Charlie didn’t miss her changed demeanor. He moved faster than Chad expected him to, and whipped their bodies around so Bree was shielding him as he held the gun out and looked into the bushes, straight where Bree had been gazing.
He pressed his finger in and the gun fired, the bullet flying toward Chad. Lucky for him, Charlie was a bad shot. The bullet slammed into the tree two feet to his left, splintering the wood. The man also hadn’t been smart enough to place a silencer on the weapon. He’d just given their position away to the rest of Bree’s family and probably the entire security force at the hospital.
“It’s over, Charlie. Just let her go. Don’t make this any worse for yourself,” Chad said calmly, keeping his body blocked behind a large tree. He knew the man wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in him and he’d be no good to Bree if he was dead.
“You got here faster than I thought you would, Chad. If you take one step closer, I’ll put a bullet through your bastard child,” Charlie snarled.
Chad had no doubt he’d do just that.
“How do you think this can end, Charlie. You know I can’t let you take her.”
“You don’t have a choice,” the man screamed as he took a few more steps down the trail, dragging Bree with him. She stared at Chad, her eyes filled with tears.
“Charlie, how do you plan on leaving?”
Chad knew he needed to keep saying his name. The more he humanized him, the more he’d think about the bad choices he was making. He looked to Bree, but only for a moment. He had to keep his eye on Charlie. If he could just get one shot in, that’s all it would take to end this whole thing.
Bree started to pull against him and Chad wanted to yell at her not to. He didn’t want her getting accidentally shot. He knew Charlie didn’t really want to shoot her and only would if he felt he had no other choice.
Charlie ranted at her, then jerked against her chest, causing her head to slam against Charlie’s body. He’d pay for the agony he was inflicting on Bree.
“Why, Charlie. Why are you doing this?” Chad asked.
“Do you really need to ask? She’s mine and always has been, from the very first time I saw her. She was too young then, so I waited. I watched her date other men, but I knew it wasn’t serious. Then, she got on this kick about being independent. I figured that was my perfect time to be with her. She didn’t want her family smothering her, but she needed someone. I figured if I scared her a little bit, she’d come running to me. It was perfect, too, because she’d been getting threatening letters. Trenton showed me. It wasn’t hard to escalate things to break-in’s and stalking. It all would’ve worked out, too, if you hadn’t gotten involved,” Charlie sputtered.
“Even if Chad and I hadn’t gotten involved, I wouldn’t have come to you, Charlie. I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I just wanted to focus on me for a while. What happened with Chad and I wasn’t planned. It just happened,” Bree said gently. She was trying to appeal to the boy she’d know so long.
“You’re wrong, Bree. You would’ve needed me – I know it,” Charlie argued. She was telling him they didn’t have a chance, yet he was determined to change her mind.
Chad didn’t want him to come to the realization that she’d never be his. Once he had nothing to lose, he had no use for her anymore.
“You need help, Charlie. Just let Bree go and we’ll get you all the help you need. Trenton’s on his way. You don’t want him to see you pointing a gun at his sister, do you?”
“He’ll understand. He made a comment once, back in high school, that it would be great if Bree and I married, cause then we’d be true brothers. I knew then he’d be okay with us being together, no matter how it happened.”
If Trenton heard that comment, he’d come unglued. If he had any inkling that he’d played a part in his sister’s predicament, he’d be on his knees.
“Why don’t we all just sit down and talk about this,” Chad offered.
“Get away! I’m not telling you again,” Charlie snarled. He pointed his gun toward Chad again and fired, not coming close. Chad was grateful the man had poor aim.
Charlie was moving further down the path and Chad continued to follow. He kept under cover, but didn’t let them get more than twenty feet ahead of him. Charlie had to have a car nearby. He’d have to expose himself at that point and that’s when Chad would take his shot. There was no way he could let Charlie drive away with her.
“Bree, you’ll grow to love me, I promise. I’m a good guy. This day has just gotten kind of messed up. I’ll raise your baby, then we’ll make more. We could even get rid of this one if you want. Of course that’s what you’ll want, so we’ll have to do that. You may not think so, but you won’t want his baby growing inside you. If we just get rid of it, I can plant my seed in you. We’ll be a family.”
Bree’s eyes widened in horror at his words. She started clawing at his arm around her throat. Chad tried to send her a single to calm down, but Charlie was threatening her child and her mother’s instincts had kicked in, full-throttle.
“Stop struggling. You’re only going to get yourself hurt. If you don’t stop now, I’ll shoot you, I will, then I’ll make sure my shot doesn’t miss Chad. He’ll rush forward, try to save you, making him such an easy target,” Charlie sneered.
His words did their trick. She didn’t want to watch Chad get shot, and she knew Charlie was right. If he shot her, Chad would run forward, disregarding his own safety. She couldn’t get away from him, so she had to trust Chad wouldn’t let her out of his sight. It was the only thing she had to hold on to.
Charlie reached the other side of the pond and started down another trail. She could hear traffic nearby. Bree’s heart pounded as she realized they were running out of time. If he managed to get her to his vehicle, Chad wouldn’t be able to find them.
“What are you doing, Charlie?” Trenton’s voice called out as he rounded a corner, not even trying to take cover.
“Trenton, I know this looks bad, but it’s what we’ve always wanted. Bree’s supposed to be mine, and then we’ll be related. She just got messed up, being around Chad. It will be fine,” Charlie pled with his friend to understand.