by Diane Capri
Carter said, “I meant the others.”
“I’m not planning to. Shorty deserves what he gets. Julia,” she shrugged. “And Lawson and Palmer will probably be sentenced to a fraction of what they deserve, but they’ll be in jail right alongside Warner, if there’s any justice in Arizona at all.”
Carter nodded. “White collar crime. Lots of victims and not much recourse.”
“True.” Jess sipped her coffee. “Norman Kemp was a killer. But none of this would have happened if Lawson had dealt honestly with Benny.”
“Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered,” Carter said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. “You didn’t explore any of that in your article.”
Jess frowned and her tone was as hard as diamonds. “Hades killed a string of people. I don’t want to generate any sympathy for him.”
Carter nodded. “And Karen Warner?”
“Like I said in the article, Karen Warner masterminded the whole thing. She grew up with the Kemp brothers and lost touch with them on her way to using her looks to capture a rich husband.”
“But the pampered life bored her.”
“She was always a wild child. When she visited the construction site for the emergency room, she recognized Norman and Benny. After that happened, she knew her husband and his two pals were responsible for Benny’s ruin.”
“So she set up the whole kidnap and ransom and everything else,” Carter said.
“Right. She was the one who knew they could take over Melissa’s life and not be found out.” Jess took a deep breath. “Hard to say what the eventual charges against her will be. She’s still living in some sort of dream world, but she caused a lot of heartache.”
“I hope you’re not blaming yourself for that. The woman would have killed you, and she did kill three people when she crashed the first stolen van. Not to mention, she killed her own sister.”
Jess nodded slowly. “If she ever comes back, mentally, Arizona has the death penalty, and she’ll probably get it. At the very least, she’ll never get out of prison.”
“Which is no less than she deserves. Still,” Carter cocked his head, “It’s a long way from bad girl to killer. Any idea what pushed her over that edge?”
Jess shrugged. “We’ll probably never know for sure. But when Hades went to prison the first time, he was still a minor. He was charged with vehicular manslaughter following a joy ride in another kid’s car. That’s the accident when his face was cut up, and he got those scars.”
“Let me guess. He was released on his twenty-first birthday, and the juvenile records were sealed.”
“Yep. I don’t know what happened there, exactly. But if we were betting, I’d say Karen Warner was the one behind the wheel all those years ago, too,” Jess said.
“Norman took the heat back then for something he didn’t really do.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Carter put his hands together. “Okay, so you’ve been working hard. Now, you’re entitled to some time off.”
Jess finished her coffee. “I wouldn’t know what to do with it at the moment. I don’t have any promising new leads on Peter. I’d rather just work for a while and take the free time when I’ve got something to follow.”
Carter laughed. “I thought you’d say that.”
He stretched across his desk and handed her a plane ticket.
She glanced at the destination. “Barbados?”
“Consider it your next assignment. 3A. It’s a window seat. I believe the man on the aisle is already packed.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand? What’s the assignment?”
Carter pointed to the doorway.
Henry Morris held up a ticket. “Look at that. Mine’s 3B. And you said you don’t believe in coincidences.”
She looked down. She felt a flash of heat across her skin. She wasn’t good with emotions. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her.
It didn’t.
She lifted her head. “Hello, Henry.”
After a moment, she realized she was smiling.
And she couldn’t stop.
THE END
Coming Soon: FATAL BOND
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
DIANE CAPRI
Diane Capri is an award-winning New York Times, USA Today, and worldwide bestselling author. She’s a recovering lawyer and snowbird who divides her time between Florida and Michigan. An active member of Mystery Writers of America, Author’s Guild, International Thriller Writers, Alliance of Independent Authors, and Sisters in Crime, she loves to hear from readers and is hard at work on her next novel.
Please connect with Diane online:
http://www.DianeCapri.com
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NIGEL BLACKWELL
Nigel Blackwell was born in rural Oxfordshire in England. He has a love of books, a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, and a black belt in pointing out the obvious. He has driven trains, crashed single-seat racecars, and traveled much of the world.
He now lives in Texas with his wife and daughter, and a sixty-pound Siberian husky called Sindei, who apparently owns the house even though she refuses to pay the mortgage. Together, they enjoy the sunshine and listen to the coyotes howl at night.
Please connect with Nigel online:
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Also by DIANE CAPRI
(Click each title to buy or download a sample)
The Heir Hunter Series:
Blood Trails
The Jess Kimball Thrillers:
Fatal Game
Fatal Edge
Fatal Fall
Fatal Error
Fatal Demand
Fatal Distraction
Fatal Enemy
The Hunt for Jack Reacher Series:
Deep Cover Jack
Jack and Joe
Jack in the Green
Get Back Jack
Don’t Know Jack
Jack in a Box
Jack and Kill
The Hunt for Justice Series:
True Justice (Judge Willa Carson)
Fair Justice (Judge Willa Carson)
False Justice (Judge Willa Carson)
Cold Justice (Judge Willa Carson)
Wasted Justice (Judge Willa Carson)
Secret Justice (Judge Willa Carson)
Twisted Justice (Judge Willa Carson)
Due Justice (Judge Willa Carson)
Mistaken Justice
Raw Justice
False Truth (serial)
Paris Love Match
