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And he knew that she knew.
He slammed his fist down on her arm and she dropped her pistol. She reached for it, but it skittered out of the way. He went for her neck again, but she fought him off, managing to throw him off balance. She sat up, lunging for him, but he recovered fast, and within seconds he had a weapon pointed at her.
She held her hands up in surrender, only so she could steal a minute to breathe and formulate Plan B.
A smile spread across his lips and Bethenny knew he was going to pull the trigger.
She didn’t give him a chance to execute.
She slammed her foot into the open door and it flew shut, hitting him in the face, but not before he could pull the trigger. The wood exploded, splinters of wood spraying in his direction. Bethenny looked down, expecting the bullet to be lodged in her stomach, but on closer inspection, the door had saved her. She lunged forward, tackling Jim to the ground while he was still recovering from the shock of the door hitting him. Blood ran down his face and Bethenny suspected she’d broken his nose with the door. If she had, that was about to be the least of his concerns.
She looked to the weapon he’d managed to hold onto. She brought her fist to his face, buying her a few more seconds. He brought the weapon up, firing it, but Bethenny managed to kick away his arm. She heard a scream in the hallway, but she didn’t allow herself to be distracted.
She landed another blow to his face, and then another, until Jim’s eyes closed and his body went still. She knew he wasn’t dead, but he was at least concussed.
With a heaving grunt, she rolled him over and pulled her sweater over her head, using it to secure his arms behind his back. She knew he wouldn’t be out long, and she needed to move fast.
She darted into the hallway, coming to a halt as she saw Louise on the floor, holding a bleeding abdomen.
Bethenny rushed toward her. “Louise! Louise!”
Louise opened her eyes. “I... called...” Her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes.
“Hold on, keep your eyes open for me,” Bethenny said, applying pressure to Louise’s wound. She looked over her shoulder into the bedroom. Jim O’Connor hadn’t moved and the police could only be a minute away.
She returned her attention to Louise. “Talk to me, Mrs. White. Stay awake, come on. Talk to me!” Bethenny urged as blood seeped between her fingers.
“I’m so sorry...” Louise said. “I didn’t mean to... We got into an argument.” Louise coughed up blood, but Bethenny didn’t react.
“Who were you arguing with?” Bethenny asked. She needed to keep Louise awake and talking.
“Jessica... We were friends,” she said, a sob wracking through her body. “She was like the daughter I never had. I found out what she’d been doing... how she’d earned enough money to buy that house. The room...” Louise said, and Bethenny knew she was referencing the studio that looked very much like a porn set. “I told her she had to stop or I was going to report her. I...” Tears fell hard and fast. “We got into an argument, and she pushed me out of the way. I grabbed her, and we both lost our balance. She fell over the balcony and I knew... I knew as soon as I looked at her...” Her cheeks were wet as rivers of tears ran down them, and her chest heaved. “I screamed and called for my son. He came over and took me home, told me he would take care of it. I didn’t know... I didn’t know what he was going to do to her. I think he wanted to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. He rang him,” she said, nodding toward Jim. “He told him what to do. And then the other girl, she came over. I saw her from my living room window. I tried to ring my son to warn him, but he didn’t answer. Then I heard her scream, a blood-curdling scream.” Sobs took over her body as she squeezed her eyes shut. Blood spurted from her wound and Bethenny pressed down harder.
“It’s okay, Louise,” she said, trying to calm her down. It wasn’t, of course, but now wasn’t the time to tell her otherwise. “It’s okay, just breathe,” she said as the next piece of the puzzle fell into place.
“He left that night and never came home,” she said, and Bethenny realized then it was Louise’s son who Lachlan had chased over the falls.
Louise reached out a bloody hand to Bethenny. “I came to warn you about him. He said he was going to take care of you, but enough people have died. I couldn’t live with it, I couldn’t live with more blood on my hands. This all started because of me and my stupid mouth. If I’d never said anything, she’d be alive. I loved that girl...”
Bethenny squeezed her hand. “Louise, stay with me!”
LACHLAN
Lachlan yawned as he walked downstairs, pausing when he heard a familiar but unexpected sound. He held his breath as his ears strained to hear. Something was vibrating, and it sounded an awful lot like a phone, but his was upstairs—he’d just been using it to check his emails.
He looked over the room, following the sound. He turned toward the kitchen counter and saw it next to his wallet. He paused, wondering if he was losing his mind. He tapped the screen, and a picture of a sunset filled it. This was definitely not his phone, but he knew whose it was—there were five missed calls from Mitch, and more from numbers he didn’t recognize.
His heart skipped a beat as it rang again, still unsure why her phone was next to his wallet. This time he answered it.
“Bethenny’s phone is at my house. Is something wrong?” he asked, not bothering with a greeting.
Mitch swore. “We can’t reach her. I’ve sent a patrol to her house. When did she leave yours?”
Lachlan looked at his wrist. “I don’t know... a few hours ago,” he replied, as a sickening feeling crept into his stomach. She would’ve realized by now she didn’t have her phone. She would’ve called him or driven back to his house.
The memory of the figure he’d sworn passed by his window flashed in his mind.
“Okay, patrol is on the way now. Lachlan, if you see your brother-in-law, call me, okay?” Mitch said.
