Jack broke the tension. “Ethan, what are you doing? You’re not going to shoot Sydney.”
Ethan didn’t move, his feet planted firmly in the gravel below. “Try me.”
A look of surprise mixed with fear broke across Jack’s face. “Okay, fine. What do you want?”
“I want you to face Estavez with me. I’m not taking the fall alone.”
Jack sighed deeply. He looked down at the ground and then up again at Ethan. He lowered his hand briefly to swipe the wet lock of hair out of his eyes. “Ethan, you know I can’t do that. He will kill me. I’ve got the money you owe him. Just let me wire the funds, and then you can work out a deal—”
“I already struck a deal, a deal that was going to cost me…a lot. Everything I had left. But it gave me a chance to start over. If I use your money, stolen money, I’ll be looking over my back for the rest of my life. I’ll never be able to rest.”
Jack took a step closer to them, leaving Alex behind him. His demeanor seemed to change, as if he was about ready to deal a blow.
“So what exactly was your plan, Ethan? Before Alex here showed up and offered you a deal with the feds, how were you going to pay off Estavez without a dime to your name? And why did this plan coincide with the wedding?”
Sydney felt Ethan’s entire body go rigid. He tightened his grip around her neck, causing her to gasp for air. What was Jack getting at? She knew that Marissa was in trouble, but she didn’t think it had anything to do with Ethan. She thought it was more about Estavez hurting her.
“It doesn’t matter now,” Ethan said through clenched teeth, as if warning Jack to keep his mouth shut.
“I know the way you think, Ethan. You don’t have to pretend with me. Does Marissa know about the fire? About our parents?”
“Shut up, Jack.”
“Like you said, I wasn’t the one who lit the match. Because despite everything they did to us, I still loved them. But with you it was different. You could turn your feelings off like a switch.”
“I did it to protect you,” Ethan said, loosening his grip just a bit. Sydney gulped in some fresh air.
“You did it for yourself. Just like when you gambled away all of our profits. Just like how you planned to roofie your own wife and dump her off the side of the yacht you rented for the honeymoon.”
Ethan’s grip tightened again around her throat.
“Yes, I figured it out. I’m your twin, remember? We’re connected. I tried to do everything I could to save you,” Jack said, holding a hand over his bleeding shoulder. “But you still managed to screw that up because you always want more. You can’t see past your own greed.”
With each word, Jack inched closer and closer to the spot where Ethan was holding her. She noticed he made a quick eye movement as if he saw something behind her.
“I had it handled, Jack, without you. Don’t come any closer or your precious Sydney is going to have a hole in her pretty little head.”
She felt the tension around her throat suddenly release, and she sucked up the air around her with a fierce breath. It happened so fast, Sydney didn’t have any time to react. She stood there nearly motionless. As she reached for her throat to feel for damage, she heard a loud crack and saw Ethan crumpling in a pile next to her. She took two steps forward and made an about-face.
Standing in front of her now, just a few feet away, was Marissa. She was still wearing her wedding dress, which was damp and covered in brown patches from the dirt path. Her makeup was smeared, dark drips of mascara running down her face, giving her a gothic look. But what caught Sydney by surprise was the massive silver vase she held in her hands. She realized that Jack must have seen her coming and had kept Ethan talking while Marissa got close enough to deliver the blow.
“Sydney, are you okay?” Marissa said breathlessly.
“Marissa, you…you just saved my life,” she said as she ran to her friend and embraced her. Marissa’s small frame was shaking. “Thank you,” she whispered in her ear.
Sydney then heard the sound of feet scrambling behind her. She turned again to see Jack running farther down the path and into the jungle, Alex lunging after him. She looked back at Marissa.
“Go!” Marissa cried. “I’ve got the FBI coming right behind me.”
She was right. Sydney caught sight of some armed officers in black uniforms arrive on the scene with Marissa and Ethan as she again began to run down the path, following Jack and Alex.
Forty-One
Sydney
Sydney could feel trickles of water running down her face as she bounded after the two men. One from her past, and possibly one whom she had a future with? That was yet to be determined, but she didn’t want Jack to get hurt. Truthfully, she didn’t know what she wanted, and as her heart pounded, she realized she was tired of chasing after him.
As she ran farther into the jungle, she realized she was falling too far behind them. The sounds of the two men running seemed to get farther and farther away, until all she could hear was the frogs and birds singing from the trees. She realized she would never catch them and stopped to take a breath.
Her throat was still burning from Ethan nearly strangling her. She placed her hands lightly on her knee caps and leaned over to take some deep, soothing breaths. Although the adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, she was growing tired.
After a few moments, she stood up straight. She looked at the path in front of her that seemed to be leading to the other side of the island, and then behind her, where she had left Marissa and Ethan alone on the pathway.
Her own path had narrowed considerably and was now just wide enough for one person to walk on. She had small red lashes on her upper arms from sharp palm fronds slapping against her as she ran.
Sydney had two choices at this point: she could run after Alex and Jack, or go back and help her friend. Marissa could clearly handle herself and she was impressed with her friend’s reflexes. Just as she was about to make her decision, she heard a loud pop on the path in front of her. Without thinking she began to run again toward Alex and Jack.
Finally, she could see sunlight shining through the green-lined archway—the end of the path. She took another step and her foot caught on something large and warm on the ground below her. The ground rose up to meet her as she tumbled forward in a ball of blue silk and chiffon layers. Looking around to see what had caused her fall, she saw Alex laying on his side, with his hand clutching his ear. Blood was seeping through the gaps in his fingers.
“Alex! Oh my god, are you okay?”
Alex squinted in her direction and grunted in pain. “I’m fine, he just shot my ear.”
“You are not fine!” Sydney said and she crawled toward him. “Here, let me help.” A few years of Girl Scouts had prepared Sydney for a variety of situations. She reached under a few layers of her dress and ripped out enough silk to make a dressing for his wound. Alex watched her work, trying to pretend he was fine, but he was clearly in a lot of pain. Sydney managed to gather enough silk to wrap the dressing around his head several times before tying it in a knot. A red splat of blood quickly soaked through the side of her creation, but it was the best she could do for now.