Annihilate Me (26 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“Were
you shot?” I asked Alex as we raced through the streets toward whatever
hospital the driver was taking us to.
 

He
lifted his head, blinked, and finally was able to catch his breath.
 
He turned over on the seat, and pressed
his hand against his chest, but I could see that his shirt was dry, not wet
with blood.
 
I felt to make
sure.
 
He was dry.

“No,”
he said.
 
“When I was pushed inside,
I think my chest connected with the edge of the door.
 
It knocked the wind out of me and I fell
on top of you.”
 
He struggled to sit
up and I put my hand on his knee.
 
“I’m OK,” he said.

“Are
you sure?”

“I’m
sure.”

I
turned to the driver, whom I also knew was one of Alex’s guards since he
carried a gun.
 
I laced into
him.
 
“What the hell was that?” I
said.

“A
scare tactic.
 
They were using a
rifle.
 
If they wanted to shoot him,
they would have.”

“Who
are
they
?”

“We
don’t know yet.”

“Where
were they shooting from?”

“If
I had to guess, I’d say from one of the buildings across the street.”

“So
they knew we were here tonight.”

“Apparently.”

“What’s
this about?”

“We
don’t know.”

“When
are you going to know?
 
How long has
this been going on?”

“For
a while,” Alex said.
 
He hesitated
before he spoke, but then he seemed to make a decision, and turned to me.
 
“For the past week, I’ve been receiving
death threats.”

“Death
threats?”

“Another
one came in this morning.”

“Came
in how?”

“On
my cell.
 
A text.”

“What
did it say?”

“I
don’t want to worry you with that.”

“You
think I’m not worried after what just happened?
 
After being shot at?
 
And after that admission?
 
Of course I’m worried.
 
What did it say?”

“That
I’ll be dead soon.”

He
saw the look of fear that crossed my face, and stopped me before I could say
anything.
 
“Security is looking into
it.
 
If we need to bring in the FBI,
we will.”

“Who
would want to kill you?”

“Take
your pick.
 
Wenn has taken over
dozens of companies and corporations.
 
We’ve driven people out of business.
 
People have lost their jobs because of
us.
 
My father was a frequent target
of threats.
 
As I said, this is
nothing new for me, with the exception of what just happened.
 
No threat has ever risen to that
level.
 
Otherwise, I’m used to it.”

“What
kind of life is that?”

“The
life I inherited from my father.”

My
heart started to pound in my ears.
 
I thought I’d nearly lost him, which at this point in our relationship
was incomprehensible to me.
 
I was
frightened to my core.
 
I couldn’t
lose him now.
 
“This started when we
were in Maine, didn’t it?”

“It
started before we went to Maine.”

I
couldn’t help feeling a spark of anger and betrayal.
 
“And you didn’t tell me before we
left?
 
You knew about this, and
still we had sex?
 
Why would you do
that to me?
 
I’m emotionally invested
in you now.”

“Do
you believe for a minute that I’m not as emotionally invested in you?
 
Perhaps even more than you are in me?
 
When we were in Maine, I still thought
this was just another one of those pranks.
 
Another fake threat.
 
I’ve
had dozens of them.
 
And I didn’t
initiate what happened between us that first night in Maine, Jennifer.
 
You did.”

“You
still could have have stopped it.
 
You knew how vulnerable I was at that point.
 
You knew what I was giving up.
 
Why didn’t you stop it, especially with
this threat against your life?
 
You
should have stopped it.
 
With the
knowledge you had, nothing should have happened that night, or on the beach, or
in the elevator a moment ago.
 
I’m
intimate with you now in ways that I shouldn’t be.”

He
didn’t answer.

“What
did you think was going to happen when we went to Maine?”

“I
didn’t know.”

“Oh,
please.
 
We both knew.”
 

I
collected myself and focused on the real matter at hand—his safety, my
safety and how we could end this now so we could move forward with our
lives.
 
“When will you get the FBI
involved?”

“Probably
tomorrow.”

“Why
tomorrow?
 
Why not just bring them
in now?
 
This is serious.”
 
And then I knew why.
 
“Because of the press, right?
 
You’re worried about how news of this
might affect Wenn’s stock.”

“That’s
right.
 
So is the board.”

“Screw
the board.
 
Screw Wenn.
 
Your safety comes first.
 
Certainly the FBI can keep this quiet.
 
They’re the FBI for God’s sake.
 
Get your team on the phone and get the
investigation started.
 
You said
you’ve been receiving texts.
 
Texts
are sent through cell phones.
 
Certainly, a name is attached to that cell phone.”

“You’re
being naïve.”

“How
am I being naïve?”

“There
are text services, Jennifer.
 
