When CJ came to Juanita with that question, she would repeat what the ME would no doubt say.
All she had to do was calm down and keep her cool. No one could prove anything. Well, maybe they could if CJ pushed the issue and requested a copy of the lab results for closer inspection. But there was no logical or compelling reason for her to do that.
Shelley Patterson was dead. There were no grounds to pursue the issue of who the father was since she hadn’t been pregnant at the time of death. The idea that the biological father could have been her killer would be irrelevant since there was no zygote for DNA testing.
Juanita was covered.
She closed her eyes and shook her head.
It wasn’t supposed to have gone this far. She’d lied to Shelley about the lab results just to—
“What the hell are you doing here so early?”
Juanita whipped around. Carter Cost stood in the doorway of her office.
“The better question is,” she said as calmly as her nerves would allow, “what’re you doing here this early?” Her heart bounced around erratically. She shouldn’t have lied to Shelley. But she’d wanted to get back at this son of a bitch so bad she couldn’t help herself.
And she’d done it. Juanita pinched her lips together to hold back the smile that came each time she considered how he’d suffered at the idea that the whore he was banging had gotten knocked up byhim.
“Most likely for the same reason you’re here.” He stared at the piles of charts on her desk, then moved in on her, trapping her against the file cabinet. “You think this is funny, don’t you?”
She couldn’t help herself. She smiled. “I think it’s damned hilarious, you egotistical bastard.” The last came out in a snarl.
“You breathe one word of what you know to anyone, and you’ll spend the rest of your life regretting it while I raise that littlebastardof yours.”
Fear snaked its way around Juanita’s throat. “You’ve threatened me with that before.” She stared right back into those evil eyes. “I’m not sure I believe you have the balls to tell Mommy and Daddy about your illegitimate son.”
“Don’t you screw with me,” he warned, “or you’ll see just how big my balls are.”
“Oh, I know from experience they’re not that big.”
“If CJ finds out anything about this—”
“That her sister was pregnant?”
“No,” he spat, “I know she knows that part. Did she ask you about the father?”
“Of course she did. I told her it was you and she’s already planning with that detective how to pin the murder on you.” The fleeting instant of fear she saw in his eyes was worth every second of fury that followed.
“You think you’ve got me right where you want me, don’t you?”
She smirked. “I know I do. Shelley Patterson was brutally murdered by someone who had a motive to do it up right. Being the father of her unborn child is motive.” Juanita leaned her head toward her shoulder in the hint of a shrug. “A scandal like that could ruin you—or should I say your social status? Not to mention I’m sure Mommy and Daddy would cut you off and send you far away before allowing your unacceptable behavior to reflect badly on them.”
“What’s it going to take to keep your mouth shut? Permanently.”
“Well, let’s see.” Juanita pretended to think for a bit. “I have to consider how upset CJ would be if she knew you’d been secretly screwing her sister for months. Using her in all kinds of sadistic ways.”
“She was a whore. The only difference was she did it with me for free.”
He was so angry now his nostrils actually flared. Juanita loved this. “Still, I don’t think CJ will take it well. She’ll be convinced that her sister had fallen in love with you, which she had, and that you needed to be rid of her. Voila—murder motive.”
“Get to the point,” he warned. “How much?”
Juanita considered all her son had done without the past nine years, not even counting the fact that she’d had to raise him alone because this bastard wouldn’t acknowledge his existence except to threaten Juanita.
She worked long hours; most weeks she worked seven days. She’d managed to get a modest house and a decent car. But she and her boy deserved better.
“One million.”
