Mark’s eyes widened, and he gasped. Blood bubbled from his mouth and dripped down his chin. He fell to his knees and then forward, his head hitting the ground and his legs kicking up.
Pippa gagged, her eyes wide on the dead man. “Wh-why?”
Isaac tossed the bloody knife, and it landed on Mark’s butt. “Your prints are on the knife. You stabbed him repeatedly and then killed him. If the cops find out, they’ll be looking for you almost as hard as I will.”
Her mouth gaped open. What should she do?
Isaac moved toward the fence, and she started backing up. “Come back here, now, and I will take care of this problem. The cops will never know.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. What should she do?
Isaac almost crooned. “You have no choice, Mary. You’re not strong enough to hide from the police and me. Not to mention God. He will punish you for this.”
Yeah, He probably would.
Pippa stared directly into Isaac’s eyes. “We’ll meet up again someday, I know.” Her fate made that inevitable. “Next time? I’ll be the one with the knife.” She turned and ran around the car, jumping in the front seat and slamming the door shut. They peeled out.
The sound of Isaac bellowing her name followed them down the dirt road.
* * *
Pippa came back to the present, her entire face hurting from crying. She hadn’t thought about that night in months. Why, she didn’t know.
But here she was. So, the worst had happened. The absolute worst thing she could’ve imagined had just happened, and Trixie was back with the monster.
Pippa had nothing to lose. Hiding all these years and almost becoming a shut-in hadn’t protected either one of them in the end.
She had promised him she’d have a knife next time they met.
Apparently, she’d lied. This time, she was taking a gun.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Angus Force kicked back in his office and listened to the conversation between Malcolm and Isaac at the mansion. Mal had placed the bug perfectly to pick up the entire room.
Malcolm was a genius at undercover Ops. No wonder he’d been able to take down one of the most powerful mob families in the world. But it did beg the question: just what kind of a toll did this duplicity take on the detective? Had he been ready to return to work?
Probably not.
Roscoe lay in the corner, munching contentedly on a red high-heeled shoe. He’d worn it for a while and now seemed to think it was a snack. Angus had no clue where he’d gotten it, but chances were, it was the shrink’s.
The woman shouldn’t leave her shoes where Roscoe could get them.
Raider Tanaka strode into the room, glanced at the dog, then slid out a seat. “He has somebody’s shoe.”
“Yep.” Angus held up a finger as he listened to Malcolm leave Isaac’s office. Then Angus turned down the volume but kept the tape running. “How did it go?”
“Good. We transferred Eagle and Leroy to a real HDD dark site, and they can sit there until we figure out what the attack will be on Friday.”
Brigid appeared at the doorway, her red hair pulled back and several pieces of paper in her hand.
Angus motioned her in. “Have a seat. Sorry to have you working all night so soon.”
Raider pulled out the chair next to him. “Aren’t hackers used to working into the wee hours?” Only slight sarcasm lowered his tone.
She took the seat and rolled her eyes. “Not as much as tight-ass feds.”
Angus bit back a smile. Watching the straight arrow Raider deal with the wildcat hacker with the lilting Irish accent might be the only good thing going on in his life right now. “What did you find, Brigid?”
