Chapter 39
Erwin Residence
Vera watched Bent leave with Hastings before heading up the steps to the entrance of Erwin’s building.
The curtains in the first-floor apartment belonging to Kayla Johnson fluttered, and Vera waved.
She hoped this meeting with Erwin wasn’t a waste of time, considering the Carter et al.
gathering would likely be far more exciting.
Since she was here, there were a number of pointed questions Vera intended to ask Erwin, and she better be ready to answer without ducking and dodging or flat-out lying.
After all, this meeting was her idea, and they were way past all the foreplay.
Vera knew far too much and suspected even more about Erwin. The time for games was over.
Maybe Erwin would throw the others under the bus to save herself.
As Vera climbed the stairs to the second floor, she considered they should have invited Erwin to Carter’s place and interviewed them all together the way she and Bent had discussed.
But Vera had a feeling that Carter and Erwin were involved with these murders in completely different ways and with totally different motives and ideas on how this should end.
At the door she knocked and waited. The least Erwin could have done was watch for her arrival—if what she had to say was so all-fired important.
No answer. Well, hell. Vera knocked harder. “Valeri, you need to open this door.”
Muffled sounds of movement inside were followed by the releasing of locks. The door opened just enough for Valeri to stick her head out. “Hi, Vera. Did you need something?”
What the hell? The woman called, begging for a meeting, and now she acted as if she wasn’t expecting Vera.
A burst of outrage tore through her. “I’m coming in.
” Vera bullied her way through that narrow opening, and Erwin had no choice but to back up.
Vera went toe to toe with her. “What’s going on, Valeri? ”
The door slammed, and Vera whirled around.
“Hello, Ms. Boyett.”
Fear throttled through her. Then she recognized the face staring at her.
As if he’d stepped out of one of the photos at his luxurious mansion, Gill Jamison leaned against the closed door.
The weapon he held wasn’t the typical .38 or even a .
9 millimeter. No, it was a Swiss-made SIG Sauer with a walnut grip.
Very nice. Vera might not be an authority on home decor, but she knew her weapons.
She also recognized this was bad. For her, at any rate.
“I see you got our message.” Years of cop instincts overtook all else, and Vera braced for whatever move he made next. “That’s good, because we need to talk.”
He rubbed his jaw with the weapon’s gleaming stainless steel barrel. “We do indeed.”
There were times when Vera carried a weapon.
Not so much since she’d left Memphis PD.
And definitely not today. Too bad. She could use one just now.
But she had her wits, and that would just have to do.
She ordered her heart to calm. Slowed her breathing and focused her full attention on the six-foot-plus male in front of her.
“Why don’t you start?” Vera suggested. “After all, this is your party.” She needed him to let his guard down. To relax. So she did the same, relaxing her posture, angling her head as if she couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say.
“I’m sorry,” Erwin whispered in her direction. “He just showed up, and I didn’t know what to do.”
Vera forced a smile for her. “I’m confident you had nothing to do with this, Valeri.”
Jamison scoffed. “Of course she did. Valeri is a regular little troublemaker.” His glare was murderous. “In fact, she’s the one who turned this into something far bigger than it should have been, aren’t you, Val?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Erwin edged behind Vera.
Jamison pushed away from the wall and took a step in their direction. Vera held still, as if she had no reason to fear him coming closer. No matter what her brain said, her pulse reacted to his nearness.
Calm, stay calm. All you need is one moment of distraction.
“Since you’re here, you need to understand,” he said to Vera. “Lena and I were in love. She was carrying my child.”
“You can’t be sure,” Erwin snarled, peeking around Vera’s shoulder.
Vera wondered the same. “How can you be sure the baby was yours? After all, she shared a bed with her husband night after night.”
Jamison laughed. He was more relaxed than she would have expected, under the circumstances. Arrogant, she decided. Overconfident. The rich boy who never had to worry about a thing. Worked for her.
“The obstetrician said the sonogram showed she was exactly ten weeks. That put the conception date during Wilton’s trip to DC and New York. He was gone for two weeks. You remember,” he taunted Erwin. “You went with him.” Then he looked back to Vera. “Trust me. We were certain.”
