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No. Only deliver her to this execution site.
The disconnects were causing a short circuit in her brain.
And that was bad.
She had to strategize.
Could she perhaps try to build on their bond, remind her they were friends, play on her empathy?
It wasn’t much, but it was all she had.
“Travis is no great loss.” Bri forced out the words, striving to match Alison’s contempt.
It wasn’t hard.
“Isn’t that the truth.” Alison sent him a withering look, then turned her back on the dead man. “You solved Les’s puzzle, didn’t you?”
“Some of it.”
“Sophie’s tip had to help. She connected a few dots after Nate died, while she was here for the funeral.”
Another shockwave rippled through Bri.
Alison’s sister was the one who’d sent the list? Revealed that the names were related?
But that made sense. No one else would have been privy to the links.
“It gave me more to go on, but everything began to fall into place when I recognized you in a photo today from Michelle Thomas’s sweet sixteen birthday party.”
“I remember that day. She was my friend once, until she stole my boyfriend.” Alison lifted the gun, and Bri stopped breathing. “I really hate to do this, you know.” Regret edged out the bitterness in her tone. “You’ve been a good friend. The best one I ever had.”
“You don’t have to kill me.”
She sighed. “Unfortunately, I do.”
“Will you let me ask a few questions first?” She had to buy herself time. “You know how hard I’ve tried to solve this case. It would mean a lot to me to have some answers.”
A beat ticked by.
“Yes. I can understand that. I know how determined you are with your cases.” Alison lifted her wrist, glanced at her watch, and perched on the edge of a packing crate. “I suppose I can spare a few minutes, but I don’t want to linger long. This place gives me the creeps. What do you want to know?”
Bri scrambled to formulate a coherent question as she eased onto the edge of a large box.
“Tell me how you knew about this bunker.”
“Nate brought me here once. I always tried to be enthusiastic about his passions—including history and the outdoors—even though I hated tents and ticks and tramping through the woods, and I found history boring. But he was excited to show me this. He’d discovered it before we met, realized the lock wasn’t solid, and thought I’d get a kick out of seeing the inside. As if. Still, it ended up being useful.”
“So what happened between the two of you? You did love him, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Until he turned on me.” Her voice hardened. “He said I was too controlling. Too possessive. Too demanding. He forced me to go to a shrink and listen to that parasite rattle on about borderline personality disorder. If you ask me, Nate was the one who needed help. He didn’t appreciate true love. When the counseling didn’t take, he dumped me. Like all the other people who’ve used me during my life did. That’s not right, Bri.”
“No, it isn’t.” Not by Alison’s convoluted logic, anyway.
“So after Nate filed for divorce, I decided they all had to be punished. Larry, the child molester. Adam, the unfaithful boyfriend. Renee, the friend who took my gifts but decided she didn’t want to be my friend anymore. Michelle, who not only stole my boyfriend but married him.”
A suspicion niggled in Bri’s mind.
“Daniel died too. Michelle’s husband. Were you responsible for his accident?”
