As long as she didn’t sweat the tape off before the mission began. She reached for her coffee cup and cursed when she realized it was empty.
“Nervous?” Evan smiled sympathetically. “We’ll be with you every step of the way, Presley. If she tries to pull a gun or anything, we’ll have a sniper pointed at her and we’ll storm the place as well. Just make sure the drapes stay open so we can see in.”
“You can change your mind, honey. You don’t have to do this,” Seth said. He was sitting next to her in the SUV with dark-tinted windows down the street from Nora’s home. They had a small car Presley would drive to the house since she couldn’t arrive in the SUV with the Marshals. There were already agents surrounding the house. Federal agents had taken over the houses on both sides of Nora. Even if Presley couldn’t get a confession out of her stepsister, she’d probably have to move out of her snooty neighborhood. Nora’s friends and neighbors liked to gossip about one another and Federal agents with a sniper rifle pointed at one of your own was too juicy to hold back.
“No.” Presley shook her head. “I have to do this. You were right, Seth. We have to take the fight to them.” She reached over and squeezed his hand. His palm was as sweaty as her own. “I’m the only one that can do this. I have to do this.”
“Remember what we talked about, honey,” Seth coached. “Get her to talk about what she did and why. Talk about the car bomb and Simon. You have the element of surprise. She’s not expecting you to waltz into her home.”
Evan’s phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket. He listened and nodded before hanging up. “Okay, she’s stepped out onto the back patio and is having a glass of wine. It’s the perfect time for you to go. The sniper can get to her unobstructed if need arises, and we doubt she has any weapons on her verandah. Remember to keep her talking. Try to get her to say as much as possible. The more details we have the easier it will be to find hard corroborating evidence, and the harder for her to recant when she lawyers up.”
Presley didn’t really want to think about having her sister, scratch that, stepsister, shot in the head while Presley looked on. She hoped Nora wouldn’t do anything stupid and simply cooperate.
Because Nora is sooo cooperative.
The three of them stepped out of the SUV and Evan handed her the keys to the small car she would be driving. “We’ll be right outside. Good luck. Stay calm and focused. If you want us to rush in, all you have to do is say the word ‘coffee.’ Got it?”
She nodded. Seth had chosen the trigger word and he had chosen well. Seth wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I’ll be right outside the door, honey.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “No heroics. If something isn’t going right, you say the trigger word. I mean it.”
Presley rolled her eyes but inside she was a basket case. “I got it. You worry too much.”
“I worry about you. I love you, remember?”
She smiled and kissed his rough chin. “I love you too. When this is all over we can start our life without looking over our shoulders.”
“I can’t wait. We’ll go somewhere quiet, just the two of us, and talk about our future.”
Evan looked impatient but she needed to say this before she went in. “I’ve been thinking about that. I think we should live where there are family and friends who care.”
Seth nodded. “Then that’s where we’ll be. We’ll live in Tampa.”
She shook her head. “No. I was talking about Harper. I don’t have any family here that cares about me. I have your family though, and I know they care. I have friends there that make time to stop by to talk to me and have coffee every day. I have friends here in Tampa, and I miss them, but I miss Harper more.”
She’d surprised the man she loved. His mouth was hanging open but his expression was one of joy. They were going to go home.
She just had this one thing to do first.
“I’m ready. Let’s do this.” Presley got into the subcompact car, started it up, and headed up the road to Nora’s house.
“I hope you can hear me. I’m almost there. I’m parking in the driveway now and I’m heading directly to the back patio.”
Presley paused as she exited the car, taking a deep breath. Her hands were shaking and her heart was pounding. She’d never been big on confrontation, but this was probably the most important one of her life. It was time to deal with the specter of her lame-assed family at last.
Her tennis shoes didn’t make any noise in the grass or on the concrete and before she knew it she was standing on the patio looking directly at her stepsister and would-be killer. The patio was large, taking up half of the manicured back yard. The other half of the yard was dominated by a large swimming pool with a decorative fountain in the middle. Presley remembered when Nora had the fountain installed right before a fancy party with a State Senator.
“Hello, Nora. I thought I’d find you back here.”
Nora had been about to take a sip of her wine and she jerked to attention, her eyebrows shooting up and her mouth going slack. She recovered quickly, however, her body relaxing and her expression composed.
“Katie, how lovely to see you. Do please join me. Shall I get another glass? Or do ghosts even drink wine? I don’t know. I’ve never had one in my home before.”
Presley remembered what Evan said about staying in sight and not having any weapons outside. She shook her head and took a seat at the table opposite Nora.
“I’ll pass. I think I need to stay completely sober around you, sis. You don’t seem very surprised to see me.”
A smile played around Nora’s lips as she swirled the wine in the glass. “I’m not, actually. I never believed you died in the bombing. Officials wouldn’t let me see the body. They said you’d been blown into small pieces and burned beyond recognition.” Nora sipped her wine. “Something like that would take a great deal of C-4. As for staying sober, do you think it will help? I’ve been several steps ahead of you your entire life. It must be very tiring for you trying to keep up.”
