Summary: Everything comes to a head when the truth is revealed.
Chapter 13: You Could Make A Killing
* Sebastian *
Never play two sides against each other, it never ends well. You would think I knew my lesson at this point but apparently I didn't. Standing over the bluff, looking into the pitch black night I couldn't see anything besides the look of pain on Kathryn's face before she went over. This wasn't the way it was suppose to go down. Then again I should have known, nothing ever goes as planned.
"Oh my god...w-what have I done?" Annette whispered her voice shaky and alarmed.
Looking down into the abyss of darkness I muttered "you killed her."
There was a long moment of silence until her voice broke and suddenly she began to sob. "I didn't mean to! I don't know how it happened."
The sound of her weeping voice began to gnaw at my all ready frayed nerves. Spinning around I clutched her by the arms and screamed "you fucking shot her, that's how!"
Shaking her head frantically Annette moaned "I didn't mean to, she was just...she wouldn't stop! I had to stop her Sebastian!" Her head fell against my chest as she wailed "oh what have I done?"
I wanted to push her off of me but I didn't I just let her cry as I tried to get my head around what happened. This plan I had was complicated enough and I thought I had foreseen every sort of complication but this threw me. Kathryn wasn't suppose to get shot and a gun was never in the equation.
Pulling her away from me I forced Annette to look at me. "Annette, where did you...look at me!" Lifting her face up I asked again "where did you get the gun?"
Her face was filled with confusion as she tried to process the question. Finally she answered "the gun? I got it at the cabin."
"What? Where?"
"It was sitting on the bureau in the living room. It was Kathryn's gun and I thought she would take it with her so I grabbed it before she could. I shouldn't have taken it!"
"You shouldn't have used it" I shot back at her coldly pushing her away.
Holding my head in my hands I started to pace as I tried to think of a way out of this mess. "Sebastian" Annette called to me sounding like a frightened little girl. "What are we going to do?"
"I can't believe you shot her" I muttered. "The plan was we get her to either turn herself in and if she didn't then we get her to fall over the edge. Last time I checked there were no guns involved in any of this."
"Well maybe we should just do what we planned. I mean odds are her body got washed down into the river." In a voice barely above a whisper she said "they may never find her body at all."
"Yeah and what happens when they do?" I screamed at her. "If they find her with two bullets in her chest it's not going to look like suicide. They'll know we killed her and with this tape they'll have a motive too!"
"Not if we destroy it" Annette replied.
Looking over at her I asked "what about your father?"
She sighed "Kathryn was right there was nothing on that tape that wouldn't implicate my father. I'll just have to find another way to save him."
Although my hands were still shaking I was starting to regain a little bit of my sanity. I just had to remain calm and go along as planned. "Annette, baby, you're right. We're going to just going to stick to the original plan. Look I'll get rid of the tape and the gun while you go back to the cabin and call the police. Tell them there's been an accident."
Nodding she muttered "okay but what if they go look for her body and she's down there-"
"I'm going to go make sure she's not. Just call the police and try to act calm, okay?" Annette nodded in response and I kissed her forehead and then took the gun from her using my cuff, making sure there were no finger prints. "Here take the flashlight. I'll see you soon."
I waited until she disappeared into the woods before dropping the gun and making a dash down the cliff. It was dark and I stumbled a lot but I knew there was a path somewhere. We had planned this you see, Kathryn and I. Well we had planned it up to a point.
It was suppose to be so god damn simple. I get Annette released and feed her a plan about taking down Kathryn. Then Annette follows us out to the cabin and blackmails Kathryn into taking a walk to the cliff where Kathryn would then taunt Annette into pushing her off. We'd spent the past two weeks practicing that fall with the bungees and rope knowing it was too dark for Annette to see them. Everything had gone as planned until Annette pulled out that fucking gun.
As I made my way down to the four feet of rock that met the river and the cliff I told myself Kathryn must be up to something. Annette said something about finding the gun at the cabin so maybe Kathryn had left it out of purpose, but why? I didn't have time to think of all the bizarre ways Kathryn's mind worked. I just had to tell myself that she was fine.
However when I finally got to the bottom I found Kathryn laying on her back very still. I ran up to her screaming "Kathryn!"
She made no movement at the sound of my voice so I fumbled around for a pulse but couldn't find any. It was far to dark to tell if she was bleeding or not but she was lying so still I was sure she was dead. "Oh god" I muttered holding a hand up to my face "what have I done?"
