Authors: Sandi Perry
"But
you
were
ill-prepared.
You
whined
like
a
baby
when
you
took
over."
"It
was
all
an
act."
Just
like
this
is
now,
she
thought,
as
her
heart
was
beating
out
of
her
chest.
She
looked
into
his
lifeless
eyes.
"Too
bad
you
didn't
come
to
me
earlier—we
could
have
planned
this
much,
much
better.
Take
the
cottage;
I've
had
nothing
but
heartache
from
it."
She
started
to
walk
toward
the
door,
"I'll
tell
no
one
of
our
conversation."
"Don't
take
another
step,"
he
said.
In
the
growing
dusk,
she
spotted
the
glint
of
something
silvery
in
his
hand
and
swallowed
hard.
He
wasn't
buying
her
act,
she
realized
and
started
to
back
up
slowly.
"Too
afraid
to
shoot
my
dad
but
you'll
shoot
an
unarmed
woman?
And
I
always
thought
you
were
a
gentleman,
Paul."
"I'll
do
the
thinking
now!"
"I
understand
why
you
felt
deceived,
but
that's
a
long
way
from
murder.
Why
would
you
do
something
like
that?"
she
was
desperate
to
stall
him.
"Your
father
was
priming
to
take
the
company
in
a
whole
new
direction.
I
could
read
the
writing
on
the
wall,
and
I
saw
he
was
promoting
Alex
Coventry
as
a
replacement."
"Replacement?
My
father
wasn't
retiring,
you're
mad.
He
was
your
friend."
"Your
parents
wanted
to
travel
and
the
years
growing
and
babysitting
the
business
were
starting
to
wear
him
down.
And
we
were
friends."
His
eyes
were
blazing
as
he
gained
on
her
and
leaned
his
face
into
hers.
"But
he
screwed
me;
I
never
got
my
rightful
share.
It
was
time
for
me
to
run
RossAir,
not
some
hillbilly."
He
grabbed
her
arm
roughly.
"Let
go
of
me!"In
the
struggle,
he
hit
her
on
the
head
with
the
pistol
and
she
blacked
out.
As
she
fought
to
swim
to
the
surface
of
her
consciousness,
she
realized
her
arms
and
legs
were
bound.
Smoke
tickled
her
nose
and
she
opened
her
eyes
a
slit
to
see
Paul
casually
leaning
against
the
island
smoking
a
cigarette
as
if
he
had
every
right
to
be
standing
there.
If
her
Bubby
were
alive
now,
she'd
beat
him
out
of
the
room
with
a
broom
for
smoking
in
her
beloved
kitchen.
She
said
a
silent
prayer,
begging
her
father
to
look
down
and
keep
her
safe
and
said
a
tear-filled
good-bye
to
her
mother,
Jeremy
and
Kenyon.
A
strange
sense
of
calm
started
to
overtake
her,
almost
as
if
this
was
how
it
was
supposed
to
end.
Tragedy
had
seemed
to
mark
its
name
on
her
life
early
on.
Maybe
this
is
fate,
I've
come
full
circle
and
now
I'm
atoning
for
the
great
sin
of
my
childhood.
She
thought
about
Emily
and
Kaitlin,
even
Michael
Essex.
The
lump
in
her
throat
got
larger
as
she
realized
she'd
never
know
what
would
have
happened
with
Alex,
if
only
she
had
let
it.
She
smelled
smoke
again—serious
smelling
smoke.
She
decided
to
try
to
reason
with
him,
"Paul,
you
can't
run
the
company
from
jail
please
stop
this
nonsense
and
put
out
the
fire.
We'll
settle
this
with
the
lawyers.
Please
see
reason,"
she
pleaded.
"I
have
to
say,
you
haven't
exactly
come
up
with
the
greatest
plan.
As
it
stands
now,
Alex
is
going
to
run
the
company
anyway.
You'll
accomplish
nothing
but
to
secure
a
jail
sentence
for
yourself."
"Let
me
worry
about
myself,"
he
shot
back.
She
frantically
searched
her
mind
for
something
else
to
say,
"So,
the
embezzlement—the
fifteen
thousand
was
you?"
"Yeah,
that
was
fun.
I
was
hoping
everything
would
be
pinned
on
Bradley—the
money,
the
murder.
Then
you
chose
to
ignore
the
whole
episode.
That
was
a
weak
moment
of
leadership
on
your
end,
Allison."
"Well,
you
seem
to
have
a
lot
of
opinions
about
my
leadership
abilities.
How
about
you
untie
me
and
give
me
another
chance?"
"I'm
no
fool.
Neither
one
of
us
is
getting
out
of
this
alive.
But
for
this
minute,
revenge
feels
very
sweet."
"Revenge
against
whom?
My
father's
dead—you
saw
to
that.
Against
my
mother?
Alex?
This
makes
no
sense."