REprisal - Kathy Coopmans Page 0,20
jerk back a bit, laughing.
“Oh, you bet. Clove and I are just going to drive off and live happily ever after, aren’t we?”
“In your mind, you probably are, but I will never allow that to happen. I told you, once you kill her, you can have your money.”
“Then pick up the fucking phone, call my mother, and get this shit over with. You have two days. Two damn days, Tina, or I am out of here.”
“You’re a fucking jerk. I have done everything for you; given you a place to stay, eat, and sleep, and now you come after me? You’re a selfish bastard.”
“And you’re a fucking cunt.” She gasps.
“What did you just call me?”
“You heard me.”
“That’s a low blow coming from you, Trent. The man who kidnapped his own identical twin brother, pretended to be him and fell in love with his wife!” she screams. “Oh, and let’s not forget the grand finale here. You want to stand there and call me vile names, then by all means go right ahead. I may be every name you want to dish out at me, but one thing I am not is a murderer. Oh, yes, that’s right. So don’t stand there thinking you’re any better than I am. At least I didn’t kill my own father or shoot my brother.”
Motherfucker. I would be lying if I said those words she just threw at me didn’t stab me in my gut. They did. I did kill my brother. I killed him for the selfish reason that I want the woman upstairs more than I want this money. Money I know I will never see.
“Fine, throw it up in my face. I really don’t care anymore. I’m done.”
“You’d better care, you son of a bitch.”
“Care about what? You? I care about you about as much as you care about me.”
“I do care about you, Trent,” she insists in a low voice.
She steps my way cautiously. I hold a hand up and she instantly halts.
“Not this time. Your little act of seduction isn’t going to work on me anymore.”
I place my beer on the table and go to move past her. Her hand reaches out and grabs my arm in the crook of my elbow. I look down to where she is touching me then back up at her. A hard look crosses her face.
“I swear to God, I will kill her myself if you ever talk to me like that again.”
“And I swear to God, I will cut you up into a million pieces, starting with that hand you have on me, if you lay one finger on her.”
“That will never happen.”
“You don’t think so?” I sneer.
“I know so.”
We stand there, staring each other down. What kind of game is she playing with me here? Wait a damn minute. I bring my hand up and wrap it around her slender throat as I walk her backwards, slamming her angrily up against the wall.
“You . . . fucking . . . BITCH!” I roar.
Her malicious smile widens.
“Finally, he realizes,” she mocks.
“You said I killed my father, and shot my brother. What the hell are you hiding from me?”
Our eyes lock, mine boring into hers.
“Tell me, Tina. I want to hear you say it.”
“Very well. Turner is alive.”
Chapter Seven
Zack
“I haven’t found shit on Tina Hollis, she’s been off the grid for a few years now. However, I did find this.”
Marty, one of the detectives in our squad, comes up behind me slapping my shoulder and dropping a folder on the desk in front of me.
I flip it open, cringing when I see the woman who deserted us. I remember vividly when she left. Both Clove and I were so damn young. Clove took it the hardest, though. She always blamed herself for everything when it came to my dear ol’ mom. If things didn’t go Tina’s way, Clove was the one who always got the blunt of her abuse. I’ve never hated anyone in my whole life the way I hated her. Still do.
If Dad’s intuition is right and this fucking troll is behind destroying my sister’s life, she won’t have to worry about spending her life in prison; she won’t have any life left. I will kill her with my bare hands.
“She hasn’t worked in years, dude. Nada. The last trace of her was a little over a year ago in Mississippi, of all places.”
Emotion seals my throat shut.
“What the fuck? Where is she now?”
I pull the photos out and toss them back