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I thought I loved him. “I don’t know,” Elizabeth murmured.
They pulled into the drive and around the semicircle that led up to the house. Elizabeth tried to park under the portico, but Nadia said, “Drive onto the yard, toward the beach.”
Elizabeth’s pulse was pounding hard as she did as she was told. The house was one of the many she’d shown to Marg and Buddy, the only one directly above the ocean. Not much of a beach was below; rocks, dirt, and scraggly tree roots jutted from the cliff’s edge. A low, wrought-iron fence ran along the perimeter about ten feet from the cliff face, more for looks than safety. Directly in front of her was the Hobbit and Tolkien creature–filled crèche and she swerved to avoid it.
“Stop here,” Nadia ordered, then jumped out of the car and yanked open the back door, grabbing Chloe’s arm and barely waiting for the little girl to unbuckle herself before dragging her onto the lawn, the gun trained at her head.
Sick with fear, Elizabeth climbed out of the driver’s seat and held up her hands. “Please take the gun away from her. Put it on me,” she said, her mouth dry. “Please.”
“Please, please, please. Is that what you say to Rex?” Nadia snarled.
She knew about Rex? Of course, she knew about Rex. She knew everything.
Keep her talking, Elizabeth. Give yourself some time. Plan an escape.
“Rex Kingston was hired by my cousin to find me,” she said.
“I know.”
“I only met him a couple days ago. I barely know him.”
“But you love him, don’t you? You. Love. Him. Don’t lie. You think I can’t feel it?” Nadia dragged Chloe by one arm past the Hobbits, toward the backyard.
“Wait! Wait!” Elizabeth cried, her hands outstretched as they neared the barrier fence, which had Mondo grass growing on either side. Beyond was the ocean, a long, long way down.
So help her God, she would grab Chloe and save her daughter if it was the last thing she ever did.
Nadia stopped at the fence, breathing hard, as if she’d just run a marathon. Her icy blue eyes were wild, her blond hair tossed by the wind. “And what about Gil? On purpose, I spread the rumor that his wife killed herself, and you still didn’t care! I tried to overlook it, but you kept on seeing him. You’re too good to whore yourself out for money.”
“I barely know Gil! I never wanted his money.”
“I had to do something, but I got a bad angle on his car, and it smashed up Karl’s.” Her face grew brick red with anger at the memory. “So, I had to go back to mine.”
“You sideswiped Gil . . .” Elizabeth realized the black Escape was Karl’s car. Nadia’s SUV was a dark blue Acura.
“All the things I’ve done for you, the sacrifices I’ve made, just so that you would have a perfect life, to ease the way into our melded future.”
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked, though she already knew where this was going. Keep her talking!
Nadia moved the barrel from Chloe’s temple and aimed it at Elizabeth’s heart. “Mazie Ferguson. You wanted her dead, so you could have her job.”
“No.” Elizabeth shook her head.
“It was easy to convince her that I had money to buy whatever fucking mansion I wanted. Karl had enough money at first, before the stock market took it. Investment banker, my ass. He was too weak, and I couldn’t afford to have him around anymore. But Mazie . . . she liked her wine as much as you do. I had to put a little something extra in her drink before I sent her on her way, but it worked. Kind of a shame she didn’t take out another driver with her when she flew off the freeway. You know, California could really stand to lose a few motorists.”
Sweating bullets in the cool air, Elizabeth’s gaze shifted back to Chloe whose stillness was alarming.
“And then that police officer you told us all about?” Nadia went on. “The one that gave you the ticket? Officer Unfriendly? What a self-righteous prick. I took Karl’s handgun, put stolen plates on my car, and sped by his police car on the freeway. Had to do it twice before the lazy ass finally decided to chase me. I drew him onto side streets to a place with big hedges that I’d planned out earlier, but it took awhile to get him there and he was really pissed when I finally stopped. Started screaming at me before he even got a foot out of his car. He charged up to my window and I just shot him. Two times.”
Chloe finally opened her eyes and looked up at Nadia who had her left arm locked around the little girl’s neck. Chloe gazed at her in shock and dawning comprehension. “You sent the messages. It was you. I thought it was a man.”
“Yeah? You’re not too smart, are ya?”
“Leave Chloe alone,” Elizabeth ground out, her temper rising.
Nadia inhaled, almost in ecstasy. “That’s it. That’s the passion . . . oh . . .” She squeezed Chloe’s head harder and pointed the gun back at her temple.
“Stop . . . stop! ” Immediately, Elizabeth sought to quell her emotion. No . . . no . . . Keep her talking! “You were on the freeway with Court and Whitney Bellhard.”
