“Go fuck yourself,” I say.
“Always the charmer,” Damon says. “Now, this is how it's going to work. I'm going to have you sign some documents that gives Brittany full control of your share of ADE, as well as sole ownership of all your assets. And after that, you're going to hang yourself.”
I follow his eyes and see something I hadn’t noticed before – a noose loosely hanging over a steel beam. It's low enough that I'll be able to hang myself with it.
“And if I do this,” I say, “you will let Paige go?”
“You have my word,” he says.
“Which is worth about as much as a pile of dog shit.”
He shrugs. “It's all you have.”
“Fine,” I say. “I'll do it.”
Paige struggles and squirms, trying to shout at me from behind her gag. She's looking at me and shaking her head furiously. I give her a small smile and then lean down, planting a soft kiss on the top of her head. Her muffled wailing echoes around the warehouse.
“Over here, Liam,” Damon calls.
I let out a long breath and turn, walking over to where Damon is standing by the small table where I'd set my phone earlier. He has some papers spread out in front of him and hands me a pen.
“I took the liberty of having my attorneys draft up the appropriate paperwork,” he says smoothly. “You'll find that everything is in order.”
I take the pen and look down at the paperwork in front of me. He really had been thorough. I sigh and shake my head.
“Oh, wait,” Brittany cries. “You forgot the best part. You're leaving a suicide note. Travis, show him.”
With a big smile on his stupid face, Travis pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket. He unfolds it and walks it over to me. I take the paper and look down at it. It's a suicide note, of course, but it's very heavy on the praise of Brittany as well as the apologies to her for everything I've ever done. For all the pain and misery, I caused her. For being such a rank disappointment as a man and as a husband. And for a million other things that I'm not even going to bother reading.
“That's quite the suicide note,” I say.
“I know, right?” Brittany beams.
I sigh and shake my head. Idiots. All of them are idiots. They hatch this grand scheme to not only steal my company but kill me in the process – and not one of them thought to check me for a wire.
“Come on,” Damon says. “Sign the paperwork, time's wasting.”
“Yeah, I'm not going to be signing anything tonight.”
A look of dark anger crosses his face as he stares at me. “Oh, I think you will,” Damon says. “If you don't, your sweetheart here is going to have a rather large hole in her pretty little head.”
Waltham takes a gun out of his waistband and points it at Paige. Her eyes grow wide and her muffled cries become panicked. I sigh and shake my head. It's time to put an end to this farce.
“Do you have everything you need?” I ask.
Damon looks at me like I've lost my mind. He must think that I’m talking to myself, but I decide to enlighten him and press my finger to my ear – more specifically, to the radio transmitter in my ear. Everything that has been said and done in this warehouse tonight has been recorded.
Realizing what's happened – what I've done – Damon's eyes grow wide. A vicious snarl crosses his lips, and he looks like he wants to tear me apart, limb from limb. He won't, of course. He's a pussy that will never take me head on. He takes a couple of steps back, looking around wildly, knowing the only noose that's tightening is going to be the one around his neck. He's ready to flee, he just doesn't know where to.
“Boss?” Waltham asks.
The big man is distracted for a moment and not looking at Paige, so I seize the opportunity. Moving quickly forward, I lash out with my foot, knocking his gun hand away and taking the barrel away from Paige. At the same time, I drive my fist down and plunge the pen I'm holding into Waltham's neck. A geyser of blood shoots out of the wound and the big man clutches at the pen, his eyes wide, his face racked with pain.
An unearthly shriek erupts from Brittany's mouth as she rushes to Waltham, dropping to her knees beside him, frantically trying to halt the flow of blood.
The sound of police sirens fills the air and all of a sudden, the room around us is bathed in red and blue strobing lights. There are men in uniform – some in SWAT gear – rushing all around us. The abandoned warehouse is suddenly a hive of activity, with the cops shouting commands at Brittany, Damon, and the wounded Waltham.
I rush to Paige and pull a pocket knife out. I quickly cut through the zip ties that are binding her. And when she's free, I stand her up and pull her into a tight embrace, crushing her body to mine. Her entire body is trembling and she’s sobbing into my shoulder. I just hold her to me, stroking her hair, telling her that she's safe. That everything is going to be okay.
Adam walks in with a wide smile on his face. He gets to me and I shake his hand.
“Paige, this is Adam,” I say. “Adam, this is Paige.”
“Good to meet you,” he says.
Paige, seemingly unable to speak, just nods and gives him a weak smile. Adam gives her a look of understanding. Given what she's been through tonight, she's probably in shock.
“The cops are going to need your statements,” Adam says. “They might be able to wait until tomorrow though.”
I nod. “They get everybody?”
Adam nods again. “Yeah, they scooped Damon up when he was trying to slip out the back door,” he says. “Brittany is in the back of a car already and the big man is being loaded into an ambulance. I hear he's going to be fine. He's definitely going to prison, but he'll be fine.”
I take the hat off my head and look at the small decorative pin. It's a camera, of course. The same kind he'd been using when I met him at the outdoor mall. I'm also wearing an audio recording device.
“I'm so glad that you have the best toys.”
“The toys are what make my job fun,” he says. “Batman's got nothing on me.”
“Thank you for everything tonight,” I say. “You are literally a lifesaver.”
He shrugs. “All I did was hook you up with some gadgets,” he says. “You're the one who walked into the lion's den.”
Truthfully, Adam did more than that. After I called him earlier, I'd sent the helicopter to pick him up. He'd wired me up and talked me through the process. Told me what I needed to get them to admit to doing on tape. It's completely unassailable as evidence in court and it's going to put them all away for a very long time. He also coordinated with the local authorities on tonight's response. He had them all in place and ready to roll in when I gave the word.
And surprisingly enough, everything worked out without a hitch. Nobody got hurt – except for the big idiot, but he deserved that.
When I look over at Paige though, I see that the big idiot wasn’t the only one who was hurt. She's standing there with a dazed look on her face. She's white as a ghost and can't seem to stop the tears from rolling down her face. She's absolutely traumatized.
I take off the hat and hand it to Adam, as well as the audio transmitter under my shirt. He takes them both and drops them into a plastic bag.
“I think I should go ahead and get her home,” I say. “Do you think you can square it with the cops? We'll come in for statements tomorrow.”
He nods. “That shouldn't be a problem,” he says.
“Thank you, Adam,” I say. “For everything.”
He laughs. “Hey, no worries,” he says. “Just know, I'll be sending you a bill.”
“Whatever it is, double it,” I say.
I slide my hand around Paige's shoulders and turn her away, leading her toward the door and to my car beyond. Adam's voice stops me. I turn around to face him again.
“You two,” he says, giving me a meaningful look, “you look good together.”
I give him a smile and a nod, turning and leading Paige out into the darkness of the night outside the warehouse. She's a wreck and I have a feeling that it's going to be a long night. But, I'm going to be there for her every step of the way.
Every single step.
Chapter Thirty-Two