“I did a little checking on you,” Cooper said. “If I’d realized who I was dealing with before, I would never have made that stupid move, taking off with her like that.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t have. But I couldn’t have you telling her it was me who was looking for her. I counted on you not doing that kind of in-depth research.”
For an instant Cooper went very still. “Oh?”
“Why do you think I picked you? I was told you were very, very good when motivated, but you tended to be a bit lackadaisical about the details. Which was exactly what I needed.”
“I see.”
“Oh, don’t take it as a negative,” Jeremy said heartily. “I’m sure there’s a large market for that kind of investigation. The no-questions-asked kind.”
Cooper smiled. The chilliness of it seemed obvious to Nell. But she had the odd sense the chill was directed inwardly.
“Maybe I’ve found a niche,” Cooper said, his carefree tone at odds with that smile.
“Exactly!” Jeremy’s voice was full of man-to-man good cheer. “And as I promised, I can do wonders for you. I know lots of people, wealthy people, who could use services like yours.”
Nell stared at them. They sounded like two men who had reached common ground. They sounded like two men who had much in common. And she knew it was true; Jeremy could make Cooper a very busy—and very rich—man.
The nervousness in her stomach exploded into outright fear as Jeremy shifted his shoulders again, again adjusting the coat.
“And obviously you carried this off perfectly, getting her here without incident,” Jeremy was saying. “She believed you?”
“Just like we planned. She thought this was all part of getting back at you.”
Jeremy snorted inelegantly. “She would. As you said you’ve discovered, she’s a fool.”
He’d said that? That was a bit much, wasn’t it? Nell felt herself go cold. Had this indeed all been a ruse to get her here? To turn her over to Jeremy? Had Cooper never really stopped working for him?
But then why would he have helped her get away? Unless it was to get her to trust him. But why did he need her to trust him? He could have stopped her that day at the cottage and simply handed her over.
Her thoughts were like a dog chasing its tail, around and around and accomplishing nothing. And really, all her doubts did nothing, except make the bottom line clearer—if she had to believe Cooper had lied to her, that everything that had happened between them was a lie, then she might as well hand herself back to Jeremy, because he was obviously right and she was, literally, too stupid to live.
“—going to do with her?”
She snapped back to the present, telling herself she’d better pay attention. Cooper was either for real or he was a fraud, and she couldn’t change either. She had to deal with what she’d gotten herself into. And deal with it herself.
Cooper’s question had been asked with every appearance of only the mildest of curiosity.
“That’s none of your concern,” Jeremy said.
Cooper shrugged. “I was just thinking, you ought to let her jabber. What she says is crazy enough to put anybody who listens to her on your side.”
Nell’s stomach knotted. He sounded so…convincing. They’d talked about what the goal was, but not how he was going to go about it. But the only goal she could see nearing was her being back in Jeremy’s hands.
Even as she thought it, Jeremy started across the room to her. This, she thought, was going to be the hardest part. Pretending she was beaten, when inside she was seething, when she wanted to strangle him with her bare hands.
Cooper’s cell rang, and he excused himself and moved away slightly, turning his back on her as if he had no further interest in her.
“Come along, Tanya.”
It stung bitterly to hear that name again, from him. And in that moment Nell’s fear swamped her, and she was utterly certain Cooper had betrayed her, was truly going to let Jeremy drag her out of here without a second glance. She tried to fight it, then realized it changed nothing about what she had to do now. And there were other factors involved now. Surely even if Cooper cared nothing about her, he wouldn’t go to those lengths if he—
Jeremy grabbed her arm. She jerked back as if burned.
“You think I’m just going to go with you quietly?”
“Of course you are.”
He said it in the tone of a man certain he was being completely reasonable.
“After you murdered my brother?”
Jeremy shook his head as if saddened by her crazy words. “It was an accident, Tanya. The police know that. The media know that. You’d better accept it, or you’re going to end up locked away and sedated somewhere.”
As threats went, that was one of his better ones. It terrified her. For an instant she felt as if she were wobbling on some precipice, a hairsbreadth away from falling. And then, deep down, a spark flickered, then caught. Anger. She seized upon it. She was not doing this again. She would not let him win. Even if she was on her own.
“I’d rather be dead,” she said flatly.
“Then don’t do anything to put yourself in that situation, dear.”
She went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “Just like I’d rather be dead than spend one more second in your filthy, odious company.”
His grip on her arm tightened. She dug in.
“You’re scum, Jeremy. A manipulative parasite who uses a veneer of charm to feed off others.”
“I can see you’ve learned some very bad habits, darling.”
His tone was emotionless, but she’d seen the flicker in his eyes. She’d never dared confront him like that before. She couldn’t tell if he was merely surprised, or if that shift in his eyes had been the start of anger. The latter, she hoped. She wanted him angry. She wanted him enraged.
“What I’ve learned is that there is no reason in the world to put up with someone like you,” she said, letting every ounce of what she was feeling into her voice; if nothing else, he would hear the truth from her.
“My patience is getting short,” he warned.
“That fits with all your other…shortcomings.”