“You’re angry,” Vera offered. “I get it. But what did he do, other than cut off your funding after his wife died?” She spread her feet a little wider apart and prepared to make a move.
Jamison laughed. “Lena didn’t just die. She was a world champion. She would never have allowed an issue with her saddle to go unnoticed.”
“People make mistakes.” Vera shrugged. She watched his left arm relax at his side, the weapon in his right hand tilted slightly downward. “Are you suggesting her death was no accident?”
“It was no accident,” he snarled, fury flashing in his eyes. “The bastard killed her. I know he did.”
“No he didn’t.” Erwin was standing next to Vera now. “I know he didn’t.”
Vera glanced at her. What the hell was she doing? Might as well play to her move. “Are you sure about that, Valeri? Thomas was pretty angry when he learned about Lena’s affair with Gill.”
Valeri shot her a confused look.
“Lena warned you’d be sorry for telling him,” Jamison growled at Erwin, leaning into her. “This whole situation is your fault.”
So Erwin set off the chain reaction. Vera was not surprised at all.
“Really, Gill,” Vera argued, hoping to pull his attention back to her, “you must know that what happened was as much your fault as anyone’s. After all, you fucked the man’s wife.”
Gill forgot all about Erwin and grabbed Vera by the hair with his free hand. He jerked her close, nose to nose, the muzzle of his weapon shoved against her temple. “You don’t know anything about what we had!”
Heart pounding once more in spite of her best efforts, Vera stared him straight in the eyes. “Why don’t you explain it to me.”
His mouth twisted with anger. “You wouldn’t understand. We had a plan.”
“You loved her.” Vera readied to jam his right forearm upward and twist away.
“I knew it. That’s why I told Thomas the truth,” Erwin shouted. “Lena was lying to him about everything.”
What the hell! Would Erwin not shut up!
Dragging Vera with him, his fingers still tangled in her hair, Jamison closed in on Erwin. He shifted the muzzle of his weapon to her forehead.
If the damn woman would just stay out of this, Vera might be able to make a move. As it was, Erwin was going to get them both killed.
“I didn’t want her to keep hurting him,” Erwin shouted. “But he wouldn’t listen. He wanted to forgive her for the baby’s sake, and he couldn’t even be sure it was his.” Her face was red with fury now. “I had to do something.”
Vera wanted to kick her. She had to shut up, or this guy was going to lose it.
Jamison laughed again, long and loud. “Fuck’s sake. I should have realized it wasn’t him, it was you who set her accident in motion.”
Erwin stumbled back a step, but his weapon remained trained on her.
“I didn’t do anything,” she wailed, the burst of anger gone now. “It was Jose. He was supposed to see that the repairs were done to her saddle. It’s not my fault he didn’t.”
Vera kept her gaze fixed on Jamison. She had to get this situation under control.
Right now. “So what are we doing here, Gill? You’re already in trouble with the FBI, do you really want to add kidnapping or murder to that?
” Although she was fairly confident it was a little late for him to worry about the latter.
“The FBI can’t touch me. That money was for our life together. Lena set up the whole thing to keep the bastard from leaving her with nothing. The FBI won’t find shit.”
“You killed him and the others,” Erwin accused, making things worse again. “I know it was you. I heard Helen on the phone, telling you to just stay calm, and she would fix it.”
Well, hell. Vera wanted to shake Erwin. It damned sure would have been nice to know this like three days ago. Then all of this could have been prevented.
“Whatever you did,” Vera offered, “you still have time to go.” She gestured to the door. “You can disappear, and no one will ever find you. You have the means. Just do it.”
He smiled, but it held no humor. “That was the idea, Ms. Boyett. I planned everything down to the last detail. And it all went perfectly. Even with Alicia surviving, there was nothing that pointed to me. I was golden. But then a little note I received this morning”—he sneered at Erwin—“reminded me I had one last loose end to tie up before I disappeared.”
“You could still go,” Vera urged. She had a feeling this was hers and Erwin’s last shot.
The man’s fury settled on her. “I could have, but then you showed up.”