what Eunice might do now that she’s cornered. She begged me to come alone and speak with her privately, but I don’t trust her.”
“Why not call the police?”
“I will. When we get there. I don’t want them bursting in ahead of time. Just in case she really does have something to say to me alone…or with you.”
“Fair enough.” Her heart pounding, her fingers clenched around the cold weapon, Adria barely noticed the forested cliffs on one side of the road, nor the steely gray waters on the other. Expensive homes peeked through the thick branches and lush shrubbery.
Zach’s knuckles showed white as he guided his Jeep through the commercial area of the town, then turned along a narrow, twisting road that rimmed the lake. Splashes of green water were visible through the tall trees and homes perched along the shoreline.
Adria steeled herself and tucked the pistol into her jacket pocket. He glowered through the windshield, his jaw set, his lips a razor-thin line. “What’s the plan?”
“I knock on her door and demand answers.”
“With me.”
“You stay in the Jeep. I’ll park a few houses away.” He glanced in the rearview mirror. “No one’s followed us, so you’ll be safe. As long as you keep the pistol.”
“I said I’m coming with you. Eunice is probably expecting that you’ll do just what you said.”
“Listen, Adria, I don’t like this-”
“Neither do I, but I’d rather be with you than off waiting somewhere, not knowing what’s going on.”
“Fine.” A muscle worked in his jaw.
“Besides, I think I’m safer with you.”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” he growled under his breath as he pulled into the short drive of a two-storied cottage with white siding, dormers and black shutters. Though it was early afternoon, the day was gray and damp and warm interior lights blazed through paned windows. “Cozy, isn’t it?” Zach mocked as he reached for his phone, dialed a number and quickly explained the situation to Len Barry of the Portland police, then hung up. “Okay, that should give us just enough time,” he said and climbed out of the car.
Adria’s palms were sweating, her heart jack-hammering as she and Zach walked up the stone path to a small covered porch. Flowers bloomed brilliantly in boxes and the shrubbery flanking the house was clipped and neat, a perfect little home in a prestigious community.
The home of a killer.
Zach didn’t wait, but knocked loudly, his fist pounding on the door. Adria felt the gun, heavy in her pocket, as her heart pounded in dread.
Would she face the woman who had tried to kill her?
Ginny Slade’s murderer?
The door opened and Eunice Danvers Smythe, dressed in a black velour jogging suit, stood in the empty hallway. Sweat beaded her forehead and flushed cheeks as if she’d been working out. “Zach!” she said before her gaze traveled to Adria. “Oh…I wondered if you’d drag her along.” She forced a smile as frigid as the bottom of the Columbia River. “Come in. Both of you.”
“What’s this all about, Eunice?” he asked, not moving.
“I think it’s time to explain a few things.”
“Such as.”
“I was going to start with Kat.”
Adria’s muscles tightened at the mention of her mother and Zach’s harsh expression turned even more severe. “Why not Ginny?” he asked.
“Because it’s best, don’t you think, to begin at the beginning.”
“We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Don’t tell me. You’ve called the police.” She was walking down a hallway, her tennis shoes silent on the polished hardwood floors, her gait a little off, the scent of jasmine wafting after her. “Oh, Zach, you’re so predictable. I wish you would have talked to me first.” She glanced over her shoulder, her gaze landing on Adria again. “Maybe it’s better that you’re here after all. Close the door, would you?”
Adria, feeling as if she was truly walking into a lion’s den, complied. Zach waited for her and by the time they walked into the kitchen, Eunice was already dipping a tea bag into a cup of hot water. Two cups stood waiting, water already steaming from their porcelain depths. “Would you like some?” she asked, dipping a tea bag into the cup.
Zach shook his head.
“You?” she asked, glancing at Adria and there was a light in her eyes that gave Adria pause.
Something wasn’t right here. The smell of jasmine from the tea seeped into the room and a chill as cold as all of December settled in Adria’s bones. “I’m fine.” What was with the tea?
“What is it you wanted to say, Eunice?” Zach, standing near the kitchen table, didn’t take his suspicious gaze from his mother as she busied herself with her tea cup.
To Adria, the entire situation was surreal. She stood next to Zach, waiting to hear the worst, watching a woman who was probably a killer calmly fiddle with her cup.
“Sit down, Zach, and drink a cup of tea or coffee with me,” she said, waving him into a chair. “It might be the last one we’ll be able to share for a long, long time.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Zach-”
“Get on with it, Eunice.” He checked his watch. “The police should be here within a few minutes. You’d better tell me what it was you wanted to say before you have to tell it to a detective.”
“You think I killed Ginny,” Eunice said.
“You’re way ahead of me.”
“I didn’t do it.” She looked up, set the empty bag on the table.
“Right.”
“I mean it. I said I should start with Kat…or more precisely, London. I did kidnap her and I paid Ginny to make certain she never surfaced again. But she failed.” Her lips flattened as she glanced at Adria.
“So you decided to get rid of Ginny.”
“No…there’s someone who’s one step ahead of me and trying to blame me for everything that’s happening.”
“Let’s get through the bullshit,” Zach said, stepping away from the wall, closing the gap between himself and the woman who had borne him. “I came here for answers, not smoke screens or excuses or lies.”
“But it’s true,” she insisted, her eyes pleading as he stood, looming over the table, a big man with wide shoulders and sleek muscles and a fury so intense his lips had flattened against his teeth.
“Let it go, Eunice. There isn’t much time. As I said, the police are on their way.”
“I’m telling you the truth, Zach,” she swore, almost desperate, her teacup trembling in her hands. She took a long sip and smiled as if at a private joke. “I didn’t kill Ginny.”
Adria didn’t buy it, knew how evil this woman was.
Zach’s eyes narrowed. “No?”
“No.” Another drink of the hot brew.
“Then what about Kat?”
“Kat?” Eunice whispered, stunned. Every muscle in her body stiffened before she forced them to relax. Her eyes flickered with uncertainty. “She committed suicide. That’s what the police decided.” Again she swallowed and there was something that didn’t quite fit…
“I’m not so sure,” he said, his gaze skewering his mother’s. “In light of what’s been happening around here, I’ve asked them to reopen the investigation surrounding her death. I’ve come to believe that she was killed. Someone made certain she was high on pills and booze and helped her off the verandah of the hotel room. Seems to me you’re the most likely candidate.”
“For the love of God, Zach, are you nuts?” Eunice whispered, but couldn’t help licking her lips nervously.
“Not me.”
“So now you’ re accusing me of being crazy?”
