Up Close and Dangerous (34 page)
“I didn’t let myself think about it,” Bret said tiredly. “I just did it. It was a way out. The money from your life insurance for the business would have bailed me out of some big-time trouble. It was like…that was all I could think about, getting that money. But when Karen told me the plane was missing, all of a sudden it was real. I’d killed you. I’d murdered my best friend. It hit me, and all I could do was puke my guts out.”
The odd thing was, Cam believed him. Bret was impulsive, tending to focus on short-term goals.
“I thought the plane would burn,” Bret went on. “There’s always a few gallons of unusable fuel left in the tanks. Even if there was some evidence left, I knew Seth would be the one suspected, because of that stupid fucking phone call, but other than that there was nothing to tie him to the plane. I didn’t figure he’d ever be arrested.”
“MaGuire said you’re the one who pointed out that the plane hadn’t taken on enough fuel.”
“Yeah. I thought that if I was the one who pointed it out, no one would suspect me of being the cause.” Bret rubbed his hands over his face, then met Cam’s gaze. “What now?” he asked, standing up. “When I thought you were dead, that I’d murdered you, I did what I could to cover my ass. But you’re too damn good a pilot to die easy, aren’t you? I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when we got the word. I guess I did both. But I’ll go along with however you want this to play out. I’ll turn myself in, if that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want.” Cam didn’t bend. There was no going back, no letting years of friendship and good times soften him, because some roads you just couldn’t travel again. “Attempted murder, insurance fraud…you’ll do time.”
“Yeah. If my ass isn’t bumped off before then. Whatever.” Bret had the look of a man who would never forgive himself. That was okay with Cam, because he’d never forgive him, either.
“One thing,” he said.
“What?” asked Bret.
Cam punched him in the face as hard as he could, putting everything he had into it, rage slipping its leash like a cougar attacking. Bret’s head snapped back and he crashed backward into his chair, overturning it and his wastebasket. He ended up sprawled on the floor amid the scattered trash.
“That’s for almost killing Bailey, too,” said Cam.
O
F ALL THE
people Bailey had expected to see, Seth Wingate wasn’t one of them. But there he was, standing on the doorstep of his father’s house just before midnight that night.
She was packing—rather, she was searching for what few personal items of hers were left in the house, because Tamzin had emptied out her closet and thrown away all her clothes, as well as anything else she’d known for certain belonged to Bailey. The house had also been trashed. Bailey was so infuriated she was considering calling the police, but she was giving herself time to settle down before she did so.
The past few hours had been a complete upheaval. She still had a hard time accepting that Bret had tried to kill Cam, all for the insurance money, and if she had a hard time getting her mind around it she could just imagine how tough Cam was having it. Bret had seemed to be eaten alive with guilt, but that didn’t change the facts. MaGuire had handled everything, even though he’d been as shell-shocked as everyone else. Bret had willingly gone with MaGuire to the police to turn himself in, but the legalities involved in dissolving the partnership and whether or not Executive Air Limo would survive were still up in the air. If it did survive, it would be simply as Executive Air Limo, because there wouldn’t be any more J&L.
Bailey had some ideas about that, but again she wanted to think things through. She also had to reassess her decision about managing the trust funds, now that she knew Seth hadn’t been the one trying to kill them. On the other hand, once she discovered what Tamzin had done, she wanted to commit murder herself and wash her hands of the both of them. One decision that hadn’t changed was that she didn’t want to spend another night in this house that wasn’t hers.
Logan and Peaches were at the house with her, as was Cam. They had come to help her pack, but there was precious little left of her belongings. Cam was white with rage, but they were both controlling it. Peaches was the one who was on the verge of a major temper tantrum, and Logan was keeping an eye on her as she stormed from room to room.
Now Seth was here, and even though she knew he hadn’t tried to kill her, she didn’t feel like dealing with his shit right now. She jerked the door open and stood squarely in the doorway, not inviting him in. Behind her, she heard Cam moving forward to stand just at her shoulder.
But Seth made no move to enter. Even though he was usually on his second or third bar stop by now, he didn’t look wasted. In fact, he looked sober, which astonished her. He was dressed simply, in slacks and a pullover shirt, his dark hair trimmed and combed, his harsh face expressionless.
