Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“That made Waters even more desperate for money,” I said, keeping her talking.
“Exactly. He demanded more money—upfront—before he’d give us the last two locations we needed. Desperate and broke don’t mix well.”
I tilted my head. “Why not just pay him and be done with it?”
Edna let out a sharp laugh. “A mastermind like me, submitting to his demands? You must be joking.” A cold smile curved her lips. “What do you think gave him the heart attack?”
I swallowed, my stomach churning. “Quite convenient.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, Pepper. I didn’t kill him. But I wasn’t exactly devastated by the news.”
I pushed through the revulsion creeping over me. “So, you sent Jones on a wild goose chase when you already had what you wanted. You tipped him off about my mom being at the mansion, and she got hurt for no reason at all.”
Edna gave me a look of mock sympathy. “Oh, Pepper. You and your mother are so nosy. I couldn’t afford you digging around. So, I misdirected you. You worried me the first time we met at the garden center. I feared you might have seen my son and me together though we had taken precautions. Then I spotted Jones and worried that he might hurt my son again.”
“Your son had a message for you that day,” I said. “I found the slip of paper. It read not there. But I see now that it had nothing to do with treasure. You thought Waters may have hidden what you were looking for in the mausoleum and it was the first place you had your son look.”
“Too smart. Too nosey. Too annoying,” she snapped.
“You really must have gotten upset when you found out that I was nosing around the mansion’s backyard and came across your son’s makeshift hidey-hole.”
She looked like she wanted to shoot me there and then.
“I wish I had time to pay your mom a visit before I leave this boring town and see that she gets what she deserves for bringing you to the museum and causing a whole host of trouble.”
I really, really hated this woman.
“But I will see that you get what you deserve, just as I made sure the man who assaulted my son three times got what he deserved.”
I blinked. “Jones is the one who attacked your son in the Treetop parking lot?”
“He is,” Edna said, her tone suddenly sharper. “The fool bragged about it to me, not knowing that Guy was my son, thinking he was after the Willow treasure like Swatcher.”
I exhaled slowly. It all made sense now.
“So, when you found out Swatcher hired him, you made him an offer,” I said. “You paid Jones to find the information that you already had from Waters. Meanwhile, he was also feeding you intel on Swatcher’s movements.”
“So I could keep track of what those two were up to,” she confirmed.
“And then you waited for the right moment… to kill him,” I said.
Kelly gasped.
I felt her stiffen beside me, clutching my arm. She understood exactly what I had just done—I had forced Edna to confirm she was a killer.
If Edna could kill Jones, she’d have no problem killing us.
A slow, pleased smile spread across Edna’s face. “As I said I made sure he got what he deserved. He never saw it coming. I stabbed him as soon as he stepped out of the tunnel, and he went down hard. Then I kept stabbing him.”
My stomach twisted.
“And when I knew he was close to death,” she continued, her voice filled with satisfaction, “I made sure to let the fool know that he was paying with his life for what he had done to my son.”
Kelly whimpered beside me, her body trembling. I could feel her weight pressing into me, her fear mixing with the pain of her impending labor.
We were running out of time.
I had to do something and… NOW.
CHAPTER 29
Edna’s grip on the gun was firm, but she wasn’t expecting me to make the first move.
I shoved Kelly behind me and lunged, throwing my full weight, as slim as I am, into Edna. Kelly let out a startled cry as I got a hold of Edna’s wrist and twisted it fast and hard, knocking the gun upward out of her hand. A shot rang out, echoing through the mansion, the bullet embedding itself harmlessly into the ceiling.
I didn’t wait. Balling my fist, I threw a punch, catching Edna’s jaw and sending her tumbling back onto the floor. We had no time to spare. We needed to get away from her since she was already moving.
Grabbing Kelly’s arm, I hauled her toward the grand staircase, my pulse hammering in my ears.
“Move, move, move!” I hissed.
Kelly was gasping, struggling to keep up, but we had no choice. Edna wasn’t out of the fight, and she wasn’t about to leave us to be found.