She knew in that instant. “Quinn.”
He smiled, his teeth looking sharp in the glow of the city below them. “You picked up on that right away, didn’t you?”
“So you and Quinn—”
“I wasn’t having an affair at the same time my wife was, if that’s what you’re asking. I got to know Quinn after Tricia died—”
Mo felt a stab of anger at how blasé he was about her sister’s death. “She didn’t die. She was murdered.”
His gaze narrowed. “You want to hear this or not?”
She didn’t really want to. Was she that sure that he wouldn’t hurt her? Or that sure that she could take care of herself?
Right now both seemed foolish. Thomas had fallen in love again. He had even more reason to want to be free of the past and that meant being free of his sister-in-law, as well.
“I got to know Quinn. She’s sweet.”
“You thought Tricia was sweet.”
His eyes narrowed dangerously again. “But I never thought of you that way, Maureen.”
His words actually hurt. “You’re confusing sweet with vulnerable.” Mo had forgotten that her sister had been in love with another boy at college before she’d met Thomas. The boy had broken it off. Had she not realized how vulnerable Tricia had been when she’d met Thomas? Had he recognized it, though, and preyed on her?
She’d thought she had such a clear picture of the past, but now it wavered as if for years she’d remembered only what she wanted to. Thomas and Tricia, the not-so-perfect couple.
Even in the beginning, hadn’t she seen tiny flaws in their relationship? Red flags that her sister had ignored. She suspected that Thomas had never let Tricia forget that he’d given up medical school for her. Add to that Tricia’s problems getting pregnant—until she met JP.
She told herself she could talk him off this roof. Talk them both off. “I was surprised when you had her cremated.”
He finished his cigarette, brutally stubbing it out with the others. “You think she deserved a nice burial?” He snorted. “When I confronted her, she told me that she had planned to tell me. Leave me, is what she meant, but then she realized she was pregnant. Apparently her lover wasn’t interested in fatherhood so she broke it off. Or so she said. But often I smelled him on her skin.” His eyes swam with tears. “That’s right, your precious sister wasn’t just an adulteress, she was going to pass off another man’s son as mine.” He made a swipe at his tears with the back of his sleeve. “It was just one betrayal after another.”
She considered her options. He was standing only inches away. If she made any kind of sudden move, he could grab her before she took a step. He was a good foot taller and sixty pounds heavier. He worked out almost every day. She didn’t stand a chance against him even with her training.
“If you turn yourself in—”
He laughed. “And go to prison for the rest of my life? I don’t think so. Just tell me this. Does your deputy friend know?”
“No,” she said quickly. Maybe too quickly because Thomas smiled.
“When I caught you at his apartment, I couldn’t believe it was like that between the two of you. I never thought you’d find a man who you felt was your equal.”
“Who said I think Brick is?”
Thomas laughed. “Sorry, sister, I don’t believe you. I know how distraught you’ve been over your sister’s death. But I never expected you to jump off the roof of my office building.”
“I’m not jumping, Thomas.” She didn’t move even when he pulled the pistol from under his shirt behind him and pointed it at her. She wasn’t the only one who had a weapon tucked in her waistband, it seemed.
She met his gaze and saw both desperation and determination. One way or another, she was going off the roof of this fourteen-story building.
BRICK MOVED ACROSS the dark rooftop. The glow of the city illuminated a portion of the roof at the corner. He spotted the two figures silhouetted against the city lights—the radiance bouncing off the weapon in Thomas’s hand. The barrel of the gun was pointed at Mo’s chest. She was talking quietly, cajoling, but the figure opposite her was tense and on alert.
Brick worked his way closer, staying to the shadows. The sound of traffic fourteen floors below drowned out his footfalls. He wanted to rush Thomas, but didn’t dare. He couldn’t take the chance that the man would get a shot off before he tackled him to the rooftop.
He was within a half-dozen yards now. He could see that Thomas’s hand holding the gun was shaking. The man was about to do something stupid, but then he’d already done that when he’d killed his wife.
Unfortunately, Brick couldn’t get a shot from where he was without jeopardizing Mo’s life. He had to get closer because he could feel time was running out.
MO SAW BRICK out of the corner of her eye. She wanted to call to him, to warn him, but as he stealthily approached, she knew he must have seen the gun Thomas was holding on her. She didn’t dare look straight at him for fear Thomas would see and turn and fire.
“You don’t want to do this.”
“No, I don’t. But you’ve given me no choice, Maureen. I begged you to let it go.” His voice broke. The gun in his hand wavered just enough to tempt her.
Taking it away from him was dangerous, but he was getting more anxious by the minute. She had to do something. She could still feel the letter opener digging into her back. “We can both walk away from this.”
He shook his head. “Even if Tricia hadn’t been your sister, you couldn’t forget this. It’s that cop in you. You just couldn’t leave it alone. That damn Natalie had to open her mouth...” He shook his head. “Did she say how she knew that Tricia
