“So you decided to kill us first? What logic is that?”
“No. I was going to get you out of the country with the insurance money. We could start over somewhere else. Far from those guys.”
It was such a blatant lie that I almost laughed.
“Are you talking about the insurance that only pays out if I die?”
He froze. He realized the mistake.
“Sarah…”
He changed tactics. The voice became threatening.
“You took things from my safe. I need you to give them back to me. Now. The black notebook. The evidence that I… that I planned everything. You do not understand what you are doing. If you hand that to the police, I go down. And if I go down, the guys I owe will go after you. Either way, you are not safe.”
“But at least it will not be you trying to kill me.”
The rage finally exploded.
“You were always so naive. Do you think I married you for what? For love? You were a spoiled girl with Mommy’s money. It was just for that.”
That hurt. Even knowing it was true, it hurt to hear it.
“And Leo? Our son? Was also just for interest?”
“The brat,” he spat the words. “He was always weird. Too quiet. Watching everything. Weird kid.”
And there it was. The true hatred. It was not just for money. He really despised us.
It was when I heard, coming from the earpiece in my ear:
“We have enough. Team, you can go.”
Suddenly, the homeless people got up. The vendors dropped their stands. Everyone converged on James with badges in hand.
“James Roberts, you are under arrest.”
His face went through five emotions in three seconds: shock, confusion, rage, fear, and finally acceptance. He had lost.
But before they could handcuff him, he did something no one expected. He ran. He sprinted through the park, knocking people over, jumping benches. The police went after him. But he had a head start, and he was running in my direction. I did not have time to react. He grabbed me, pulled something from his waist—a knife—and pressed it against my neck.
“Nobody move,” he yelled. His voice was unrecognizable. “Or I kill her. I swear I will kill her.”
Detective Miller stopped three meters away, hands raised.
“Calm down, James. You do not have to do this.”
“Of course I do. She ruined everything. Everything.”
The blade pressed harder. I felt a thin trickle of blood run down. My brain went into panic. But then I remembered Leo, my son, watching everything. I could not let him watch me die.
“James,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “You are not going to do this.”
“Do not tell me what I am going to do or not going to do.”
“You are not going to do it because you are a coward. You have always been one.”
I turned my head a little, looking him in the eyes.
“Cowards do not kill while looking. They hire other people. And even in that, you failed.”
The knife trembled in his hand. And in that second of hesitation, something happened. A shot. Not to kill, to incapacitate. A sniper I had not even seen hit James’s hand. The knife fell. He screamed in pain. And in seconds, he was on the ground, handcuffed, surrounded by police.
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