“So,” Charlotte said, suddenly seeing the light, “that’s why the organizers were told I was coming. You’re the one who told them that I was coming.”
“Of course. It’s not like you mess up something like that.”
“No, of course not,” she said. “And here, all that time, I believed you when you said that they were just using it as a con to get me there. But instead you agreed on my behalf. And there it looked like I was just a sore loser and pulling out at the last minute. And, of course, I would have been if I hadn’t gone, and you convinced me that I needed to go.”
“Particularly since Andy died there.”
She shook her head. “You couldn’t stand the fact that I was still living and that he was dead and that I didn’t even seem to know anything about it or even care.”
“You didn’t care! That’s the thing that I didn’t get! You didn’t care. How could you not care about my son?”
“Because it’s easy to forget,” she admitted. “When you think about it, some of this is very easy. But I never really forgot. I just pushed it away because there was nothing I could do to help Andy.”
“Well, guess what?” she asked. “You’ll help now by dying.”
“But you haven’t told us everything yet,” Nico said. “Don’t you want to show off everything that you’ve done?”
Maggie looked at him and frowned. “Sure. I arranged for her to go to Australia and to get kidnapped.”
“In a helicopter?”
“I pulled in a favor. He didn’t really know anything about it, but I needed that helicopter. So I used a friend’s account. I thought it important that she died where my beloved son died.”
“His father’s account, right?”
At that, Maggie froze. Her gaze went to each of the three men. “What do you know about his father?”
“We’ve already spoken to him,” he said. “Is he in on this with you?”
“Hell no,” she said. “He’s not smart enough. He already has a family and more kids too. It’s me who couldn’t have any more children after Andy. Something went wrong, and I couldn’t have any more. And that’s another reason why she has to pay.” Her voice was now normal and commonplace once more.
“Seriously?” Charlotte asked. “So you hacked his email too?”
With that, Maggie laughed. “Well, he was a simple man and used password for all his logins. Besides it’s not fair that he should be allowed to go off and have a second family and completely ignore his first son, is it? This way, it’s his helicopter account, and it’s his emails. And to bankroll this project it was his bank accounts. That’s how I hired my guy. Then he hired his crew. Little things I paid for myself but things like the listening devices I ordered online using my ex’s credit card.”
“Jesus,” Keane said from the table.
“You guys figured that out, didn’t you?” She laughed. “That’s okay. I’ve had a bit of time to play with this.”
“But I guess the last bit to figure out,” Nico said, “is what about Charlotte’s original assistant?”
“Oh, her. God, she was such an idiot. She messed up your accounts. Do you know how much work it was to fix everything that she did wrong?” she asked Charlotte. “Have no assistant if what you’ll hire is that bad.”
Charlotte pinched the bridge of her nose. “Please tell me that you didn’t kill her.”
“Well, I didn’t kill her. I hit her with my car, but I didn’t kill her. She was still alive, but I walked away.”
“But she died from her injuries,” Nico said, “so you did kill her.”
“No,” Maggie said, completely distancing herself from the truth. “That’s not how this works. You see? I hit her, and I got out and checked on her. She was pleading for help, and I told her that I would get some, and I walked away. She was still alive. She died with a smile on her face, and I imagine because she thought help was coming that she would be okay.”
Charlotte realized there was just no talking logic to this woman. Maggie had absolutely no interest in seeing the results of her actions for what they really were, which in this case was murder. “So then you met me at the coffee shop all those times and offered your services, and, once you were my assistant, you arranged for Australia.”
“Absolutely,” she said. “I was really pleased to make it all finally happen in six months’ time of working with you too.”
“True,” Charlotte said. “It had been a long time before something else came along that would send me to Australia.”
“Exactly,” she said. “So, in this way, it’s not a bad deal. Now I just have to finish off the job.”
“But we’re not in Australia,” Charlotte said.
That stumped Maggie for a moment. And then she nodded and said, “No, we aren’t, but that’s okay. I figure I could find another way to dispose of your body that will have just as much impact.”
“I hate to even ask,” Charlotte said faintly.
“Then don’t,” she said. “Just die.”
And the woman lifted the handgun and fired.
Nico had seen Maggie raise her arm, and, having heard her words, he’d been primed. As soon as that arm went up, he pushed Charlotte to the floor, following her down and rolling her under the table. He already knew the other two men would jump Maggie. He could hear her crying out, “No, no, she has to die!”
“No.” Joshua’s voice was hard. “She doesn’t. I just found her. I don’t want to lose her already.”
And Keane said, “The only person here who should die is you. You’re one crazy-ass bitch.”
Maggie laughed, but it was a maniacal sound that made everybody wince.
Knowing that it was finally safe, Nico crawled out from under the table and helped Charlotte to her feet. He held her in his arms, and they both stared at the woman in front of them.
