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I flip to the next, and that’s when I realize what these are. Photographs of her handwriting. My skin pricks with an unforgiving chill. I set the photographs down after searching through several more stacks, but not finding anything at all that makes sense.
I lay them on the seat of the leather chair before looking back into the safe.
There’s cash stuffed in the bottom. I take a stack of bound hundred-dollar bills and look behind them, shuffling the money to be sure that’s all that’s at the bottom. There must be over a million here. Although the safe is small, most of it is stacked with nothing but the bundled hundreds. So much money, it reeks of wealth.
I shove it back into place, not giving two shits about it, and that’s when my eyes are drawn up to the top shelf. A thin, brown leather-bound notebook leans against the upper compartment of the safe where the photos were. I take it out, wondering what he’d confess in a bound journal, or if it’s even his. I expect to find names and dollar amounts. Or names and account numbers,something of that nature. Information that’s irrelevant to what I’m after.
The list of addresses I see first, I recognize immediately. They’re ones Anderson bought, the ones my company wanted. But next to them are columns of figures. Dollar amounts of what they sold for at the time of purchase, and what they’re projected to be worth after the surrounding properties are developed.
My forehead pinches not understanding why he’d give a shit. He doesn’t own them, and they aren’t for sale. They never were. Next to the dollar amounts are dates. A word has been repeatedly scribbled in tiny cursive next to some of them, but it’s hard to make it out. I squint, my lips moving as I try to figure it out.
Acquired.
He bought them. They’re investments. He had a plan, and everyone played a role. But Anderson had no intention of selling. He’d made that clear in the single meeting I had with him. Maybe he knew the properties would go up in value. Or maybe he wanted more money.
I run my fingers over the list of numbers as I try to piece together what corrupt business transaction the two men had together, but that’s when I come across something familiar. Something I’ve become intimately acquainted with these past few weeks.
In the back of the notebook, there are several sheets of paper. Paper I’d consider elegant under other circumstances.
But this paper almost made me lose everything.
The thick cream parchment is unmistakable. My hand clenches into a fist as I fall onto my ass. My back hits the cabinet door as I picture my father writing the letters.
Practicing Avery’s handwriting. Planning his next move. I was a target, and so was she.
It was him. It was always him. It’s that moment when an alert sounds on my phone.Jules.
JULES
Emotions will trap you,
You have no choice.
Those bitter words?
That’s not your voice.
They play with your mind,
And take over your will.
Anger is deadly, and
Fear can kill.
The gun is heavy and it slips in my hands as I slowly walk down the steps, careful not to make too much noise. I cringe each time the stairs creak. So much noise. My hands are sweaty and my heart races as I move down the stairs with my back against the wall.
Thud,thud,thud, my heartbeat is loud in my ears. Too loud; I can barely hear anything else beyond the constant rhythm.
Barely breathing, my gaze flickers to the front door and then back up the staircase as light creeps in through the stained glass.I hold my breath until my feet land on the cold tile of the foyer. The front door is only feet away but as I get there, footsteps sound from the other side. The knob rattles, and my heart attempts to climb up my throat.
Whoever it is doesn’t knock or ring the bell. I wait for a moment, trembling as I grip the gun for dear life, praying they’ll prove to be someone I know, but there’s only silence on the other side.
My heart is pounding harder now as I quietly race down the hallway, looking ahead and checking behind me every few seconds.I need to escape out the back.
The closed-in backyard won’t do me any good, but I can climb the fence and slip through the thin veil of a forest straight to the crowded sidewalks of the city.
So close to protection, so close to safety.Just run.