Beautiful Disaster

Part Thirty

Izzy stopped humming when she heard the back door open.

"You finally came back." She also stopped sponging the teacup she had in her hands and opened the faucet so she could wash away the bubbles between her fingers. The sleeves of her shirt were rolled up so that they wouldn't get wet in the process. "So? Did walking do any good to clear up your mind?"

"It absolutely did."

Izzy spun around, surprised that it wasn't Hugh who'd come in. "Peter? I thought Hugh had opened the door—What are you doing here?"

There was an odd twinkle in Peter's eyes. Izzy couldn't put her finger on it, but she was sure Peter was up to something. "I came to say goodbye. And I brought a little gift along."

"Didn't you find a good enough place here for your wedding? The Towdee countryside's much lovelier than the one surrounding Ambervale." Izzy asked cautiously. Never had she been this uncomfortable around Peter.

It was as if he'd gained a new personality, as if he was not the Peter Lewis that she used to know.

"I have a confession to make, sweetheart," he continued. "There isn't going to be a wedding. There wasn't even an engagement. And the 'goodbye' I'm talking about isn't of the see-you-later kind. I was thinking more along the lines of six feet under the ground."

Peter pulled a gun out of his jacket and aimed it at Izzy, who gasped in shock. His hand didn't even shake as he came closer to her. This fact frightened Izzy and made her realize that the man in front of her wasn't kidding around.

Just what had become of him? Who was this monster? "Peter, you can't be serious. Put that gun down."

Peter laughed aloud. "Why would I? A tiny bullet from this baby will guarantee me half a million bucks and a new identity. Oscar Romero said so."

"You are Oscar's gunman?" Izzy couldn't believe it.

"I am now," he admitted. "He was surprised when he discovered that I knew your whereabouts. He even increased the money I would get from him if I accomplished this."

Izzy closed her eyes. She should have known that Peter would be angry with her for having dumped him like that. She should have known better than to have hooked up with him, a man who would do anything for easy money, in the first place.

He was mad, and he had a gun, for Pete's sake! "Peter, don't do this. You could go to jail, or worse. Didn't what we used to have matter? Have you forgotten how in love we were with each other?"

Izzy opened her eyes. She backed into the sink when she noticed that Peter's hand had tightened on the gun. He wasn't going anywhere.

"You were in love with me. And I, on the other hand, was never in love with you. But the money was way too tempting. Sadly, you found out about my grand scheme and cut off all that tied us together. That fortune I dreamed of for so long never again came within my reach, and it's your fault." He took one step closer. "So you see, sweetheart, nothing ever existed between us. Nothing can exist between us, except for revenge."

This angered Izzy. He'd been the one to fool her, to pretend to be in love with her when all he ever did was spend her money. "You're even crazier than I imagined."

"Takes one to know one, I guess," he smiled. "Now, how do we go about this? I could kill you here, but it might alert everyone else in the building. And I may have to hurt them to get away."

"Don't you dare bring anyone into this!"

"Or you can come with me to the rental, and I'll take you someplace much quieter, where no one will be able to disturb us."

She didn't want to go anywhere with him. Only God knows what he had planned for her. But she didn't want anyone in the building to get hurt, especially the children running about on the dance floor.

If one of them accidentally rushed through the door, she feared what would happen next. She needed to stall Peter. She needed more time.

Where on earth was Hugh? And Tim? "I'll scream."

Peter only laughed harder. His hand was not as steady as before, because it now shook with the force of his anger. Revenge dripped from every particle of his body.

His chortles were so high-pitched that Izzy feared it had gained the attention of the others in the building. "Go ahead. Let's see how many people I could shoot in one night."

"No!!!" Izzy lunged for Peter. He wasn't going to hurt anyone else.

At the same time that she moved, the tall wine cabinet nearby crashed, pinning Peter under its weight. The man hadn't even been able to scream because everything happened so fast. He lost hold of his gun, and it went off the moment it hit the floor.

♥

Continued

Please stay tuned for more parts. And please tell a friend if you think they might enjoy this type of story. Thank you for reading!