper whispered at my side, clutching me tighter. “He did this to you, didn’t he?”