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Connor went still again, his eyes a dark, swirling river.
Josie wanted to reach out to him, but she didn’t know how to comfort him now. “Go on,” she said to Mrs. Armond.
“Louis did what he could, but that only reinforced Sherwood’s obsession. Sherwood planned to have your mother killed, hoping it would bring my husband to his knees.”
Connor got up and went to the wall and placed his forehead against the painted concrete. “I don’t believe any of this. My mother was mugged and robbed.”
“Yes, I know,” Vanessa said, her voice carrying across the room. “I read about it in the paper, but I knew exactly who’d orchestrated it. You see, my husband still loved your mother. And he was destroyed when he heard about her death.”
“But not enough to give up,” Connor said on a heated shout. “He kept on doing what he was so good at, right?”
“Yes,” Vanessa replied. “But he watched over her orphans. Even after you left your little sister and turned to crime.”
Connor whirled to stare at Vanessa. “No, he did not watch over us. You’re lying. If he’d been my father, I wouldn’t have lived in poverty. I wouldn’t have been moved from home to home until I had to take my sister and get away.”
Vanessa slumped in her chair. “Why would I lie now? It’s over. My son is dead and my husband is close to dying. I have nothing left. Louis had planned to leave the bulk of his estate to his firstborn son—you. And he had the proof of Sherwood’s dirty deeds recorded on that little card because he wanted revenge.”
Josie put Connor’s feeling aside so she could get to the truth. “So your husband lured Sherwood into some sort of deal, a partnership of sorts?”
Vanessa’s cackle chilled the air. “No. I was the one who offered Sherwood something he couldn’t resist. I went to him and told him what I’ve told you about the affair. I offered him money and information and...revenge.” She smiled up at Connor. “I hired him to have your mother killed.”
Connor came across the table at her, but Agent Benton and Josie both pulled him back.
“She’s a monster,” Connor shouted. “She’s doing this to get even with me because...because...” He stopped, sat down on his chair. “Because Armond and I grew so close.”
“Exactly,” Vanessa said on a rasping breath. “Exactly.” She put her head in her hands. “You’ve been serving your sentence here in New Orleans for a reason, Connor. For many reasons. And now you know all of them.”
Agent Benton gave Josie a concerned glance. “We have the real SIM card and...we’re analyzing it. We’ll compare what we learn there to Sherwood’s statement and to this information. I think I’ve got what I need here and I can finish this without you two.” He nodded toward the door. “Agent Gilbert, why don’t you take Mr. Randall for a walk?”
* * *
Josie didn’t know how to handle this Connor. He was silent, dark and unyielding. Even with her.
“Connor?”
He walked ahead of her out in the back parking lot. Bright pink crape myrtles bloomed along a fence line, deceptively beautiful as they lifted out toward the afternoon sun.
“Connor, you’re exhausted. You should get some rest.”
He whirled on her, his eyes so dark, she thought of storm-tossed seas and sinking boats. “I do not need to rest. I need to find out the truth.”
“We know the truth,” she said. “We know everything now. It all makes sense. Armond took you under his wing, tried to help you. He didn’t have a silent partner. Vanessa did. She was the one who brought Sherwood into their inner circle. I believe Armond was duped by both of them.”
“And I was duped by all of them.” He laughed, a cutting, ragged sound. “Me, Josie. The con man who’s outsmarted both criminals and law-enforcement agents alike—I was such a fool, such a confused, misguided fool.”
Josie could certainly identify with that. “I understand—”
He turned to stare at her. “No, you don’t. My mother lied to me and withheld things, more now than I ever realized. She told me my father wanted nothing to do with us.”
