Page 130 of Dead Man's List

The lawyer shook his head. “Goddammit, Pete.” He blew out a breath. “Okay, what are you offering?”

“Nothing,” Connor said, “until we hear what it is he has to say. We already have some information.” He turned to Pete, who suddenly appeared terrified. “If you can’t provide anything new, no deal.”

“How will we know if Pete has anything new to offer?” the lawyer demanded. “What do you already know?”

“Nope,” Kit said coldly. “You first, Mr.Shoemaker.”

Shoemaker’s hand fell away from his mouth, dropping limply to the table. “We didn’t do it.”

“Didn’t do what, Peter?” Connor asked.

“Didn’t hire a hit man. We talked about it. Maybe fantasized about it a little, but we never followed through.”

Connor seemed relaxed, as if discussing the weather, but Kit knew he was alert and on edge. They both were. “Why not?” he asked.

Shoemaker’s laugh was mirthless. “Because we’re not killers. My God, this is a nightmare.”

“Start at the beginning,” Connor said sympathetically. “When did Munro begin to blackmail you?”

“Two years ago. I…cheated on my wife. That’s all I did.”

Kit wasn’t so sure about that, but she remained silent.

“And Munro found out?” Connor prodded.

“Yeah. I don’t know how, but he did. Said he’d tell my wife if I didn’t pay him. It was two thousand dollars a month. That was most of my paycheck. I’m an assistant principal, for God’s sake.”

“Your wife has the money?” Connor asked. “I seem to remember seeing her name in one of the country club’s newsletters.”

Once again, Kit was grateful that Connor was rich.

“Yes,” Shoemaker said bitterly. “She’s always had the money and has never loosened the purse strings. Her parents are obscenely wealthy and my wife has a trust fund. We have a prenup and if she found out I’d cheated, I’d lose everything. I wasn’t willing to lose everything, so I paid Munro what he asked for.”

“For two years,” Connor said.

Shoemaker nodded. “Yes.”

Kit made an impatient gesture. “And then?”

“I paid him and paid him and paid him. I thought there might be others getting blackmailed, but I didn’t know for sure. I wouldn’t have told them about my situation even if I had known. I didn’t want anyone to know. And then Earl O’Hanlon killed himself. I suspected that he’d been bankrupted by Munro, but again, I didn’t know for sure. Not until I got a call from Hugh Smith. He used a burner phone but called us on our cell phones.He couldn’t be touched, but he’d left a trail straight to us. He said to come to his house if we didn’t want our secrets shared.”

“So you went?” Connor asked.

“Of course I did,” Shoemaker snapped. “I know what Smith did for a living. I know he was some high-ranking security guy. I figured he was going to start blackmailing me, too. But that’s not what happened.”

“Whatdidhappen, Mr.Shoemaker?” Kit demanded, not having to fake her annoyance. This guy needed to get on with it. She and Connor still had several interviews to do.

“There were others there.”

Kit drummed her fingers on the table. “How many others?”

Shoemaker turned to her. “Look, I’m trying here, okay? Stop the—” He mimicked her drumming fingers. “You’re making this worse.”

Kit drummed her fingers once more before folding her hands on the table. She’d rattled him. Excellent. “How many others, Mr.Shoemaker?” she asked.

“Nine, I think.” Shoemaker closed his eyes, his mouth moving silently. Then he nodded and opened his eyes. “Nine. Including Hugh Smith. I can give you their names.”

Connor slid a legal pad and pen across the table. “Write.”

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