Jeremy’s hand came off her arm and swung back, and she thought he might slap her. He’d never actually struck her before, but she didn’t know if it was because it wasn’t his sort of abuse, or because he’d had her so cowed it wasn’t necessary. But the movement gave her the opportunity she needed; she was, for a moment, out of his grasp. She stepped back.
“Shut up.”
He snapped out the order, clearly with every expectation of being obeyed. He took the step that put him back in her face, settling the coat on his shoulders yet again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cooper move. He was closer to Jeremy now, his phone still in his hand, looking as if he were so focused on his call that he wasn’t seeing or hearing a thing that was going on. Jeremy glanced at him, then refocused his gaze on her.
“I can see I’ve got my work cut out for me,” he said, his tone grim.
“You’ve never worked an honest day in your life. You feed off the work of others. You’re a leech—”
“Shut up,” he said again.
“No.”
Jeremy reached for her. She drew back. “Don’t touch me. You’re vile and repugnant, and you make my skin crawl.”
There was no doubt about what flashed in his eyes then. She’d done it. Now to stoke it.
“Why don’t you just kill me?” she said, pouring all her disgust and loathing into her voice. “That’s what you wanted to do that night.”
“And it is to my eternal regret that I didn’t.”
Her breath caught. Was that enough? She wasn’t sure, so she kept on. “But Tris stopped you.”
“And now he’s not here to save you, is he?” Jeremy sneered. “Be thankful. That’s the only reason you’re still alive now. Without him to protect you, you have nowhere to turn.”
“I have myself,” she said.
Jeremy laughed, a harsh, nasty sound. “Do you really think you can stand up to me? Me? The only reason you didn’t die that night was that your stupid brother got in the way.”
“That’s how you did it, isn’t it?”
Cooper’s voice came from behind him. It seemed to take a moment for Jeremy to realize, through his fury, that Cooper’s question was directed at him, that his phone call—or his pretense at a call—was over.
“What?”
“That’s how you beat the lie detector. It really was an accident that night; you’d meant to kill her, not her brother. So you were able to say so honestly. Clever.”
Cooper was speaking with every evidence of admiration, and after her insults, Nell was sure it was balm, proof that all was still right with his carefully constructed world.
“Yes, it was. I knew I could beat it. That’s why I volunteered for it. Asked them to do it, so they could devote their time instead to finding my poor, distraught wife.”
“Must have been a shock, her brother getting in the way like that.”
“He always was a nuisance. I wasn’t really sorry I hit him instead.”
Instead. Wasn’t that tantamount to an admission he’d intended to kill her all along?
“And there you have it,” Cooper said cheerfully. And when he finally looked at Nell, he winked. Warmth and relief flooded her. “Nice job, blue eyes,” he said.
Jeremy blinked. “What?”
“We’re done here,” Cooper said.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about your admission that you intended to kill your wife, but that her brother got in the way. And your threat to kill her just now.”
Jeremy nearly gaped at him. Nell wanted to laugh out loud, but she was too shaky to find the breath. She knew this didn’t change the fact that Jeremy would somehow wiggle out of this if they tried to make him truly pay the price for what he’d done, but maybe, just maybe…
“You set me up,” Jeremy said, outrage and disbelief ringing in his voice.
“Yep. And your stupid, unstable, pain of a soon-to-be-ex-wife played you like a flatheaded halibut.”
He said it with such enjoyment Nell did laugh then. She’d been a fool all right. A fool to doubt him.
Her laugh sent Jeremy into pure fury.
“Nobody will believe you for an instant. Especially not the police. Some two-bit private eye and a crazy woman?”
“Yeah, you made sure everybody thought that, didn’t you?” Cooper said.
He was still smiling, looking on the verge of laughing himself, and nothing could have been better calculated to send Jeremy over the edge. He was obviously, Nell thought, very sure they’d gotten enough. She only hoped he was right.
“You’ve made a very stupid decision, Grant. I’m a powerful man, with connections to the best lawyers in the country. And I own her.”
“You have one choice,” Cooper said, ignoring the declaration. “You stay out of her life. You don’t fight the divorce, you don’t say another word against or even about her.”
“You’re insane.”
Cooper went on as if he’d never spoken. “You also retire any plans you ever had about public office. You’re exactly what we’ve already got too much of in this country.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Jeremy seemed, oddly, more amused than angry now. And that made Nell nervous.
“I tried to get Nell to shake you down for enough money so she didn’t have to worry,” Cooper said, “but she seems to find even your cash repulsive. So you can retire, and go live happily on some island somewhere.”
“Retire? I’m not going to retire.”
“Yes,” Cooper said flatly, “you are.”
“No,” Jeremy said, “I’m not.”
And Nell realized abruptly what had been behind the constant adjusting of the coat. It had been off balance. Weighted down on one side.
By the lethal-looking black handgun that had been in his pocket, but was now in his hand.
And aimed right at her.
Chapter 29
“I was afraid it might come to this,” Jeremy said, with a display of regret so practiced that anyone who hadn’t seen the other side of him would believe it was genuine.
But she had seen it, and too often. Not so long ago, she wouldn’t have cared if Jeremy shot her dead. In fact, she would have welcomed it.
