AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shelby responded as if Elisa had said the words out loud. “The woman who avoided me for weeks can handle this. So can the woman who has been investigating her brother-in-law. The woman who drove here is raising a son, is holding it together—she’s a survivor.”
Laughter bubbled up out of nowhere and Elisa didn’t fight it. “I’m exhausted.”
“An exhausted survivor, then.”
“Lucky me.” Elisa finally drank the tea instead of just coddling it.
Shelby opened the top folder in front of her. “Well, at least you’re not one of the women in your brother-in-law’s life. They don’t appear to be blessed with longevity.”
“I know you just started looking into all of this, but... anything to report?”
“Candace. The first wife who turned out to really be the second wife.”
Oh, God. “Yes?”
Shelby glanced at her notes. “The cause of death isn’t as settled as you thought it was.”
No. She’d been in the family during that time. She remembered the funeral. “What does that mean? The police cleared him and her family supported him.”
“They signed over the house Josh and Candace lived in together only after he agreed to sign off on all of her other assets.”
“I don’t remember any of that.” Elisa could see the funeral, hear the crying. But she had a vivid picture in her head of Candace’s father wrapping his arm around Josh, consoling him.
“I wondered if you knew. Josh apparently fought for a piece of Candace’s estate, or threatened to even though the vast majority of her assets were part of a family trust Josh couldn’t touch. Apparently, he didn’t like that at all.”
Everything Elisa knew flipped upside down. “Wait, where was I while all of this was happening?”
“Doing your own grieving. You knew Candace. Her death impacted you as well.”
“True, but still.”
“Bottom line? Candace’s family thinks Josh killed her and they’ve been trying for years to prove it.”
Chapter Forty
The end.
Every story had a beginning, middle, and end, and the time had come to finish this one. All the planning had paid off. The meaty center had lasted for so long, increasing in danger and excitement. But the intrinsic need for closure could not be denied. Like it or not, want it or not, the theory applied here.
Of course, sayingthe endand actually ending were two different things. Stopping now might prove to be difficult. The bigger the web, the more tantalizing the game. It was so easy to get caught up in the thrill. To thrive off the intoxicating lure of intricate game play.
Days passed and the stakes increased. A chant, faint at first, took over.Make it more compelling. Cause more desperation. Stack on details. Sow more doubt. Eliminate obstacles. Stir up trouble.
All accomplished. All would be missed.
The work, the scheming, the attention to details, culminated in this. A simple but powerful ending. One predetermined. The steps had been fuzzy, but the goal never changed. Neither did the resolve to get there.
Winning this particular battle depended on a will to do the worse, forget sympathy, and ignore collateral damage. One woman, two women. None of that mattered. No wavering.
All the buildup, now this. A final week of putting the last pieces in place.
Five or so days of tending to the details. Mentally running through each step. Erasing the evidence. Playing the role.
Bottom line: don’t screw up and lose allies.
Only one thing—one person—had the potential to derail it all. Elisa. Using her fragile mental state against her had been necessary. She’d been neutralized. Now she needed to stay out of the way.
Time for death.
