“Was he always like that?”
“He always ran hot and cold. Very loving one minute and then furious the next. Mike wasn’t the best guy in the world, but I liked him a lot. And I wanted to be with him despite what his father had done to me.”
Did she know about her paternity? Georgia eased into the chair across from Amber. “Did Tim tell you what happened in the woods?”
“He said he found me with Mike and he shot him. Bethany heard the shot and came running. When she did, he shot at her, but the gun jammed so he hit her with a rock and then stabbed her. He said I freaked out and started running. I must have slipped on wet leaves as I was running down the trail. Fell and hit my head and broke my arm. He thought I was dead. He panicked and ran.”
“He just left you.”
“That’s what he said.”
“He went to a lot of trouble to hide Bethany and Mike’s bodies. Walled them up. Hung up Bethany’s pendant as a kind of grave marker.”
“I don’t pretend to understand the mind of a madman.”
“Did you tell Detective Bishop?”
“I told him, but he didn’t believe me. I don’t think any of them believe me.”
She smoothed her hand over the table. “He said that?”
“Yes.”
Jake hadn’t believed Amber from the very beginning. But he hadn’t tipped his hand to her. He was too smart to let Amber know his true thoughts.
“You need to make him believe I didn’t mean to shoot Tim,” she said. “You’re my only friend.”
“And Mrs. Reed.”
“She’s old. Fragile.”
“What about Rachel? She’s your attorney.”
“I don’t know her. Not like I know you.”
Fingers of fear crept around Georgia’s neck. She rose. “I need to call Detective Bishop. We need to talk to him together.”
Amber hurried after her, grabbing her arm. “Do you really think you can convince him?”
Georgia glanced down at her arm, tugging it from Amber’s embrace. “It couldn’t hurt to try.”
She reached for her cell and dialed. His phone went to voice mail and she left him a message, telling him he needed to come to her place. Amber was here. She needed his help.
“Maybe he will let me in to see Tim. If I can see Tim, I might be able to get him to confess.”
“I don’t think they’ll let you see Tim until he recovers from surgery.”
“I didn’t think so.” She shook her head. “If I can get to someone with authority in the hospital, I can make them understand.”
Georgia had no doubt that Amber could persuade just about anyone of anything. She had a look and a way about her that reached out and made you notice her. “I know about Mr. Marlowe.”
Amber shook her head. “What do you know? He forced me to have sex. Is that what you know?”
“He’s your father.”
She winced as if she’d been slapped. “He wasn’t a father to me! Not ever.”
“But he’s your biological father. We ran yours, Mike’s and Dalton’s DNA from five years ago. You all share the same markers.”
Amber flinched. “That’s not true!”
Georgia had the sense she was now playing poker with a master. She used words, facts, and injuries like playing cards; always careful to reveal only the cards she wanted seen. “It’s true. And you know it.”
Amber turned from her, dropping her head. For a moment her shoulders shook as if she were weeping. And then she turned, pointing the barrel of a gun at Georgia.
Her heart skittered and then stilled as she forced her mind to calm and think. “What’s that for?”
“You’re smart. How did you make that connection? My mom doesn’t even know that I know.”
“More importantly, how did you find out?”
“Letters stowed in the attic. Letters from Dalton to Mom telling her they were done and the enclosed check was all she was going to receive from him.” Amber shook her head. “And the crazy part to me was that she accepted what he gave her and walked away. Walked away from all that money. She knew he would kill her if she leaked the truth or tried to blackmail him.”
“How long have you known?”
“The summer before my junior year. I went to him and scoped him out in a hotel bar. I could always make myself look a little older and with a fake ID and a slinky dress the bartenders looked the other way.”
“You were just a kid.”
“Like I said, I’m good.” She brushed a wisp of hair from her eyes. “And he had a thing for young girls. You know the first time I sat next to him at a bar he looked at me with such lean hungry eyes.”
“You seduced him.”
“I did. Three times. And I taped each hook-up. When I showed it to him at first he didn’t look that worried. He even laughed. Then I called him ‘Daddy.’ I thought he was going to stroke out. That was a real family moment.”
