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“So they never would have signed anything over to you?”
“Of course not. I worked with a first-class forger, one who would have never been under any suspicion whatsoever,” he replied, seeming to suddenly zero in on Amy with a speculative look in his eyes. “Someone high in the ranks, who…”
And just like that, Brent Masterson dropped into a heap onto the ground, blood seeping from a gaping hole in his forehead.
Lex heard Amy gasp.
“Jake? He’s been shot,”Lex shouted loudly. “There’s a sniper somewhere out there. I repeat, there’s a shooter in the wind.”
When no one responded, Lex watched as Amy pulled her phone from her pocket, calling Jake and putting it on speakerphone before she rushed into Lex’s arms.
“What the heck’s going on you two? We’ve lost the signal,” Jake yelled.
“Jake, he’s been shot. Definitely by a sniper,” Lex shouted as Amy held up the phone. “I don’t know why you couldn’t hear what was going on. I wouldn’t have come out here on the patio otherwise.”
“Damn it,” Jake muttered. “We’ve been had. We’ll be out there shortly. Let’s try and keep this quiet.”
Five minutes later, a slew of men crept up to the patio, quickly snapping pictures and scraping up blood from the icy brick. Jake appeared another ten minutes later, looking at the body with disgust and watching as one of his men bagged the Glock.
“Someone was blocking our signal, Lex, definitely afraid of what Masterson would say to us. I’m so sorry.” Jake glanced across the lake at the gazebo. “Whoever did this was probably standing out there, watching. It’s about the right distance, judging by the width of entry from the bullet into his forehead.”
“Jake?” One of the men called out. “The cameras aren’t working either.”
“How long were the two of you out here?” Jake asked.
“About fifteen minutes,” Amy replied, shivering. “I didn’t see anyone come out here.”
“Damn,” Jake said softly. “It’s gotta be someone on the inside who’s working here tonight. We’ve had a lot of extra security on hand today because of the auction.”
“You mean you’ve got nothing on tape?” Lex asked, stepping away from Amy in anger.
“I’m afraid not,” Jake muttered.
Amy cleared her throat, glancing around the patio. “Can we go somewhere else to talk, Jake? Just in case there’s someone here you can’t trust.”
Both Lex and Jake looked at her curiously.
“Let’s go up to my office,” he said, heading toward the breezeway and opening the door for Amy and Lex.
A few minutes later, Jake unlocked the door at the top of the staircase.
Before Jake or Lex said anything, she pulled out the phone she’d shoved back into her pocket after contacting Jake and began playing the recording.
Apparently, Masterson had been so busy concentrating on Lex’s moves, that he hadn’t noticed that Amy had somehow managed to sneak her phone from her pocket and hit record. While she was at it, she’d even managed to film a few minutes showing Masterson’s face.
Jake’s smile went wide as they listened to the entire conversation before Amy handed over the phone. “Tell me that you won’t need to hang onto that for long?”
“I’ll get it back to you as soon as I can,” Jake agreed, crossing his heart as he continued to smile.
Lex started laughing, picking her up and spinning her around. “You little sneak. I should have known you’d have a backup plan since you’re so good at knowing everything that’s going on at home.”
Chapter Forty-Four
They decided not to get into too much detail with Mom and Dad about what had happened at the charity event when they’d been outside on the patio. So many things could have gone wrong that night, and there was no use making everyone worry. Jake said he would explain everything to Gabe when the time was right, because he had a feeling that if Gabe knew how it had gone down, he would have been furious.
With his uncle dead, the immediate threat was gone.
Christmas Eve had seemed exactly like old times when Lex had recitedThe Night Before Christmas, and Amy had played the piano.