My eyes filled up with tears as my head fell into my hands. I fell back onto the hard, rocky ground as I started to cry. I was cursing myself for letting this happen when I heard "Jesus Christ that hurt a hell of a lot more than I thought it would."
Slowly I pulled my hands from my face and looked up at a very much alive Kathryn now sitting up beside me. "Kathryn" I muttered utterly shocked. "You're alive."
"Just barely" she scoffed. "This god damn harness keeps digging into me and I'm pretty sure I broke something when I bashed into the cliff coming down."
Her words weren't really registering with me as I remarked again "you're alive."
"Yes I believe we established that" she sighed. Slowly her scowl turned to an amused smile as she asked "Valmont are you crying?"
My shock quickly gave way to anger as I got to my feet and screamed at her "you're alive!? I saw her fucking shoot you!"
"Don't bother helping me get up or anything" she grumbled as she slowly got to her feet and started to take off the harness secured around her waist that was attached to the bungee cord. "Yes you're right she did shoot me and I have to say that hurt a hell of a lot more than you would think."
I was getting quickly fed up with her flippant attitude. Grabbing her face suddenly I yelled "what the hell is going on?"
Kathryn pushed me backwards and hissed "get a grip and I'll explain." Lifting up her shirt she revealed a bullet proof vest underneath and smiled "ta da. You really thought I was dead."
"It's not funny" I snarled at her. "You planned this didn't you? You knew she had the gun."
Pulling her jacket off carelessly she tossed it in the river and replied "well yes I did leave it out in plain sight knowing your idiot wife would take it."
Shaking my head at her I replied "we planned everything to the letter. Why the hell would you pull something like this? Were you trying to trip me up?"
"No" she said calmly "I needed to make sure when they found the body it would absolutely look like murder." When I looked back at her confused she rolled her eyes and explained "I left the gun out knowing odds were good she would take it and then I goaded her into using it. I didn't tell you because I thought you might object. I know no matter what you say a part of you doesn't want to send Annette away to jail. Besides the look on your face when she pulled out the gun was priceless." Kathryn laughed "god I thought you were going to do something stupid like jump in front of the bullet."
I grabbed her by the arm suddenly "this isn't funny Kathryn. What if she shot you in the face or something?"
She shrugged "then I guess I wouldn't be as pretty as I am now."
I grumbled rolling my eyes "you ARE out of your fucking mind."
Turning on me suddenly she yelled "you know I don't know what your problem is, I should be the one pissed. Annette wasn't suppose to show up until tomorrow. Care to explain that little change of plans?"
In all my anger I had forgotten about my own hidden agenda. I couldn't tell Kathryn the real reason so I simply smiled and caressed her cheek "I'm just keeping you on your toes baby."
By the look in her eyes I could tell she wasn't buying that. Her eyes studying me she replied "yes or you wanted to catch me off guard so I would screw up."
"Don't be ridiculous" I sighed. "I want you that's why I went through all this crap. Do you still not trust me?"
"Not really" she said coldly as she pulled away. "How about you give me that tape now?" I flinched as I felt around in my left pocket for the loose tape. As I pulled it out Kathryn held out her hand but I hesitated giving it to her. "Well?"
"Here" I said handing it to her "are we all square now?"
Kathryn studied the tape before pocketing it. Slowly a smile formed over her face as she stepped closer to me and wrapped her slender arms around my neck. "I'm sorry I'm being an untrusting bitch but what can I say, you're a good liar Sebastian. I can't even tell when you're telling me the truth or not."
"Right back at you" I replied before pulling her into a kiss. It started as gentle and soft but soon grew in an intensity as the moment took over. As our tongues dulled we fell back against the rocky cliff. Breaking away from her I asked breathlessly "so what's next?"
"Well Annette will call the police and feed them you're story. In a couple of weeks a body with show up too disturbed from the water to be properly identified but enough that dental records will prove it's me. That along with the gun full of her finger prints will be enough to send Annette away for a long time."
I kissed her neck while my hands gripped her tiny waist. "Everyone will think your dead."
"Yes" she laughed as I started to pick her up.
Kathryn groaned and even in the dark I noticed her wince in pain. "You're hurt" I noted.
"I'll be fine" she sighed. "But I have to get going now before the police arrive. There's a car hidden in the brush a quarter of a mile away. I'll go back to the city and call you when everything's set."
She gave me one last lingering kiss before pulling away and making her way back up the steep pathway. "Be careful" I whispered to you.
