who rustle up a shit storm so big, only money can buy them out.
“But I solve all that for them. They just sign a piece of paper and all the bad stuff goes away. I grant them a second chance. The opportunity to live out their days in fine style until I decide they die.”
“Until you decide they die,” Josh said.
“Yes, me. And you wouldn’t believe how many are
willing to sign up.”
“You disgust me,” Josh said.
“Why? You’re all going to die anyway. It’s inevitable.
Once you’ve made a settlement, your life is no longer your own. It belongs to me and it’s my decision when it should end.”
“Oh, bullshit. People weren’t dying as quickly as you liked so you started wiping them out to balance the books.”
“Admit it, Josh, you don’t care about the other people, only about you. You’re pissed that your life has
caught up with you.”
“My wife and child are dead because of you.”
“No, your wife and child are dead because of you, Mr. Michaels. Your problems killed them.”
Josh went for Tyrell, throwing the chair aside and sending it crashing into the one next to it.
Suddenly, a bullet turned the corner of the desk blotter into confetti and a chunk of wood exploded from
the table, taking a pen with it.
Josh froze in his position.
Tyrell smiled.
“Josh, you should have played along,” Bob said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Dexter Tyrell’s grin broadened by the second. It was a winner’s smile. His cold eyes sparkled with delight.
Josh could see it, anybody could see it—he had lost to Tyrell. Josh shook his head in defeat and turned to his friend. Bob pointed John Kelso’s semiautomatic pistol at Josh. His fear evident, the gun trembled in Bob’s hand.
Not Bob, it can’t be Bob. How long has he been involved? He couldn’t believe his best friend had sold him out. When had Bob’s part started? When John Kelso turned up in California? Or had Bob known Josh had signed his own death warrant when he made the viatical settlement? No wonder Tyrell hadn’t looked concerned at Josh’s accusations; he already knew the game was rigged in his favor. A week ago, he would have hated Bob for his betrayal, but now, he had no more hate left.
He was prepared for the executioner’s bullet.
“Bob,” Josh said.
Bob swallowed hard. “Shut up, Josh. I’m not too
good with guns and I don’t want to shoot the wrong person.”
Josh braced himself for the next shot to rip through his brain. He didn’t fear his life ending; he welcomed it.
He couldn’t wait for that bullet to pierce his skull and end his misery. Josh had lost everything he held dear —
his wife and child burnt alive in their home, one friend murdered and the other a betrayer. All he had left was his life. Now the betrayer had him in his sights. It would be a fitting end for Josh—he’d done everything for the right reasons, even the bribe had been for the benefit of his daughter, but every decision he made had only wreaked more havoc.
Tyrell laughed. “Oh, dear, Mr. Michaels, you’re not a good judge of character. I bet you didn’t see this one coming. You’re always putting your trust in the wrong person.”
Josh ignored him. “Just do it, Bob, if you’re going to.”
“Josh, you don’t understand,” Bob pleaded.
“I don’t care why you did it. I just hope you were well paid,” Josh said, defeated.
“Don’t worry, Josh, Bob will be well looked after.
He knows when there’s a good offer on the table. I think that’s part of your problem. You don’t know a good opportunity when you see it. If you’d done the right thing and drowned in your car, just think of all the destruction that you would have saved your family and friends. A lot of people wouldn’t be dead, if you’d thought this through.”
“Just order it done, Tyrell. I don’t need to listen to your crap.”
“Oh, good God, no. You don’t think we’re going to kill you here, in my office? What do you take me for, an idiot? We’ll take you somewhere,” he said.
“I ” think you’re an idiot, Mr. Tyrell,” Bob said, the gun still aimed in the direction of the other two men in the office.
Bob’s remark knocked the smile off Tyrell’s face.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry, Josh. I had to do it this way. He offered me a deal and I took it. It was the only way to get this close to the man. I was meant to come here to make a deal after you were killed, but I couldn’t let him do it.
Once I found you and you told me Kelso was dead, I made a change of plans. I told him I was bringing you here to get rid of you.”
Josh felt as confused as Tyrell. Bob’s rambling was going straight over his head.
“Kate and Abby aren’t dead,” Bob added. They’re alive? Josh heard the revelation, but it was too much for him. He buckled at the knees and slumped against Tyrell’s desk to catch his fall.
“What are you doing, Bob?” Fear and caution were
evident in Tyrell’s question.
Bob produced a small tape recorder from his pocket.
The spools were revolving and the record button was depressed. “It was the only way I could see us trapping him,” he said to Josh.
“You’re making a terrible mistake, Bob. Give me
that tape and we’ll forget all about this,” Tyrell commanded.
His hand edged toward the phone.
“Shut the fuck up before I shoot you.” Bob’s hand shook. If the gun went off, the bullet could go anywhere.
Like a gunslinger in a shootout, Tyrell reached for the telephone on his desk. Reacting to the draw, Bob instinctively aimed and fired. The bullet went wild. The vice president grabbed the handset. Bob fired again.
Tyrell screamed as the second bullet pierced his hand, splitting the handset in two. The receiver exploded and electrical sparks sizzled amongst the keys as they scattered like broken teeth. Tyrell clutched his bleeding
hand to his chest.
“Don’t make another fucking move.” Bob looked as
shaken as Tyrell did.
Tyrell whimpered and clutched his injured hand. He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and bound it around his palm. Bob wasn’t taking any chances and kept the gun trained on Tyrell.
“Kate and Abby are alive?” Josh asked.
Bob’s eyes flicked from Tyrell to Josh and back to Tyrell. “Yeah. I made the deal with this son of a bitch and he told me Kelso was planning to blow up the
house. I got there before Kelso did and I got them out.
I know I should have told you when I caught up with you, but I needed you to help make a convincing story.
I’m sorry.”
Josh didn’t care about Bob not telling him. He
could be angry with his friend later. He wanted out of this place, as far as possible from Tyrell and his filthy company. He wanted to go home to his family and fix everything, put everything back the way it used to be. But then he remembered that life could never be the same, not now that Bell had told him about her disease.
