A Lethal Time (A Samantha Jamison Mystery Volume 4) (22 page)

Chapter 97

Surprise!

But Jackson was at my side in a heartbeat, holding that gun again, and it was aimed directly at me.

“I knew I wasn’t seeing things,” I said, flatly.

He laughed. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”

“What do you intend to do?” I asked.

He laughed again. “Why kill you, of course!”

Suddenly, a loud pounding at the door made us both jump. He put his finger to his lips, motioning for me not to say a word and to step back, as he unlocked the door.

There stood Clay, Crystal, Martha, Betty and Hazel. I wanted to scream and warn them as they shoved me out of the way and rushed into the house all yakking at once.

“What’s all this about you yelling into your phone like some kind of crazy woman?” Martha asked. “I mean you almost gave me a heart attack.”

“What is the problem here?” asked Betty, politely nodding to Jackson, who had deftly tucked his gun behind him, obviously still deciding how to play the situation.

“Honestly, Sam,” Hazel chastised, “You might’ve asked us to join you. After all, it’s our investigation, too, dear.”

Crystal smirked. “I’m disappointed. You know how I like a good kick-ass confrontation. Did I miss anything?”

Clay kissed the top of my head and whispered in my ear so only I heard his words. “Relax, we’re here.”

What did that mean?
What were they doing at Jackson’s house at the same time? How did they know I was there? I was speechless. Now, we were
all
in trouble
.

“Perfect,” said a loud voice rising above the chatter. Silenced, we turned as one. Millicent, Major, Sarah, and Jacob stood there, holding guns aimed in our direction.

Millicent came forward. “How about all of you move away from the door a little. And don’t do anything stupid.”

We did the math and the ones with the guns were odds on favorites in who had the last say. So we all moved over. This was
not
how I thought this would play out. Something had to change, but I was at a loss for a plan.

Hazel stepped forward. “This behavior is unacceptable.”

“Shut up, old lady,” said Millicent.

“Who you calling an old lady, you hag?” Martha said.

Betty leaned in to grab Martha and Hazel back. “Easy.”

Crystal was tapping her fingers doing a slow burn.

Millicent laughed mockingly. “You’re all amateurs.”

“Who you calling an amateur?” snapped Crystal angrily.

I eyed Jackson’s clock.

9 p.m. A lethal time?
No, not in this book
.

While they talked, I edged my way over to the front door. Maybe I could go get help, but then I froze just shy of the handle as Jackson grabbed my arm, stopping me.

He pressed his gun to my chest. “I wouldn’t try that.”

Chapter 98

Surprise After Surprise

Jackson locked and leaned against the door. I was still facing him with my back to the room, as
his crew
began laughing over what a coup they pulled off and how fate played right into their hands.

He smirked. “Now, Sam, did you think with all the money that’s involved, you were going to escape from here alive? With everyone ending up here, it has worked out perfectly. I couldn’t have planned it any better myself.”

I stepped back. “You’re joking, right?”

He cocked the gun. “Do I look like I’m joking?”

I stared down at his gun. “On second thought …no.”

His eyes briefly glanced up, acknowledging someone over my shoulder, then focused back on me. I quickly turned to have a look.
Sarah.
Everyone stopped talking and watched me turn back to Jackson, as I laughed confidently.

“Okay,” I announced. “Tell
her
I know who she is.”

I pivoted back again as
she
slowly stepped forward.

“How did you guess, Samantha?”

“I’m a blonde, but I’m not stupid. You couldn’t resist, could you, taking a picture of you and
your son
, Jackson? Somehow Robinson got hold of it. Being Jackson’s father, he recognized the
new you
on one of his lucid days.”

Martha gaped. “Well, I’ll be darned. She’s his mother?”

If looks could kill, Sarah would have done it right then.

“I never did find that damn picture,” Sarah shot back.

“Well, I did.” I could tell I was getting to her.
Good.

“I don’t believe you. You’re lying and stalling for time.”

