“You would think that.” Jake held it together despite the vitriol spewed at him. “You don’t understand my relationship with Avery. You never will. If you’d just had a little faith in the system from the start ... it doesn’t matter now. It’s done. You’re off this case.”
“You don’t dictate that.”
“No,” Jake agreed, inclining his head toward the driveway, where a huge SUV with Michigan State Police emblazoned on the side was pulling up. “Unless I’m mistaken, that’s your boss. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Jacobs swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“Tell him that. You’re off this case.” He shifted his gaze over Jacobs’ shoulder and winked at me. “I’ll take it from here.”
28 Twenty-Eight
“What happens now?”
Eliot, Jake, and I stood in the foyer and watched Jacobs and his boss go at each other. I couldn’t hear what they said, but judging by the hands flying about, it wasn’t pleasant.
“Now we find out who really shot Ludington,” Jake replied simply. “Jacobs swears up and down he only removed his sister’s file. I plan to check the evidence that’s turned over against the screenshots you took to be on the safe side.”
“I didn’t shoot everything.”
“No, but you shot enough. We’ll figure it out.”
While it was a relief to have Jake back on the case, I still felt uneasy. “Do you think you could call Fish and tell him I’m no longer a suspect?” I asked hopefully. “I mean ... just if you have an extra five minutes or so.”
He didn’t immediately respond, and when he finally slid his eyes to me, he looked pained. “Listen ... .”
My heart gave a little heave. “I’m still a suspect.”
“I can’t completely rule you out,” he hedged. “I know you didn’t do it, but you were on every station in the tri-county area. I can’t officially clear you until I have the real culprit in custody.”
That made sense. Still, it irked. “Right.” I took a step away from them. “I’m going to get ready for ... .” For what? I didn’t have a job to go to. There was no way I could dig further on the case now that Jake knew I was breaking into places. I officially had nothing to do.
“You can come to work with me,” Eliot insisted. “I’ll give you something to do.”
“Oh, don’t be gross,” Jake whined. “I seriously can’t take it.
Eliot scowled. “I really am going to give her work to do around the shop so she doesn’t sit here and feel sorry for herself all day.”
Well, that was about all I could take. “I’m not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself,” I reassured him. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Oh? What are you going to do?”
That was the question. “I’m going to put my shoes away.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “What are you really going to do?”
“Play video games and eat Twizzlers. That’s not feeling sorry for myself. I just ... need some time to decompress.”
“I think you should come with me.”
“And I think that feels a little too much like babysitting. I’m an adult. I can entertain myself. Besides, somebody has to watch Rocky. He can’t be left alone.”
Jake leaned his head closer to Eliot. “Isn’t Rocky the cat?”
Eliot nodded. “Yeah.”
“People leave cats alone all the time. That’s why they’re good pets for someone like Avery.”
Eliot sighed. “Fine. I’m going to give you today. Tomorrow, you’re coming to work with me if you don’t find something constructive to do on your own.”
That sounded like a threat. “I’ll figure it out.”
“You do that.”
TWO HOURS LATER I WAS on my own and the stack of shoes vexing Eliot remained exactly where I’d left them. I’d showered and now sat on the couch playing Lego Star Wars while Rocky groomed himself and listened to me curse the cartoon characters.
“It’s a lot more fun to hang around and play video games when I’m playing hooky from work,” I told him as I slouched on the couch and rested my feet on the coffee table. “Then it feels like I’m doing something illicit. Now it just feels like I’m a bum and have nothing better to do than hang around with you and my controller.”
Rocky tilted his head to the side and regarded me with an adorable expression. He seemed to be saying, “You’re living the cat life. What could you possibly have to complain about?”
“I happen to agree that I’m being a whiny baby,” I said, hitting the button to pause the game and rolling to my feet. “If I’m going to embrace the life of leisure, I need Twizzlers. In a few days, I’ll be back on the job, wishing I had time to screw around with you. I need to take advantage of this.”
And, I silently added to myself as I shuffled toward the kitchen, I needed to get out of this funk. Feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to help anything. I needed to get it together.
The Twizzlers were in the pantry, along with the Oreos and kettle chips. Ooh, Eliot had bought salt and vinegar, my absolute favorite. I loaded up and used my foot to shut the door, stopping when I noticed the door between the garage and back hallway was open.
Had Eliot left it open? Usually he was the diligent one who made sure all the doors were closed tight. Of course, he probably had other things on his mind — namely me — when he’d left. He’d looked worried when he walked out the door. I understood his concern, though I refused to indulge in the game. He had to get over it. I was no longer in danger of being arrested.
I juggled the junk food and poked my head into the garage, frowning when I realized the overhead door was open. The empty space where my car should be parked made me sad. I hit the button to close the door and returned to the living room.
I halted when I saw the dark-haired woman sitting on the chair that Becky had occupied only a few hours before.
“Fawn.” Her name was out of my mouth before I could decide what to do. She looked perfectly reasonable sitting on the chair, her hands resting in her lap, but I sensed trouble. And, because it was me, the trouble was bound to be big.