“Did you kill Bethany and Mike?”
“I did,” she said leaning forward as if she were sharing a great secret. “And I hid their beautiful damn bodies so well I knew they’d never be discovered if I didn’t give you a really big clue. Enter Elisa’s stinking dead body.”
“Why her?”
A sigh shuddered through her. “You could tell by looking at her that she thought she was smarter than everyone. So much better than the rest of us. But all it takes is a little attention and girls like that melt. I paid a good-looking guy to flirt with her in the coffee shop, but when it became clear he wasn’t doing it for her, I approached her.”
“You planted Elisa’s backpack in Scott Murphy’s motel room.”
She looked pleased. “Very smart. All I had to do was promise him more money and he came running. While he was getting his fix, I dropped off the backpack. Too easy. Coaxing Elisa into the woods was also so easy. See old Scott wasn’t getting the job done so I had to seduce her myself. She was ripe for the picking.”
“You were the one in the woods with her?”
“Yep.” She laughed. “Hell, what is it with smart girls? They are so dumb in the real world. Take Bethany. Coaxing her into the woods took little effort. The trick is to know which buttons to push.”
“Bethany? You were never her friend.”
“Not exactly true. I liked hanging around her mother. Liked feeling pampered. It was a first for me. Bethany, as smart as she was never appreciated what she had.”
A cold realization shot through her mind. “Where is Mrs. Reed?”
“She’s where she wants to be.”
“What does that mean?”
“She’s with Bethany,” she whispered.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing she didn’t really want.”
Georgia had seen the aftermath of evil at crime scenes. She’d testified against monsters in courts of law. But those monsters were always cleaned up and coiffed by attorneys and rarely spoke. This was the very first time evil stood so close. “What do you want from me?”
“I need you to call that hospital so I can see Tim. I need to know if the fool is ever going to wake up.” Amber winked as if Georgia was now willing to play along. “You know they’ll talk to you.”
Georgia pulled her phone from her back pocket. But instead of dialing, asked, “When you fell in the woods, Tim was there with you, wasn’t he?”
“He freaked out. Started crying. I could barely see for the pain, but I told him not to worry. I said I could fake amnesia. I would never tell on him. He swore he would never tell. We’d have been fine if not for you reopening the case. He did fine five years ago because I took all the heat. He even came to Texas occasionally to play with me a little. But as loyal as he thinks he is, he couldn’t stand up to real pressure from the cops. I couldn’t trust he could remain strong.”
“When did you decide to kill him?”
“When he told me he killed Dalton.” She laughed. “He killed my daddy and I just couldn’t let that stand. Again, he was easy to manipulate. To lure. To kill.”
“So if Tim dies, then what?”
“Then you die and then I find myself a real good attorney and stake a claim to Daddy’s money.” She waved the gun. “Come to think of it, you actually did me a favor. Dalton couldn’t have declared Mike legally dead in a couple more years and knowing how much he loved that dumb kid he might not ever have done it. Everyone knows the money went to Dalton. I was going to blackmail him, but now I can simply inherit it all as his sole heir.”
“You won’t get away with this.”
She rolled her eyes. “I did it once, and I’ll do it again.”
“What are you going to do if Tim lives and he talks?”
“He won’t live. He can’t. Won’t.” She motioned to the phone. “Now start dialing, bitch.”
Georgia left a message with Jake. “He’s going to come here.”
“I’m counting on stud paying us a visit. If you’re good, I’ll let you watch.”
* * *
Jake had expected Amber to go to the hospital after he released her. He put a tail on her and they reported that she went to the Reed house, lingered there for a while, and then left.
And then he got the call from Deke that Scott Murphy had been arrested. He was a perfect match to the sketch Jenna had drawn and had been found in a crack house.
“The guy swears he didn’t kill Elisa,” Deke said. “He said he was paid three hundred bucks to hang out with Elisa and follow her around.”
“Did he say who paid him?”
“A woman.”
“Who looks just like Amber?”
“That’s correct,” Deke said.