I whipped it out of my pocket and held it up. Crystal snatched it out of my hand and stared at it, then at Sarah.

“You’re right, it’s her. Where did you get this?”

“At Robinson’s, in his safe. When Clay explained about Jackson’s mother, remember I said I had a hunch? I held it back until I put two and two together and was sure.”

Hazel laughed. “And eventually, you got four, right?”

“Robinson had a safe?” spat Sarah, now clearly upset.

“Hazel, you stare at something long enough, eventually it hits, especially after she pulled that gun on me tonight. Different hair color, nicer clothes, makeup, haircut, subtle plastic surgery, and the last piece finally fell into place.”

Sarah shrugged, then laughed. “Why bother denying it? Robinson had an affair with Helen, my best friend, and when she pressured him to marry her, he dumped her. I was next on his target list and fell for his sweet talk and all his attention. Guess who got pregnant? Me of course, the one who wanted nothing to do with kids. When Helen found out I went behind her back, she went crazy. But when I told her I was all set to have an abortion, she surprised me by pleading with me not to. Helen confessed that if she couldn’t have Robinson, then she wanted the next best thing, his baby.”

I turned to see Jackson’s reaction. There was none. His face was a blank. He knew
.
It always came down to money.

“Helen wore me down and we left town. No one knew.”

“But his birth certificate said Helen was his mother.”

Sarah laughed. “I delivered him under her name. I took off and she returned to Tilton with Jackson as hers with a legitimate birth certificate with Robinson being the father.”

“But was the blackmail story you gave me true?”

“Yes, when Robinson realized that Jackson was mine and not Helen’s, and George had no idea that I had a child out of wedlock, he saw a unique financial opportunity. Then on one of his visits he managed to steal that picture of Jackson with me and stole some hidden money from the
business
. He laughed when I confronted him, and said I was a financial bonanza. Evidently, shoving him down his own stairs wasn’t a good enough warning. So I finally had to put a stop to his meddling and another lucid memory. Helen being killed in that home invasion was a gift.”

“You know, Sarah, it didn’t connect when George said you were a hairdresser in Tilton. But then tonight, I realized
you
were the
local
link to everything all along.”

Hazel was closest to me and clearly upset by the turn of events. “Oh my! Where’s George? Think they killed him?”

Martha sneered. “I wouldn’t put it past the nasty bunch.”

Betty clutched her stomach. “But why
kill
him?”

“Because he probably confronted his wife,” said Crystal.

Clay shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

I nodded in agreement. “You see, George was going broke sooner than he expected. His puritanical view took a backseat when he suddenly saw an opportunity with their crime ring and, when he realized how financially rewarding it could be, he grabbed it, right, George?”

Chapter 99

You’re Kidding!

George laughed, stepping into the room. “Clever, Sam.”

Betty looked at him, and then at me. “You’re kidding!”

I shrugged. “Nope. Old
Georgie-boy
is in this, too.”

George said, “We figured we’d be long gone before the rally was over, but you kept complicating things. So we played along until the barn was empty and wiped clean.”

I smiled. “Tonight everyone was leaving, but I escaped from Jacob and you had to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.”

I heard a laugh and turned. It was Major, who was standing behind Millicent. “Lucky for us, if you’d bothered to search the rest of Robinson’s hayloft you would have discovered the other crates of fake daggers and diaries.”

“We played along,” said Millicent, “when Jacob called and said the whole thing was falling apart. The seven of us decided it didn’t matter whether we got rid of you one at a time in the dark, or in a group. That’s why I said ‘perfect’ when you all showed up at once. We can now go through with the unexpected propane explosion at Sally’s farm.”

Jacob dropped the last surprise. “An average artist really doesn’t make much, but forgeries do. I sweated, not sure, Sam, if you’d peek under the tarps and see those fake signatures. That’s when I told the others we had to leave.”

“Hey, you’re not seven, you’re six,” said Martha.

