“Why his accountant?” she asked with a hint of defiance.
“You know why,” he said softly. “Look at what the Feds did to Simmons’s money.”
“Simmons was dead by the time they got to me.”
“It doesn’t matter. I know you wanted out, but Simmons made it impossible. Maybe Knox’s accountant feels the same way. Maybe he or she will be willing to cooperate so they can be free too.”
“You think his accountant will be free?” she asked sarcastically. “The only reason I’m free is because Simmons is dead.”
James sat back in his seat. “What if Knox was dead too?”
She stared at him like he’d announced he was the new pope. “How is that going to happen?”
“You don’t need to worry about that part,” James said. “And this is all hypothetical. I’m just sayin’ … would the accountant be more willing to talk if Knox wasn’t an issue?”
She shook her head in frustration. “I have no idea. I don’t know who they are or if they feel threatened. But I know it was easier for me to cooperate with the FBI knowing the boogeyman wouldn’t be waiting around the corner to get me.”
James gave a slight nod.
“I hear Knox is big,” she said in a near whisper. “Bigger than J.R.”
“I don’t know about that,” James said nonchalantly. “I know he’s up to worse shit, but I don’t know about bigger.”
“Knox is more dangerous.”
James pushed out a sigh. “I don’t know about that either. Simmons committed quite a few crimes he never took credit for. He didn’t approve of his son’s girlfriend, so he hired someone to kill her in a pretty brutal way. He had his daughter’s boyfriend killed too.”
Natalie looked like she was going to be sick.
James sat back in his seat. “So J.R. was dangerous. He just didn’t flaunt it like Knox does.”
“All the more reason for me to keep quiet,” she said. “If I play a part in finding Knox’s accountant, when he finds out, he’ll make an example out of me.”
“If he’s out of the picture, he won’t be able to come after you either.”
“You’re saying you’re going to kill him?” she asked in disbelief.
James held his hands out. “I never said any such thing. But you never know when someone’s going to meet with an accident.”
Natalie rested her face in her hands.
“I know this is scary,” James said gently. “And I really wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. And believe me, I know me bein’ here puts you at risk.” He paused. “If you’re really worried, I can have a detail watch over you until this is over.”
Her head jerked upright. “Why would you do that?”
“I have no beef with you, Nat. I always knew you got suckered into working for J.R. You weren’t the first to fall under his spell, and you weren’t the last. Hell, I fell for it too.”
“You?” she scoffed.
“Yep. I fell for his bullshit hook, line, and sinker. Until I wised up.”
“I took too long to wise up. He had me doing legit stuff in the beginning, and then he gave me something questionable—but insisted everything was on the up and up. By the time I realized what was really going on, he told me I was in too deep to quit. That he’d ruin me.” Her breath caught. “I have two kids. I couldn’t risk ruining my professional reputation, so I kept doing his books.”
“He wouldn’t have stopped at ruining your reputation,” James said. “He would have had you killed. He wouldn’t risk his secrets gettin’ out.”
She inhaled sharply.
“You didn’t realize that?” he asked.
