Too Late for Regret (Annalise and Roger) novel Chapter 132

Charlie’s POV

We’re ready to go, but with each passing second, my nerves increase. This is taking longer than I anticipated. Rita, Colby, and I are upstairs, just waiting for my call. Bradley is with Jon and Drew, downstairs with Ana. I left the blinds halfway down. They can see that four people are there, but they can’t see that Bradley has taken my place. I had Jon pull the SUV into the garage. That way, Bradley is in the shadows. They won’t be able to confirm that he isn’t me.

I know how this worked. Close enough, it will trick the mind into seeing what it wants to see. We’ve used that several times over, both in the military and in our business. We learned the hard way to visually confirm before proceeding. I highly doubt Eddie will be doing that. I already know Tiffany will be pushing him into moving forward with their plan. He will try to do his best, but it won’t be good enough.

We are all armed and ready to go; even Ana has her own gun. I couldn’t take the chance of any of them getting past us to get to her. She needs to be able to protect not only herself, but also our baby. She’s actually a pretty good shot. I know that if worse comes to worst, she can hold her own. I told her not to take any chances. If she has to discharge her weapon, it’s because the three of us have been taken down. I don’t even want to think about that happening.

The men I have following them called to advise that they had left the driver of the transport van behind in a shopping mall parking lot. He left the medic with him to call for an ambulance. That gave him time to make sure the guard is ok, and have the police verify what went down. They knew the guard was in the van, and our medic crossed the parking lot from a blind spot. The guard woke up shortly after the police arrived. He told the officers what happened. The driver continued to follow Eddie. Staying back and calling me when Eddie stopped at a convenience store.

“We are near the back of your subdivision. I think they are going to be approaching through the woods.” He told me.

“Update me in the group text,” I advised.

Everyone has their phone on silent. We don’t want an alert to expose any of us. Until we gain control of the situation, that’s how it will remain. I was glad to at least know the direction they were coming from. The window coverings were down upstairs. We could see out, but they couldn’t see in. We all took up positions in separate rooms and set up, looking for them. I already knew that they would be close and ready to go when the call came in.

I spotted Tiffany first; she wasn’t even trying to hide. She firmly believed we had no idea they were coming. Eddie and Gretchen did a better job, as I couldn’t see either of them. When the call came in, we knew it was go time. Our game faces were on as Rita and I made our way to the top of the stairs. Colby stayed near the window, watching them. We had turned out all the lights upstairs to prevent casting shadows, as we didn’t want to alert them to our presence. We would know they were coming when he came to us and joined our positions.

Drew, Jon, and Bradley quickly headed out to the SUV, speaking loud enough to be heard. Both Jon and Drew called him Charlie as they entered the SUV. The windows were lowered just enough for them to verify that someone with dark hair was in the backseat of the SUV.

That was a good idea as they came straight towards the house, as soon as the SUV was out of sight. Ana sat on the couch, pretending to read a book. She knew what was going to happen, and she knew when to move. We just needed them to enter our home, uninvited. I had another camera hidden in the garage, aimed at the garage door where we enter the house.

That was going to show that Eddie picked the lock to gain entry. Each law broken will incur an additional charge for them. The judge already helped us out, with giving Tiffany the sentence she has. She would be ninety once she got out with the charges she already had. With the charges they’re gaining now, her sentence is about to get much worse.

The silence of the house was deafening. We all heard the garage door open. Ana played along, not raising her head as the alarm sounded. “Charlie?” she called out as if she thought I had returned.

“No, not Charlie,” Tiffany called back.

Tiffany headed towards Ana, but Ana stood her ground. Rita and Colby were keeping an eye on Eddie. We had all dismissed Gretchen. She had never put her hands on Ana before, and she looked scared to be here. I was keeping an eye on Tiffany. I knew Ana had a weapon on her, but things could escalate quickly. I didn’t know if Ana would be able to reach her weapon before Tiffany got to hers. I knew Ana wanted to get things off her chest. Things that she didn’t want to say in front of a packed courtroom.

Tiffany seems very sure of herself. She is absolutely confidant that she has won. She thinks she has time to toy with Ana, which concerns me. I was watching the camera feed, and I hadn’t seen a weapon on Tiffany, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have one. You couldn’t see the one Ana has on her person either. The oversized sweater she is wearing covers it, just like it covers the Kevlar vest.

I’m sure that Tiffany believes that they’ve caught Ana alone, and it’s the reason for her confidence. They believe that the plan they set up is working perfectly. The longer they believe that, the more tea they will spill. Tiffany changed direction and headed to look outside at our backyard. She put her back towards Ana to show her that she didn’t believe she was a threat to her. That was better than her approaching Ana. Tiffany was showing Ana that she was the one in charge, the one in control. Things were going well until they weren’t.

“Boss, someone is pulling up in an SUV, but we don’t have a visual on who it is yet,” one of my men warned.

Colby pulled up one of the outside cameras, and I wanted to scream in frustration. Holden and Seth are heading into the house, like they own it. Coming in through the unlocked garage door. This wasn’t good. Tiffany hates Seth, and he’s now in danger. She’s about to leave the country. She wouldn’t hesitate to try to off him too. I wouldn’t put it past her. This is going to cause a big problem. Ana won’t know what to do. She will want to protect her brother, and probably Holden as well. My wife has an inflated sense of kindness. She would be upset if they were hurt inside our home.

“Sis, did you know you left the door unlocked?” Seth called out as he entered her house. He stopped short when he saw who was in our home, and ran to stand in front of Ana. He might not have had her back at the beginning of this mess, but he did now.

Ana was trying to push him to the side, but he refused to move. I’m sure it’s because Ana is pregnant, but now he’s blocking the bottom of the stairs and messing up our carefully laid plans.