Don't Stand By Me (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

KIARA

August 6th: 22:34

Everytime I tried to come up with a plan, someone did something fucking stupid. At least Brent had managed to remember our signal, a plan we had muttered to each other in the backseat of Richard's car before they told us to shut up. Once the gun had gone off, everyone had been stunned into relative silence, frozen in motion. In the resulting chaos I had gotten the chance to slide my free hand into Richard's oddly slimy pocket and pull out the phone, hiding it in the back of my jeans discreetly.

"Daddy?"

My gaze flew to Pearl, who had collapsed on the floor with two men draped over her back, her gun now over ten feet away by the edge of the cliff in the opposite direction. She was once again bawling, screaming for her father who was -

Oh.

Marcus Montgomery lay sprawled across the ground, blood flowing from a large wound in his throat. His eyes were wide open and his jaw was slanted. I resisted the urge to gag at the sight.

"Daddy! Daddy, no!"

"You fucking bitch!" Richard bellowed, "What the fuck did you do? I ought to kill you right now! All of you little bastards! Stop fucking crying!"

I looked as one of the men slowly drew his gun, pressing it to the back of Pearl's head, cocking it lightly.

"She knows where the shipment is going!" I blurted, looking at Richard desperately.

"Why should I believe that?"

"You don't think she has access to her fathers phone? Be real here."

Richard looked pensive, glancing between myself and Pearl sobbing on the ground. He growled, pinching the bridge of his forehead, "Fine. Take her to the base of the cliff and watch her. I'll deal with her later."

"Yes sir." The man with the gun muttered, lowering it and grabbing Pearl by the arm, jerking her upright.

"No!" She flailed, trying to get away, "Don't fucking touch me! Don't hurt them!"

We watched in silence as she was carted down the cliff, her sobs still discernible in the distance. Brent's jaw tightened and he gave me a tense look.

"Richard, your fight is not with them." I tried to reason, "I'm the one who killed your son. You have the phone, you have me, that should be enough."

"It should be. But it's not. I don't leave any witnesses."

"God you're a pain in the ass." I snarked, rolling my eyes and ignoring the pointed looks everyone was trying to send me, "Like a broken record, I swear."

"Jokes won't save your life. If anything it'll make me kill you faster."

Everyone was numbered one to one, with the man Brent had wrestled the gun from unconscious on the ground. It was a Mexican standoff. One that I intended to win through one of my favourite tactics - psychological fuckery. I considered the man next to Violet with a brief glance, wondering if this was the Fitz I had heard so much about. The fact that there was no backup filled me with a sense of dread as I realised my plan A wasn't happening. And I had really been hoping plan B wouldn't be necessary. I tried not to look at Cassie, knowing it would throw me off because as I stared deep into Brent's eyes, I knew one thing for certain.

I wasn't getting out of this alive.

With that realisation settling in my stomach like a boulder, I took a deep breath, allowing the knowledge to wash over me. I wasn't going to survive the night and that was okay. Because in doing so I could at least save everyone else.