Page 72 of Claiming Liberty
Chaffer doesn’t respond. He just stares at me, waiting for me to sit, and reluctantly, I do.
He leans back in his chair, his legs crossing. “Why did you save my life the other night?”
My lips flatten, but I don’t move otherwise.
“I know you did, so don’t bother denying it. You knew what Sawyer had planned. What I want to know is why you sabotaged it.”
At my silence, he sits up and plants his forearms on his desk. “You’re not one hundred percent with Sawyer, are you?”
After a few seconds, I shrug. “I’m my own person.”
Chaffer’s thin lips lift into a tiny smirk. “Maybe you are.” He tips his head as if he’s just now considering this. “If that’s the case, you must realize how unhinged your friend is.”
“You murdered an entire room full of people, some innocent, and you’re going to call Sawyer unhinged?”
Chaffer shows me his palms. “I’m not saying I’m innocent, but at least my actions make sense. The people who died have no effect on me. The people he killed were his own meal tickets. Not only that, but now his empire is nothing but chaos.”
I sit back and pretend to consider this. What he said is true. Of course, it’s true. It wouldn’t make any sense for Sawyer to kill all the people who were making him millions.
But he didn’t do it. I did. Sawyer only agreed to slipping a cigar into Chaffer’s personal stash and gifting one to Eli Colley. He knows about the chaos created but believes it was the fault of the guard he sent to do it. I was never supposed to have been there.
Chaffer sighs. “In a few hours, I have an army of men prepared to storm the manor. I want you to give us access to your private gate.”
I rear back. “What?”
“Sawyer needs to be taken care of, and I’m prepared to do the work for all of us.”
“Sawyer is my brother. Why the hell would you even consider me helping you kill him as a possibility?”
Chaffer doesn’t miss a beat. “Because, like it or not, he’s as much your problem as he is mine.”
I crane my neck side to side, my chest heaving with a deep, frustrated breath. I’m tired of this. Sobeyondtired of this.
“You know, I think I might’ve saved your life tonight. Peter will be assisting us with our attack, and I’m sure he’s dying for the chance to personally kill you.”
I let out a humorless laugh, my shoulders lifting with it. “Gee, thanks.”
“I’m only returning the favor.”
I run a hand over my face and stand, finished with this conversation. Maybe even finished with all of it. If Peter and Chaffer want to try to break through the manor’s security, fine, they can have at it. They won’t come out victors, but neither will Sawyer. The whole island is fucked at this point.
Liberty and I should just leave. Take Elsie and let the cards fall.
I start toward the door but stop when Chaffer speaks.
“I have a theory I want you to hear.”
My eyes close, annoyance seeping from my pores as curiosity simultaneously holds me in place.
“For a very long time, I thought you killed your slave. The first one, Peter Shaw’s sister. Part of the reason was because you never disputed it, but here lately, I’m not convinced.”
“So what?” I say, opening my eyes and staring at the door. “What the hell difference does it make?”
“I told Peter you didn’t push his sister off a cliff. I’d like to know if I’m wrong.”
The anger that’s been building since setting foot on his property peaks, and I almost,almosttell him to go fuck himself. Peter’s tried to kill me twice before, so it isn’t news that he’d want to try again.
But then I remember his sister. I remember Beth.