“I know who killed her.” His voice broke.
The motherfucker had feelings for Elle’s sister—it was written all over his face. You had to be shitting me. “You know who killed Elizabeth O’Shea?”
He nodded his head.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because she deserves justice.”
I had to laugh. “And I’m supposed to believe you care . . . why?”
“Because I fucking loved her.”
Noises of disbelief escaped my throat. I couldn’t help it.
“You have to go after him.”
“I don’t have to do shit.”
“You’re the only one I’ve got, man.”
The hairs on my neck stood up. Desperate. He was desperate. I didn’t have to put on a show after all. He really was going to talk. “And who exactly is him? Who do you think killed Lizzy?”
“It’s not who I think killed her. It’s who I know killed her.”
“Who?” My voice rose.
He leaned forward. “Her fucking husband did it.” He practically spit the word husband.
I might have thought that too but with him telling me, now I wasn’t so sure. How could I believe him? “Are you sure it wasn’t you?”
His cuffed hands gripped the table and his face turned red. “I told you, I loved her.”
“Like that means shit to me.”
“Listen to me. He stole the drugs from us and later he killed her.”
Something in my mind scrambled. I knew Michael had to have been playing some kind of game with the drugs. I just didn’t know why he’d put everyone around him in jeopardy if he had them. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
That taunting smile was back. “Oh, did I get your attention now? Worried about your precious Elle being around him?”
“Don’t say her name,” I fucking growled.
He remained silent.
Pulling my shit together, I inched back in my chair. “Yeah, you got my attention, but not for long.”
“I’m not fucking around with you. I’ve told the guards at least a hundred times that I know who killed her and not a single fucking one of them will pay any attention to me.”
My heart was racing but I remained calm. We weren’t buddies and he wasn’t looking to help me out. “And you think I will?”
“Yeah, I do. You’re smart enough to know, once a killer, always a killer. Extrapolate from there, Silver Spoon.”
I didn’t let him rattle me. “What do you think I can do with this information?”
“Make the motherfucker pay!” he seethed.
My cough couldn’t disguise my laugh. “You want him to pay? Are you fucking kidding me? What about you? What about your sins? You’re the one who should pay.”
He was shaking his head. “This isn’t about you, McPherson.”
Now I laughed out loud. “No, it’s not. But for some fucked-up reason I’m the one who’s here. Why didn’t you just send one of your crew to take care of him, like you did me? Oh wait, that’s right—because you can’t be there to watch, you sick fuck.” My emotions were taking over. Reel it in, McPherson. Reel it in. The plan is going better than expected. Don’t fuck it up.
With his hands, he tried to shake the table. “This isn’t about you. Or me. I’m in here; what more do you want?”
Focus. I had to focus. He was right. “I know that,” I seethed. “But like I said, I’m the one who’s here. So tell me, why not use your crew?”
“You really don’t know what’s going on, do you?”
I stared at him flatly, giving nothing away.
“I don’t have a crew left.”
My brows popped. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Tommy eased forward. “My father put a hit out on me. As soon as I get out of solitary, I’m a dead man.”
Holy shit!
My worries about Elle’s safety, when it came to Tommy anyway, might just be over. Looked like my plan to remove Tommy from the equation was going to be taken care of courtesy of Patrick Flannigan, fuck him very much. I should have left right then and there, but I didn’t. “Why would your father put a hit out on you?” I asked, trying not to sound triumphant. I still wasn’t entirely buying what he was feeding me.
“He found out what I was doing. That I was trying to break free of him. And that I’d been using his money as capital to buy drugs. Found out I had a part in losing the two hundred and fifty kilos of coke. Found out I’d fucked everything up.”
My head was spinning and still back at the lost crew. “So you can’t hurt Elle?”
That sinister laugh was back. “Aren’t you fucking listening to me? I don’t give a shit about her. I want Lizzy’s death avenged.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “Then why did you send me the note?”
He laughed. “That note I sent you was just to make sure you ended up finding me. When I sent it Lizzy had gone missing again. At the time, I thought you could help me find her. I didn’t know she was already at the bottom of the fucking river. You can rest assured your little girlfriend is safe, from me anyway. I promised Lizzy I’d leave her sister and her kid out of this.”
Relief crashed over me.