Kathryn smiled back at me before heading into the dark. As I watched her my smile slowly crumbled. Sadly things weren't going to be as easy as that for her. I pulled out the second tape from my pocket and thought about chucking it into the raging river. Maybe that's what I should have done but instead I put it back in my pocket and made my way back to the cabin.
* Annette *
I hated this waiting. Sitting in the large living room of the cabin all by myself, listening to the clock tick I thought I would go out of my mind. My hands were shaking badly and as hard as I tried I couldn't seem to make that image of Kathryn going over the cliff disappear. Sebastian and I had planned this and I knew there was a possibility of this happening but I never really thought we would kill her. You killed her, I reminded myself. You're the one who pulled the trigger.
Getting up from the couch I started to pace. When I arrived back at the cabin I called the police and told them there had been an accident. I hadn't told them anything more which was probably good because I couldn't contain the panic in my voice. They promised to send someone right away.
Sebastian still wasn't back and that also worried me. It was dark out there and he had given me the flashlight so I wondered how he would be able to find his way. I wished he had just come back with me so he could hold me and promise me everything would be all right.
Suddenly there was a sharp knocking on the front door and I jumped. Taking a deep breath I tried to remain calm, reminding myself that I couldn't appear suspicious. Calmly I walked to the door and opened it to find two police officers on the other side. "Ma'am we got a call that there was an accident here tonight."
"Yes th-there was. She's dead" I told him then quickly back peddled "I mean she went over the bluff and I-"
"Okay" the female officer said taking my arm. "Why don't we have a seat and you can tell us what happened."
She led me inside while the male officer turned around and called out "call in, we're going to need an ambulance and some more men."
"Okay dear why don't you start at the beginning."
Taking a deep breath I launched into the story we had planned. "My husband and I rented this place for the weekend. We were having dinner when Kathryn arrived. She and my husband Richard were involved awhile back and I guess she never got over it. I mean she just burst into the house and was completely out of control screaming that he loved her. Before we could stop her she ran out into the woods and Richard thought we should go after her just to make sure she didn't hurt herself. We followed her out to the path and when we found her she was standing at the edge of the cliff. She told my husband that if she couldn't have him she would rather die and then she, um, jumped."
The officer looked at me then back at her partner who was staring at me skeptically. "So let me get this straight, she comes out here, sees you two, flips out and then throws herself of a cliff?"
I nodded solemnly "yes I know it sounds ridiculous but it's the truth."
"Where's your husband now?"
"He went down towards the river to look for her. I told him it was hopeless, that he couldn't see anything in the dark but he wouldn't listen."
The two officers once again exchanged looks that told me they weren't completely believing the story I was feeding to them. "Well maybe we should wait for-"
"Richard" I said getting to my feet when Sebastian appeared at the front door. "Are you okay? I was so worried."
He nodded gravely "you called the police?"
"Yes I thought I should."
"You're the husband?" The male officer asked turning to Sebastian.
"Yes I am."
"You're wife tells us there was an accident here tonight. A young women you both knew came up here and killed herself when she found you two together. Is that what happened?"
"No it isn't"
Immediately I looked up at him in shock. I didn't understand why he would say that until I noticed the cold look in his eyes. "Why are you saying that?"
"It's the truth Annette"
The officer rolled his eyes obviously annoyed "okay let me here your version."
"I came up here with Kathryn to get away from a little while. I'm currently going threw a divorce and my wife has been having some...problems lately. Anyway we were having sex when Annette arrived. She was screaming and going off on me how I betrayed her. Then she threatened to expose our relationship to the papers and damage Kathryn's reputation if we didn't go take a walk with her. Kathryn agreed and when we got there Annette pulled out a gun and shot her off the cliff. That's what really happened."
I just stood there open mouthed and utterly speechless at what came out of Sebastian's mouth. It was all a lie, every word he had said to me since getting me released. He had set me up just as Kathryn had. "How could you do this to me?" I asked him. "You set me up!"
"You killed the woman I love. Annette you need help and maybe now you can finally get it."
"You liar!" I screamed as I lunged at him. "You wanted me to push her off that cliff so you could set me up for murder!"
"So you did push her?" The officer said as another one held me back so I wouldn't jump at Sebastian. "That sounds like a confession to me."
"The gun is up at the cliff. I can show you were it happened" Sebastian volunteered.
"No!" I screamed "I didn't mean for it to happen! Sebastian you set me up."
The officer gave me a strange look "who's Sebastian?"
