Page 86 of The Woman I’ve Become

I choose not to respond to this. Whether anyone meant for it to happen, it did. Julia is a fool to believe these two will walk away leaving two eyewitnesses to their exploits. The upside for now is that they are not going to kill me until they have their money.

Time to give Julia something to consider.

I set my glass aside and study her a moment. “If Casey shows up as I suspect he will, we can’t afford anyone going soft on us or failing to pay attention. He will kill us all to save himself.”

Julia nods. “I get it. I didn’t want to. For years I dreamed of a life with him. But eventually I understood.” She glances at the papers spread over the island. “Considering all he has done, he needs to be put down.” Her gaze zeroes in on mine. “He didn’t just do this to you, he did it to me as well.”

As nice and convenient as it would be to believe she’s being honest, I know she’s lying. But I play along. “We need a good plan for when he gets here.”

“We do and we’ll need all the help we can get,” she suggests.

This makes me nervous. “There’s four of us,” I say. “I think we’ve got this covered.”

“I remember,” Julia says, “that Special Agent Howard really wanted to solve the case. He came back repeatedly and questioned me. He was desperate to be the one who got the job done.”

I can see where this is going. “I don’t trust him.”

Julia puts a hand on my arm. “We have to give him a chance. You have a daughter who needs you, and I would like to start living again. If we manage to kill Casey, we could end up in prison or fatally injured. Let’s try the right way first.”

Well now there’s a sudden about-face. What does she know that I don’t? Obviously something about the former special agent. Oh well, I never trusted him anyway.

Or maybe this is just a last-ditch effort to save her old lover. Way too late for that.

So I agree. “Good idea. We’ll do this the right way.”

The trouble is that the right way has never worked for me. I don’t see my luck changing now.

38

“I’m not sitting down until someone tells me what the heck is going on here!”

Helen is rightfully upset, no matter that Alicia has apologized profusely for drugging her and securing her in her SUV. Understandable. Who wouldn’t be upset?

As for the newcomer to this escalating fiasco, I told Helen that she is the long-lost Wendy Neely. Further, I withheld the fact that Acacia is not really Acacia—at least for now. It is essential that we move on to the next step. My plan—my very survival—depends on certain events occurring before whatever is set to happen in their scheme.

There is no more time to waste. I set my full attention on Helen and infuse my voice with uncertainty. “There’s a man—”

“That guy who came to my house and wanted me to bring you a message?” she interrupts. “I got a bad vibe from him, Julia. I have to tell you.”

“He may be the man who abducted me twenty years ago. Or someone connected to him.” I’d rather not get too specific just yet. Particularly since I know exactly who he is and hired him to play the part. He won’t be back, but no one else knows this but me.

Helen’s jaw drops. “Are you kidding?” Her hand goes to her throat. “A killer came to my house!”

“We think so,” Julia, the real one, says. “But we can’t be sure since no one ever saw his face. Even the FBI hasn’t been able to identify him.”

Still lying after all these years. But then, so am I.

“We’re calling Rick Howard,” I explain. “We don’t have any solid proof of what we’re saying about this man who has suddenly showed up,” because there is none, “so we have to present this to Rick in a way that’s calm and logical.”

Helen nods her understanding. “I get it. We can’t be all hyper and scattered.” A frown furrows her brow. “So you’ll tell Rick, and then what? He has to investigate? Check in with his people, since he’s retired. But that sort of leaves you hanging in the wind if this guy is out there waiting to make a move.”

Fair assumption. “We’re going to batten down the hatches and keep our eyes and ears open.”

Helen shakes her head. “That’s not enough. No offense, but you need firepower.”

The weapon at the small of my back feels suddenly warm. “I don’t suppose that would hurt, but the only weapon here is the old shotgun under the bed in my room.”

“Da—your father’s gun,” Julia says.