Page 98 of Just Between Us

THIRTY

VEDA

Standingon the shores of Wabash Lake with Russell King coming unglued in front of me was not on my bingo card. My high heels sank into the soft earth.

Well, fucking great—these shoes are ruined.

My head throbbed, and when I touched the source, my fingers came back dry, thankfully. I squeezed my eyes and tried to orient myself.

“You stupid little bitch.” My attention whipped up to the man in front of me. Russell’s face was a splotchy maroon. He was sweaty, and his thinning hair was a mess of damp tangles.

I’d been called much worse, so his words meant nothing to me. His control was steadily unraveling, and I used that knowledge to tamp down my fear and appear totally unaffected.

Inside, though, my heart rate was through the roof.

I placed a hand across my chest. “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you talking to me? My name is Veda, but you can call me Miss Bauer.”

His nostrils flared before the back of his hand cracked across my face. As I bent, my purse slipped from my shoulder, landing in the dirt and spilling the contents.

Shit, that hurt.

Heat bloomed from the strike, and my hand moved up to check where he’d hit me. His blow was so hard it made my eye feel like it had popped out. Relieved it was still in place, I pressed the back of my hand against the sting as hot tears pressed at the corners of my eyes.

“Not so mouthy now, are you?” Russell scoffed as he looked around. He motioned behind me. “Go through her shit. See what she has.”

There was a rustling behind me, and Bowlegs emerged. His eyes flicked to mine, but then darted to the ground.

“Ah, I see,” I said with a wry laugh. “So Bowlegs is the muscle, I take it?” I turned to the old man and wondered how I could have ever thought he and Bootsy were the same person. Bowlegs’s eyes held a deep darkness that was bone chilling.

“Nice to officially meet you, I guess.” The man ignored me and continued rifling through the contents of my leather bag.

I sighed and turned back to Russell, then raised my hand. “So let me get this straight. Maryann found out she wasn’t the only woman in your life. Maybe she started asking questions? Making demands?” I pointed a finger in his direction and looked out of my good eye. “A powerful man like you doesn’t like a woman who asks questions.”

Russell’s eyes turned to slits as he pointed a fat finger in my face. “She knew her place. Which is more than I can say for you.”

A brief hit of surprise washed over me. There was a tiny hint of affection laced in his words.

I shook my head in disbelief. “She wanted you to choose, then. Didn’t she? Maryann found out about your wife and was willing to forgive you, but you had to chooseher.”

His nostrils flared, and I knew I was getting dangerously close to the truth.

Then it all clicked into place.

“No ...” I tucked my tongue into my cheek. “That isn’t it.” The truth was right there. “She chose thechildrenover you.”

When his jaw flexed, I knew my words had hit their target.

I sneered in disgust. “Maryann was going to leave you to protect her children, and you killed her because of it. My guess is you got these two idiots to clean up the mess.” I flicked my hand in Bowlegs’s direction. “Or did you somehow convince one of them to do the dirty work for you?”

Russell stopped to stare at me, his chest heaving with ragged breaths. “You know, I didn’t think someone who’d spread her legs for my fuckup of a son would be such a pain in my ass. You’re a lot smarter than I expected.” His sneer was laced with contempt.

“And yet you’re not quite as smart as I expected. The money trail makes connecting the dots pretty obvious.” I pressed a finger to my tender cheek. “You know, you could always say the Sinclair twins were blackmailing you.”

Bowlegs stood and handed Russell my phone. My heart raced as I considered using the code word I’d established with John in case I found myself in too deep of trouble.

“It’s recording, sir.” Bowlegs stepped back, and I ground my teeth together as Russell looked at me and sneered.

He tsked. “Trying to record me? Really?” Russell dropped my phone to the ground and stomped it beneath his heel, cracking the screen and breaking it into several pieces. He bent down to remove the SIM card and, with a flick, tossed the tiny chip into the lake. It clung to the surface for a moment before disappearing into the black depths.

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