Chapter Three
1311 Words
“You blew up Vincent’s mansion?”
“I blew up the east wing,” Karhi corrected, taking a sharp turn that the tires squeal. “ The study and everything in it, evidence destroyed, and you were never in danger.
I've been tracking you since you walked through the gates,” He tapped his phone, and I saw a red dot pulsing on a map of me.
What did you?… I checked my clutch and found a tiny tracking device sewn into the lining.
I bugged everything you own. He said it without apologizing. Your shoes, your jacket, and that scarf Mrs Maureen gave you. I literally have to give it to you.”
I stared at him, “You’ve been planning this for how long?
Five years, every detail, every contingency. Including you”
“I wasn't supposed to matter. “I said quietly.
“No. You weren't. “
The siren grew closer, Karhi yanked the wheel, driving us down a narrow alley between abandoned warehouses. He destroyed the lights, navigating by memory until we emerged near the port of New Orleans.
He pulled up into a warehouse and cut the engine.
“ Elijah will know it was me,” I whispered. “Mark saw me upstairs when he woke up.”
He can't wake up for six hours, concussion, and possible skull fracture. And what he does, he’ll have bigger problems. Karhi turned to face me. The Polaroids in his jacket prove he was stealing from Vincent, and the emergency beacon on his phone that triggered the FBI raid makes him appear to be the informant.
By morning, Mark will be the primary suspect.” You framed Marson?
I framed a corrupt cop who's been covering up murders for fifteen years. Don't waste sympathy on him.”
“What about Motun? I asked. Elijah saw her take me upstairs.
“Motun knew the risks.” Karhi's voice softened. She wants to destroy Vincent as much as I do, maybe more.
Her daughter?”
Her name was precious. Karhi’s hand clenched into a fist. Elijah didn't just make sure she couldn't report the r**e. He was the one who r***d her.”
I suddenly felt broken.
“Motun has been waiting for five years for someone to take her nephew down,” Karhi continued. She knows Elijah will suspect her, and she's ready to disappear, but I have arrangements.
First, she needed to see that mansion burn.” I pressed my hands to my face, trying to process everything.
“Tolu,” I gasped, panic flooding through me. “Elijah will go after Tolu.”
Tolu is safe. Karhi pulled out his phone and turned the screen toward me.
I saw a video of my brother in the hospital room. He sat up in bed, looking confused but unharmed, and a man stood guarded by the door.
“Michael got him out two hours ago, Karhi explained. “He's in a private medical facility across the lake, with an Armed guard. Elijah can’t touch him.” I was relieved. “You moved Tolu before; you knew tonight would go badly.”
I knew tonight would go exactly as planned.” Karhu’s smile was sharp. “Badly for Williams, perfectly for us.”
Us? I laughed bitterly. There's no us. You've been using me since the moment we met. Every conversation, every kindness, it was all manipulation.”
“Yes.” The honesty stung.
“The job offer, the money, it's all making me feel who actually gives a damn…” My voice cracked. “That was all strategy.
It wasn't until it wasn't! Karhi reached out his hand, hovering it over my face.
You want the truth? Here it is. His voice dropped, rough and raw.
I came to destroy the family that murdered my sister. You were collateralized as a means to an end.
But then I saw how you protected your brother despite being terrified, how you smiled at Mrs Maureen even when Elijah had just hit you, how you worked three jobs and still helped that kid on the second floor with his homework.”
He leaned closer.
You weren't supposed to be good, he said quietly, you weren't supposed to be brave, and you sure as hell weren't supposed to match into that mansion and break into Vincent's safe like you'd been doing this for years.”
“I had no choice.
You've always had a choice. You could have run, could have refused, could have shot me when you had the chance. “His hand finally made contact, finger tips brushing my jaw. But you didn't. You choose to fight, and that changed everything. I wanted to pull away and hate him for the manipulation. But I couldn't.
What happens now? I asked.
Karhi's expression hardened.” Now we must finish what we started. Vincent’s drive, the FBI has questions but no evidence to support them. Elijah will hunt down whoever betrayed them. “He paused.
And in the next three weeks, you’ll be married to him. Like hell!!!
Unless we give him a reason to call it off, or better yet, a reason to come after me instead of you.”
“What are you talking about?”
He pulled out my phone, the one Elijah had confiscated, and handed it to me. Call him and tell him I kidnapped you during the chaos. Tell him if he wants you back, then he needs to bring something in exchange.”
“Bring you what?
The access codes to the warehouse. The one sitting on top of my family’s $70 million. Karhi’s eye glittered.
Elijah doesn't know I'm Karhi yet. To him, I'm still Karheed Carson.
But tonight, he will suspect I am involved, so we give him a target, we make him think I'm just another criminal trying to extort the Williams.
And when he comes after you?
Hmm, let him come, Karhi’s voice was steel. “I’ve been waiting for five years for Elijah to walk into my trap. Tonight was just the opening move.”
I looked at the phone in my hand, at the man who'd systematically dismantled my life and rebuilt it into something dangerous, or the monster who might be my only salvation.
“ Make the call, Joy,” Karhi said softly. “Or walk away. I'll make sure you and Tolu disappear somewhere Elijah can never find you.”
You can have an everyday life and be safe.
Safe? The word tasted like ash. I haven't been safe since the day my father lost the COD game.”
I unlocked the phone. Elijah had called twelve times and left five voicemails.
My finger hovered over his contact. If I call him and lie, there's no going back. Elijah will kill me if he finds out the truth.
“He will kill you anyway, Karhi said bluntly. “The only question is whether you die as his victim or as the woman who helped destroy his family.”
At that moment, I thought of Karhi’s sister, Motun’s daughter, and all the souls Williams had crushed.
I called him, and Elijah answered on the first ring. “Joy, where the hell are you? Mark said you attacked him.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Elijah, he took me during the explosion and…”
Who? Who took you?
Karhi. I whispered.
Who the hell is Karhi? Huh, Joy, talk to me!
Karheed Carson, the man from the Dauphine. He’s not what he claimed he is. He lied to us.
The phone exploded with Elijah’s curses and threats, but underneath was all fear.
Elijah had just realized he wasn't the predator anymore; someone was hunting him.
Put the bastard on now, Elijah shouted.
I handed the phone to Karhi, and he smiled that dark, dangerous smile.
Hello Elijah, let’s talk about your uncle's sin.
- Writer
