Page 40 of Close Quarters

Alex’s eyes widened, and he glanced at Katie, who looked equally stunned.

“Mandy?”

Her face crumpled, and she closed her eyes as tears spilled over. “Please, just sit,” she whispered.

With another glance at Katie, they sat down next to her, Katie on the end and Alex sandwiched between. Deputy Reeves sank into a side chair looking more peaked than before.

“What’s going on?” Katie asked. “Who are you, and why have you been trying to kill us? And speaking of, why aren’t we dead? Why kidnap us this time?”

“My name is David Pressley. I’m Amanda’s father, much to her dismay.”

Alex looked at Mandy. Tears silently tracked down her cheeks, but she stared at the man, hatred spewing from her eyes.

He turned back to Pressley. “Okay. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Amanda, dear, why don’t you explain?”

“Don’t call me that, you rotten bastard,” she ground out through clenched teeth.

Pressley rolled his eyes. “Just tell the damn story.”

“Fine.” She took a deep breath. “I lied to you when you asked me what was so special about that girl. She reminded me of someone. When I was young, my best friend had a younger sister, Tanya. She disappeared when Kim and I were in college.”

“What does your dad have to do with her disappearance? What’s his connection to the Paulsons?” Alex asked.

“Mom divorced him when I was young. I didn’t find out until I was older, but he liked underage prostitutes. When she found out about it, she left him.”

“Did he—” Katie broke off, eyes wide.

Amanda shook her head, catching her meaning. “No. He never touched me. I guess he drew the line somewhere.” She cast a derisive glance at her father before continuing. “When we pulled up that girl, something about her bugged me. I couldn’t put my finger on it until we were on the way back. Then, I realized it was her clothes. They looked like the same ones Tanya had on when she disappeared. The more I looked at her, the more I was sure. What I didn’t know until the other day is that the Paulsons’ snatched her from the movie theater where she worked. Seems he,” she nodded at her father, “liked their service. From what he said, Tanya freaked when she saw him. He claims he just gave her enough drugs to calm her down.”

Alex turned to Pressley. “So, how did she die, then?”

“She had a reaction to the drugs,” he said. “Anaphylaxis.”

“To opioids? You expect us to believe that? Do you know how rare an allergy that is?” Katie said.

“Believe me, don’t believe me. I don’t care. It’s the truth.” He walked around the chair to perch on the edge. Clasping his hands, he rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward. “When I learned the Paulsons were in custody and then what you unearthed, I went into damage control mode. I took Amanda from the hospital parking lot to find out what she knew. My—associate—panicked when the two of you came out. Amanda saw you and yelled. You must not have heard her, but it didn’t matter. Tony shot at you, hoping to eliminate you as witnesses.” He glared at the man standing sentry by the door. “All he did was create more headaches for me. He tried to clean up his mess, but failed at that too, so I told him to bring the two of you to me and I’d fix it.”

He stood. “I can’t let it get out that I’m involved. It’ll ruin my career—everything I’ve built will go up in smoke. I’ve done a lot of good, and all of it will be questioned. Terrible people could go free.”

“Wait.” Katie held out a hand. “What do you mean? Are you an attorney?”

“He’s a judge,” Amanda said, her eyes hard. “A federal judge.”

Alex snorted. “That makes sense. Brandt was a judge too. How many more of your buddies are involved? And how did you know what we found?”

Pressley’s eyes widened a fraction as he realized he’d let something slip he shouldn’t have. His expression quickly cleared, though. “None of that matters. You’ll all be dead in the next few hours—well, at least you, Ms. Mitchum, and this poor deputy. My daughter will have a choice.”

“So, why not tell us, then?” Katie said. “Give us some closure before you condemn us to death.”

Pressley grinned and touched his temple. “You’re a quick one, but I’m not stupid. Even a foolproof plan can go off the rails under the right set of circumstances.”

Alex frowned. What the hell was he talking about? Why didn’t he just shoot them and get it over with?

Pressley looked at Tony. “Do you have everything you need for their disposal?”

Tony nodded.

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