“Not really. I’ve been pacing myself. You look good. Working out?” It was a running joke. Nora despised sweat in any form. The swimming pool and the indoor gym were purely for show.
“Aren’t you a dear? Thank you. It’s a new diet. I eat fish every other day.” Nora waived her hand at Presley’s hair. “I like the red hair. It’s much more sophisticated than the blonde.”
Presley ran her fingers through the strands. “I had to change my look. It seems I have some enemies trying to kill me.”
Nora sipped her wine. “You? Why, everyone loves you, Katie. I can’t imagine why anyone would want you dead.”
“Someone does. I’ve been lying low for a while. You, on the other hand, have been a busy bee lately. Selling arms to terrorists and hiring hit men. How did you find me, by the way? I thought I was well hidden in Montana.”
“You told me, dear.” Nora looked genuinely happy at that moment. “You used your credit card to purchase something online. I had your phone, and the receipt came in your email. A phone call to a police friend was all it took to get the location of the transaction. Another mistake on your part. An almost fatal one.”
“You had my phone? That’s what I was going back for when the car exploded.”
Nora frowned. “Is that how you escaped?” She sighed. “The maître d gave me your phone. He found it on the table. Of course, I held on to it. I knew eventually you’d screw up.”
Wow, had she. In her haste to enter Seth’s Christmas present into Marion’s laptop on Thanksgiving, Presley must have accidentally used her old account name and password. She was a fucking idiot. She might as well have taken out billboards as to her location and posted them on all the highways from here to Montana.
Fuck!
She needed to gather herself. Nora would delight in watching Presley squirm and she wasn’t going to do that. Presley blanked her expression and pressed on. She couldn’t forget she had a job to do here no matter how much she was perspiring.
“You’ve always said good help was hard to find. Perhaps you should have taken care of things yourself and not sent a couple of your henchmen. You miscalculated things, sis.”
Presley held her breath waiting for Nora’s reaction. She was rewarded with anger flaring in her stepsister’s eyes. Excellent.
I’ve got you now. You’re going to give me everything I need.
* * * * *
In Seth’s entire life he’d never been this nervous or scared. That included when he had to stand up in front of the entire town at a council meeting and give a speech about drinking, driving, and not doing drugs. This was a million times worse. He was terrified something was going to happen to Presley.
He and Evan were in the house next door listening in on the wire Presley was wearing and watching a monitor via the high-powered camera they had trained on the two women. Presley looked surprisingly relaxed but Seth had felt her tension when he’d held her in his arms only minutes before. She was scared and she didn’t want to admit it.
Presley had exchanged a few pleasantries with her sister but now she’d gotten down to brass tacks. Getting Nora emotional enough to spill the beans. Despite the fear twisting in his gut, he was proud of how Presley was playing it. Seth watched the monitor intently, looking for any clue they needed to intervene. They could be out the French doors and over to the next house not fifteen feet away in seconds.
Nora slapped her wine glass down on the table, her eyes narrowed. “I don’t make mistakes, Katie dear.”
Presley leaned back in her chair, taking a challenging stance that made Seth’s heart speed up. Damn, he wished he could stand between her and Nora, but this was something she had to do. He understood it but he didn’t have to fucking like it.
“I’m alive. That’s at least two mistakes.” Presley stroked her lips in thought. “Randall’s turned state’s evidence. That’s another.”
The shocked expression on Nora’s face told Presley her declaration had come as a surprise.
“You didn’t know about Randall? I would imagine he has quite a bit to say. About you. You’re going to go to Federal prison for the rest of your life. I heard it’s not much fun there. Not that that bothered you when your plan was to send me there for life.”
Nora’s lips twisted into an ugly smile. “Orange is your color, dear.”
Presley let the silence stretch and Evan was nodding in approval. Seth had advised her that silence might unnerve Nora. He’d used it on many a suspect during interrogations.
It appeared Nora couldn’t take it any longer. “Nothing to say? I’m not surprised. You never had much to say in the past. Nothing worth listening to anyway.”
“Is that why? I was boring so you decided to have me killed?”
Nora shook her head. “The original plan was for you to go to prison. Lovely Katie, everyone adored you. A common criminal, betraying her country.” Nora tut-tutted. “I used to dream about you being locked up for the rest of your pathetic life. You wouldn’t stay pretty for long behind bars.”
Nora’s expression had turned ugly and Seth could see Presley’s fists clenched under the table, but her face gave nothing away.
“But Randall backed out.” Presley didn’t make it sound like a question. They already knew it was true.
Nora leaned forward, her palms on the table and Seth found himself reaching for his gun. Evan put a hand on his shoulder. “Relax. She’s unarmed and we’ve got men circling the yard. Nothing’s going to happen. Presley’s doing exactly what we rehearsed.”
Presley was doing it and doing it well. Too well. Nora was already angry, her nostrils flaring. “Randall is an idiot. All he had to do was frame you with the paperwork, but could he do that? Hell no. He liked you.” Nora practically spat out the last three words. “He couldn’t do it, so I knew I had to have another plan. That’s when I decided to kill you. The only question was how.”
“A car bomb. Very unique.” Presley appeared to be holding it together, but Seth could see she was struggling. They needed to end this confessional soon.
