Page 104 of Pepper, the Biker & the Vanishing Body

“I needed an average, but kind of no-nothing place to stay for a while to give me time to regroup and to give my son time on his own to see if he wanted to continue in his dad’s footsteps. I knew he’d want to see if he could make it on his own and I knew he’d realize soon enough that he needed me. I was about to contact him, bored out of my mind here, when he contacted me. Waters embezzling was a gift I couldn’t resist.” Edna motioned with the gun. “Enough talk. Start walking.”

I tightened my grip on Kelly, helping her move, though my mind raced ahead. How do I stall? How do I get us out of this? Mo was fast, but time was working against us.

“Where are we going?” I asked, buying every second I could.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Edna said. “Now keep moving.”

I kept my voice casual. “You know, for someone as brilliant as you claim to be, I can’t believe you left a trail like this.”

Her jaw clenched. “I didn’t.”

“Sure, you did,” I pressed. “I just had to connect the dots. You knew Waters was embezzling. That’s how you blackmailed him into working for you.”

Kelly let out a quiet moan, gripping my arm tighter. I squeezed her hand in reassurance.

Edna let out a slow breath, then shrugged. “Might as well know the truth. I realized what Waters was doing before he did. He wasn’t exactly a mastermind. All I had to do was let him believe he was. The man had no self-control—his greed always got the better of him.”

“So, you blackmailed him,” I said.

“He was perfect for it,” she admitted. “He spent his life hunting treasure. And what does a treasure hunter do? Case locations. He was already researching places that held valuables, already traveling. All he had to do was take it a step further—gather information on security, vulnerabilities, things my son could use.”

“And in exchange, you let him keep skimming from the historical society,” I guessed.

Edna smiled slightly. “See? Smart girl.”

I ignored the compliment. “Then what happened?”

Edna’s face darkened. “He got sloppy. He stopped thinking of it as a partnership and stupidly thought he could steal some items himself.”

“Waters is the one who slipped those gold coins into Anderson’s luggage,” I said, the realization hitting me.

“By sheer stupidity.” Edna scoffed. “Anderson was supposed to hitch a ride with a friend on a private plane, and since private planes have their own security checks, Waters didn’t think it would be an issue. Unfortunately for him, Anderson wound up taking a regular flight. The fool opened a whole can of worms with that dumb move.”

“That made Waters even more desperate for money,” I said, keeping her talking.

“Exactly. He demanded more money—upfront—before he’d give us the last two locations we needed. Desperate and broke don’t mix well.”

I tilted my head. “Why not just pay him and be done with it?”

Edna let out a sharp laugh. “A mastermind like me, submitting to his demands? You must be joking.” A cold smile curved her lips. “What do you think gave him the heart attack?”

I swallowed, my stomach churning. “Quite convenient.”

She rolled her eyes. “No, Pepper. I didn’t kill him. But I wasn’t exactly devastated by the news.”

I pushed through the revulsion creeping over me. “So, you sent Jones on a wild goose chase when you already had what you wanted. You tipped him off about my mom being at the mansion, and she got hurt for no reason at all.”

Edna gave me a look of mock sympathy. “Oh, Pepper. You and your mother are so nosy. I couldn’t afford you digging around. So, I misdirected you. You worried me the first time we met at the garden center. I feared you might have seen my son and me together though we had taken precautions. Then I spotted Jones and worried that he might hurt my son again.”

“Your son had a message for you that day,” I said. “I found the slip of paper. It readnot there.But I see now that it had nothing to do with treasure. You thought Waters may have hidden what you were looking for in the mausoleum and it was the first place you had your son look.”

“Too smart. Too nosey. Too annoying,” she snapped.

“You really must have gotten upset when you found out that I was nosing around the mansion’s backyard and came across your son’s makeshift hidey-hole.”

She looked like she wanted to shoot me there and then.

“I wish I had time to pay your mom a visit before I leave this boring town and see that she gets what she deserves for bringing you to the museum and causing a whole host of trouble.”

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