Page 22 of Saving Scarlett
“What we’re going to do will have to be done with complete anonymity, and it must be untraceable. This cannot come back to us, and especially not to her.”
Phantom huffed, feverishly typing on his keyboard. “This isn’t amateur hour, Boss. Untraceable is my middle name.”
“Funny… I figured it was something like Arthur, or possibly Winston.”
In all honesty, I had no idea what Phantom’s middle name was, or his first name, for that matter, but he’d probably already discovered mine. He was that good.
“Sorry to disappoint you, Boss, but my middle name is just not that cool. So… what do you need me to do?”
When I hung up with Phantom about twenty minutes later, my chest was noticeably tighter, but I knew our plan could work. All I had to do was wait until he sent me another video, hoping it would be the video we’d planned, and not another attempt from Joshua to manipulate the media into believing his narrative. If my plan worked, not only would it flip the script on him, turning the police’s eyes on him instead of on Scarlett, but it would also make the crime lords of the city very interested in his affairs, seeking out their own version of justice for Ivy Etienne’s daughter.
With the morning still clear and freezing temperatures coming that night, I made my way past the shed, grabbing an ax along the way so I could chop more wood. I would be showing Scarlett another video tonight that may stress her out, and we would be leaving the cottage sooner rather than later. The one thing she’d asked me to do was to make s’mores while we were still there, and I had every intention of making that happen for her tonight. There wasn’t much I could control back in New Orleans, but I could keep her safe in our little spot in the rural Alabama woods, and I could let her roast marshmallows for s’mores, so that’s what I intended to do.
Chapter 20
The Survivor
Waking up the morning after my breakdown in the kitchen, I was hesitant to even leave my bedroom. My relationship with Bane, if I could even call it that, was complicated. He’d made it clear that nothing could ever develop between us, which was probably best, but I’d begged him to stay with me anyway. I’d held his hand, so I knew I’d crossed his line. As I slipped out of bed, still suffering from a headache, and got into the shower, I hoped he would pretend as though none of my vulnerability had ever broken through. I didn’t know if I was ready to lay it all out in the open, even though I had in my moment of weakness.
When I finally left the bedroom, I wondered where I would find Bane and what I would say to him. As beautiful as the land around the cottage was, I wasn’t surprised to find him outside. I was surprised to find him chopping wood without his shirt on, the sweat dripping down his sculpted torso drawing my attention directly to the tattoos that decorated his skin like a roadmap of his life. With the size of the wood pile, it was clear he’d been cutting for a while.
At first, I debated returning inside and not just standing there, ogling him like he was there for my viewing pleasure only, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. Bane was undeniably a sexy man, but without a shirt, he was even more of a snack. Since I’d met him, he’d been covered head to toe in black, barely breaking that mold since we’d arrived at the cottage. In a way, I wondered if it was a part of his armor.
Lowering myself onto a chair, I opened my book on my lap. But, even as I tried to not to, I couldn’t help but look at him. It didn’t take long for me to forget about my neediness the night before. Since all good things came to an end, however, when Bane turned toward the cottage as he wiped his brow with a rag, his clear blue eyes landed right on mine, catching me red-handed.
I could’ve looked away and pretended I hadn’t been watching him, but I realized that would have been more pathetic than just owning it. With a grin, I flipped the book closed, “Good morning. Have you been awake for a long time?”
Hacking the ax into a stump, he pulled his shirt back on as he walked toward me. “I’ve been up for about an hour. How did you sleep?’
When he made it onto the deck, he sat in the chair next to me, taking a sip of the water he’d left on the ground.
I shrugged, turning to look at the mountain ridge in the distance. The view was one I could look at every day and never get tired of it. “I’ve actually slept better here than I’ve slept in a long time. Last night was tough, but you helped make it better, so thank you.”
A dip of his chin was his only response. For a moment after, things went quiet, only making my anxiety rev up my heart rate again.
Watching the trees sway in the wind, I waited for him to break the silence. It was clear he had something on his mind. He always did. But Bane was selective in what information he divulged and what he kept inside, so I knew when he was ready to talk, he would.
Spending so much time in the city, the stillness – the silence – of the air was almost nerving. It was like if I held my breath for too long, all hell would break loose. I really hoped that wasn’t the case.
As though he felt the same way, he shifted beside me, setting his water on the ground and leaning back in his chair. “I spoke to Phantom this morning and we have a plan… but only time will tell if the plan will work.”
With my eyes on his, I hung on every word, my chest tightening with every pause. I didn’t dare speak, allowing him to continue.
“We need people to know the truth of what Joshua has done. We need the right people to know he hired someone to kill you and that he is one sleazy piece of shit. He’s screwed a lot of people and going public could really help you.”
Although I knew he was right, the idea of coming forward brought an unsettling heaviness to my chest. “If I come forward, won’t that put me in more danger?”
Before I finished my statement, Bane was already shaking his head, which confused me more.
“You won’t be coming forward anytime soon, Little Red. These aren’t secrets you need to spill yourself.”
The moment the words left his mouth, some of my fear dissipated, but my confusion didn’t. “Then, how?”
“We will be making the accusations publicly, but completely anonymously. We don’t need to prove anything to a court of law. We only need to sway public opinion and get the attention of those who may find his recent decisions enough of a reason to strap cement blocks to his shoes and throw him into the Mississippi.”
I’d never heard of cement shoes anywhere except in Mob movies, so hearing it as a plan for my husband brought bile into the back of my throat, even if he was a monster. Although I knew Bane intended to kill Joshua, and although I realized more and more it was necessary, that didn’t mean it was an easy pill to swallow. Evil or not, I’d spent years with Josh, and I had intended to spend many more with him, because I didn’t see a way out. I was just tired of spending them in hell.
“Do you think there are people out there who would hunt him down if they knew — people who would kill him, so you don’t have to?”