“I would never do anything to hurt Mena. She left me a message, but I never talked to her. She offered to rehire me at the gallery. If I wasn’t in this mess, I would’ve gladly accepted her offer,” Uma said.
The confusion in Uma’s eyes was real. If she was being used to set up Mena, then she was clueless about that part of the plan.
Uma continued, “Look, it would be best for Mena if I stay here and not talk to the cops. I’m sure this will blow over and they won’t be able to arrest her. Just don’t tell anyone you found me. If you do, it could be the end for me.”
“What are you saying?”
“My life is on the line here. I can’t give you any information or even be seen with a cop or I’m a dead woman.”
“Who would kill you? The person who forced you to pay the bribes to the officers?”
“No, not him. Who do you think?” Uma screamed back at him. “You know firsthand how crazy that bitch is! How she doesn’t stop until she gets revenge for however you’ve wronged her. As soon as she found out I’d helped steal art from her gallery, that sealed my fate. Priscilla wanted me dead. She still wants me dead.”
“A guy told you to pay the bribes. Who is he?” Julian said, catching her slip.
“Please don’t do this. You don’t understand—”
“Tell me or I call the cops. Your choice.”
Heaving breaths through her sobs, Uma closed her eyes as tears flowed down her cheeks. Swiping at her face, she looked at Julian, defeated. “Priscilla told Zak Webber to kill me for helping Irving steal art from her gallery. He was hunting me. Watching my every move. I knew he’d killed Ella, and that I was next. So, I went off the grid. I thought no one could find me once I rented this house in Tango Lowlands. The people who live here don’t want to be found. They don’t want a connection with the outside world. They don’t snitch. And they don’t get into anyone else’s business. I was finally safe from Priscilla. But you’re never safe from Priscilla.”
“Zak was arrested and has been in Tiverton for almost a year. You should have been safe, unless she sent someone else after you?”
Uma said, “I made the mistake of going into town one weekend to get groceries. Here we grow our own fruits and veggies, kill our own animals for food. Everything you need to survive is contained within the Lowlands. It had been months since Priscilla had been arrested. I thought I might get my life back once she was convicted. I figured everyone she would have sent to look for me was behind bars, but I was wrong.”
“Go on.” Julian wondered who Dumay had enlisted.
“When I was in the grocery store, I could tell a man was following me. He was subtle, not too obvious, but I wasn’t safe. I left without buying anything and when I stepped outside, he was waiting for me. It was Adam.”
“Adam Russell.” Julian spat the name.
Damn it. He should have put those pieces together. Russell had escaped from PIIB custody shortly after Dumay was arrested. The man had made a habit of doing Dumay’s bidding for years. He’d orchestrated Mena’s kidnapping by Tubeec Hirad in Kenya, all while the PIIB was clueless as to his whereabouts. Russell had months to terrorize Uma and force her to help him with the next phase of Dumay’s revenge.
“He pressed a gun in my side and forced me to get in his car. I was scared to death. He was going to murder me and dump my body in the ocean just like they did Ella.”
“What happened? Why didn’t he kill you?” Julian asked.
“I don’t know what made him hesitate back then. He wanted me to show him where I’d been hiding out this whole time. He drove us back here to my house. I watched as he went through all the rooms, looking at my things. He asked me questions about my life, before I went on the run. My dreams, my hopes. Hours passed, and I relaxed with him. I saw a real man with feelings and not just a trained killer next to me,” Uma explained.
“And this went on for how long?”
“Days, weeks, then months. He told me I was a beautiful soul and that he didn’t believe I deserved to die for being used by Irving. And somewhere along the way, he fell in love with me and I fell in love with him.”
“You and Russell are in love?”
“It seems crazy, but he’s the most amazing gift I could’ve ever gotten out of this whole sordid mess. Of course, when he told me he was in trouble, I had to help. He saved my life, there’s no way I wouldn’t do anything and everything within my power to help save his.”
“Let me get this straight. Russell forced you to bribe the guard because his life is in danger?”
“Adam didn’t force me to do anything. Priscilla was going to kill him if he didn’t follow her directions exactly. It was too risky for him to deliver the money to that guard himself. So, I told him I would do it. He never asked me to. I insisted that he let me help him,” Uma said.
Julian resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Uma’s staunch defense of Adam Russell. She hadn’t changed since the last time he’d seen her. She had a knack for falling for men who used her. He didn’t believe for one minute that Russell was being threatened by Dumay. He was her most loyal employee, collecting large payoffs for wreaking havoc at her commands.
“Did he tell you what Dumay asked him to do? What directions did she give him?” Julian asked.
“He wouldn’t tell me. It was hard enough to get him to let me help deliver the money to that guard. I don’t know what else he was doing for her. What I do know is that even with Priscilla in a coma, she has the power to kill Adam. She’s set things in motion that can’t easily be undone. Adam is trying to figure out how to stop her plans, but until he does, we have to keep following her instructions. Doing things that both of us hate.”
“Do you have more instructions from Dumay? Something else Adam has told you to do?” Julian asked.
