Thirty-Six and a Half Motives
Page 96

Joe’s body tensed, his hands tightening into fists, but he still didn’t say a word.
J.R.’s attention turned to his daughter, who now sat cross-legged on the desk, watching the goings-on with glee. “Katherine, what is the meaning of this?”
“It’s a surprise, Daddy Dearest.”
“I don’t do surprises,” he said with condescension.
Kate released a mock gasp. “Heaven forbid someone other than the great J.R. Simmons should be in charge.” Then her smile widened. “There’s a basket over there. Put your guns in it and gather closer.”
No one made a move.
Kate leaned her head back and groaned, her hand reaching behind her to produce a gun. Before I realized what was happening, a loud pop filled the space. The man next to J.R. fell to the ground, blood seeping from his temple onto the concrete.
J.R. stumbled back a step in shock.
Panic swamped my head. I’d seen two dead men in my vision. My vision was coming true. But I didn’t know what would happen to Kate, Hilary, and Joe? I hadn’t seen them in the vision.
Kate’s voice sounded far away as she said, “See? I’m a good shot, too, Hilmonster. We took the same shooting lessons, and if I remember correctly, I always outshot you.” She paused, then said more sternly, “Now, why don’t you all be good little boys and girls? Put your guns in the basket and come into the circle.”
She was planning on killing someone—maybe all of us, which seemed the likeliest scenario.
I felt dangerously close to losing it, but then Joe spoke and I concentrated on his voice. “Kate, just put the gun down and let’s you and me talk this out.”
“Oh, we’re talking, all right. Lots of talking, but I need you all to take your places so we can begin.”
I wasn’t helpless. I still had my small gun in my coat pocket. There was no way I was making the first move to my place. Everyone else apparently agreed with me.
Kate pointed her gun toward Sam Teagen and pulled the trigger. The man fell to the ground.
“Just to prove I mean business,” she said in a bored tone. “We’ve eliminated the two unnecessary men in the room, and by order of importance, James Malcolm is the next most expendable person.” She gave me a cold hard stare. “How much do you want him to survive this?”
I lifted my hands in the air and moved several steps closer to Kate. She pointed to a spot on the floor, marked with a duct-taped X I hadn’t noticed before. There were several Xs in a semi-circle in front of Kate’s desk.
“Rose,” Skeeter called out. “Don’t do it.”
Joe gave us a questioning look, but as I moved to the spot about ten feet to Kate’s right, she said, “For those of you just joining us, Rose is the Lady in Black, and Hilary hired that idiot—” she pointed at Teagen’s body, “—to kidnap and kill Rose and then Mason Deveraux.” She sighed. “But thankfully, he flubbed it.”
“Hilary?” Joe choked out.
Hilary shook her head, and her eyes flooded with tears. “She’s lying, Joe. Your sister was the one behind it all. She’s crazy. Just look at her.” She waved her hand toward Kate.
Joe’s gaze swung between the two women, and it was easy to see he believed the mother of his child.
“Joe,” I said, trying to keep calm. “Hilary’s behind more of this than you could possibly know.”
“Stop right there, Hilmonster,” Kate called out, her weapon trained on Hilary. “Lose the gun and stand on your spot over here.” She gestured to a taped X about ten feet to her left.
Hilary had her gun aimed at me, and the look on her face told me she fully intended to shoot me.
“Don’t do it.” Kate said, her voice tight. “I need her very much alive.”
“Why would I care what you want?”
“Because I can shoot you in the gut and kill the baby that means more than life to you.”
That was all Kate needed to say to make Hilary fall in line. Hilary’s left hand instinctively covered her small belly, and she tossed her gun into the basket.
“That’s good,” Kate said in a soothing tone. “You look a little stressed. It’s probably not good for the baby. Why don’t you wait over there and try to relax?”
Hilary’s heels clicked on the floor as she walked to her spot.
That left the three men in the room, all standing on the periphery.
Kate slid off the desk, pointing to an X in the middle of the marks. “This is for the guest of honor. Now who do you think belongs in that position?” She looked at her father and laughed. “I bet you think it’s for you.”
“Stop this absurdity right now, Katherine,” J.R. said, sounding vicious. “If you stop, I will lessen my punishment.”
“Punishment?” she cried in disbelief. “You think you can punish me anymore than you already have?”
“Is that what this is about?” he asked, hobbling toward her, obviously still in pain from the gunshot wound I gave him a week ago. “Yes, I see the ring on your finger. You are obviously still pouting.”
“Pouting? You killed my fiancé!”
J.R. released an exasperated sigh. “He was the victim of an unfortunate robbery gone wrong, Katherine. I understand your need to lay blame, but this is unnecessary and pointless.”
“And my baby?” she asked. “How do you explain that away, Daddy?”
Her baby? I blinked. Surely I’d heard her wrong.
J.R. bristled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You knew I was pregnant when I went away. You had someone watching me.”
“You shared no such thing with your mother or me.”
“I didn’t have to,” she countered. “You had access to my medical records. You had people watching me. Admit that you knew.”
“Katherine,” he groaned. “I really—”
She shot the ground at his feet, then screamed hysterically, “Admit it!”
A flicker of panic filled his eyes before his mask slipped back into place. “If it makes you feel better,” he said, lifting his hands, “I knew.”
Kate’s eyes filled with tears. “Why? You took Nick from me. Why wasn’t it enough to take him? Why did you have to steal my baby, too?”