AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He was going to give Sunny back?”
Kaden narrowed his eyes. He didn’t doubt Tate Erickson was a sleazebag. But he found it hard to believe he would rip a child from the arms of the woman who’d been her devoted mother for over three years and hand her to a complete stranger.
“He swore he was just pretending to concede to Vanna’s demands to get her out of town, that he had the means to ensure she would never bother us again,” Jolene retorted.
Okay. Now Kaden was convinced the woman was exaggerating Tate’s depravities to excuse her inexcusable behavior.
“Are you trying to say he was responsible for Vanna’s death?” His tone made it clear he knew she was lying.
“Tate?” She released another one of those creepy laughs. “He didn’t have the balls. My dearly departed husband was all talk and very little action. As usual, I had to take care of our problem.”
Kaden could see Lia out of the corner of his eye, inching ever closer to the bed. He stepped in the opposite direction, drawing Jolene’s gaze away.
“How?”
Jolene appeared eager to reveal just how clever she was. No doubt she’d spent her married years forced to pretend her husband was superior in every way, including intelligence.
“I used Tate’s phone to send a message to Vanna. I told her that she could pick up her daughter at this location that evening.”
That explained why Vanna would be here that night, Kaden silently acknowledged. “Why here?”
“I knew Vanna would feel more comfortable at her old apartment than at my house.” A bitterness edged her voice. “Sunny was conceived here, after all, and in her mind it would be the perfect place to purchase the child she’d bartered away three years earlier.”
“But instead of her child, she found you waiting for her.”
“Exactly.”
Kaden felt a pang of sympathy for Vanna. She might have been greedy and manipulative, but she hadn’t deserved to be judged and condemned to death by the cold-blooded bitch currently pointing a gun at his heart.
“I’m guessing things didn’t go as planned?” he said.
Jolene appeared confused by the question. “What are you talking about?”
“Vanna escaped, didn’t she?”
Jolene’s jaw tightened, as if she was still pissed at the memory. “I’ll admit she was more wary than I expected. I’m not sure if she suspected it was a trap or if she was always on guard, but as soon as she caught sight of me, she turned to run.” She glanced down at her gun, her expression easing, as if the weapon was some sort of security blanket. “Thankfully, I managed to pull the trigger before she could escape.”
“Did you hit her?”
Jolene sent him an offended glare. “I never miss my mark, but she was already fleeing, so it wasn’t a kill shot. Unfortunately, that meant I had to . . .” Her words stumbled to a halt, as if she had nearly revealed a secret she didn’t intend to share. “To pull on my coat and boots to track her down and finish the job,” she smoothly finished.
Kaden could easily imagine this elegant woman setting up an ambush to destroy her enemy. She had a chilling lack of concern for anyone other than herself and her daughter. But it was more difficult to picture her racing through the night in pursuit of Vanna.
“You chased her in the dark?”
“It wasn’t that hard. She was bleeding like a stuck pig. It left a convenient trail for me to follow.” The older woman clicked her tongue. “Still, it was annoying that I had to wade through the snow and ice, especially when I was wearing my favorite Dior boots. Do you know how much they cost?”
Kaden shrugged. “Too much?”
She ignored his mocking question. “I was still too far away to take another shot when I caught sight of her jumping off the bridge.” Jolene shook her head in disgust. “Naturally, I was furious.”
Kaden understood why Vanna was running down the road. And why the sight of Lia walking in her direction had made her panic. She would have been scared and disoriented and in agonizing pain. Plus, she was losing blood. No one could think clearly under those circumstances.
“You were furious the woman you were trying to murder in cold blood had the audacity to try to escape?” He didn’t hide his disgust at her lack of empathy.
She shook her head, as if he was being unbearably dense. “I had to walk all the way back to my car to get a flashlight, and then climb down that stupid hill. I almost broke my neck.”
A shame she hadn’t, Kaden silently told himself, even as he realized why Lia hadn’t seen Jolene when she’d made her quick search for the stranger who’d jumped off the bridge. Lia had no doubt already headed home by the time Jolene returned with her flashlight.
