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“No, not really,” Bennett said. “Unless I have to fly out of LAX, but that’s a nightmare I try to avoid.”
“I hear you on that.”
“So, I’m Andrew.”
“Ronnie.”
Ballard turned from the counter to face him. He was on the other side of the kitchen island, his briefcase on the counter between them. He smiled, and she recognized the expression from the website photo—the wide, practiced, and insincere smile of a salesman.
“So, Ronnie, tell me,” he said. “Are you looking for a full-time home or a getaway place?”
“Uh, I’m undecided,” Ballard said. “I work from home, so I could have a full-time place down here and the getaway could be up in L.A.”
“That would be perfect. What do you do?”
“I’m a writer. TV, mostly.”
“Anything I might know?”
“Probably not. It’s mostly soft-crime stuff.”
“Soft crime? What does that mean?”
“Geared toward women. Female endangerment. Unfaithful husbands. More romance than mystery.”
“Interesting. But not believable.”
“Yeah, that about covers it.”
“No, I mean you, Ronnie. Not believable.”
He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a handgun. It was a blue-steel Glock.
“Your friend warned me there would be others,” he said.
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Ballard said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I—”
“Colleen Hatteras. You housewife sleuths think you’re all Nancy Drew, and look what it gets you—a date with the devil.”
“I don’t—”
“Save it, Ronnie. If that’s even your real name.”
Ballard raised her hands as she thought about Colleen. At the end, she had apparently not revealed all to Bennett. No matter how badly he’d hurt her or scared her, she had been able to hold back andleave Bennett thinking the threat to his existence was from the amateur ranks of the internet.
“You killed Colleen,” she said.
“No, she killed herself,” he said. “She got too close to the fire and there was no choice. Blame her, not me. And now I need to know who else you’ve told about me.”
“No one. I swear.”
Bennett used his free hand to reach back into the briefcase. He pulled out a plastic bag containing coiled snap ties.
“You expect me to believe you came down here without telling another soul?”
“I had to.”
Bennett laughed.
