Page 29 of He Had It Coming

“Right. Sorry. Maeve, this is Willa. My cousin. Ruby’s cousin.” As far as reveals went, this one was minor. Maeve being Anonymous was still the headline as far as I was concerned. But that had been a blow intended for Jerek. This one landed solely on Maeve.

“I idolized Ruby. Looked up to her like a big sister until your brother killed her,” Willa explained.

Maeve’s eyes narrowed as if she were racing through every memory. Cataloging everything she knew about the Forde family. “I’d never seen you before you showed up at the office.”

“My parents thought I was too young to be involved in the court stuff. I was sixteen at the time of Ruby’s murder.” Willa shrugged. “So, probably.”

“The two of you . . .” Maeve glanced at me then Willa. “You planned all of this?”

“No, you did.” I scooted into the booth next to Willa and directly across from Maeve. “Did I mention Willa is also a computer genius? She works as an office assistant for you, but that was a front to be able to get into work calendars and emails and be in the right place at the right time.”

“I also hacked the security feed at the marina.” Willa shot Maeve a big smile. “Anyone looking will see you getting on this yacht and getting off again. Only you. No Jerek or us in sight.”

Willa’s deception ran deeper than that. Never underestimate my brilliant cousin and her big brain. “Well, sort of.”

“Right.” Willa nodded. “That’s what they’ll see unless you decide to try to blame Sabrina for what is about to be called Jerek’s sudden and surprising disappearance. Then the feed will show you and Jerek going to the boat but only you coming back. Communications I created between the two of you will confirm the agreement to meet at your request, like you set him up. Then there will be whispers about the sibling arguments, which people in the office can confirm.”

I needed to make sure Maeve understood every aspect of this concept. The evidence—all of it—would lead to her. “If you try to screw me, Willa will screw you.”

Maeve gasped. “I would never plot to kill Jerek. No one would believe that.”

She had to be kidding. “Stop. That’s insulting. Of course you would.”

“You actually did or are you conveniently forgetting that fact?” Willa asked.

I wanted to make sure Mave understood the potential for peril. “But under my plan, with a huge assist from Willa, the only one on the yacht who is not in the clear is you, Maeve, but you can be if you play along.”

Maeve looked intrigued now. “Explain it to me.”

“No one knows anything about Jerek coming to look at a boat. Nothing will suggest he did,” Willa said. “You waited patiently for him at a meeting in Coronado, and when he didn’t show you went out on your boat.”

Maeve’s tight expression didn’t get any less intense. “Wait. Mine?”

“I’m impressed you caught that.” But I hated to stop Willa now. “We’ll circle back. Go ahead, Willa.”

“I’m your alibi and Sabrina is in DC.” Willa looked at her watch. “She’s listening in on a Zoom conference right now. Her computer, the other attendees, and her phone will back that up.”

Maeve shook her head. Her voice faltered a few times but she finally got the words out. “This will never work.”

Nice try. “It will. If you play the concerned sister who has been worried about Jerek’s declining mental state due to your dad’s illness and Jerek’s rancid personal history. Do that and the Anonymous posts won’t trace back to you.”

“You covered your tracks when you made the posts, but I can easily uncover them.” Willa knocked against the table to emphasize each word.

“Why do you think I supported your idea to write the Anonymous posts and shake his confidence in the first place?” Maeve wasn’t the only one concocting a potential setup over the last few months. I’d worked double time to construct mine and to ensure the spotlight pointed in her direction. Just another bit of insurance.

“You did all of this.” The words sounded as if they’d been dragged out of Maeve.

“Yes. You thought you were in charge, but I was.” While we were delivering bad news, I unloaded one of the biggest pieces. “And this boat? It’s in your name. Only seemed fair since the settlement money from your family paid for it.”

Maeve fell back against the seat. Her expression morphed through a mix of emotions and landed on shock. “This is insane.”

“There’s also a recording in the cabin downstairs. Your fight will be incriminating. If it needs to be.” About that . . . “It’s pretty clear from everything you said that your beef with Jerek ran deep.”

“This is so elaborate. These steps are about more than revenge and having an alibi.” Maeve’s voice sounded distant, almost echoing, as she stated her conclusion.

It was about having the last of the dangerous Hayes family under my control. “We now have a pact. An unseemly one, but still.”

“I’m going to take Jerek’s body and dump it,” Willa said.