Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
After the quickest pause to catch my breath, I sprint for the sound equipment the road crew left after today’s performance. They said they’d be back in the a.m. to dismantle it.
Once all the switches are at the right setting, I grab the microphone and press my lips to the fluffy material keeping the static charge at a minimum.
In my fear, I almost make a costly mistake. I was seconds from screaming for help. But mercifully, before I make a mistake I could never take back, I remember that Knox is only one floor below me, so my fate is already decided, but Laken could still be freed of this madness.
He could still escape.
So, instead of using my voice to announce Knox’s insanity to the world, I use it to free a man of the burden he should have never had.
I give Laken back his voice.
The first line of my impromptu performance is rickety, but I push through my nerves before reminding myself the best songs are the ones that come directly from the heart.
“Even though it had only been a week,
I should have given you the chance to speak.
I was scared and frightened and unsure who to trust.
But that burden didn’t belong on your shoulders, Laken,
and I’m so very sorry I stuffed up.
You gave me back my voice as I was about to give up.
Picked me up when I was certain I’d run out of luck.
In under a second, you had me believing it was more than fate.
That saw us meeting on that rooftop where I thought you’d taken your date.
You’re not the man your false criminal record makes you out to be.
Not close to the menace Knox will forever be.
You’re honest and truthful and everything he’s not.
Because you didn’t just teach your brother how to love.
You made him everything Knox is not.
He’s the reason you need to walk away.
To take back the power that tried to lead you astray.
Only then will he understand the pain he forced on you that day.
Only then will he face the consequences of the
crime he chose to undertake at Johnston Bay.
That’s why I’m on my knees, begging you to walk away…
Because although he needs to be punished,
my heart won’t survive the outcome if you choose to stay.”
I realize I closed my eyes partway through my performance when a clap startles them open. Knox is standing in front of the ladder I scaled to reach the rooftop.
He should look pissed—I ruined his plan—but for some reason, he looks smug.
I learn why when he says, “Your lawyer was good, but even she forgot to remove the first refusal rights of your contract. That means I get first dibs for any song you write, whether on your death bed or before what the media will claim was your unfortunate demise when your guilt became too much.” He screws up his face like vomit scorched the back of his throat. “It was a little dramatic, but when fans learn it was written only minutes before your suicide, they’ll gobble it up.”
With a gun he pulls from the back of his trousers, he gestures for me to join him near the ledge.
“No.” My reply isn’t as confident as I hoped, but Knox still hears it.
The fury that lines his face announces this, not to mention his shouted words. “I wasn’t fucking asking! Come. Here.”
“No.” That’s closer to what I’m aiming for. Stern and determined. “You’ve already gotten away with murder once. I won’t let you do it again.” The anger on his face is unlike anything I’ve ever seen when I ask, “Or should I say twice since you killed your own child?”
“That whore’s bastard had nothing to do with me!”
His gun flings to the rooftop door when a familiar voice says, “You’re a liar, Knox.” Laken raises his hands before lifting his shirt to show Knox he’s unarmed. It lessens Knox’s shakes, but only by a smidge. “But that isn’t your fault. You learned from the best.” He flashes his eyes to me for the quickest second to make sure I’m okay before he slowly approaches a shaky Knox. “What did he tell you that night, Knox? That she was going to ruin your family? That you’d have to share your inheritance with a child he didn’t want?” I realize there’s more to this story than I realized when Laken says, “Let me guess, he even blamed her for the demise of his marriage.”
Knox’s reply is spat from his mouth like venom. “She knew he was married. She knowingly fucked a married man.”
“Then why was she upset when she showed up unannounced the night of your eighteenth? Why did she cry when she saw the family portraits adorning the walls?” When his questions remain unanswered, he asks one only Knox can answer. “Why did you offer to drive her home when you knew she was pregnant with your father’s kid?”