Jamison laughed. He was more relaxed than she would have expected, under the circumstances. Arrogant, she decided. Overconfident. The rich boy who never had to worry about a thing. Worked for her.
“The obstetrician said the sonogram showed she was exactly ten weeks. That put the conception date during Wilton’s trip to DC and New York. He was gone for two weeks. You remember,” he taunted Erwin. “You went with him.” Then he looked back to Vera. “Trust me. We were certain.”
“You’re angry,” Vera offered. “I get it. But what did he do, other than cut off your funding after his wife died?” She spread her feet a little wider apart and prepared to make a move.
Jamison laughed. “Lena didn’t just die. She was a world champion. She would never have allowed an issue with her saddle to go unnoticed.”
“People make mistakes.” Vera shrugged. She watched his left arm relax at his side, the weapon in his right hand tilted slightly downward. “Are you suggesting her death was no accident?”
“It was no accident,” he snarled, fury flashing in his eyes. “The bastard killed her. I know he did.”
“No he didn’t.” Erwin was standing next to Vera now. “Iknow he didn’t.”
Vera glanced at her. What the hell was she doing? Might as well play to her move. “Are you sure about that, Valeri? Thomas was pretty angry when he learned about Lena’s affair with Gill.”
Valeri shot her a confused look.
“Lena warned you’d be sorry for telling him,” Jamison growled at Erwin, leaning into her. “This whole situation is your fault.”
So Erwin set off the chain reaction. Vera was not surprised at all.
“Really, Gill,” Vera argued, hoping to pull his attention back to her, “you must know that what happened was as much your fault as anyone’s. After all, you fucked the man’s wife.”
Gill forgot all about Erwin and grabbed Vera by the hair with his free hand. He jerked her close, nose to nose, the muzzle of his weapon shoved against her temple. “You don’t know anything about what we had!”
Heart pounding once more in spite of her best efforts, Vera stared him straight in the eyes. “Why don’t you explain it to me.”
His mouth twisted with anger. “You wouldn’t understand. We had a plan.”
“You loved her.” Vera readied to jam his right forearm upward and twist away.
“I knew it. That’s why I told Thomas the truth,” Erwin shouted. “Lena was lying to him about everything.”
What the hell! Would Erwin not shut up!
Dragging Vera with him, his fingers still tangled in her hair, Jamison closed in on Erwin. He shifted the muzzle of his weapon to her forehead.
If the damn woman would just stay out of this, Vera might be able to make a move. As it was, Erwin was going to get them both killed.
“I didn’t want her to keep hurting him,” Erwin shouted. “But he wouldn’t listen. He wanted to forgive her for the baby’s sake, and he couldn’t even be sure it was his.” Her face was red with fury now. “I had to do something.”
Vera wanted to kick her. She had to shut up, or this guy was going to lose it.
Jamison laughed again, long and loud. “Fuck’s sake. I should have realized it wasn’t him, it was you who set heraccidentin motion.”
Erwin stumbled back a step, but his weapon remained trained on her.
“I didn’t do anything,” she wailed, the burst of anger gone now. “It was Jose. He was supposed to see that the repairs were done to her saddle. It’s not my fault he didn’t.”
Vera kept her gaze fixed on Jamison. She had to get this situation under control. Right now. “So what are we doing here, Gill? You’re already in trouble with the FBI, do you really want to add kidnapping or murder to that?” Although she was fairly confident it was a little late for him to worry about the latter.
“The FBI can’t touch me. That money was for our life together. Lena set up the whole thing to keep the bastard from leaving her with nothing. The FBI won’t find shit.”
“You killed him and the others,” Erwin accused, making things worse again. “I know it was you. I heard Helen on the phone, telling you to just stay calm, and she would fix it.”
Well, hell. Vera wanted to shake Erwin. It damned sure would have been nice to know this like three days ago. Then all of this could have been prevented.
“Whatever you did,” Vera offered, “you still have time to go.” She gestured to the door. “You can disappear, and no one will ever find you. You have the means. Just do it.”
