But I didn’t have to think about it for long, because, out of the darkness, a familiar voice broke through the noise of our scuffle. “Let her go, Jennifer.”
Adam!
I’d never been so happy, and so terrified, all at the same time. I tried like hell to break free but quieted when Jennifer reclaimed her grip, and the gun was once again pressed to my temple. And then I froze completely when I caught sight of Adam in the doorway, his own .38 pointed at Jennifer. But I knew he couldn’t shoot her. It was too risky. If he missed, he might hit me. Even if he did succeed in targeting Jennifer, her gun could still discharge, shooting me. And she must have been thinking the same thing.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Jennifer chided. “If you shoot me, my gun goes off and BAM! Your little girlfriend’s brains are all over the ground.”
Adam winced at Jennifer’s vivid words, but he took a step closer, his gun steady, his eyes never leaving her. “Hold it right there, Ward,” Jennifer warned. “Or I will shoot her, I swear. Don’t test me.”
Adam slowly began to circle the lighthouse interior, his movements shadowing Jennifer’s. Jennifer and I were edged closer to the door. I was sure if she got us out that door, Adam would be on her heels. She wouldn’t get far. She was going to have to rethink her original plan. If she did shoot me, Adam would surely kill her. She had to know that.
“Give it up,” Adam said, echoing this very thing. “Let her go.”
Adam took a slow step to his left, and his foot made contact with Ami’s arm, peeking out from under the stairway. He glanced down ever so quickly, and Jennifer tensed. But Adam was faster, and his gun swiveled back to Jennifer instantly. “What the fuck is she doing here?” Adam growled, referring to Ami.
Jennifer began to chuckle. “You really never knew, did you?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
From his expression it was evident Adam had no clue why Ami was lying unconscious on the floor of the lighthouse. As far as he knew, she was just a harmless, unstable girl who worked for him and had recently gone missing. Hell, he liked her so much that he’d even ensured the missing person’s report had gone out early.
Yeah, Adam had not known this tidbit, and in a way I was glad. He hadn’t deceived me, and it proved he’d given Ami the benefit of the doubt, even with her mental problems. But now he was about to find out the truth.
“J.T. wasn’t the only one your slut-fiancée was fucking around with,” Jennifer said, glee in her tone at disseminating this tawdry information. “In fact, your girlfriend here has the photographic evidence. I saw it myself this morning in the mail, and I noticed her car at the café earlier, so I know she has the photo.”
So that was how she and Ami had known to put their plan in motion, why they’d trapped me here at the lighthouse. As I feared someone had seen the envelope from Jimmy, in this case Jennifer. And knowing I’d end up turning the photo in to the police once I saw who was in it, they knew it was time to act.
Except the one thing puzzling me was that Ami hadn’t known Jimmy had made a copy of that lone incriminating picture until I’d told her. Even though Jennifer had seen the mail and figured it out. It was looking more and more like Jennifer had been the mastermind behind this whole thing. She’d obviously kept certain elements of the plan from her own accomplice, even while putting said plan into motion this morning.
I glanced over at Adam. He appeared angrier than ever, having digested Jennifer’s words. “What photographic evidence?” he ground out between clenched teeth.
Jennifer nudged the gun against my temple, and I heard Adam growl in response. “Show him, Fitch,” she demanded, oblivious to Adam’s escalating anger.
Jennifer loosened her grip around my neck. From my jacket pocket, I shakily pulled the folded piece of paper that held the image of Ami kissing Chelsea. Before I had a chance to lift it, Jennifer snatched the paper from my grip, unfolded it, glanced at it with a snort, and tossed it in Adam’s direction.
The piece of paper flitted to the floor in front of Adam, and he knelt down slowly to pick it up, his gun remaining trained on Jennifer.
“See, Ami is just as involved in this as I am,” Jennifer whined as Adam glanced at the image on the paper. “And now, you know her motive,” she added with a snicker.
Adam crumpled the paper in his hand as he rose to his feet. Though he appeared calm, I saw a myriad of emotions in his eyes. Ami Dubois-Hensley had kept her secret so well hidden that not even Adam—the man who seemed to know everything— had uncovered this piece of information. He’d underestimated Ami, as had everyone.
But, then again, how could anyone have known? Ami had admitted to paying off Old Carl, Billy’s once-upon-a-time bartender, for all the incriminating photos. And Jimmy had misplaced the only remaining photo, recalling it after I showed up and started asking questions. And threw a little money his way.
Of course, none of it mattered now. We had the evidence to clear Adam once and for all, but Jennifer was determined to get rid of me. Adam might have ruined her original plan to murder me, hide my body in the caves with Chelsea’s, and allow Adam to be blamed for another inexplicable disappearance, but I could tell Jennifer was improvising some alternative plan even as we spoke. And that couldn’t be good.
“You and Ami killed Chelsea?” Adam asked quietly.
“No,” Jennifer replied, “You killed Chelsea.”
Adam looked perplexed, but I sensed the panic in Jennifer’s voice. She was
