Nobody says a word for a minute, trying to figure out what my point is.
It’s Kruger that gets it first. “His mother set him up. She let him down a million times before selling him out, ripping him from the one place that actually made him happy. It had to be you, because you needed him to know that it’s not all women, not all mothers. Some of them will die for their kids. Hell, some of them will kill for them…” His voice drifts off as he looks at me, and all the pieces slip into place.
Before he can speak, I continue, my eyes locked on his, praying he doesn’t look at me differently after this. “At the first sign of trouble, Theo was supposed to text me and then get out. I’d prearranged for him to leave his bedroom window open a little so I could sneak in and get a lay of the land, which I did.”
Havoc curses. “Do you have any idea what could have gone wrong?”
“No. I’m just a sweet and innocent virgin skipping through the world with a guardian angel on her shoulder.”
The anger in the room pulses like an invisible enemy ready to strike. With no target to attack, the hostility and aggression grow. They’ll lose their minds, so perhaps sugarcoating things isn’t the way to go. But you can never be sure if ripping the Band-Aid off is easier or worse.
“I pulled my gun. Cleared the room and made my way to the living room, where Josh sat unconscious on the sofa. After I checked on him, I cleared the rest of the house, switched out his beer, and got rid of the evidence.”
“Got rid of the—” Circus snaps his mouth shut and indicates for me to continue.
“Men are predictable creatures, Circus. I talked with Theo at length about Josh’s habits. We knew him coming back was a possibility, so we prepared for it just in case. Of course, we couldn’t plan for every variable outcome, but I know how to adapt. You guys taught me that.”
A low blow, but goddamn it, they’re not giving me a chance. What if the shoe were on the other foot? They’d have done worse.
“Josh is an alcoholic and considers Theo and Diane his servants. With that in mind, I gave Theo something to slip into Josh’s beer if the opportunity arose, so he could get away from him.”
“What did you give him? Where did you get it? If you left a trail, the police will find it and you’ll be fucked,” Mac so helpfully points out.
“Then you’d better hope your former president knows what he’s doing,” I snap back.
Kruger shifts to get up, but I grab his arm. “So help me god, if you leave, I’m done. You wanted to know what happened, but you want to stop me after every sentence to critique my actions. Do I get to do the same with the shit you guys have pulled over the years? Let me guess, it’s club business. Well, guess what? This is Delphi business, and if you can’t handle listening to it without being sanctimonious, judgmental assholes, I’m done.”
My chest is heaving by the time I’m done, but I’ve had a rough few days. Honestly, I’ve already committed cold-blooded murder. What’s a few more bodies added to my kill count?
“Continue,” Havoc grunts out.
“Right. Theo spiked the beer after he took a beating, and Josh passed out. He texted me about the tea to let me know shit was going down, which was when he made his escape. The only problem was that Diane tracked him down.
“She told him that The Book Nook was wired to explode.”
“And Theo would never do anything to risk that place when he knows how much it means to you,” Circus states.
“I don’t get why he’d buy it, though. What the fuck does Diane know about bombs?”
“Nothing. And he didn’t believe her, not really. But he wouldn’t take that risk, especially when there was another person in play—the mystery man who forked out a quarter of a million dollars to bail Josh out. She said it was him who planted the bomb.”
The room goes wired for a different reason now. I look around and shake my head, my lips twitching at the irony. “You know who it is, and you’re not going to tell me, huh?”
None of them says anything. I chuckle, daring them to pull me up again. “Whatever. Instead of Theo running to safety, he was forced to return. That meant I had to adapt. I hid in Theo’s room when I heard them get back and listened in while Diane admitted a shit-ton of stuff that made me sick to my stomach. He ended up storming into his room, which is where he found me. He filled me in on what I just told you. I made him leave, promising to call Havoc to tell him about the bomb before tossing the phone in the river.”
“I sent Con to pick him up and had Powers sweep the shop. I didn’t know you were at the trailer or that Theo had been hurt until he turned up here.” Havoc sighs.
“I know. He couldn’t tell you. The only reason I had him call you at all was because of the danger a possible bomb threat posed. I knew Theo wouldn’t mention you to the cops. He wascareful in his wording, statinghe made his way to the clubhouse, where he knew he’d be safe, mentioning nothing about Havoc, or Con picking him up, so they wouldn’t be questioned.”
Mac frowns. “Why would that matter though?”
“Because they might then ask for his phone to confirm his story. The phone Theo was using was a cloned phone. His actual phone I had all along.”
G blinks at me, but it’s Toot that whistles. “You sent yourself the message, pretending to be Diane, to give yourself a reason to be there.”
I nod. “And then I placed the phone on her pillow, knowing she’d pick it up, thus putting her prints on it. The message Theo sent me about tea was sent using the cloned phone, so it didn’t show up in the real phone at all. It was just a random, out-of-the-blue message from Diane that seemed too friendly to ignore.”
“And if the phone was collected as evidence at the trailer, cops would have been suspicious if Theo said he’d called Havoc after he left.” G nods in understanding. “I’m not sure if I should be worried or impressed by your evil genius.”
