Author's note: written for the Prompt Table activity on the Paint It Red Forum - prompt: "Betrayal"
(episode tag to 3x24 - "Strawberries and Cream")
Betrayal
"Sorry about this, Grace, truly. I've grown genuinely fond of you."
"I don't understand. Why are you doing this?"
"It's not you. It's me."
Yeah, it had been about him all the time. That's why he felt he was betraying her somehow.
His only hope was that – when his job would be done – Red John was going to spare her. To let him have her.
A loyal servant surely deserved some kind of reward. And he was a loyal servant – wasn't he?
Somewhere along the way he'd fallen for the drop-dead gorgeous redhead. It wasn't an act whenever he tasted those delicious strawberry lips and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.
My graceful queen – that's how he called her in the morning before sneaking out of her apartment. While his actual master was someone completely different.
He wondered briefly whether Grace could still love him after this.
Then he felt something hard hit his chest, prompting him to lower his gun. Three gunshots followed almost immediately.
Next thing he was aware of was Grace kneeling beside him as he lay bleeding on the floor.
Instinctively he reached for her necklace – the one he'd given her as a token of his love. He managed to tear it from her neck before everything went black all of a sudden.