It was Branson’s doing that I’d become a killer.
He’d found a loaded john from Dallas who was willing to pay a lot of money to use me for whatever he wanted. No limits. When I refused to sign a waiver, Branson said I’d do it anyway. He dragged me to an abandoned house and left me with the guy and a video camera. After the man’s first round of abuse and rape, I roused enough to grab his neck tie and strangle him. Beasley, who’d known this was happening, had felt guilty enough to come help me—only to find me standing over the dead guy’s body. I was confused and upset. Beasley was drunk and convinced me to bury the body. Afterward, he took the blame for me after I ran into a mailbox and he was arrested for a DUI. He went to prison and Branson took off.
Kate gave me a knowing grin and shook her head. “Only one trip down memory lane today.” Then, before I realized what she was doing, she snatched my purse and began to dig through it. “What did you bring me today?”
“Nothing. Did you go to Ardmore?”
“There’s not much in that town,” she said, pulling out a package of breath mints, then opening it. She popped one into her mouth. “I can see why you got out of there as quickly as you did…but what happened at the end probably had something to do with it.”
More general clues that meant absolutely nothing. Which left me with the question I’d been asking myself for weeks. How much did Kate actually know?
She was the one who’d told me about Beasley’s release, so she knew he’d gone to jail. I suspected she knew I’d danced on the pole, but she’d never acknowledged it. She might know I’d had an abortion a month or so before I left Ardmore. She might also have found out that Branson had videos of my encounters with all the men he’d forced on me, but she didn’t have the tape that the guy from Dallas had recorded. That was currently in a safe-deposit box in the Henryetta Bank.
My life was on the line and she was playing with me like I was a Sims character. The anger that had built up inside me over the last months ignited.
I was done. Maybe it was time to turn the tables.
I gave her a haughty look, and said with a hint of defiance, “Our father had a thing for teenage girls.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “So?”
“My mother. Hilary. They couldn’t have been the only ones he molested.” I kept my gazed pinned on her, hoping she got my message. I felt like a bitch sinking to her level, but if I had to jump back in the gutter, so be it. I probably belonged here anyway.
Her nostrils flared, and she looked a little shaken. “So?”
“That might explain a few things,” I said with a toss of my head. I couldn’t believe I’d sunk this low, a true sign of how desperate I was. But was I willing to sell my soul to get those answers? Was it too late to be asking that question?
She stood and pointed her finger at me, her face turning red. “Stay out of my life, Neely Kate!”
“What?” I asked, lifting my eyebrows and trying to sound innocent. “You mean like you’re staying out of mine?”
Her chest heaved.
“Daddy dearest had a thing for young girls.” I flicked the ends of her hair. “And he had a pretty little thing sleeping under the same roof. Why not?”
Kate sucked in a breath, then slapped my cheek so hard my ears rung.
Jed was instantly out of his seat, but I held up my hand.
“You had a boyfriend in Little Rock,” I said, pretending she hadn’t just slapped me. “Nick, right?”
The color left her face.
“Too bad our father didn’t approve of him.”
She recovered slightly and took a few steps away from me. “Don’t you talk about him!”
“What?” I asked in a sweet tone as I pressed a hand to my chest. “You don’t like this trip down memory lane? I found out something about Nick that might interest you. Maybe if you’re a good girl, I’ll tell you next time.”
She lost so much color I was worried she’d pass out.
I was becoming the monster she was, but then maybe it had been there all along, lurking in my DNA. Maybe I was more of a Simmons than I thought.
Had I really sunk this low?
Don’t back down, Neely Kate. Your life depends on this. “Something about a jewelry store and a ring. I think it was with him when the police found his body outside that bar. A bullet in the head, right?”
“There wasn’t a ring,” she said with tears streaming down her face. “His parents would have told me. All of his possessions were returned to them.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
Kate fell onto the bed and broke into sobs.
I shot a glance to Jed, who was standing next to the chair with a completely blank expression. He saw the horror in my eyes and gave me a nod.
Go for the kill.
“How does it feel?” I asked in a cold voice as I stood over her. “How does it feel to be manipulated and have your past used against you?”
She looked up at me with a tear-streaked face. “Where is the ring? Did my father take it?”
I was no better than she was.
I shot another glance to Jed, and the sympathy in his eyes was my undoing. He knew how much this cost me, and I couldn’t do it anymore.
I sat down next to her and put a tentative hand on her shoulder. “There wasn’t a ring, Kate. I’m sorry. I just wanted you to see what it feels like.”
Her face lifted and a grin spread across her face as she sat up. “You need to work on the follow-through, Sis, but with a little bit of work, you could be just as devious as me.”
What had just happened? Had she really recovered so quickly, or had she been playing me all along?
I stood and sucked in a breath. “I need to know what you know, Kate.”
Her eyes twinkled. “You’ll find out more next time.”
I slowly shook my head. “No, I meant what I said. There won’t be a next time. I can’t do this anymore.” I started for the door.
Jed got up to follow me.
Kate shot off the bed, but rather than stop me, she blocked Jed’s path. “What about you, handsome? Don’t you want to know the PIN for the Murray account?”
Jed stared down at her with dark eyes.
“I’ll give it to you today. I promise.” She glanced over at me with her mischievous grin. “But it comes with a price.”
I shook my head. “Whatever the cost, I want no part of it.” Then I opened the door. “Goodbye, Kate.”
I walked into the hallway and waited for several seconds, expecting Jed to join me, but it soon became clear he wasn’t coming. He was negotiating.
Given her constant attempts to seduce him, I could only imagine what she had in mind. I didn’t think he’d fall for it, but I wasn’t going to wait around while she tried. I headed for the door we’d used to enter the ward, then made my way to the elevator. When Jed didn’t join me, I went to the lobby and waited in the waiting room.
Fifteen minutes later, Jed found me, looking slightly disheveled.
I stood and looked up at him. “Did you get what you needed?”
His left eye twitched, but other than that, he had no facial expression. “Yes.”
“I meant it, Jed. I’m never comin’ back.”
“I know.” He spun around and headed for the entrance, leaving me to follow.
Chapter 5
Jed was unusually tense and remained quiet as he drove to the highway. After we’d been on the road for ten minutes, I finally broke down and questioned him.
“What did she want?” I asked.
His jaw clenched. “The same as usual.”
“For you to sleep with her?”
He gave a slight nod, keeping his gaze on the road.
After several seconds, I asked, “So how did you get the information you needed if you didn’t sleep with her?”
He didn’t respond at first, then said, “She doesn’t know you killed Pearce Manchester. She thinks Beasley did it and you were an accessory. According to her, she didn’t notify anyone about her theories. She has no idea a PI is investigating you.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. “How did you get her to tell you all of that?”
His hands tightened around the steering wheel, and he looked so tense that he would explode if I touched him.
“What did you do, Jed?” I asked in a whisper.