She gave him a terse nod of acknowledgment. “How did you find this guy? Is he an actor?”
“No.”
When he didn’t say more, her temper flared. “What rock did he crawl out from under?”
“Tom knows him.”
Dominique’s mind reeled at that. She’d always detested Tom Klepper. He was nothing but a sycophant who clung to Gary’s coattails. The awful part was, Gary lapped it up. Dominique had always suspected that Tom was some kind of father figure to him, since Gary had never known his own dad. That was the only reasonable explanation she had for why Gary would put up with the creep.
“I should’ve known Tom was mixed up in this,” Dominique said. “What I can’t believe is that you’d go along with any plan Tom came up with. Haven’t you learned anything from the mess he’s helped you make of your career?”
“I told you, I came up with the plan,” Gary insisted. “Tom has just been helping me out.”
“Is Tom supposed to kill Trin for you?”
“Of course not. One of Max’s people is going to handle that.”
“How is he going to do it?”
“Can’t tell you that part. But, let’s just say, confidentiality is guaranteed.”
“What does that even mean?” Dominique put her hands up to her temples. She was dizzy and confused and she wanted to scream. How had she ever become involved with a man who was such a fool? Worse than that, he was prepared to get blood on his hands for money. He was willing to become a murderer.
She took a deep breath. “Gary, I want you to listen to me.” She took her seat beside him again and clasped his hand. “You are going to call this off. There is no way you’re going through with this psychotic plan. You have to call Max and tell him to stop.”
Gary shrugged. “The plan is in motion, babe. I can’t stop it now. It’s too late.”
“No, it isn’t. As long as Trin is alive, it’s not too late.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t want her dead, babe. This is as much on you as it is on me. I’m doing this for us, and deep down, you know you want her dead.”
“That’s not true!”
Gary laughed. “You’re the worst liar ever, Dominique. The only person you fool is yourself.”
“You have to do something! You can’t kill her.”
He yawned and stretched, already bored with her reaction. “You know what’s crazy? You haven’t even thought about how you’re in danger.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I set up this little scenario so I’d have an airtight alibi.” He put one hand on her thigh. The gesture was suggestive, even if his tone was lackadaisical. “You should be thinking about how you’re going to be so nice to me you’ll make me forget how mad I am at you for wanting to blackmail me.”
Dominique turned and punched Gary in the face. There was no doubt or regret in her mind. Blood poured out of his nose. He put his hands to his face and yelled. “Ow! What the…”
Dominique leapt up and ran, ripping the curtain down as she passed it and sprinting up the stairs. She slammed the cellar door shut and locked it. It took a minute for Gary to start pounding on the other side.
“What are you doing? Let me out of here!” he yelled.
She moved the wooden kitchen table against the door. She had no idea if that would hold, so she ran upstairs to the bedroom and grabbed the gun Max had handed her when he’d told her she had to kill Gary.
Chapter 14
She paced across the pitted wooden floor, occasionally peering out the window, wondering how her life had come to this. She’d had a two-year affair with a married man who’d murder his wife for money? That realization was so painful and sickening she was ready to run headfirst into that terrifying forest just beyond the house and let it swallow her whole.
The most horrifying part was hearing Gary rationalize everything. You didn’t plan to take a life and try to pretend it was no big deal. Killing another person was only justified if your own life was at stake.
She prowled around the room, trying—and failing—to block out Gary shouting and banging on the cellar door. She needed help. Pulling her handbag out of the dresser, she turned it upside down, dumping the contents on the bed. She must have missed her phone on the first search. If Gary had hired the kidnappers, there was no reason to take it, was there? But it was gone. Gary wanted her to have no way to contact the outside world. He wanted to make sure she couldn’t stop him.
Deep down, you know you want her dead, Gary had told her. That was a lie. She’d gotten wrapped up in a horrible situation, with her ex spinning a web of an alibi around her. She didn’t wish anyone dead, but she was involved in this mess up to her eyeballs.
For the first time in a long while, she thought of her mother and didn’t push her memory away. Ever since Dominique understood that her father was gone and wouldn’t be coming back to tuck her in at night, she’d blamed her mother for taking him away from her. But she couldn’t imagine that her gentle, soft-spoken mother wanted him dead. Somehow, her mother had been holding a gun and it had gone off in her father’s face. Her mother must have been horrified by what she’d done. Once it happened, it didn’t matter that it was an accident; she was responsible. She had killed a man who didn’t deserve to die. Dominique suddenly felt that she understood why her mother hadn’t offered any defense at her own trial, why she wouldn’t even testify on her own behalf. The guilt had eaten her up. And Dominique understood that even though she