“Avery.” There was no light in her eyes, no mirth in her voice. Instead, she vacantly stared at me. “You should be more careful about locking your doors.”
She looked deranged. She was also sitting three feet from Rocky, who I couldn’t abandon, so running was out of the question. Even if I did, where would I go? She would catch me ... and I wasn’t entirely convinced she was unarmed. She had a certain look about her, and that look conveyed fury.
“I thought Eliot had locked the doors when he left.” I was careful as I lowered the snacks to the coffee table, my mind busy as I ran through a variety of scenarios. I wasn’t thrilled with any of the potential outcomes. “Eliot shut the garage door. I heard him.”
“Yes, but Eliot also lost the garage door controller he had in his truck six months ago,” she said, her voice even. “I happened to find it. He was convinced he’d misplaced it and he’d already replaced it before I could give him the one I accidentally found.”
Accidentally my ass. She’d stolen it so she could stalk him. “And you came to return it? That’s great.” I forced a smile for her benefit and remained standing. Rocky was on the couch, seemingly unaware of my agitation. I willed him to come to me, but he didn’t as much as lift his head.
“I’m not returning it.”
“I see.” I made a popping sound with my lips and glanced around. The longer this dragged on, the more uncomfortable I became. “So ... what are you doing here?” It was a ridiculous question, but I was unsure of what I was supposed to say.
“I’m here for you.”
Her tone was bland, but there was something chilling about her affect. I decided playing games wasn’t going to help, especially with my phone on the table and no chance of texting Eliot for help. I was on my own for this one.
“You shot Tad, didn’t yo
u?”
“Yes.”
The fact that she didn’t bother denying it made my blood run cold. “Did you know he was blackmailing people?”
“I figured it out. Becky wasn’t very good at keeping her mouth shut.”
“Which is probably why he had a file on her, too.”
“He had one on me as well,” she offered, her eyes sliding up to meet mine. “He liked to make files on everybody ... even if he was sleeping with a particular individual.” She looked bitter. “Oh, don’t pretend you didn’t know. I know you were in my house.”
My heart gave a long, slow roll. “How?”
“I worked for a security expert for a very long time. I picked up a few things, including the fact that having hidden cameras in your house is always a good idea.”
I should’ve seen that coming. Eliot jammed the cameras outside. Neither of us thought to worry about cameras on the inside. “Your place is nice,” I offered. “I especially like that huge — and inappropriate — photo of Eliot in your foyer.”
Her eyes filled with fire. “How is it inappropriate?”
“Really?” I could do nothing but laugh. “He’s your boss, not your boyfriend. He didn’t pose for you. You’re not together. That thing is ... so freaking weird.”
“It’s there so I can see him, feel close to him.”
“Why would you want to feel close to him? He hates you.”
That sent her over the edge. Any hints of rationality fled as she shifted. That’s when I noticed the gun peeking through the folds of her coat.
“He loved me until you came along,” she hissed. “We were happy, planning for a future until you waltzed in and took him from me.”
I’d heard crazy before, but this was blue ribbon crazy. Eliot didn’t dislike Fawn before I showed up. That didn’t mean he thought of her in any way other than a reliable employee. Something told me she didn’t want that pointed out. “Fawn ... .”
“No, I’ve had it with you,” she snapped. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve ruined my life.”
Oh, there was no way I was taking credit for this fiasco. “I’m pretty sure you did that to yourself,” I shot back. “All you had to do was treat me with a modicum of respect and you would still have your job.”
“You took over my life! You took him from me.”
“You can’t steal a person from another person.” Using a rational argument on her was a waste of time, but I needed to keep her distracted until I could come up with a plan. “You and Eliot weren’t together when we met. I don’t know what you’ve been telling yourself, but you were never a couple.”
“I’m not delusional. I know we weren’t dating, but we could’ve been a couple by now. We were laying the groundwork. I didn’t want to push him too fast. He wasn’t ready for a relationship. I thought I had time — until you showed up.”
I held up my hands. “What do you want from me? Neither of us was looking for a relationship when we found each other. It just happened.”
“Well, your ‘just happened’ was the end of things for me. Do you have any idea how it felt for me? I watched him turn into the man I always knew he could be — with someone else. He fell head over heels with you when it should’ve been me.”
“Well ... I’m sorry.”
“But you’re not. You have everything you’ve ever wanted and I have nothing.” She let loose a humorless laugh. “I lost Eliot and ended up with a man who thinks being a county commissioner is the height of sophistication.”
“He’s also bad in bed,” I offered. “I know. I made the mistake of sleeping with him. He couldn’t find the clitoris with a GPS and a zoom feature. What’s worse is he’s untrainable. No matter how you try to direct him he fights the effort.”
“I don’t even care about that.” She leaned back in the chair, the gun in full view now. “I only had sex with him because it was a means to an end. I thought he would be able to help me take you down. Once you were gone, I knew Eliot would see the light.”