Nell was vaguely aware of Cooper making a gesture, throwing up a hand as if to say halt, but it wasn’t aimed toward Jeremy. All she could really see was the gun the man she’d once trusted to keep her safe held. Surely it wasn’t the same one? They would have kept that, wouldn’t they? Not given it back to him?
She gave herself a mental shake; of course they would have. He’d convinced everyone it had been an accident, after all, and Jeremy was Jeremy, and could charm anything out of anyone.
“Put the gun down,” Cooper said. His entire demeanor had shifted, all insouciance gone, nothing but deadly seriousness echoing in his voice.
“You’re a fool, Grant,” Jeremy said, never taking his eyes off her. Or the gun. “I could have made you rich.”
“If you think you’re just going to walk out of here, you’re the fool,” Cooper said, taking a step forward at the same time. As if he, like Tris, was going to put himself between her and a bullet.
Jeremy was so focused on her he didn’t seem to notice, but Nell did. It sent a frisson of fear racing up her spine. The scenario was so similar: her, a man on her side and Jeremy with a gun. Tris had ended up dead. She couldn’t take that happening again. Especially not Cooper. Especially not this man she had, foolishly or not, gone and fallen in love with. The admission, made for the first time even to herself, wasn’t even a shock. Perhaps shock couldn’t find its way through the fear.
No. It wasn’t going to happen again. She couldn’t carry that, too. It would kill her. And if that was true, then she might as well make it a quick, clean death, not a lifetime of even more guilt and agony. She had to do something, and something that would assure that if someone again ended up dead at Jeremy’s hands, it would be her.
“What was your plan, Jeremy?” she asked. “If you’d killed me? Hard to claim mistaken identity when it’s your wife.”
“I don’t see why not,” Jeremy said, as if she’d commented on the weather. “It was dark, I was frightened for you, I saw movement in the house where there shouldn’t be… Of course, I would have had to kill your brother anyway. That way only my side of the story would be told. They would have believed me.”
He’d clearly thought it through, which chilled her even more. Especially because she knew he was probably right, they would have believed him.
“So why didn’t you just tell them I shot him?” she asked. “You could have said we struggled, explained the forensics. They would have believed you. People always do.”
“Yes they do, don’t they?” Jeremy said, his good cheer restored by once again having the upper hand. “But I had no intention of letting the police take you. Some pleasures I reserve for myself.”
“You wanted to punish me yourself. For what? Daring to leave you?”
“You don’t do anything without my permission,” he said, as if it were the most reasonable assertion in the world.
“Go to hell, Jeremy.”
He laughed, that smarmy, superior laugh she’d always hated. She nearly lunged at him then, and only the certain knowledge that she’d be dead before she got her hands on him—or that Cooper would be dead, after trying to stop her—kept her in place.
“You’re a self-indulgent megalomaniac,” Cooper said, taking another step.
“And you’re a lazy bum who wastes what talents you have,” Jeremy sneered. “And if you insist on interfering, you’ll regret it.”
“Like her brother did, you mean?” Cooper took the final step. Nell let out a sharp cry of protest as he put himself in the line of fire.
And then he did what she had nearly done—he lunged
at Jeremy. He moved so quickly Nell gasped. And he didn’t go for the weapon, instead he went in under Jeremy’s raised arm. Plowed his shoulder into his chest. The gun went off, the bullet plowing into the ceiling. They both went down in a tangle. They rolled, Jeremy now on top. Then Cooper again. She’d lost sight of the gun, realized it was sandwiched between them somewhere.
In the instant she heard a crashing sound from behind them, another gunshot cracked, and she heard Cooper grunt. Her mind screamed No! even as someone else yelled from the doorway.
She grabbed the nearest thing she could put her hands on. Slammed it down as hard as she could into the side of Jeremy’s head. He slumped, groaning. She dropped the silver hotel ice bucket from numbed fingers.
For an instant she knew she would never forget, neither man moved. Terror filled her as for that instant, it seemed her worst nightmare had come to life once more.
And then Cooper moved. Shoved the still-dazed Jeremy off of him and sat up.
Shaking violently, Nell sank to her knees. She was barely aware of the other man who’d burst into the room, then come to a halt beside the three of them. Cooper scrambled the two feet between them and threw his arms around her. She hugged him back, fiercely.
After a moment, Cooper looked up at the newcomer, one of the men from the photograph on the wall of The Peacemaker. He was kneeling beside Jeremy and, thankfully, almost miraculously to Nell, handcuffing him.
“Hey, Dave,” Cooper said when the man was done and turned to look at them.
“You cut that a little close, don’t you think?” Dave said.
“Played the odds,” Cooper said. “After stacking them a bit in my favor.” He patted his oddly thickened chest. “I figured he used a gun once…anyway, thanks for the vest. And for being next door.”
“You’re lucky he didn’t blow your head off.”
Nell shuddered, while Cooper only shrugged. “That’s why I got in close, fast.”
Dave shook his head. “God, you remind me of your father.”
Cooper went still. Nell squeezed him as he looked up at the man who had once been his father’s partner.
“Thank you,” Cooper said at last.
Enemy Waters Page 19