"He is!"
"I thought your name is Richard?"
Sebastian sighed "yes like I said my wife has been having some severe emotional problems lately."
"Okay I've heard enough. Read her, her rights."
As another officer cuffed me something suddenly occurred to me in the midst of all this craziness. "The tape, check the VCR. There's a tape in there of Kathryn killing her mother."
One of the officers went over and hit a few buttons. "Sorry, there's nothing in here."
Looking back at Sebastian who's face was completely blank I whispered "what have you done?"
Taking a step towards me he pulled me into a hug and then leaned down and whispered so only I could here. "I hope Owen was worth it."
The officer then led me away and at that point I stopped struggling. As I followed the cops to the car Sebastian's words kept replaying in my head. That's what this was all about, my betrayal. It was all revenge. I slid back into the car and my mind wandered back to the events of that night. It was then something occurred to me, something I should have realized as soon as Sebastian's betrayal was revealed.
Kathryn wasn't dead.
* Kathryn *
'Hardgrove Trial To Begin Tuesday'
As I read those words a cool smile spread across my lips and I muttered out loud "checkmate."
Yes every thing had fallen into place perfectly. Annette was now on trial for my murder and would likely spend the rest of her days in a cell block fighting off advances from her fellow inmates. Everyone had paid and to top it off I would end up with Sebastian. Not bad at all.
I tossed the paper aside as I leaned back and looked around the vacant townhouse. Yes after taking all of mothers money I had taken her home as well. There were no servants any longer and the only people currently occupying it were Drake, Thomas and myself. It was the perfect place to hide until I disappeared to Tuscany on my private plane tomorrow.
The room was dark except for candle light and laying back on the chaise lounger I started to drift off to sleep when I heard the front door open. Immediately I sat up and my body tensed when I saw a dark figure looming in the shadows. "Who's there?'
"It's only me" a familiar voice called out.
I smiled when I saw Sebastian's handsome face "god you scared me. I was expecting you an hour ago."
Brushing his hand against my cheek he replied "yeah sorry about that...there was something I had to take care of."
"Are you all right?"
He nodded "yeah fine. Why are we meeting here?"
"Well" I laughed wrapping my arms around his waist. "I couldn't go back to the townhouse without raising suspicion and I don't really trust going to a hotel. Plus I thought this place would bring back all sorts of memories. Though I suppose most of them aren't good. Any way our plane with leave tomorrow, assuming you still want to go."
"Yeah I do" he replied pulling out of my embrace and walking past me. "But when you find out what I did I suspect you won't want me along."
A chill ran through my body as I turned to him and asked "that doesn't sound good. What did you do?"
Leaning against the bar Sebastian took a deep breath before explaining "I posted Annette's bail."
"What?!" I roared getting to my feet. "You posted her bail? She could be out of town by now!"
He nodded completely calm "yes that's a possibility."
My body was trembling I was so angry. Storming up to him I yanked the drink from his hand and demanded "why? After all that planning why the hell would you do something so stupid? You still care about her don't you!"
"No" he said forcing me to look at him. "I've gotten over Annette a long time ago but I realized I had to put an end to this game. Back at the cabin you told me that even after you made everyone pay for hurting you it still didn't make you feel better. All it did was leave you feeling more empty. I realized you were right and I had to put an end to my revenge before I lost everything I cared for."
"What are you talking about?" I sneered. "This was MY revenge."
"And mine. When I came back to New York I was totally consumed by hatred not only for Annette but for you and well."
"Yes but you didn't do anything to me."
Without a word Sebastian reached into his pocket and produced a tape recorder. He set it down on the bar and hit play. Immediately my voice rang out:
"Okay you want to know the truth? I did do it! I killed Court, I ran over my mother, I sent Owen after you, I set up your father and Cecile and I even had a friend of Blaine's rape Ronald. I did all those things and you know what? I enjoyed every minute of it!"
Recoiling from him I whispered "you recorded me?"
"Yes" he admitted softly. "I set you up to confess everything so I could get it on tape. You see all along Kathryn I wasn't on your side or Annette's for that matter. I was on mine. I was planning on getting her sent to jail for attempted murder. Then I would lead the police to you and hand them over your confession. You were right to not trust me." Turning away from him I said nothing for a long while until finally Sebastian said "Kathryn? Say something."