She was crazy. Like ... Kim Kardashian and Kanye West going out for breakfast and not being able to find a camera to film them crazy. She had completely rocketed off the sanity train and somehow nobody had noticed.
“Why did you shoot Tad?” I had to know. Even if she ultimately shot me, I couldn’t rest without understanding how this had all come to be.
“I thought you would be blamed for it.” She offered up a rueful smile. “I had it all planned out. I was going to wait until after he won the election to do it — everybody knew you were fighting against him, determined to make sure he didn’t win — and I was just going to wipe him out that night.
“Then you ambushed him at that conference and I realized he would never win,” she continued. “You essentially ripped the rug out from under him. That video took away my hope. And then I realized that you would be the first suspect if I acted fast ... so I did.
“He didn’t see it coming. He invited me in and then started ranting and raving about what had happened. I was used to it. I’d only been with him a few weeks and I was already used to it. I waited until his back was turned and then ... pulled the trigger.”
“Where did you get the gun?”
“The shop. I bought three guns from sellers when Eliot wasn’t around. I thought they might come in handy ... and I liked them. I was going to wait a bit and then show them to Eliot, impress him, but I never got the chance.”
“How did you pay for them without him figuring it out? He keeps meticulous books.”
“I paid out of my own pocket. Eliot paid me well. It wasn’t difficult. The people I bought them from didn’t care about proper receipts. They just wanted the money.”
It made sense in a weird way. “Eliot could’ve gotten in trouble for that,” I chided. “It could’ve come back on him.”
“Well, it didn’t.” She rolled her eyes to me. There was a deadness in them that gave me pause. “Tad wasn’t supposed to survive. When I heard the news, I was terrified. I knew he could finger me. Still, there was a chance he wouldn’t survive the surgery. There was a chance he wouldn’t ever regain consciousness. I had a bit of time to work the angles, try to get in and finish him off, but that’s over now. The sheriff’s department took over guard duty two hours ago and posted double the number of deputies.
“I heard the nurses talking a few hours ago,” she continued. “They’re weaning him off the pain meds. The sheriff is going to interrogate him in a few hours. It will be over for me then.”
Which was exactly why she’d decided to come here now. “And Becky? What about her?”
Fawn made a face. “What about her? She was helping Tad to the best of her ability but she was essentially useless. If you’re asking if she was in on this, don’t bother. She helped with the blackmail, nothing more.”
I’d pretty much figured that out myself. Confirmation was important, though, especially if I could somehow survive this and relay the information to Jake. Odds were that Becky, a woman who couldn’t grasp what she’d set in motion, would get pegged with nothing more than community service if she got a sympathetic judge.
“Just out of curiosity, did you really think Eliot would fall at your feet if I ended up in prison?” I asked after a few seconds. “I mean ... that seems like a risky plan.”
“I thought he was looking at you through rose-colored glasses. I thought he would see the true you if you were arrested. I mean, who would want to date a murderer?”
“Yes, but you would’ve actually been the murderer. I would’ve been the innocent woman you railroaded.”
She snorted, derisive. “Please. When have you ever been innocent? You poked Tad so many times I’m surprised he didn’t have a million tiny holes in him. You’re many things, but innocent isn’t one of them.”
“Fair enough. What about Eliot, though? He could’ve just as easily been arrested for what happened to Tad. He tried to choke him that night.”
“Well, believe it or not, I thought about that. It w
as worth the risk. If he went to prison and you stopped visiting, then he would see you were never worth his time and I could’ve swooped in and taken care of him. That’s all I ever wanted.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m thinking of ending it all.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “We have cameras outside, too. They’ll have caught you coming in and out. There will be no getting out of this.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean I was going to end you.” Her eyes momentarily cleared. “I meant I was going to end me.” As if in slow motion, she raised the gun and pointed it at her head.
I acted out of instinct. Even though I could’ve let her blow her brains all over my living room, I couldn’t live with the idea. I don’t want my enemies to die. I want them to live so I can torture them forever.
I launched myself at her, catching her wrist at the right moment and forcing her hand high. The gun went off as she reflexively gripped the trigger, but the bullet lodged harmlessly in the ceiling.
“What ... ?” Confusion etched its way across her face.
“You’re not killing yourself and tainting my house,” I hissed, raising my free hand and balling my fingers into a fist. “You were right about this being over. It’s just not ending how you envisioned.” I plowed my fist into her face, cringing at the sound of her nose breaking.
“Omigod!” she shrieked as blood started pouring from her nose.
During the distraction, I grabbed the gun and rolled off of her. I landed on the ground with a hard thud, my tailbone throbbing. Fawn, apparently over her suicide attempt, fixated on her nose.
“You broke it!” she screeched. “Do you have any idea how that’s going to look on camera when they haul me in?”
That’s when I realized she never was going to kill herself. She was simply looking for sympathy before the big takedown. “Is this thing even loaded?” I checked the chamber, it was empty. There had been only one bullet in the gun, and it was always meant to be a wild shot. “Son of a ... ! I can’t believe you.”
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