A smiling Ciao Baby and his gun stepped in behind the others, joining them. “Hey, this sets me up for retirement.”

Clay, who looked shocked, said, “They bought you?”

“Everyone has their price, and I had mine. Sorry, Clay.”

The two groups faced off on both sides of the room.

I did some quick math. There were six of us. Martha stood about four feet from me and threw me a glance. She had done the same math. She flashed six fingers against her slacks. Clay who was standing right between us suddenly noticed what was going on. “No!” he hissed.

Jackson stepped in. “Don’t get any ideas.”

“We wouldn’t think of it,” snapped Martha sarcastically.

I subtly gave her a negative gesture, needing more time.

Jackson grabbed my arm and Clay moved to stop him.

“Don’t,” warned Jackson, aiming the gun at my side. “We’re all going to leave real nice-like. I think it’s time this crime ring moved on to more fertile territory.”

“Let’s go, folks,” said George. “Time to head over to Sally’s for that nice little propane explosion.”

By this time, Jackson had let go, fished a key from his pocket, and handed it to me. I unlocked and opened the door, then handed him his key. His back was to the door to keep an eye on us. He didn’t see who was standing there.

I smiled when I saw who was wearing that FBI jacket.

“Surprise,” said special agent, Dan, holding a shotgun.

A completely shocked Jackson whipped around to stare outside and immediately dropped his gun to the ground.

Chapter 100

And In This Corner

In seconds, Clay was holding out his own gun, winking at Ciao Baby, who smiled, aiming his. FBI agents appeared from everywhere, seizing guns and applying handcuffs.

Everyone started talking at once, all excited.

Martha eyed a handcuffed George as he was escorted out the door. “You know, I had my pepper spray in my pocket. I would have used it, too, you old goat!” she said, as he ducked to get away from her.

Betty and Hazel joined her, pulling out their cans, too.

“I can’t believe we pulled this off,” Crystal said.

Clay walked away from the lead agent and joined us after the last of the perpetrators were taken away.

I couldn’t believe my plan actually worked after Clay and Ciao Baby let us in on what they thought was going down, but weren’t sure
when
. Jacob unexpectedly showing up at Sally’s surprised everyone, but apparently I played it beautifully. Sally and Tom’s farmhouse was wired. Our every word was closely monitored until I lost my cell signal and the tracking device fell off when I was riding Amanda. No one knew where I was until the very end when I screamed into my phone that I was running for Jackson’s, hoping they could get there first. They didn’t.

Relieved it was over, I then turned to Clay. “And here I thought this was going to be a romantic getaway.”

He kissed the top on my head again. “I’m sorry your cell had no signal tonight when you needed it the most. But we moved quickly when we finally heard you screaming on your last call. It was patchy at best, but we got the SOS message, figuring we stood a better chance if we all barged in, giving better odds to your survival by distracting them and gaining some time for all the agents to get into place.”

I frowned. “The ladies were at risk, too, all this time.”

Clay nudged me. “We had it covered. There was an agent assigned to them at all times. We had their purses wired, too. So when the ladies went anywhere, we heard what was said. At the slightest risk of danger, we’d go in.”

Ciao Baby came over and shook my hand. “I let those slime-balls think I’d turned for a quick buck so there would be someone on the inside toward the end for evidence.”

Ciao Baby then winked at Martha. “Is our date still on?”

Hazel snorted. “Martha, does he know your
real
age?”

Betty laughed at Martha. “You’re one for the books.”

Crystal shook her head. “You’re all crazy.”

Suddenly, Martha’s cell rang. “Hello? Now, calm down. Talk slower. You’re not making any sense. …What?”

I rushed to her side. “…What’s wrong? …Who is it?”

Martha turned to me. “It’s Mona. She’s in Boca. She’s all upset and said to tell you that Marco is dead!”

Then everyone turned to me, waiting for my response.

I stood there staring. “…Who’s Marco?”