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It was definitely an option. But things could also go south if he did that. He didn’t want a confrontation if there could be casualties.
But he’d need to figure this out soon.
Tommy rose. "I guess I should grab what I came here for and get on the road.”
"You never know when another snowstorm will whip up.” Andi’s voice sounded lighthearted—but slightly forced.
Tommy grabbed his supplies from the counter where it looked like he’d already paid.
Then he began walking toward the door.
Maybe he’d leave.
Gibson would arrive.
Everyone could remain safe.
Just as Tommy reached the door, he paused.
He looked back at everyone, something evil glimmering in his gaze.
Then he reached for the lock and twisted it . . . trapping them all in the building.
chaptersixty-three
Andi watchedas Tommy turned toward them.
She waited for his next move.
Because she knew he had one.
“You should have left this alone,” he finally crooned. “All of you. I’ve been following what you’re doing. People around here talk, you know.”
Tension stretched through the air.
Andi figured there was no sense in holding back now. “You killed Henrietta and then you killed Craig. Am I right?”
Mariella gasped behind her. “Wait . . . what?”
“Now, why would I do that?” Tommy let out a laugh—not in denial. But because he thought this was a game of sorts.
Her mind raced through the possibilities until a plausible theory began playing out.
“You have a way with people—that’s clear,” Andi continued. “But that way involves blackmailing them in order to get what you want. That’s how you got all that land together so you could start Canaan. You blackmailed people.”
It was just a guess, but it was the only thing that made sense. She’d seen too many people “get what they wanted” via blackmail and extortion.
“But those choices came back to bite you in the butt,” she continued. “The people you manipulated in order to get what you wanted began to wise up. They began to see through you and discover your secrets as well. They probably even started wanting favors of their own. That’s why Henry, the village moneymaker, was going into so much debt.”
“Sounds like you have everything figured out.”
“Henrietta discovered her family’s land wasn’t originally deeded to them,” Andi continued. “It was deeded to Joe’s family. When she found out, she knew she’d found her way out of living in the Arctic. If she revealed what happened, the land would be taken away so everyone would have to relocate. Or at leastshewould have to relocate. Henry probably told you what she was saying, so you stopped by her house. You weren’t trying to talk her into leaving like Emily thought. You were trying to convince her to stay.”
“That’s quite the theory you have there.” He sneered at her, his nostrils flaring, but a faint glint of amusement lingered behind his disgust.
“Tell me it’s not true.” Andi stared him in the eye.
“I think you’re ridiculous.”
