Deceit by Brandilyn Collins

Author:Brandilyn Collins [Collins, Brandilyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780310276449
Published: 2010-01-01T13:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-SIX

FEBRUARY 2010

“Baxter sent that man!”

Shock spritzed my veins. I shifted in my seat to look Melissa in the face. “Why would Baxter do that? Why would he want me to find the person who can tell the truth about him?”

The moment I asked the question, I knew the answer.

Melissa leaned forward, as if talking to an idiot child. “Because he wants to kill me.”

I stared at Melissa, open-mouthed, still not wanting to believe Baxter had sent Hooded Man. Because if that was true, I had been so duped.

But Hooded Man had called this afternoon, just to be sure I was looking. As if there was no time to waste. He’d played on my fear of Baxter. Even told me Chief Eddington was in on Baxter’s schemes…

Then who had broken into my house? If Baxter wanted me to find Melissa, he wouldn’t have sent someone to hurt me last night.

I could barely find my tongue. “Does Chief Eddington know Baxter killed Linda?”

“No way, no one knows. Baxter and me, that’s it. He would never tell, and neither would I. That’s how I know he’s behind this.”

No. I just didn’t…I peered out the windshield, searching the darkness for answers. They swirled beyond my reach.

My chin dropped. “The hooded man who told me—he said the police were in on it.”

“Let me guess—he told you that after you said you’d go to them.”

The words stabbed a knife in me and twisted. I couldn’t raise my head to look at her.

“So you wouldn’t go.” Melissa just had to press her point. “So you’d look for me all by yourself, with no one knowing. And lead Baxter straight to me.”

“But how did I lead him to you? I waited for you on your street for hours. I saw no one.”

“Well, you didn’t look hard enough.”

I rubbed my forehead, picturing Hooded Man in the rain. Was he our pursuer? I’d seen the gunman only in a flash. No way could I tell.

“And in case you’re too stupid to get this too, Joanne—he also wanted to kill you. Perfect, huh. He gets rid of me, his one witness, and the person who led him here.”

I stared at the steering wheel, unseeing. Melissa had to be right. Hooded Man…the break-in at my house last night…the one at hers today—they had to be connected. Although I still couldn’t understand the break-in at my place. Who had done that, and why? My lagging brain sensed I was overlooking an obvious piece of the puzzle, but try as I might, I couldn’t think through it.

“That man in the mask you saw,” Melissa said. “Did he look like the gunman?”

“I don’t know. Same build I guess, but…Do you know who he is?”

“Probably some hired lowlife. Obviously not a professional or we’d we dead.”

Exhaustion crawled through my system. My brain was turning to mush. “We need to go somewhere safe for the night, figure out what to do.”

Melissa glared at me. “Aren’t you even going to apologize?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Wow. What an apology. You sure sound sorry.

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