She shook her head. “No, this is what you want. I should have never listened to you. My parents warned me that I could be hurt, but I estranged myself from them for you. I did everything you and Thatcher asked me to.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “I set those fires for you.”
“Shut up!” Becca warned. “Everything we did was for you.”
Kristin dropped to her knees. “No, it was never for me.” She began sobbing. “It was always for you. You were afraid Thatcher would leave with the baby and me and abandon you. He told me that.”
Johanna was shocked at Kristin's confession. She stood silent, as did Frankie, Kate, and Kendall. All eyes were on Becca, whose face had contorted into an ugliness that Johanna was certain the rage within her brought to the surface. She readied herself for the move that Frankie knew she would soon make. Her top priority was to protect Kendall and Johanna when it came down to it.
“You wanted Kendall to be blamed for the fires. You said she'd be put away for the rest of her life and Thatcher would try to fight in the courts to have the pre-nup challenged since it didn't cover mental illness. But you were tired of waiting. You convinced him it would be better to just get rid of her permanently.” Tears streamed down her face. “But I couldn't hurt her. I'd already hurt her enough even though she didn't know it. Murder was something I couldn't commit.” She sniffed. “Why did you and Thatcher insist that I do it? Why me?” she cried. “Was I going to be charged with murder and—” her voice trailed off. “Oh my God. That's it! You did use me. No one would have listened to me. Thatcher would have paid everyone off. You and him would have had everything. You both used me.”
“Don't be ridiculous! You're letting your imagination run away with you.” Becca grabbed Kristin's shoulder with one hand. “Get hold of yourself. Stand up. It's almost over. As soon as Thatcher gets here with the baby, we'll be getting on a plane. All of this will be behind us. We'll have a new life.”
Frankie finally broke her silence. “I told you Thatcher's not coming.”
“And I told you to keep your mouth shut! Now I've run out of patience!” Becca aimed the gun. “Because of you, all your friends will have to die.”
“Wasn't that what you planned in the first place?” Johanna asked. “From the minute you pushed your way in here you intended to shoot all of us. There's no way you planned to let any of us get out of this alive.”
“No, we planned to only kill Kendall.”
Kendall trembled next to Johanna. “Why, Becca? What did I ever do to you?” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You've worked for my family for years. We trusted you.”
“Seriously? You're asking me why?” She laughed shrilly.
Becca's maniacal laugh sent a chill down Johanna's spine. The woman was insane. She'd lost all touch with reality. “What about your daughter?” Johanna asked.
“What about her?”
“Do you love her? Can you love her since she has the one thing you'll never have? How does it feel knowing Thatcher's with her and not you?” Johanna picked up where Frankie had left off.
“He doesn't love her. It was a mistake. She threw herself at him. Chloe belongs to Thatcher and me. She's our baby. We intend to raise her.”
“No. She's my baby. What are you talking about? You're Chloe's grandmother. You can't have my baby,” Kristin cried.
“You stupid, bitch.” Becca lowered the gun and looked at Kristin. “I told Thatcher it was a bad idea to bring you into this. He couldn't keep it in his pants.” She rubbed her forehead. “Thatcher and I are going away with Chloe.”
“What about me?”
“What do you think?” she snarled.
“You set me up. How could you do that to me?” Kristin shook with fear as she cowered on the floor. “I'm your daughter.”
“I didn't want you then and I sure as hell don't now!” Becca pulled the trigger, but before the bullet could make contact with Kristin, Kate lunged for Becca while Frankie reached for her gun.
“Get down,” Johanna said to Kendall.
Kate grabbed Becca's wrist, struggling for control of the gun when it discharged.
Chapter 19
Becca went limp and then slumped to the floor in a heap. Kendall screamed and then fainted at the sound of gunfire. Johanna squatted next to her while Frankie rushed to where Becca lay in a crumpled heap.
“She has a slight pulse,” Frankie said.
“Help is on the way,” Kate replied.
Frankie looked toward the door. “Kristin's making a break for it, Kate.”
Kate was immediately on Kristin, tackling her to the floor. “You're under arrest,” she said grabbing her arms and handcuffing her. She pulled Kristin to her feet and read her her rights.
Kristin began whimpering. “I didn't do anything wrong. What about my baby? What's going to happen to Chloe?”
“You should have thought about that,” Kate said.
Frankie walked over to where Johanna sat on the floor next to Kendall. “Is she okay?”
Johanna lifted an eyebrow. “She fainted for a couple of minutes, but I think she needs to be checked out.”
“No...I'm fine,” Kendall said weakly.
She was shaking so hard, Frankie thought the woman would pass out again. “It's over, Kendall. You're safe.”
“Thank you both,” she whispered as tears filled her eyes. “Is Becca—”
“She's got a pulse.” She peered at Kendall. “I still think you'd better be checked out too, when the medics arrive.”
“No, I'm all right. I just want to go home.”
“Do you think you should be alone?” Johanna asked.
She smiled faintly. “I'll be fine.”
The door opened and the women watched the flurry of excitement as police, medics and reporters converged on the office. Arlan and George quickly removed the reporters from the office promising a statement would be issued later.
Alec Oakman,