“A lot of people think I caused the crash,” he said abruptly. “I just wanted to tell you that I didn’t.”
“I know,” she said, so surprised she could barely speak.
Surprise flared in his eyes, too. He hesitated, then turned to leave. Bailey began to close the door, then stopped because he had stopped, his foot already on the first step down. He turned back.
“Who did it?” he asked. She could tell he hated having to talk to her, but he wanted to know. “Was it Tamzin?”
Tamzin?
Tamzin was vicious and petty, but she wasn’t organized enough to do something like that. “No, it was Cam’s partner.”
“Bret?” Seth was obviously taken aback. “Are you sure?”
“We’re sure. He confessed,” said Cam.
“Son of a bitch,” Seth muttered. A mirthless smile touched his lips. “I guess Tamzin and I are more alike than I thought. She assumed I’d done it. I thought she had.”
He took a deep breath. “You deserve to hear this. It hit me hard when I realized my sister automatically assumed I was a murderer. I took a long look at myself and didn’t like what I saw.” He met Bailey’s startled gaze and gave a mirthless laugh. “I’ve gone to work at Wingate Group. In the mail room. Grant wants to see if I can stick it out.”
Bailey held tight to the door. She had to, or her knees would have given way in shock. She didn’t know what to say, so she blurted, “I’m going to give the management of the trust funds to someone else, probably a bank officer.” She couldn’t believe that Seth, of all people…had Jim been right in his reading of Seth, after all?
Seth’s jaw tightened, and he glared at Bailey. “Don’t,” he snapped. “I want you handling them. I won’t hate it so much if someone else is doing it, and I need you there as motivation. That was Dad’s plan, wasn’t it? I figured it out. He thought I’d hate you so much, hate you controlling my money, that I’d do whatever I had to do to straighten out my life. He was right, damn him. He was always right. He probably told you to use your own judgment about when to turn control over to me, didn’t he?”
She couldn’t do anything except nod.
Seth’s mouth twisted. “He trusted you, and nobody could read people like Dad. So I’m going to trust him, trust that he knew what he was doing. You keep on managing the funds, so I can prove you wrong. One day you’ll hand control over to me, then you’ll be out of my life and I’ll never have to see you again.”
“I look forward to that day,” she said honestly.
He looked past her and Cam, into the foyer. His eyebrows knitted together as he noticed the damage, the broken glass, the defaced walls. “What the hell happened in there?”
“Tamzin,” Cam growled.
“Have her ass arrested,” Seth said coldly, then turned and went down the steps, disappearing into the darkness.
Cam removed Bailey’s hand from the door and closed it, then tugged her into his arms.
“Let’s go,” he said, kissing her mouth when she looked up at him. “There’s nothing for you here. From now on, you’re living with me.”
Bailey smiled, trailed her fingertips over the bruises on his face. She felt absolutely no anxiety about that decision. “All right,” she said, suddenly so happy she felt as if she could float off the ground. “Let’s go. I’m ready.”
About the Author
L
INDA
H
OWARD
is the award-winning author of many
New York Times
bestsellers, including
Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, Dying to Please, Open Season, Mr. Perfect, All the Queen’s Men, Now You See Her, Kill and Tell,
and
Son of the Morning.
She lives in Alabama with her husband and two golden retrievers.
By Linda Howard
A LADY OF THE WEST
ANGEL CREEK
THE TOUCH OF FIRE
HEART OF FIRE
DREAM MAN
AFTER THE NIGHT
SHADES OF TWILIGHT
SON OF THE MORNING
KILL AND TELL
NOW YOU SEE HER
ALL THE QUEEN’S MEN
MR. PERFECT
OPEN SEASON
DYING TO PLEASE
CRY NO MORE
KISS ME WHILE I SLEEP
TO DIE FOR
KILLING TIME
COVER OF NIGHT
DROP DEAD GORGEOUS
UP CLOSE AND DANGEROUS
Up Close and Dangerous
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2007 by Linda Howington
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
B
ALLANTINE
and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-345-50013-7
v1.0
