Page 117 of Tangled Up In You

As Adam fought with Mercer, she scrambled to get the gun. But once she had it in her hands, she didn't know what to do with it. She couldn't shoot and risk hurting Adam, so she just kept it at the ready.

There was no trace of Adam's injury as he fought to subdue Mercer, and his anger was palpable as he swung his fist into Mercer's face. Mercer hit back but as Adam sidestepped, Mercer lost his balance. Adam took advantage of that to tackle him once more, finally knocking the wind out of him. Then he rolled Mercer onto his stomach and cuffed his hands behind his back.

She blew out a breath of relief, as Adam got to his feet. "Your face," she said. "He hurt you."

"I'm fine. What about you, Molly?" he asked with deep concern. "Did he touch you?"

"No. How did you know he was here?"

"I didn't know. I was just coming to warn you that he might try again. But when I saw the open door and heard his voice, I knew I was a little late."

"You were just in time."

He walked over to her and held out his hand. "Give me the gun, Molly."

She hadn't even realized she was still holding it. She handed it to him and then looked toward her mother. "Did he hurt you, Mom?"

"No," her mother said, her face pale, her eyes still terrified. "He said he was your friend, Molly. I didn't know until I let him in that he had a gun." Her mother picked up the diamond ring that had fallen onto the floor. "Where did you get this?"

"It was given to Phoebe by her friend Caroline." She looked at Adam. "I finally went through the albums. Caroline was in love with Phoebe. She just couldn't acknowledge it. I think Phoebe loved her, too."

"Caroline and Phoebe?" he murmured in surprise. "But Caroline was married three times."

"I guess she couldn't find happiness when she was living a lie."

"Where did you find the ring?"

"In the pocket of Phoebe's dress that she was wearing when she went to the hospital. The hospital gave the bag of clothes to the lawyer, who gave it to me last Monday with the urn. I never looked in the bag until tonight." She paused, her gaze moving to Mercer, who lay stunned on the floor. "Who is he working for? Do you know?"

"It was Erica, Ray Kenney's wife."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "They're the ones behind this? I thought you were going to say Charles Weatherly."

"No. Erica and Mercer are having an affair. It started when they worked together in Denver. They heard about the diamond from Brenda Dunn, who is Erica's sister. Brenda cleaned Caroline's house once a week and found out about the diamond. She knew Caroline had given it to Phoebe."

"But Ray got twenty-five thousand dollars."

"In Erica's mind, that wasn't enough.

"That's crazy," she muttered.

"I'll tell you all the details later, but I need to take care of him." Adam called dispatch to request a squad car.

While Adam was on the phone, her mother came over to her and gave her a hug.

"I was scared for you, Molly," her mom said, fear still lingering in her eyes. "Why did you even hesitate for one second to give him that ring?"

"It seemed wrong. I knew how much Caroline wanted Phoebe to have it. But I also knew I had no choice. I was just afraid he was going to shoot us after I gave him the ring."

"You threw it really high in the air. Now I know why they didn't play you in softball."

She laughed. "I did that on purpose, Mom."

"You saw me outside, didn't you?" Adam asked, as he rejoined them.

"I saw a shadow, but I didn't see your face. I was just trying to knock him off-balance in some way."

Adam met her gaze. "You are very good at knocking people off-balance."

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