Some
of them offer a free trial—with no credit card attached.
 
All they require is an email address,
which both of us know can be bogus.
 
And then there are TracFone’s.
 
Do you know what
they
are?
 
You pick them up at places like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target.
 
Wherever.
 
They come pre-loaded with minutes.
 
Nothing is traceable to the person who
holds the phone, especially if that person paid for it in cash.
 
It offers complete anonymity until you
add more minutes via a credit card.
 
If a TracFone is what this person used to send me those texts, don’t you
think they’d just get another one when their minutes ran out rather than expose
their identities to the world?
 
Of
course they would.
 
You’re not
seeing all sides of this.
 
Those are
just two right off the top of my head.
 
I’m sure the FBI knows of a slew of other ways to send an anonymous
text.
 
And by the way—the
number attached to the texts I was sent?
 
When you call it, you get nothing.
 
They’re not picking up for obvious reasons.
 
I’ve tried.”

“I
don’t believe for a minute that the FBI doesn’t have the necessary skills and
tools to deal with this kind of situation.
 
What’s getting in your way now is you and your goddamned company.
 
You hired me as a consultant—”

“—a
business
consultant.”

“That’s
right, and that’s the advice I’m going to offer you now.
 
Get the FBI on this.
 
Let them do their work.
 
Let them make this go away.
 
If and when news hits that there was a
threat against your life, we’ll be prepared to tell the press that we’re
dealing with it.
 
We’ll do our
homework beforehand.
 
We’ll counter
with a shitload of news about other CEOs who have been similarly targeted, and
make it sound as commonplace as it is.
 
Just read the
Times
or the
Journal
.
 
Or pay attention to the news in general.
 
Or maybe even listen to a bit of common
sense.
 
Any person of great
power—and that would be you, Alex—is vulnerable at any point in
their lives.
 
Your investors know
that.
 
They’d be fools not to.
 
I don’t see how any of this could affect
Wenn.
 
Spin it correctly, and it
might even be a win for Wenn.”

“And
how do you figure that?”

“There’s
no such thing as bad press, Alex.
 
If there’s a way to spin this, should we need to, I’ll find it.”

“And
you have the skills to do that?”

The
comment offended me.
 
In fact, the
entire conversation offended me.
 
“I
have the skills to look the CEO of a major corporation in the eye, and set him
straight in ways that no one else dares to.
 
Bite on that for a while, because you and
I know that everything I just said to you is on point.
 
Call your surveillance team and tell
them to contact the FBI.”

“Take
us home,” Alex said to the driver.
 
“I don’t need to see a doctor.”
 
He looked at me, and on his face was an apology.
 
“I didn’t know it would go this
far.
 
I’ve been threatened with my
life many times since I was handed Wenn, and each time, it was a prank.
 
Obviously, this isn’t.
 
I thought I could shield you from it,
but clearly that’s not the case.”

“It
isn’t,” I said.

He
looked at me.

“Here’s
something else you need to know,” I said.
 
“Tonight,
I
received a death threat.
 
I also thought it was a prank, or I would have told you the moment it
happened, especially if I’d known about this.
 
If I’d know about this, I would have
told you immediately.”

He
looked horrified.
 
“What did it
say?”

“That
I’d be dead soon.
 
It included an
attached photograph of me, which was taken tonight.
 
Whoever sent it to me was in the crowd
when we exited the limousine.
 
In
the photo, I’m wearing this dress.
 
They were within a few feet of me, and they threatened me with my
life.
 
How on Earth could you not
have told me about this earlier?
 
You’ve put your life in jeopardy, and mine as well.”

“I
should have taken it seriously.
 
I’m
sorry.
 
It’s just so routine—”

“I
don’t care if it was routine in the past.
 
At this point, routine just ended.
 
Now,
I’m
involved.
 
Those
bullets that were fired could have been meant for me, not you.
 
Have you considered that?
 
The public knows we’re a couple and they
know that you lost Diana.
 
Someone
could want to take me away from you, too.
 
For whatever reason, someone might want to kill me to send either a
direct threat or message to you.”

He
just stared at me at a loss for words.

“You
should have told me about all of this when it first started,” I said.
 
“I knew something was going on.
 
I asked you about it while we were in
Maine, but you refused to tell me.
 
And by not telling me so I could be prepared for this, you’ve put my
life at risk.”

“I
didn’t think it would go this far.”

“Well,
it has.
 
And I don’t need to hear
anymore.
 
I’ve heard enough.
 
I’ve got it.”
 
I leaned toward the driver.
 
“I want to get out.”

“That’s
not a good idea, Ms. Kent.”

“Pull
over and let me out.
 
I’m taking a
cab from here.
 
Do it now, or I’ll
open the door and jump out.”