The Other Side

“They got it going again and they’ve taken him to the hospital. Roberto’s gone with him and he told me to let you know. I’m coming to get you and Atalya.”

This was getting too much for Charli. Mark had been poisoned? His heart had stopped? That was never good. It was incredibly rare to get someone’s heart restarted again and for them to be okay afterwards.

He hadn’t caught her cold. Someone had tried to kill him.

And she knew exactly who to look to.

*****

Charli told Atalya to wait for Stephen, not telling her about Mark’s poisoning, and then took a cab to the tennis courts. She was trembling with anger. The bas*ard had gone too far this time. He had tried to ruin things for her once he lost control of her and he couldn’t accept that things were over.

Poisoning Mark to get rid of him seemed to be going to the extreme but Charli had accepted a long time ago that Andy would do anything to get back in control. Their ten years together seemed to be immaterial now. Andy wasn’t trying to get her back for love. He was trying to get her back for spite.

She found Andy and his coach on one of the courts, Andy practicing his volleys. Kimberly stood at the edge of the court, her phone plastered to her ear. She saw Charli enter the court and mumbled something to her caller before hanging up. She hurried to Charli and blocked her way as Charli made to move onto the court.

“What are you doing here?” She hissed.

“I want to talk to Andy.”

“Are you crazy? The restraining order says he’s not allowed to. You’re breaking the order you set up against him!”

Charli knew that but right now she didn’t care. She needed to do this, even if it meant breaking the conditions of the restraining order. She stepped up close to Kimberly, the other woman’s eyes widening.

“I’m breaking it right now,” Charli said softly, “And if you don’t move out the way I’ll break you. I’m in the mood for a fight, Kim. Don’t push it.”

It was a bluff. Charli wasn’t prepared to fight anyone; it might harm her baby. But Kimberly didn’t know that. Her face paled and she stepped to the side, giving Charli a wide berth. Dismissing her, Charli stepped onto the court and advanced on Andy. Andy’s coach stopped and pointed, making Andy turn. He blinked and stared at her.

“Charli?” Dropping his racket he hurried towards her. “What are you doing here?”

Charli held up a hand and stopped him from coming close. She was still trembling.

“Mark’s in the hospital.”

“I heard.” Andy shook his head. “Sad. Heard he has the flu.”

That was the most insincere he had ever sounded.

“He was poisoned.” Charli glared up at him, hands clenched at her sides. “And I think you did it.”

Andy took a step back in surprise.

“What? Just because we don’t get along you think I tried to kill him?”

“Considering how quickly you’ve gone downhill, I wouldn’t put it past you to try some attempted murder.”

“I never touched his stuff.”

Charli narrowed her eyes at him.

“Who said anything about his stuff?” Then she watched Andy shuffle nervously as she glared at him. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t bullsh*t me, Andy.” Charli prodded him in the chest. “We both know you poisoned Mark somehow and I want to know.”

She squeaked as Andy grabbed her hand, holding on tight. His grip was punishing and Charli had to bite back a wince. Andy’s placid expression disappeared and a nasty look replaced it. He sneered at Charli.

“What’s Mark got that I haven’t?” He demanded.

“For one thing, he loves me. He doesn’t cheat and he puts me first at times instead of permanently second, third or fourth.”

Andy snorted rudely.

“He’s got nothing on me. He’s a washed up player who doesn’t know when to quit. I’m better and will always be better. Getting you knocked up means nothing because he will never bring in the millions in the long-term. He’s close to retirement; that won’t last.” He smirked. “And he won’t be able to now if he’s going to be confined to a wheelchair.”

“You don’t know he will be.”

“With the amount of arsenic I put in his water bottle that will be a certainty.”

“Arsenic?” Charli realized what he had just said. She stared at him. “So you did try to kill him!”

“Twist that all you want. I’m not going to be charged.” Andy pulled her closer, looking very pleased with himself. “Not with the money I earn. They won’t want to throw me in jail. I can get myself out of any trouble without blinking.”

Charli felt sick. Andy seriously thought his money would keep him out of jail. He was that disgusting to believe he could commit attempted murder and nobody would arrest him.

“One moment.”

She pulled away before Andy could put his arms around her and picked up his racket. Before Andy could react, Charli swung. She hit Andy in the face with his racket. Something cracked and Andy fell to the ground screaming, clutching at his head. His coach leapt over the net and knelt beside him, looking at Charli like she had gone mad. Charli shrugged.

“After what he did, that shouldn’t be a crime.” She dropped the racket and glanced at her watch. “I’ve called the cops already. They’ll be here in seconds. So you wait there like a good boy until they arrive.”

She knew there were people in the gallery who were staring at her as she walked away. A few people had their phones out but this time Charli ignored them. It would serve Andy right to get bad publicity after what he had done.

Kimberly was white as a sheet as Charli sauntered towards her. Phone still in hand, she was staring at Andy, who was rolling around screaming like a baby as his coach tried to calm him down. Charli stood in front of her, waiting until Kimberly looked up, her eyes wide and scared.

“I hate you because of your opinion of me and my ethnicity.” Charli said quietly. “Because you’re a racist and I abhor them. But if you don’t want to be arrested as an accomplice I suggest you cut yourself lose while you can.”

Turning away before Kimberly could say anything, Charli left the court. She didn’t look back.