“That’s good to know,” I say, adrenaline flooding my veins so quickly, my ears tingle. “I take it you’re planning on killing me, too?”
“Of course,” she says congenially. “I don’t have much of a choice. I figure we’ll have to set up something nice. I’m thinking that Alexei discovers that you killed Blythe Fairfax, and then he kills you because he actually loved her. Then I have to defend myself and shoot him. Something like that.” She waves a hand in the air as if the facts are inconsequential. “We’ll figure something good out. Don’t you worry.”
I just stare at her. “You’re truly evil.” I say it almost thoughtfully, but honestly, this is just too much.
She chuckles, looking beautiful in a cream-colored suit, her hair a pretty blond and her makeup perfect. She did a good job of fooling me with the gray hair and frumpy outfits. Now she appears to be in excellent shape. “That’s not very nice. Now drink your tea. I made it with dried apples.”
“Nope,” I say, noting she hasn’t tried hers, either.
“Chicken.” She glances at the tray on the table in front of her. The set is beautiful, with amethysts encrusted in both the cups and the pot. I look toward the two guys at the door. Their expressions remain blank, so they obviously don’t mind her planning a couple of murders.
I think through my last week and it hits me. “You were in my office.”
“I truly was,” she says. “I think we had a nice visit, don’t you?”
I study her and try really hard not to lose my mind. I remember her dropping her purse on the desk. “You took my paperweight.” I blink twice. “Did you kill Blythe Fairfax?”
“Oh no. That was a bloody mess,” she says almost chidingly. “I did take the paperweight, of course, but Marty over there is the one who, you know.”
“Bludgeoned Blythe to death,” I say slowly, looking at Marty. He’s the guy on the left who appears to be in his late twenties with a full beard and several scars across his forehead, and he doesn’t blink. Not even once.
“Yes.” Lillian pushes a plate of cookies toward me. “Would you like a cookie? They’re a nice apple oatmeal mix I created just for you.”
“You first.”
She sits back. “Well, I guess you’re not as dumb as I thought.”
I glance at the innocuous cookies. She’s trying to poison me? I’m trying really hard not to throw up on her at the moment. I scrub a hand over my eyes. “Why did you kill Blythe?”
“My initial thought was to set up Alexei,” she says. “But this turned out better because now he has a reason to kill you. Don’t you see? I love it when the universe gives me a helping hand. Manifestation really works.”
Reality finally hits me. Wait a minute. My hand starts to shake, so I place the cup on the saucer, where it clatters noisily.
She frowns, but no wrinkles show in her forehead. It must be quite a bit of Botox.
I can’t think. My mind spins. “When you stole the paperweight, you also took my letter opener.”
“I did,” she says cheerfully, crossing her legs.
I gag. This is unthinkable to me.
She frowns again. “If you throw up, I’m going to shoot you. Or rather,” she looks over her shoulder at Marty. “Have you shot. Maybe just in the shoulder or a kneecap or something. I should keep you alive until Alexei gets here.” Madness swirls in her eyes and she smiles again. “You should really try the cookies. They’re phenomenal.”
I gulp and sit back in my chair. “You took my letter opener.”
“I already said I did.” Now she sounds exasperated, but I am not sure I have the words.
“Did you kill Hendrix?”
Her jaw tightens. “He gave me no choice.”
Oh my God. I turn and start to heave.
“Stop that.” She throws a cookie at me.
I rapidly breathe in several times, barely preventing myself from throwing up. She fooled me so perfectly with her sad eyes and gray hair. In fact, she looks thinner in this outfit, even. “You killed your own son?”
She pales, but only slightly. “Hendrix was caught on that video throwing the knife into the pond—trying to frame Alexei. He was arrested for planting evidence and impersonating a police officer.” She sips on her tea again as if we’re just talking about the weather. “He gave me no choice. Our family had enough bad press when Alexei went to prison. Of course, I did bribe the judge and both attorneys to make that happen. I mean enough is enough. You would’ve done the same thing.”
