Page 53 of Lone Star Secrets

“How did you even meet these two men?” Angel asked. “And the other two, McBride and Crawford?”

“I met McBride at a party at Roger’s office. He was wearing a class ring from our high school, and I asked him about it. We got to talking, and I realized that I knew his mom. She didn’t go to our school, but I knew her when we worked part-time at the coffee shop over on Harrison Street.”

That hadn’t come out in the background checks. Then again, it would have been hard to dig up that kind of data since most of the high school workers at that particular coffee shop had been paid under the table. Angel knew that because he’d worked there himself for a couple of months.

“McBride had three friends that he said would do the job, so I paid them each five thousand,” Birdie went on. “And I told them I’d give them the rest when the job was done. When McBride and Crawford were killed, the other two said they’d do it. For double the money,” she tacked onto that.

“And you agreed?” Angel asked.

“I didn’t have a choice,” she insisted. “But when I met them a block up from the hospital, they demanded the rest of the money then and there. I said no, for them to do what was needed, and then I’d pay them.” Anger raced through her eyes. “That’s why one of them shot me.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Walker said. “You just confessed to murder for hire on two separate occasions and arson to attempt to destroy any potential evidence in a murder investigation?”

That got rid of the anger and instead put some panic on Birdie’s face. She looked at Roger. “I can explain—” she started, but she didn’t get a chance to finish.

“I’ll start divorce proceedings,” Roger snarled, and with that, he hurried out of the room.

A loud wail streamed from Birdie’s mouth, and covering her face with her hands, she broke down into sobs. Angel didn’t feel the least bit sorry for her. He felt nothing but complete and total contempt for this woman who’d nearly succeeded in killing them.

And that left Angel with the question he needed answered.

“Why try to kill Melanie, RJ, Mia, and me?” Angel demanded.

“Because you knew I’d murdered Kenton,” Birdie said through the sobbing.

Mia and Angel exchanged glances. “But we didn’t,” Mia assured Birdie. “We certainly didn’t have any proof of it anyway.”

Birdie took her hands from her face and gave them a fierce glare. “But you did,” she argued. “You had pictures of me going to Kenton’s room that night. He showed them to me.”

Everything inside Angel went still. “He?” Angel questioned.

“Yes,” she snapped. “Dwight managed to steal the pictures and destroy them after he showed them to me. I paid him for that with money from more jewelry I sold. But then, I figured with you being an ex-cop, you wouldn’t need the pictures to have me arrested. You could both just confirm the pictures had existed, and I’d be locked away.”

“Shit,” Angel grumbled just as Mia said, “Hell.”

Gathering his breath, Angel looked the woman straight in those tear-filled eyes. “Dwight conned you. There were no pictures. If you’d just stayed quiet and not hired those gunmen, Birdie, you could have probably gotten away with murder.”

Birdie seemed to freeze with her gaze fixed on him. After several seconds, she let out another of those loud wails. Angel ignored her, slipped his arm around Mia and turned to Walker.

“I’ll get an APB out for Dwight,” Walker assured him. “I can charge him with extortion.”

That was a small price to pay, considering the man had spurred a deadly plan into motion. Obviously, Birdie thought the same thing.

“Dwight is responsible for this,” Birdie yelled. “I wouldn’t have done this if he hadn’t lied. I should be cleared of charges. I shouldn’t have to go to jail.”

Angel heard Birdie’s shouts continue, and then trail off, as Mia and he walked out of the room.

----- ? ----

Chapter Twenty

----- ? ----

Mia downed several large gulps of the Coke that Angel had just bought her from the hospital vending machine.

“The occasion probably calls for something harder, like tequila,” she muttered, “but this would have to do.”

Angel made a sound of agreement and drank some of his own Coke. They stood there, leaning against the wall of the vending room. Trying to process everything that’d just happened.

---