He needed to stall and give his backup time to arrive. Cooper had to be on his way. Emma was wearing a wire.
“I’m serious, Reed.” Will said. “I’ll kill her right here in front of you.”
There was a wildness in his eyes that chilled Reed to the core. Will was a desperate man, and that also made him a dangerous one.
Emma swayed a bit. Blood dripped down her neck, disappearing into the collar of her shirt. It wasn’t possible to tell how badly she’d been injured but it was enough to cause him serious concern. Reed met her gaze. With his eyes, he tried to say all the words he couldn’t out loud.
I love you. Hold on. I’ll get us out of this.
“We can put a stop to this now, Will. Things haven’t gone too far yet. A man like you doesn’t deserve to be in jail.” It took every ounce of Reed’s law enforcement training to keep his expression sympathetic, to have the lies fall from his lips without a hint of his true feelings. “Why don’t you tell me what this is really about? We can fix it.”
“It’s too late for that now. Emma should’ve left when I told her to. None of this would’ve happened if she had.”
Reed racked his brain, desperate to keep Will talking. “You were trying to prevent Bonnie’s vehicle from being found.”
“Duh.” Will sneered. “I knew if Bonnie’s car was uncovered, the investigation into her disappearance would be given a fresh look.”
Reed desperately wanted to ask if his sister was alive but held back. Will was talking, but a move in the wrong direction could cause him to clam up. “When Emma wouldn’t leave, you hired Charlie Young to kill her.”
Will knew Charlie because he’d been the prosecutor on several of the man’s criminal cases. Owen had mentioned someone high up was protecting them. It had to be Will.
“It was supposed to be a simple hit,” Will said. “Instead, the idiot, along with his family, made a mess of everything.”
Reed kept his gun locked on Will. If an opening presented itself, he wanted to be in a position to take it.
“When Bonnie’s bracelet was found in Emma’s shed, you changed tactics.” Reed edged forward, making sure to time his movements to his words, so Will wouldn’t notice. “You decided to frame Joshua for everything. You killed Mike Young and placed his body in Bonnie’s truck.”
Will tightened his hold on Emma. Her face paled even more and her mouth pinched with pain. The trip down the river must’ve injured her ribs. It took everything in Reed not to cross the distance between them and tackle Will. Where was his backup? They should’ve been here by now.
“Why Joshua?” Reed asked, although he already knew. The point was to keep Will talking.
Will glared at him. “Nice try, Sheriff. I’m not stupid enough to waste time explaining things to you.”
“Come on. We both know I’m not getting out of this alive. You’ve got me in an impossible situation.”
“Exactly, so put your gun down before I blow Emma’s head off.”
“Come on. You’ve had me spinning my wheels for weeks. Bonnie was my sister. At least, tell me how you outsmarted me.”
Reed’s skin crawled. He hated complimenting Will, but they needed time. Where was Cooper? SWAT should be in position by now. He glanced at Emma’s shirt, where the wire was hidden, and his stomach sank. Will was blocking the listening device with his arm. Maybe the team had no idea they were in trouble.
Will was quiet for a moment, before a smirk played across his lips. “I did outsmart you, didn’t I?”
“You’ve pulled off the perfect crime. No one suspected you. So, again, why Joshua?”
“I needed a scapegoat and you already suspected Joshua. I knew it would be easy to frame him for Bonnie’s murder. Besides, he had it coming. That idiot actually thought he was good enough for Bonnie. I should’ve gotten rid of him a long time ago.”
Will didn’t know Owen had come forward to provide an alibi for Joshua. No doubt, he would tie up that loose end if given the chance.
“How long has Dean Shadwick been involved?” Reed asked.
“Oh, he’s been my eyes and ears for a long time. There were rumors he could be bought for the right price.” Will chuckled. “Surprise, it’s true.”
Reed’s hand tightened on the weapon. He was going to find Dean and put him behind bars. There was nothing worse than a law enforcement officer who broke his oath to protect and serve. “You weren’t driving your vehicle at the time of Bonnie’s disappearance. Dean was, wasn’t he? You told him to run a red light so you’d get a ticket and have an alibi.”
“I knew I’d be a suspect since Bonnie and I had dated.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Reed inched forward again. Time was running out. He was wearing a Kevlar vest. If he could convince Will to take a shot at him instead of Emma, they might have a chance. “Bonnie’s car is going to be processed for forensic evidence. Removing all trace of DNA is difficult.”
“I know.” The smile turned hard, and his gaze went flat. “If you weren’t such a Goody Two-shoes, I wouldn’t have bothered worrying about it.”
“I can’t be bought,” Reed said, as the final pieces of the puzzle snapped into place. “You knew I was a liability. I’d track down any piece of evidence, run down every lead, to find the truth. Kidnapping Lily and Vivian was your way of getting me alone.”
“Don’t be so prideful,” Will said. “I needed to kill Emma, too.”
Lily had to be close by. There was no other explanation. And based off the fact that Bonnie’s bracelet was discovered in Emma’s shed, chances were, if his sister was still alive, she was close, too.
“Time’s up, Sheriff. Drop your weapon.”
It was now or never. Reed said a quick prayer and leaned forward on the
