“Where’s Austin?” Kellan asks as we meet up.
“Not coming,” I state without looking over at him.
He snorts. “Knew she’d back out.”
I say nothing. Kellan underestimates her way too much. And that is what will get him in trouble with her.
We come up to Jerrold’s back gate. “What are we gonna do?” Shane asks.
“I’m gonna kill the bastard,” I state.
“We could just shoot him,” Kellan offers.
“No!” I snap. Austin is right. This can’t look like a murder. His wife is dead, and his brother is missing. If he is murdered, then this will look too suspicious. I turn to Bennett. “Are the cameras still in the house?”
He nods. “I never removed them.”
“Where is his laptop?” I ask.
“At my house. Want me to go get it and plant it here?”
I shake my head. It will have Austin’s fingerprints on it. And cameras from his work may place her there. Even if she wasn’t the one who actually took it from his office. Too risky. “No. We stick with the plan. I’ll drown him in his pool.”
“What if he’s not in it?” Kellan offers.
“He’s there,” Bennett says. “Or I wouldn’t have mentioned it as an option.”
“How do we plan on getting in?” Shane asks.
I used to spend a lot of time at this house. Eli and Aimee’s parents died when he was young, so when Aimee got married, he moved in with them. “There’s a side gate that Eli used to sneak out of to do his dares. It’s on the north side,” I say and start walking in that direction. They follow me.
I check my phone to see if I’ve got anything from Deke, and there’s nothing. It worries me. I know he would never hurt her on purpose, but I told him to do whatever it takes to keep her in the car. And I’m not sure how much fight she has in her. At what point will she back down from him? At what point will he stop hurting her and just let her go? Guess I’ll find out when I get back.
“Something wrong?” Kellan asks.
I don’t answer him and put my phone away. Not like he cares anyway.
We get through the gate and into the backyard. We round the pool house and come to a stop when we see the bastard in his pool just like Bennett had predicted. Doing laps.
“How we doing this exactly?” Shane asks.
“I’m doing it.” I turn to face them. “Alone.”
They all nod. All but Kellan. He eyes me skeptically. “Why you?”
“Because I said so,” I growl. He didn’t want to be involved with Jeff, yet now he wants to be part of Jerrold’s death? He isn’t making sense.
He crosses his arms over his chest and nods once. “Fine. We’ll stay back unless you need us.”
I snort. “I won’t need you.”
Turning back around, I readjust my hood and make my way over to the rectangular swimming pool. I come to a stop, watching him swim away from me. I place my hands in my pockets and wait. He comes up for a breath and then goes under, pushing off the far wall, and shoots toward me.
As I watch him swim underwater, I think of every reason this fucker is going to die.
“Please, Cole,” Eli cries as we sit in the ditch.
“You’re gonna be okay,” I reassure him, knowing that I’m lying. There’s nothing I can do for him.
“No.” He swallows “You have to save Aimee …”
He won’t let this go. “She’ll be fine.”
He shakes his head quickly and coughs. “He beats her.”
“Who?”
“Jerrold.” I tighten my hold on him. “I hear him … her cries … He won’t stop.”
“Eli …”
“I have cameras in the house …” His eyes plead with mine. “They go to my computer … You have to help her …”
I nod. “I will. Promise.” My voice cracks as his fists loosen on my shirt.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
“Eli?” I ask as panic bubbles up inside me.
His eyes meet mine, a calmness brushing over his face. “I love you, brother,” he whispers.
“I love you …” His eyes gloss over, and his body falls limp on the ground. “Eli?” I shout. “No …” I grab his shirt and yank his lifeless body into my lap. “Eli?” I shout. “Please … no.!”
I failed him. I broke into their house and stole his computer, but it wasn’t enough. We didn’t move fast enough. Eli’s death had put Aimee into a deep depression. The cameras showed her crying, and I couldn’t watch it anymore. I couldn’t take the pain. The reminder. I shut those cameras out for four months. Then when I was ready, it was too late. She was already dead. The bastard had killed her. We sat and watched Jerrold tell Jeff what he did to Aimee and where he hid her body.
That’s why it’s time for this bastard to die. One, for killing Aimee. Two, for working with Bruce to try to kill me. Successfully killing my friends. And three, what he would do to Austin if he knew she was the one to take his laptop. I feel a calmness fall over me. Not my usual anger and need to break something. Instead, it’s the need to protect something—Austin. She’s my last chance at saving someone, and I won’t fail this time. I’ll die trying.
He’s getting closer. I remove my hands from my pockets and kneel. I smile as he comes up for air. “Hello, Jerrold. It’s been a while.”
“What …?”
I grab his head and slam it down on the edge of the pool. Blood covers the concrete instantly, and his body goes limp. I pull him away from the ledge and see I’ve knocked him out. Blood pours from the side of his head into the pool. “You deserved far worse,” I say before pushing him underwater.
AUSTIN
Deke starts the SUV, headlights off, and I cross my arms over my chest as I look out the back passenger window. I can make out a dark object coming toward the Range Rover.
It’s Cole.
He jumps in the front passenger seat and immediately looks back at me. I refuse to acknowledge him or give him any sign that I care he made me stay in the car. That he allowed Deke to do whatever was necessary to stop me.
I didn’t want to fight Deke because I understand that he is not my problem. Cole is.
And I’m not sure what to do about it at the moment. I went from something he can torture and lie to, to something he has to protect.
Fuck that! I don’t need protecting.
“Is it done?” Deke asks him as he pulls away.
“Yes,” he says simply.
“How did you do it?” he asks.
“I slammed his head down on the concrete …”
“It was supposed to be an accidental drowning,” I snap.
He turns around in his seat. “I made it look like he slipped and fell into the pool,” he states, eyes narrowed on mine. “Then I held him underwater.” He turns back to face the front. “It’s done. He’s dead. The end.”
_______________
We pull back up to the clubhouse, and the guys pull up behind us. I go to my car, but Kellan hollers that we need to have a meeting. So I turn and march my way inside. I stand by the door with my back against the wall. Ready to get the hell out of here and away from Cole.