Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Annalee

The smell of fresh-baked goods assaulted my senses as soon as I walked through the bakery door. It was one of those rare times where the place was empty and Maisie was busy restocking the glass cases.

“Did they finally let you out on your own?”

“Yes!” I dramatically answered. It was obvious to everyone in town that I’d spent the last two days with a shadow every time I moved around. “My problems are on their way out of Texas and I can once again roam the streets of Willow Creek without an escort. Well, Main Street anyway.”

Maisie chuckled. “I can see how happy that makes you, and I’m honored this was the first place you wanted to stop.”

“Always. I won’t be satisfied until I’ve tasted everything. That way I can be honest when I tell people what my favorite treat is.”

I added “working out” to my ever-growing mental list. If I planned to keep my word with the bakery owner, I was going to have to add a decent workout regimen to my daily life.

“Hold that thought.” I heard the door open behind me just seconds before Maisie greeted her next customer. “Welcome to Wickedly Delicious. I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

“Take your time. I already know what I came in for.”

The happy smile I wore for Maisie fell away and dread consumed me. My body froze. I knew that voice. I’d heard that voice for years, but it couldn’t be. He was supposed to be on a plane out of Texas with Dennis.

“Annalee? Is everything okay?” Maisie was looking at me with concern in her eyes.

“Yeah, Annalee. Is everything okay?” Walter mocked.

Maisie looked back and forth between the two of us a few times before realization set in. Then her normally cheery demeanor for her customers slipped away, and anger took its place.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Her request was strong and confident. The opposite of what I was feeling at the moment. I wanted to curl up in the fetal position and here was a woman who barely knew me, ready to do battle on my behalf.

“See, I’m afraid I can’t do that. Annalee and I have some unfinished business to take care of. Now why don’t you be a good girl and come join your friend out here.”

I didn’t think it was possible for Maisie to get any angrier than she already was, but I was wrong. The look on her face was straight-up fury; she was practically vibrating with it. I slowly turned to see what Walter did to earn that look and that’s when I saw it: the gun in his hand pointed straight at me. Suddenly, Maisie wasn’t the only one who was pissed off.

How dare he come here and wave a gun around? This was supposed to be my fresh start, and each time I thought I was finally getting it, someone came along to throw a wrench in my plan. Fury didn’t even begin to describe how I was feeling. I wanted to kick Walter’s ass for messing with not only me but my newfound friend as well.

Maisie came around from the back of the counter and stood by my side.

“Good, now go change the sign from open to closed. I don’t need anyone disturbing us for what I have planned.”

“Why are you even here?” I kept Walter’s focus on me while Maisie did as he asked.

“I told you, I have some unfinished business with you.”

I rolled my eyes. Not my finest moment but I was sick of these games already, and most days my eyes had a mind of their own. “Yes, I know what you said, but I don’t understand why you’re even here in Texas to begin with. Why travel with Dennis? I didn’t realize the two of you were friends.”

Walter scoffed. “Friends? I could never be friends with such an incompetent idiot. Dennis was a means to an end. Just like his ditzy mother. I needed them for my plan to work.”

“And what plan was that?” I asked sarcastically. I needed to keep him talking. Lex would figure out eventually that Walter wasn’t boarding the plane and then he would call Owen.

From the corner of my eye I could see Maisie circling around. She wasn’t coming straight back to me, so I had to assume she had some sort of plan. I couldn’t imagine what it would be, but as long as I kept Walter focused on me, she could do what she needed, and I had to hope whatever it was would save us both.

Walter laughed maniacally. “Revenge, of course. For your father stealing the love of my life. I saw her first. She was supposed to be mine but he swooped in and showed her a better life, so of course she chose him.”

I wasn’t following along. “If you wanted Seraphina so bad, then you can have her. She’s available now.”

I remember my father saying it was Walter who introduced the two of them. He could have her and maybe get her off my hands. The two were perfect for each other; both lazy and constantly complained that the world was against them.

Case in point.

“No, not that bimbo. Your mother. She was supposed to be mine but your father stole her from me.” Then his slimy grin turned. “You look just like her, you know. A perfect replica I would be happy to use as a replacement for what I lost.”

A sickening dread sat low in my stomach. “That was over forty years ago. You’ve held on to this grudge for that long?”

“You never forget the love of your life. Then your father went and let her die, taking her even further from me.”

“She died of cancer !” I screamed. “There was nothing my father or the doctors could do!”

“Money was supposed to fix everything,” Walter lamented, waving the gun around in the air. “That’s what your father said, but did it fix your mother? Did it keep her in my life? No! ” he screamed back. “Your father failed! That never would’ve happened if she was with me !”

He was delusional. There was nothing anyone could do for my mother, and believe me, my father tried. He flew in experts from around the world, but nothing helped. She was too far gone when they finally found it.

“Is that why you introduced my father to Seraphina? To punish him for not being able to save my mother?”

“I knew I couldn’t let him live for the sins he committed against me, but I had to bide my time. To find the perfect partner to help me. Seraphina was it, but she got too comfortable in her new life. It took me years to convince her to help me again. I had to promise his death would be worth it for her, but then he screwed that up as well.”

It was all starting to make sense—the falling out. My father figured out what was happening, or at least enough to know he could no longer trust his friend.

“You killed my father.”

A sadistic smile contorted his face. “I knew you were smart like your mother. Seraphina and Dennis were too dumb to figure it out. I had them convinced to squirrel away money so I could hire a hitman but I never planned to pay someone to do the job that was rightfully mine. I wanted to look your father in the eyes when I killed him.”

“My father died in a car accident.” I always assumed there was something fishy about it, especially after receiving his letter, but the investigators assured me the accident was caused by a recall from the car manufacturer. My father was scheduled to bring his car in just two days after the accident to have it fixed.

“It’s easy to stage an accident when there’s something wrong with the car. I made sure I was on the scene, and was the last face your father saw before death took him.”

“All because you didn’t get the girl in college.” I shook my head in disgust. “My father figured it out. It’s why he changed his will and sent me the letter to leave Baton Rouge. He knew you were up to something.”

Maisie was behind Walter now. I wasn’t sure if he forgot she was still in the shop, or he was letting anger cloud his judgment, but I made sure to keep my eyes off her. I didn’t need to give Walter a reason to remember she was here.

“He was always a stubborn bastard and Seraphina was too stupid to play the long game. He figured out she was siphoning money to me and tried to call the whole thing off but it was too late. There was no way I was delaying my plans just because she was a greedy bitch.”

They were both greedy.

“Then why continue working with them. Why come to Texas?”

“I needed them to think I was going to help them get their money, but I have other plans. I don’t care what happens to them. My focus is you. If I couldn’t have your mother, then I’ll take the next best thing with the added benefit of getting your father’s money in the process.”

Gross. Walter was even crazier than I initially thought if, for one second, he believed I would go along with his plan. My mouth said as much before my brain could stop it.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, and like hell will you get my family money. I would rather die than be with you.”

“Then so be it . . .”

The gun swung toward me but I was too focused on what was happening behind Walter to give the gun much consideration. Maisie was flying through the air and everything happened at once.

She screamed. Walter screamed. The gun fired. I screamed. Glass smashed. More yelling from voices I recognized, and then nothing.

Silence.