Page 101 of Night Watch
Edwards held up his hands and stood back. “We don’t know that for sure.”
Kennedy wanted to see this man suffer, but he was talking, and she needed him to keep giving her the information that would convict him and put him behind bars for the rest of his life for murder.
She took a long breath and let it out. “You knew it could kill her, which is why you’re trying to cover it up. Did you purge the lab video too?”
“Video. No. Why? I haven’t been there in months. Didn’t have to go there while your mom was trialing the plate.” He shifted on his feet, looking antsy.
She still had a few more questions for him, but then she was going for her gun and holding him here until the police could arrive. “You have a prickly caterpillar bean plant in your garden, right?”
“I never understood why you asked about that, but yes. It’s quite the unique plant.”
“One of the beans must’ve gotten stuck on Jeremy’s pant leg. It fell off near the river after he broke into the lab.”
“Ah. I have a nice thick stand of them. He probably brushed against them when he came to get his marching orders.” Edwards shook his head. “Just between you and me, the guy could be more careful.”
“But not you, right?” Her anger seethed under her words. “You’re so careful that you put the Tile trackers in my mom’s purse and my backpack so you knew when it would be safe to break in.”
He grinned. “I had to track her just in case the plate did fail. Was easy enough. I hid the tracker in your mom’s purse when she went to the bathroom at one of our meetings, and you left your pack sitting unattended at the church after her funeral.”
Just the reminder of the day put a pain in Kennedy’s heart and a flame to her anger, but she wasn’t done. Not quite yet. “Did your nephew mail the anthrax too?”
“Of course, but I gave him the envelope. He wouldn’t have access to that.Iwas the mastermind behind it. Behind everything.” He eyed her. “Though you aren’t showing any ill effects from it.”
She explained what happened. “So you see. You failed. Again.”
“Alas, it didn’t work the way I had hoped,” he admitted. “I thought you would see a letter addressed to your mother and be eager to open it. But I’ll be ending your involvement today, and I have plans for your PI too.”
“Once the police link Jeremy to you, you’ll be charged. Assuming your sort-of nephew doesn’t turn on you before then.”
“Won’t happen. Sure, he’ll likely be charged with burglary, but he won’t spill his guts about all of this once he knows you can’t testify against him.”
She forced a chuckle she didn’t feel. “You obviously don’t realize that we recovered forensic evidence that will tie Jeremy to my mom’s house and a gun that he used to kill her boyfriend.”
Edwards’s eyes widened. “He killed the boyfriend?”
She saw a myriad of emotions race through his expression. “Jeremy went rogue on you, and you didn’t know.”
Edwards’s face blanched, but he quickly recovered.
“This is all going to come out,” she said, attempting to sound brave. “So no point in harming me or Erik. As accessory to murder and attempted murder, you’re going to go away for a long time.”
“They need proof for that, and you’re going to help me take it out of their hands.” His eyes lost focus, and she thought he’d gone to an alternate place. He was clearly crazy in his obsession with his project. She really needed to get away from him, warn Erik, and then call the police.
“Now!” He jutted out his chin. “You’re going to help me get those dentures before the police wise up and have them analyzed.”
“No, I won’t.” She rushed toward her purse and shoved her uninjured hand inside. Her fingers curled around the weapon.
Edwards whipped the purse from the table.
“No!” She shot out her other hand to latch onto it, but the pain radiated up her arm and she instinctively let go.
He jerked the leather free and moved back to the open doorway. “Let’s see what you’re so eager to get to.”
He plunged his hand inside the bag and came out holding her gun. There was suddenly a heavy, sick weight to the air surrounding them, and panic raced up her back.
“This is perfect.” His lips curled in a revolting grin. “We’ll just take a little trip somewhere more private where we won’t draw attention from the neighbors while I persuade you to cooperate, and I can use your own gun to do it.”
Erik didn’t want to waste time with crating Pong in the condo. He loaded him into his truck and set off for Kennedy’s place under the star-filled night with dark clouds on the horizon. As the miles flew past, his mind raced with questions. How would this news impact her? Would it change anything for them? He couldn’t see how, but at least she would know her mother hadn’t been murdered.
