Page 90 of The Pretender

“Waiting for Craig to get here,” Stephen said. “I have some contractor meetings. He’s bringing some people over. One of us needs to look after the house. Ted and I have been talking about things that need to be done as part of the estate. He has a list and is going to join me.”

Some of the energy bouncing around Gabby became more focused. She centered it on her uncle. “And you didn’t think to include me in any of this?”

“No.” Stephen dismissed her without even a glance and stared at Harris. “Where were you two?”

“Upstairs.”

Harris liked the way Gabby kept her answer simple. It was a power play, but it seemed to work. The more terse she got, the more pissed off and fuming her uncle became.

“I thought I heard banging on the window.” Stephen performed a quick glance up to the second floor before looking at Harris again. “What did you expect to accomplish?”

Harris debated taking this step. He had two out of three suspects in front of him and Gabby seemed to be unraveling at the idea of carrying this out much longer. A person could only take so much stress and everyone kept piling it on her. Add in the difficulty of holding what might be the only evidence to resolve this thing and the pressure built.

“We needed to retrieve some papers.” Harris fought off the urge to tuck the papers deeper into his pocket.

“From my grandfather’s boxes?” Stephen asked.

Gabby didn’t flinch. “These belonged to Tabitha.”

Her voice stayed firm and clear. She was not playing around. She was in it to end it, and he loved that about her.

The point was to lay the groundwork. Harris didn’t want Gabby to act as a target, but he would. He’d put his body in front of hers and take whatever hit might come.

“They’ll settle some questions once and for all.” Harris had no idea if that was true, but he wanted to provide a united front. He even moved closer to Gabby. There was no going back to the house or waiting this out now. “When Craig gets here, we’ll have him take us into Baltimore.”

“Why?” Stephen asked.

Gabby smiled but there was nothing sweet about that deadly grin. “That’s where the lawyers are.”

Harris took a step toward the dock and Ted stepped in front of him.

Fucking hell.

Harris didn’t want it to be the kid. Stephen, even Kramer, but not this. “Are you going to stop me, Ted?”

He nodded. “Whatever it takes.”

Chapter 24

Gabby blinked as her mind raced to process what she was seeing. One minute Ted stood there, hanging out with her uncle and saying hello. Now he blocked Harris’s path, using his body and the shovel he was holding to do it.

“You?” It was the only word she could think to say.

Ted’s expression was blank. Not angry. Not anything. “Just give me the papers and we’ll go our separate ways.”

Harris didn’t move. She could see the screwdriver in his pocket. Her gaze swept over him, but she didn’t see any sign of that gun he supposedly had. She debated calling out for Damon but that shovel stopped her. If he swung it he could hit Harris or her uncle. She had no idea what Ted was capable of at this point.

“What’s going on here?” Stephen asked, still sounding indignant.

Harris’s gaze never left Ted. “I think Ted here is admitting to killing Tabitha.”

“What?” Stephen’s face fell. It was as if every muscle gave out.

“I’m not saying anything of the sort.” Ted tightened his grip on the shovel handle. He looked ready for battle now. “I know about the papers and that Tabitha didn’t want them released. She was trying to protect Gabby.”

“Me?” The verbal hit came so fast Gabby couldn’t prepare or block it. He was blaming her. One more person shoving the responsibility off himself and onto her. The thought stunned her. Pissed her off.

“Everyone knows you were involved in your own kidnapping. Tabitha didn’t want anyone to be able to prove it.” Ted was in full acting mode now. He looked concerned and talked a big game.

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