Novel Full Chapter 245: Two-Faced Bitches [2]
Chapter 245: Two-Faced Bitches [2]
I tapped Harper’s cheek, but she wasn’t responding, only groaning in pain. I pushed the apron aside, completely drenched in blood.
No, no, no!
Phone, I need my phone! I can’t even find my bag anywhere.
Click!
I froze when I felt something cold pressing at the back of my head. Slowly, I turned to Maria, fury making my skin run hot, but I knew any reaction wasn’t gonna help now that she had me at gunpoint.
“I thought you said you were gonna kill me quietly?”
She spat a mouthful of blood along with a tooth. “Not so quiet, is it?” She looked at Harper. “I should have stabbed her deeper.”
I saw red, jamming my elbow right into her abdomen, took her knife and stabbed her right in the hand, where she held the gun. Her gut-wrenching screams were music to my ears.
I pushed to my feet, ignoring the pains shooting through me like a hurricane.
“You’re right… not so quiet.” I punched her straight in her face and took her gun.
I hate this fucking thing, but what other choice do I have?
I heard the door and twirled, pointing.
“Whoa! Ms. Walker!”
“Sheriff!”
“I’m gonna need you to drop your weapon.” His gaze swept the wreckage.
“Oh, thank God you’re here, sheriff.” My hand fell to my side. “Harper needs—”
“Drop the gun.”
I froze when he pointed his pistol at me.
“Sheriff, it’s not what you—”
“Drop it!”
I jumped, and it fell out of my grip, my hands raised in the air.
“Sheriff, please just listen to me. I don’t mind you arresting me, just get Harper the help she needs. S-She’s bleeding out.”
“Slide the gun over.”
“Sheriff—”
“Slide the gun over!”
I quickly kicked the gun towards him, and he trapped it under his boots.
“Maria… you good?”
I paled. What?
I heard a noise behind me followed by a struggling grunt.
“N-No. As you can see… Nothing’s good. What took you so long?”
“She should be dead by now. Where’s the girl?”
“Hiding in the kitchen, don’t worry, she’s unharmed.”
“Good. I’ll finish up here, go get—”
“Touch my daughter, and I swear to God…” I couldn’t finish as a mix of rage and betrayal hit me so hard my body shook.
Silence passed, but I didn’t let it linger.
“I deserve a fucking explanation. Why is a man of the law siding with a fucking assassin?”
“An assassin? Don’t be too harsh on us,” he said.
“What other name would you prefer? Friendly neighbors because it sure as hell doesn’t look like that to me.”
“Your observers, even though we’re not much of one anymore.”
“W-What are you talking about?”
“Think, Ms. Walker…”
I gulped.
“You came to this town four years ago. We were sent here to observe you from the very beginning.”
I gasped in shock, and then it hit me. I never thought about it until now, but it was conveniently coincidental that he and Maria came to this town at the same time four years ago.
Maria started working for me after I set up the diner a year after I came to Penrose, and he was just appointed sheriff too. He was my very first customer, and he always made sure to arrive for that early morning coffee.
It all made fucking sense now.
“There… seems like you don’t need an explanation anymore.”
All this time, they were stalking my every move, watching me. Why?
“Whose orders are you following? Who told you to watch me all these years?” I demanded.
He cocked his gun. “Figure that out after you’re dead and my bank is filled with money.”
He pulled on the trigger, and I closed my eyes. I waited for death or the impact of a bullet, but it never came.
When I opened my eyes, I gasped. There was a hole on the Sheriff’s head, blood slipping down his eyes and nose before he fell like a plank, face down on the floor.
My breath hitched as I peeled my gaze off him to Ares behind, holding a silencer.
“Duck.”
I did, and another headshot was fired behind me, and Maria dropped to the floor, the knife sliding out of her hand.
“Are you alright, baby?”
Ares’s voice came behind, and I gulped, pushing to my feet, the heaviness consuming my entire body.
Before I could process anything else, I felt Ares’ embrace. A sense of security took over me, but I couldn’t move my hands to hold him.
“Esme, where is she?”
“Hiding. How did you know—”
“She called me.”
“What?”
“I told her to call me if anything happens.”
No wonder she snatched my bag along when I told her to hide.
Ares’ jaw clenched. “I shouldn’t have left you.”
I dipped my gaze, wincing in pain, my body finally registering the impact of everything. I can’t believe I’m alive, but that didn’t hit as hard as the shit that just played out.
“I don’t understand why….” I said, pulling away, running a hand through my hair, eyeing the sheriff and Maria’s body. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“My grandmother… this was her doing.”
At Ares’s confession, I faced him. “Grandmother?”
“The call I got was from her claiming she was in Penrose and wanted to meet, but it was a trick to get me away from you.”
I let out a dry laugh. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
“Boss…” Nico came in quickly. “The ambulance should be here any minute.”
“Great…” Harper drawled weakly, before Nico rushed to help her up.
“Are you okay?” I asked, and she gave me thumbs up as Nico led her to seat.
“E-Esme…”
Ares moved towards the kitchen.
Everything blurred for me, my pulse throbbing in my ears but I did my best to stay sane until I saw Esme in Ares’s arms, her face buried in his chest, her tiny hand clenching his shirt tightly.
Just seeing her like that broke my heart. She must have been so scared.