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“No, no. That’s all right. Send her up please.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The phone went dead and Jennie put it down on the counter and went to open the door to the condo. The ping of the elevator door came a minute later and a sharply dressed woman a few years older than Jennie came down the hall.
“Hi,” Jennie greeted her as she came to a stop outside the door.
“Hello Ms. Evans. I’m Caroline Waters.” The woman glanced around the hallway as she spoke and Jennie thought she looked nervous. Maybe something had happened with the meeting and Chad had sent this woman because Jennie was in danger.
“Come inside. We can talk in here. Is everything going okay at the meeting?” Jennie asked as she opened the door to Ms. Waters.
“Oh, yes. Just fine, I’m sure,” Ms. Waters said. “I’m only here to take your statement. I’ll get the details from you and then my office will write everything up in an affidavit for you to sign later.”
Jennie nodded, leading Ms. Waters to the couch in the living room. When they were settled on the couch, the attorney took a notepad out of her bag and began to scribble notes as they talked.
“So, Ms. Evans, I understand you went to the Masters’ resort to investigate the resort for a potential purchaser, is that right?”
Jennie nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Tell me what you witnessed at the Masters’ resort during your trip to Florida,” Ms. Waters said, looking at Jennie expectantly.
Even so, something in the woman’s eyes was cold and dead. Jennie didn’t know if she was being foolish or if she should listen to whatever it was that was telling her this woman wasn’t here for the right reasons.
Jennie shook off her hesitation. The lawyers at Sutton Capital had gone over her statement with her and told her what to expect. This conversation didn’t seem all that far off the mark. Jennie described what she’d overheard in the hallway outside the Masters brothers’ office, staying with a factual description rather than any narrative or opinions, as the Sutton lawyers had told her to do.
“I see. And was anyone else with you at this time?”
The tone of Ms. Water’s voice was calm, but Jennie could tell it was forced. There was now something very ‘off’ about the attorney’s whole demeanor. It looked like the lawyer was feeling more anxious than Jennie felt, which didn’t seem right at all.
Why would the lawyer on the case be so nervous? There was nothing Jennie could pinpoint to tell her for sure that something was wrong, but she felt it just the same.
Jennie heard her cell phone ring and rose to pick it up, but Ms. Waters’ hand shot out, gripping Jennie’s arm.
Jennie whipped around to look at the woman and Ms. Waters released her hand as if she realized how much she’d overreacted. But, the damage was done. Jennie was sure something was wrong.
“I’d really like to finish this quickly, Jennie. If you could talk me through this I’ll be out of your hair in no time,” Ms. Waters said. “I need to be sure no one else was with you when you heard these statements. I mean, was there anyone else with you that I need to be speaking with?”
Cold shivers ran up Jennie’s spine and she felt the urgent need to get away from the woman who was staring intently at her. Every cell in Jennie’s body seemed to be screaming at her, telling her to get away.
Her hand dropped to her stomach, as if she could somehow cover the baby to protect it from whatever was about to happen.
Jennie’s phone beeped, indicating an incoming text message and almost immediately began to ring again. She stood up, not knowing what she should do, but knowing she needed to put some distance between her and this woman.
“I’m going to get that—”
In that moment, several things seemed to happen at once. Chad and Mike burst through the door at the same time Jennie saw Caroline Waters shoot to her feet, pulling a gun out of her purse.
Jennie’s blood ran cold. Somehow in that moment, she wasn’t frightened for herself; she was terrified for Chad. If she lost him, she knew she wouldn’t live through it.
She wasn’t strong enough to go through that again. Not this time.
She was vaguely aware of Mike talking to Caroline. Caroline’s arm shook as she tried to hold the gun on all three of them. Chad was talking to Jennie, reaching for her, telling her to come to him.
She stood several feet from Caroline and across the room from Chad. Jennie knew Chad wanted her near him so he could protect her. He had turned from the Chad she knew into a highly trained warrior, ready to fight for her, ready to die for her.
But, Jennie couldn’t let that happen.
The world seemed to slow down in that moment. The tension was almost palpable and Jennie knew this would end badly. She could feel it in the cold dread crawling up her spine. She looked from Chad to Caroline and back again.