“I want to talk to him, but first I have to track down Amber. She never went to the hospital.” His phone beeped. “I’ve got a call coming in from Georgia.”
“Call me back.”
Jake played back her message. “Shit. Amber is with Georgia. She must have slipped the surveillance team.”
“What the hell does she want with Georgia?” Rick asked.
“I don’t know.” Anger burned in his gut. “But we’re going to her place now. Based on this message, Amber’s been there ten minutes at least.”
“Drive.”
Jake wove in and out of traffic, covering the five miles to Georgia’s apartment in record time.
Guns drawn, Jake and Rick raced up the stairs, quickly and quietly. Rick remained on the top stair while Jake crept closer to the door where he heard Georgia arguing with Amber. Her words were short, clipped, and angry.
He couldn’t tell where they were positioned in the room. Breaking in the door now might be the wrong call, but if he hesitated, Amber would certainly kill her.
Jake held his gun tightly and softly knocked on the door, hiding his concern. “Georgia, it’s Jake. I’ve news on Tim.”
Seconds passed and then he heard the turn of the deadbolt. The door opened to only Georgia. One look at her pale, strained features and he knew Amber was close. “So how’s Tim?” she asked, her voice even as if they were having a normal conversation.
“He’s awake,” he said, forcing a grin. “We hope to take his statement early this afternoon.”
The door swung open a little wider and he saw Amber standing to the side, a gun in her hand. It was pointed at Georgia’s back.
“Come inside, sugar,” Amber ordered. “Close the door. This is a private party.”
His hands at his sides, he moved inside, but didn’t lock the door, aware that Rick would follow. “Tim is talking, Amber.”
Amber recovered from her shock, backing up. “Really? And what’s Tim saying?”
The pictures from the high school told the story. “That you two have been an item since high school. He’s always had a thing for you. He visited you in Texas. And when you came back to town, you two hooked up again.”
Amber’s smile wavered. “That’s not true. He would never talk to you about me.”
“You said it yourself,” Georgia said. “You didn’t think he was strong enough to resist the heat if questioned. Jake, did he tell you how he and Amber killed Bethany and Mike?”
“He told the whole story.” Frowning, he jabbed his thumb behind him. “I don’t think he knew about the other guy.”
“What other guy?”
“Scott Murphy. The guy you had flirted with in the coffee shop. I bet when I tell him you two were sleeping together, he’ll really tell all.”
“You’re lying. I never slept with that guy.”
“Yeah, but that’s not what I’m going to tell Tim. Matter of time before he rolls over on you.”
“Tim won’t talk.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, catching Amber’s attention for a split second. As Jake reached for his gun, Georgia shoved Amber backward, recovered, and raised the gun in an instant.
Jake fired a double tap into her chest while Georgia stayed crouched. She staggered just a split second, greenlighting Jake to put one last round into her head.
Rick shoved through the door and Jake kicked the gun out of reach should Amber still be alive.
“Backup is on the way,” Rick said.
Jake calmly holstered his weapon and knelt beside her body. He searched for a pulse to confirm death, not that it would have mattered. The twisted bitch was dead.
Relief shot through his body, as he rose, turned to Georgia and helped her up. He wrapped his arms around her and she relaxed against him with a shudder. “Are you all right?”
“Just great.”
He held her close. Listening, but not quite sure what to say next.
“She’s insane,” she breathed. “She said Mrs. Reed is with Bethany.”
“We’ll have to do a search of her house.” He pressed his lips close to her ear, and his gruff voice was only loud enough for her to hear. “Why’d she come after you?”
“She was trying to figure out if Tim were alive or not.”
“Shit.”
A tremor shuddered through her body. “She thought she actually had a shot at Dalton’s money now that she was his only surviving child.”
“Damn.” Jake tightened his hold around Georgia’s small frame. “I love you.”
She clutched the fabric of his jacket. “Say it louder. I don’t think Rick heard you.”
Rick closed his phone, tucked it in his pocket. “Something I should be aware of?”
She remained close to Jake, not bothering to move away. “Rick, Jake and I are dating.”