"No!" Ben’s voice cracked as it rose in disbelief. "I gave you everything you asked for—every detail, every whisper, every damn thing! But now you want this? You expect to be part of a murder plan?" He shook his head violently, backing away as if distance could separate him from the weight of Spencer’s demand. "I won’t do that. I can’t. No. In fact you want to beco the killer! I cannot do that, please."
Spencer Collins sat calmly on the worn leather couch in Ben’s modest living room, his expression unreadable, his presence suffocating. He had just laid it out plainly—Ben was to go to Maniwa, track down Adam, eliminate him, and then turn witness against lanie. As if it were that simple.
Ben’s chest heaved with shallow breaths. He stared at Spencer, his voice barely above a whisper now, raw and trembling. "You told you needed a spy. That was it. You said if I fed you information, you’d pay for my mother’s dicine. That was the deal. And I did it. I listened. I watched. I betrayed lanie who trusted . I, even went ahead and did the search on her laptop that would implicate her! I am going to go and beco a witness against her as well! But I will not beco a murderer!"
Ben fell down to his knees and said slowly," Don’t ask to kill soone... Please, I’m not a killer. I was never supposed to be a killer."
Spencer leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his calm exterior slowly giving way to sothing darker. "You’re already in this, Ben," his voice like ice. "You think you can draw a line now? After everything you’ve done? After what you know? The first thing I will do is make sure the police know you are an accessory to the murder. You understand?"
Ben looked up, still kneeling, and shook his head in terror.
Spencer stood and lood over him,"If you had any sense, you’d pray the man I already sent finishes the job. Because if he doesn’t, it’ll fall on you. That’s not a request." His tone dropped into sothing deadly. "It’s your turn in the ga now. And I don’t care if you cry, beg, or piss yourself—you’ll go to Maniwa, find Adam, and clean up the ss. You understand? Whether you stand before the Maniwa police as a witness or an accomplice is upto you."
Spencer didn’t wait for an answer. He turned away sharply, his hand already reaching for the phone buzzing in his coat pocket.
The screen lit up with a na that made his jaw clench. He rolled his eyes and hit ’decline.’ The phone went dark—only to buzz again almost imdiately.
Spencer stared at it for a long beat, nostrils flaring. The na glowed again.
Finally, with a frustrated growl, he answered. "Yes, Grandfather?" His voice was clipped, almost bordering on hostility, sothing he had never done before. He gave a growl as the old man ordered him to co to him but he nodded and went.
***
The mont Spencer stepped into his grandfather’s study, he was struck across the face with a resounding smack that echoed through the room.
"Grandfather!" he gasped, reeling from both the sting and the shock.
"Do you even still consider your grandfather? Your family?" the old man roared, his eyes blazing with fury. "First, you showed blatant disrespect to your father—even after I made it very clear that you would treat him with civility! And now—now I find out that you were the one who interfered with my plan. That it was you who dared to try and kill Adam?"
Spencer clenched his jaw, the sting on his cheek barely registering now. "So what if I did?" he snapped, voice low but simring with defiance. "You want to wait until you decide it’s ti? Crawl at your pace so I can still be fighting our enemies when I’m your age?"
His grandfather’s eyes narrowed. "Watch your tone."
"No," Spencer shot back, taking a step forward. "You trained to lead. To think. To act. And when I do exactly that, you act like I betrayed you. I didn’t betray anyone—I just refused to drag this on for another decade."
"You refused to follow orders," the old man growled. "There is a difference."
Spencer scoffed. "You’re still playing chess while the rest of us are in a war zone. I made a call-Adam was supposed to die. That was the only move that made sense. And I don’t regret it!"
"You don’t regret it?" The old man’s hand twitched, as though tempted to strike him again. "Do you even understand the consequences of what you’ve done? What happens if Adam does not die? Or if lanie is able to find a way to move out of it?"
Spencer’s lips curled into a grim smile. "He will die. The plan is airtight. My person has everything that implicates lanie-emails, planted files, the access logs. lanie won’t have anything left to bargain with. The trial will bury her. I’ve tied every loose end."
Sir Robert stared at him, stunned by the cold precision in his grandson’s voice. Slowly, as if his body suddenly felt the weight of decades, he lowered himself into the leather chair behind the massive oak desk.
Feeling old now, he quietly asked," And Patrick?" he asked, eyes searching Spencer’s face for sothing- compassion, hesitation, anything. "Can you at least see your father?"
"No." The answer was sharp, imdiate, final.
Sir Robert flinched slightly. "Spencer..."
"He made his choices," Spencer said flatly. "He chose others over . He made his bed. He doesn’t get to cry foul now that it’s burning."
"Patrick has suffered too," Sir Robert said trying to defend his son.
"Don’t make him a victim. He has been living off nicely for the last few years, hasn’t he? Even if there were problems between him and mother, he could have done things to keep in touch with ? Also, let warn you, grandfather. The Patrick you are so worried about has always had a soft spot for Adam."
Reviews
All reviews (0)