Nora nodded. “I did that for you. I didn’t want you to suffer. I wanted you dead, but you are my stepsister. I wanted to make your death quick and painless.”
Evan pumped his fist in the air. “Yes! She’s getting the details we need,” he whispered. “Keep going, Presley.”
Presley was rubbing one hand with the other on her lap. “That was thoughtful of you. Did you hire someone to plant it?”
“Of course. I don’t know anything about bombs. You’d be amazed at what people will do for money.”
“Is that why you did it? Selling the arms? Did you do it for the money?”
Whatever tender feelings Nora had been feeling fled. Her face contorted with rage. “Father didn’t leave me enough money. He left the best house to you. The others were mortgaged to the hilt. He should have left everything to me. Me! I loved him more than anything, Katie. I worked hard in school to make him proud. I married a rich man and made a good marriage just like he wanted. But did he appreciate it? No. He still loved you. You stole love from me.” Nora was shaking a finger at Presley. “I loved Daddy so much. He never loved me the same after you came into my life.”
What a maniacal bitch. Love wasn’t a zero-sum game, but to her it was.
“You married a rich man. What happened?”
Nora hopped up from the table. “He was an asshole.” She whirled and pointed to Presley. “But he liked you. I had to divorce him. Did you fuck him, Katie? Did you fuck my husband?”
He saw Presley swallow hard and then her shoulders straightened up. “I didn’t. Taking your things wasn’t my style, Nora. That was your game. So when the car bomb didn’t work, you sent someone to shoot at me in Montana. They screwed everything up. I bet the FBI are talking to them right now. They’ll roll right over on you. You have no friends and no family, Nora, and it’s all your doing. You could have had a family but you pushed everyone away.”
Nora shoved a finger in Presley’s face and Seth went on alert. It was almost time to roll and he didn’t like Nora’s body language. “I’ll keep trying until you’re dead. Coming here today was a stupid mistake, Katie, but then you’ve made so many who’s counting? When the authorities find your dead body in my pool, they’ll think it was just one more error in judgment on your part. Oh wait, you’re already dead. All I have to do is get rid of your body and no one will be the wiser.”
Seth didn’t anticipate Nora’s next move. She launched herself forward, knocking Presley, Presley’s chair, and herself into the pool next to the back patio with a splash. Heart in his throat, Seth immediately jumped and was out the double doors and across the lawn in a flash. Adrenaline pumping, he threw off his shoulder holster but didn’t stop to take anything else off, jumping into the water with the two women, who were wrestling for their lives. Both women were coughing and choking, and Seth knew they would tire quickly with their clothes weighed down with water.
Nora was thrashing around, trying to push Presley’s head under. Presley was obviously the stronger of the sisters but Nora was fueled by rage, making it an even fight. Nora had a handful of Presley’s hair and Presley had Nora in a headlock that would have made a professional wrestler proud. It took several attempts on his part to get between the women. Their legs were kicking wildly and the splashing made it hard to see what was happening. He insinuated himself between them, gaining what he knew would be some nasty bruises the next day. He wrapped his arms around Nora, trapping her so she couldn’t flail her arms. Two more agents had joined them in the pool, although one seemed occupied holding Presley back. Between Seth and the agent, they quickly had the screaming woman subdued, physically if not mentally. Evan tossed a pair of cuffs down to him and Seth restrained Nora’s hands behind her back, marched her up the steps out of the pool, and handed her off to one of the two dozen agents that had descended on the house and grounds.
Nora was screaming as she was led away. Seth waded back in and gave Presley a ha
nd out of the pool, both of them dripping wet. She coughed a few times but other than that she looked uninjured.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
Presley shook her head and pushed a sodden hunk of curls back from her face. “I think I need to start working out.” She shoved at his shoulder. “I totally had her. You didn’t need to jump in. I could have taken her.”
Relief suffused every cell of his body. She was okay and this long nightmare was finally over. “I’m sure you could have, honey. I was simply hurrying things along. You need to stop getting into trouble. You’re going to be a full-time job, I can see.”
She smiled at him and it took his breath away. “It’s a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it.” She peeked down her blouse with a grin. “Will the water ruin the equipment?”
Evan laughed and handed them a couple of towels the agents had scrounged up. “Probably, but it doesn’t matter. We have the recording of what she said. We shouldn’t have any trouble holding her. Looks like you’re free to pick up your life again, Katie.”
Presley shook her head and smiled. “Presley. Katie’s dead, may she rest in peace. I’m Presley now.” She linked her arm through Seth’s and he felt his heart do a flip in his chest. He loved this woman, and he couldn’t wait to get her to himself. “We’re headed to Montana. First thing tomorrow morning, we’re driving back.”
“You don’t want to stick around and see some sights?” Seth teased. “We could visit Gator Land or Sea World. Maybe Weeki Wachee. Don’t they have mermaids?”
“You don’t need mermaids, Sheriff. You need snow, am I right?”
Seth looked around the lush greenery. “I don’t know. I could get used to the warm weather.”
She gave him a disgusted look and threw up her hands. “Men. Give them what they want and they want something else entirely.”
Cowboy Command Page 23