I didn’t have a ready comeback to that. I was having trouble with my head, listening to her and working on Jeri’s knots—which felt like I was trying to untie a rock.
“I don’t see how any of this can get back to me,” Julia said. “I spent all afternoon wiping down the Fernley house. I was finishing up when I saw you two out there on the street, watching the place. I’m so glad you decided to check the garage. Gave me a scare, but it gave me the chance to clean up that loose end, too. I didn’t know you or anyone was onto me.”
“The FBI won’t be far behind,” I said.
“Don’t think so, Mortimer.”
Bitch.
“When did you murder Allie . . . Candy?” Jeri asked.
“Murder. That’s such an ugly word.”
“I’m sure what you did to her was much nicer.”
Julia laughed. “Not long after she phoned her sister, we stopped at a convenience store in Empire. She was hungry. I didn’t want to stop but I had to keep her happy, not worried. We got back on the road, headed toward Reno. Candy was giddy with joy, about to get her million dollars. She was hugging the duffel bag with the money I’d given her at the trailer and the hundred thousand Harry brought to the Fernley house—over a hundred thirty thousand altogether—”
“Which you’ve got now.”
“No, genius. I threw it out a window. Of course I’ve got it. It was night, dark. I could see at least ten miles in either direction. So I stopped the car suddenly, acted sort of shocked and got out, went to the back of the car, told her to get out too, and the dumb creature got out, came around back, and I shot her in the chest. One bullet and she was down.”
I shuddered. She’d said it like she said she’d bought herself a Diet Coke and a package of Fig Newtons, no big deal.
Then the car slowed and we turned off the highway. Inertia told me we’d turned left, which was west. Now we were bouncing over ruts, which made it harder to keep my fingers working on Jeri’s knots.
“I got her into a plastic garbage bag and wrestled her into the back where you are now,” Julia said. “I went back, through Gerlach, back to the trailer, dragged her into the tunnel, dropped her down the shaft on top of Harry.”
“Then you burned the trailer right down to its wheels,” I said, remembering what Roup had said two weeks ago.
Another few seconds of silence. “Where’d you get that?”
“I come across things. The FBI will, too. Look at all the things I’ve learned. They might be following us right now with their lights off, about to bust you. I have the feeling you’re headed for a lethal injection.”
We bumped along another mile or two in silence.
“After you disposed of Allie, you came back through Gerlach,” I said. “I saw you go by. You kept going, didn’t stop for gas.” I tried to remember what time that was. “It was about ten thirty at night.”
Julia muttered a curse, kept driving. “If you think I’m going to stop now, you’re out of your mind.”
Well, shit. A person could at least hope.
The road got steeper and began to wind around more. We were going up into the hills. I worked harder on Jeri’s ropes. My fingers were already raw, but it was worth it because suddenly the knot got looser and I was unravelling it, and then Jeri’s feet were free. She scooted down to where I could start working on her hands, but if she had a plastic tie around her wrists that might not be as useful as having her feet free. Her feet were deadly weapons.
Five minutes later, I had gotten nowhere with the knots, and the car felt like it topped a rise to a level spot. It slowed, then stopped.
“Everyone out,” Julia said in a singsong voice. She opened her door. A light came on over my head. I was on my back, looking up. After all that darkness it was like staring into the sun.
The rear hatch of the SUV popped open and swung up. I could see Julia from about mid-thigh on up as she stood back a little way with the Glock in her hand. “You untied her feet, Mortimer. Good work. You, girl, sit up. Do it now.”
Jeri sat up. Her face was three feet from mine when Julia pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Jeri in the face and blew out the back of her head.
No—!
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I HAD A snapshot of blood and brains and bits of bone hitting the back of the front seats, then everything went black because suddenly Jeri was gone and all sense of reality was blown into whirling bits that had nothing to do with this world. For a few seconds I was out among the stars, in the infinite nothingness of space where there was no Earth, no SUV, no Julia, no sound, no sensation, nothing . . . then the world roared back and I was lying on my back but I couldn’t think because Jeri was gone and my life was over and it was too sudden too swift too impossible she couldn’t be gone forever and this was a dream except it wasn’t and Julia was hauling Jeri out by her feet and my love slid by me and plopped on the ground which was the first thing I heard since that gun had gone off and ended my life.
Then hatred exploded through me and I had to kill her, had to get my feet under me, get outside and stomp Julia into the dust and keep stomping until she was bloody flesh and broken bones mashed into the dirt and that wouldn’t bring Jeri back but I had to—
I pulled my knees violently into my chest and threw my head back as Julia was dragging