I couldn't say anything because I didn't have the words. I was angry sure, but more than that I was hurt. The thing was I HAD trusted him. I might have told him otherwise but in my heart I believed him. Walking towards the piano where my mothers pictures laid I spotted the one of Sebastian and me. I stared at it a long moment before turning suddenly and throwing it at him "I did trust you!"
Sebastian easily ducked it and started to approach me "Kathryn-"
"No save it, I don't care!"
"I was going to betray you but I didn't."
"Yeah" I laughed coldly "because you suddenly grew a conscience."
Walking up to me Sebastian grabbed my clenched fist and unclenched it. He slid his hand into mine as he told me "that's not it. I did it because I love you. What I told you at the cabin wasn't bullshit. I do love you and I want to spend my life with you."
"Well I don't want you" I hissed pushing him away suddenly.
I tried to walk away but he held onto my hand. "Yes you do" he whispered. "Even with everything you have Kathryn it's not enough. It doesn't make you happy. Face it you need me as much as I need you."
Turning back to him our faces were only centimeters away. "No I don't" I replied.
"Fine if that's true then I'll walk out of here and you can forget you ever saw me. First though look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me."
Taking a deep breath I said "I don't lo-"
Before I could get it out he pulled my face towards him suddenly and kissed me hard on the mouth. Every instinct in me was screaming to push him away but for the first time in my life I listened to my heart instead. I wrapped my arms around him and let myself melt into his embrace.
When we pulled apart I smiled and was about to tell him how I really felt when suddenly the front door opened. A moment later Annette appeared looming in the shadows. "It figures I'd find you two together."
"Annette? What are you doing here?" Sebastian asked.
"Well Sebastian after you were kind enough to post my bail I followed you here." Turning to me she replied "I must say you look good for a dead woman Kathryn."
"Thank you" I said coldly to surprised to say much more.
She laughed as she took a step closer towards us. "You know I knew somehow or other it was all a hoax. There was no way I would be able to get rid of you that easily. I never would have imagined though that you would be in on it with her Sebastian."
"Look I realized setting you up for murder went too far, that's why I got you released."
"But it won't get me off the hook will it?"
He shook his head "then just take off. We never saw you okay?"
Annette looked between us for a moment before a sad smile graced her lips. "I don't think that will work Sebastian. You might be able to let go of your anger but she never will. Kathryn won't be able to rest until she makes everyone suffer who she thinks has wronged her and lets face it the person she blames the most is me. That's why I've decided to stop her before she can." Reaching into the pocket of her coat she pulled out a small revolver and pointed it at me.
Backing away I muttered "you've got to be kidding."
"Actually I'm not" she explained with a cold smile. "You see it occurred to me while I was sitting in jail that since I'm already going to prison I could kill you and it won't make any difference."
Stepping towards her Sebastian reached his hand out "Annette give me the gun. You don't have to do this, I'll make sure you don't go to jail."
"Oh and I should believe you? Well you know what? I'm done with trusting people. Everyone I've trusted has betrayed me but not anymore! I'm done being the loser. This time Kathryn you loose!"
"NO!" Sebastian called out as he suddenly jumped in front of me as shots rang out.
Everything that happened next seemed like a blur. I fell to the ground with Sebastian covering me. It took me a moment to realize I hadn't been hit but there was blood covering me. My hands shaking I knew it wasn't mine. "Sebastian" I called to him when he didn't move off of me.
Sitting up my hands touched his chest and I immediately felt the warm moisture oozing from his chest. It was then I realized he had been the one shot. "Oh god Sebastian! Sebastian!"
Collapsing on my lap with his eyes open he tried to say something as he struggled for breath. "Don't, you're going to be okay" I repeated over and over again.
My hands, which were already soaked with blood were desperately trying to stop the bleeding. Looking up I saw Annette standing over us her face looking on in horror at what she'd done. Her eyes locked with mine for a moment before she turned and ran out of the house. However I didn't care I just pleaded with him "look at me, Sebastian please. You can't die on me, you're going to be okay."
He beautiful blue eyes blinked once as he whispered "do-don't cry."
Wiping my wet eyes I shook my head "I'm not. Stay with me please. Sebastian I love you! You were right I do need you and there's no point to any of this if you're not with me. Please Sebastian, please!"
I knew it was over but I still clutched him screaming for him to stay with me. I could feel Drakes presence beside me and Thomas on the other side trying to feel for a pulse. My eyes remained on Sebastian and even though I knew the truth I refused to believe it. "I love you" I whispered to him.
Drakes hand rested on my back as he whispered "Kathryn's he's dead."
- to be continued (Please Review)