Chapter Fifty-Six Her

Chapter Fifty-Six Her

Present Day

Kathryn’s perfect posture spoke to years of social training. The loose strands of hair around her face signaled she’d been

in a battle. She hadn’t unleashed her mocking tone, but it was only a matter of time. She came to do a job and it wasn’t done.

My focus was on the younger Dougherty woman. The library sat at the front of the house with French doors to a patio on the

side and a large picture window looking out onto the driveway. Turning slightly, standing almost even with Kathryn and only

a few feet away put me too close to the bat but I could see Portia. Not clearly but enough to make out her movements.

She’d sprinted down the driveway to the pedestrian gate. After a few seconds of what looked like indecision, she picked up

a rock from the landscaping. She struggled a bit with the weight of it before wedging it between the now open gate and the

doorjamb.

Smart girl .

The alarm company would get a message about the open door. They’d call me for the password. Since I couldn’t answer, the police should come to the house again. Portia also waved wildly at the security camera and punched the security pad. If the door issue didn’t cause a warning light to go off, Portia’s odd behavior would.

I couldn’t tell what happened next. From this angle it looked like she ran to the neighbors’ house. Getting a better look

would warn Kathryn, so I stopped straining.

Kathryn no longer had the element of surprise on her side. But she had a weapon and I’d have to lunge for that lamp again

or try to dart out of the room to win the next skirmish.

I should have tucked my cell in my pocket or held it when I stormed inside and started hunting. I’d dumped the thing in my

bag when I got out of the car. That meant it sat at least three rooms away. Not helpful.

“Tell me what my mom did to you.” I crouched down to take Mom’s pulse and confirm that she was still breathing. The ballet

move was a risk, but I got back up before Kathryn took a swing.

“She did it to all of us back then.” Kathryn’s I’m-better-than-you tone had returned.

Us. She threw out clues without knowing it. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Kathryn’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think this is funny?”

“I haven’t found a single moment in this town amusing.”

“Not true. You enjoyed wrecking my marriage.” Kathryn’s hand tightened on the bat. “Richmond offered you a hundred thousand

dollars to leave and you refused.”

She’d referenced the offer before. The amount didn’t register then. It did now. Both Kathryn and Richmond offered the same

thing to get me to leave everything behind. On the outside, to the community and the kids, they pretended to squabble, but

behind the scenes they sounded as in sync as ever.

“How do you know what Richmond offered me?”

“None of this was supposed to happen the way it did.”

The money? The marriage? Unclear. But Kathryn knew the payoff amount. She knew to bring a bat to the house, my weapon of choice.

It sounded like whatever bound Kathryn and Richmond together had survived their divorce and kept them talking.

Portia popped into view again. She stood just outside the main gate, talking on her cellphone. I couldn’t hear mine ring or

hear the alarm chirp. Maybe she was calling the police. Either way, alarm bells should be going off.

“You tried to kill him.” Kathryn took a few steps until she stood next to Mom’s feet. “I know about how you disabled his car.

About the poisoned food. You lived with him. Only you. No one else had access.”

I didn’t do either, which meant Richmond setting me up was the only answer. Staging fake accidents would be easy for him compared

to all his other schemes. “You don’t think it’s weird that he told you about those incidents? Wouldn’t that have been humiliating

for him?”

“He told me. I told the police.”

Ah, yes. Detective Sessions. Kathryn ran to him whenever she wanted to plant a kernel of information for later use.

Portia was on the move again. She slipped through the pedestrian gate she’d propped open and walked toward the house. Away

from safety and the police. Closer to danger and her mother’s wrath.

Damn it. Portia needed a lesson in self-preservation. If I survived this, I’d teach her.

Watching both Dougherty women proved daunting. If I let my guard down Kathryn would pounce. If I didn’t track Portia anything

could happen.

Time for the only trick available to me. Stalling. “How do you know my mother?”

“I’m asking the questions.” Kathryn followed my gaze then stared at the large window. “Why do you keep looking outside?”

Shit . “I’m not.”

“Go to Richmond’s office. Now.”

Away from the big window where I could track Portia. I obeyed because Kathryn lifted the bat. Once in the other room, she

lowered the shade and shut the curtains, blocking my view.

“I know who your mother is. The question is, who are you?”

For someone acting so irrationally, Kathryn sounded fine. That scared me more than the bat. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a simple question,” Kathryn said. “Are you Richmond’s daughter?”