Beloved (Book Five)

Chapter 17: Crazy Marie

I clamped my mouth shut but listened to the conversation. "I have just gotten a word from my friend, telling me that someone is in here." someone snarled.

"He or she can't find out about this." "Boss," someone else began. "Don't worry, I am sure that we are fine. And besides, this is an abandoned building: no one would even dare to come in here."

I have got to find out where they are. Turning on my phone, I texted Jason about my whereabouts and explained the details. After pressing Send, I put my phone into my pocket then scoured for more clues.

I walked passed the urinals until I noticed a huge hole in one of the bathroom stalls. I pushed the bathroom door open and crawled inside of the hole.

I bit my lip as I shone my light to see where I am going, but time passed quickly and my elbows became sore from crawling a lot. For an instant, I thought I heard the loud wheels turning, but as I crawled out of the hole, I let out a gasp.

It lead me to a huge dark room with a dim light hanging on the ceiling. Printing machines were spitting money and leaving them on the ground.

A grimy man took the cash then stared at them greedily. He then laid the wad of bills on the table filled with papers, half drunken bottles of beer, and of course a huge stack of money piling on the table.

Instantly, I realized that I was inside a counterfeiting ring. I hid behind a large cardboard box and watched the scene. The man drank his beer then scratched his large nose.

"Mmmpph," someone shrieked. Sighing, the man waddled over to a Rebecca, who is now gagged and bound into a chair. "Shut up, Princess." The man snarled. "Or else, I won't give you a bucket.

He yanked her ponytail very hard then snickered. "Just wait until the boss gets here-" "Gets here for what?" someone interrupted. Heels clicked onto the concrete floor as Marie came into the room with a huge frown on her face.

I was amazed at what I had saw. Marie untied the white cloth around Rebecca's mouth then stared into her eyes. "Sis?" she cried. "I thought you were dead." Marie only rolled her eyes then looked at the man.

"Did you do something to her, Michael?" Marie asked. Michael shook his head then took a step back. "You better," she snarled. "Or else, I would have killed you." This is Michael? I wondered.

The old Michael had brown hair and a handsomely chiseled face. He would wear a white t-shirt or a sideways baseball cap, like he always did. But this Michael looks as if he is a homeless old man. He had a dirty white t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown sandals.

His hair and eyes are grey, but his face looks a bit youthful. Marie wrapped her leather brown coat around her waist then smoothed out her yellow tank top. "How are you still alive?" Rebecca pressed. "I thought someone killed you."

Marie snorted then smoothed her sister's hair. "You thought wrong," she giggled. "Mom and Dad couldn't care less about my money problems, so I decided to run a business in an abandoned library."

"B-but the body," Rebecca stuttered. "Oh please," Marie sighed. "She was my roommate that happened to look like me, but when she saw me distributing money to Coach McCall, she threatened to call the police. So, I killed her."

"What?" Rebecca shrieked. "I also knew about Claire being desperate," Marie added. "I came to her about a couple of months or so. She wanted the money, and I gave it to her. If only, Claire could work for me."

That explains why Claire was desperate to find her and give her exact revenge. "What about Michael?" Rebecca asked. Marie looked at him then smiled.

"The Frat boy who gave Cole that drugged beverage wasn't Michael, his name was Shawn," Marie admitted. Rebecca raised her eyebrow at her older sister.

"Ace knew him way before college. He was the crybaby who was about complain to the Dean about the abuse so Coach McCall asked Ace to take care of it."

"So, Michael was just an employer?" I blurted. Michael raised his gun at me then tried to pull the trigger until Marie stopped him. "Cole, sweetie." She called out. "Is that you?"

Instead of answering, I scampered to another hiding spot behind the dark wooden pillar. "I know what it looks like," Marie sighed. "And I know that you are very upset, but I promise you, I will come clean with the police."

"No you're not," I snorted. "And besides even if you did, your Mommy's Boy will take the fall." Michael grunted then lifted his weapon. Marie took a couple steps forward to the center of the room. She reached into her pocket then pulled out a small pistol.

"You know that's not true, Cole." Marie insisted. "I think it is true," I argued. "You have perfect grades, a good reputation, until that's when your parents stopped caring about your needs. You are worried that you are going to end up like your sister."

Marie swallowed a gulp then tightened her hand against the handle. "That is not true," she repeated. I saw another huge cardboard box a few inches across from me then stealthily walked over to it.

"Think about it," I went on. "You pushed yourself to the limit making your parents proud of you. Like Rebecca said, they smile and talk about how amazing they are in front of the cameras, but when the show's over, they went back to ignoring you and Rebecca."

"Shut up!" Marie screeched, rummaged the boxes to find me. "You don't know anything about us." "Even if I did," I laughed. "Would I still be alive?" All of a sudden, Marie shot the ceiling two times.

Michael lowered his gun and tried to calm her down. "This girl is crazy," Michael said. "Please just calm down-" A shot rang out across the room. But this time, the bullet didn't land on the ceiling, it landed in Michael's stomach.