Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Yet another thing Nick hadn’t told me. “Yeah? He did?”
“Sure. Richard and I were coming out of a bar one night. It was late, and the kid got right in his dad’s face and told him to stop fucking around. I’m telling you, I’m shocked punches weren’t thrown.”
Nick hadn’t told me about encountering Lisa. Why? “Did you kill him?” I asked suddenly.
She snorted. “No, I didn’t kill Richard. I loved him. Now, I would’ve taken my best shot at Imogen once I learned about her, but not him. I think if we’d had more time together, it would’ve really worked out.” Her voice turned wistful, despite the roughness of somebody who smoked a couple of packs a day. Sitting this close to her, I could even smell the cigarette smoke on her clothing.
“What about your husband?” I asked.
“What about him? He died years ago,” she said carelessly.
Wow. What an unhappy person. “Did he know about your affair?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. If he did, he didn’t care. He had his own thing going on.”
“With whom?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t care. We got married when we shouldn’t have and were more like buddies toward the end. Though I was sorry to see him die,” she hastened to say. “He brought in a good income.”
I so did not like this woman. “Did he know about that night?”
She snorted. “No. He was in Alaska for that entire six months, working on a fishing boat. Ryan didn’t have a clue.”
So much for the husband. I’d have that information checked out, but it sounded like the truth. I was running out of other suspects. “Your five minutes are almost up.”
She kept working on the ropes, trying to untie them. “You see anything sharp we can cut these with?”
Like I hadn’t already searched. My gaze caught on the creepy blue eyes closest to me. “No, unless...do you mind losing one of those dolls?”
“Those are worth money,” she protested.
“No, they’re not. At least, not much.” I kicked the nearest table, and one fell, its face shattering. “That was easy.”
Using my boots, I pulled shards toward me and then angled myself to grab one. The sharp edges cut my fingers, but I ignored the pain and started sawing through the ropes, wishing I could see my hands.
“That will take forever,” she protested.
“I know, and my fingers are starting to feel like a bloody mess.” I couldn’t see what I was doing, but I could feel the slashes in my skin. “There’s only one way we’re getting out of here.”
Before she could yell at me, I continued, “I have a cousin who refurbishes furniture. If I knock this leg out, he’ll fix it for you. I promise.”
“Is he cute?” she asked.
“He’s very cute, but he is also very taken.” I would not let one of the Albertini boys get near this woman. She was bizarre, and I wasn’t entirely sure she hadn’t killed Richard. But this might be my only chance to question her. “How angry were you when Richard and Imogen took off that night?”
“Furious,” she admitted. “We had a little dust-up at the bar, and I may have smacked him.”
This was all new. “How did the sheriff not know this?” I asked.
“Nobody saw us. I followed Richard outside, and we had words. He told me he wanted somebody younger and nicer. Can you believe that?”
The nicer part, sure. “What happened then?”
“I punched him in the face.”
I perked up even more. Maybe there was DNA on his clothing. Anything that gave Nick reasonable doubt worked for me. “Did he bleed?”
She cut me a look. “No. I mean, it was one punch. He shoved me back, I fell, then he and that wench—who had to be what, like dumber than a box of rocks—they got into his truck and drove off.”
“Did you see anybody follow them?”
“No.”
I took a deep breath. “Can you think of anybody else who would’ve wanted Richard dead?”
“Anybody else? I didn’t want him dead. I wanted him very much alive,” she snapped. “But I think he was seeing a couple of other women in town. I don’t know who. Or maybe they were over in Timber City. He was a horny guy.” She grinned, showing tobacco-stained but very straight teeth. “I thought I could tame him, you know? You always think you can tame them, and you never can.”
“Some guys should never be tamed.” Aiden filtered through my mind. I liked him the way he was, that was for certain. I didn’t think Lisa had anything else to add. “All right, sorry about this.” I scooted my butt around, turned, and kicked the decorative leg of the hutch. The wood cracked. Taking a deep breath, I looked at her. “Be ready to scramble out of the way in case this thing comes down.”
She was already moving to the side of the heavy piece.