suspected Alyssa still harbored deep feelings for Gage Drummond.
Since thinking about her past—and the way she’d messed up one relationship after another—was depressing, she concentrated on the present. Glancing over at Jonah, she focused on his wound. It wasn’t easy to see the stain on his navy T-shirt, but she could tell the damp spot was spreading.
“Jonah, what happened? Why would an old wound bleed like that?”
“I had surgery about a week ago, and a few of the stitches must have popped open.”
“What happened? Were you injured on the job?”
He clenched his jaw. “I was stabbed by a dirty cop Gage and I discovered was working for Hugh Jefferson.”
Mallory twisted her fingers together nervously. The architectural firm she worked for had been awarded the design contract for the Jefferson Project—fancy high-rise condos overlooking the Milwaukee River. She was the firm’s interior designer, and her boss, Rick Meyers, was the one who’d introduced her to Anthony Caruso.
Caruso had talked often to Hugh Jefferson. The mere memory of what she’d overheard made her stomach roll with nausea. “What are you saying? That you have proof Jefferson was involved with illegal activities?”
“Yeah. We have proof of how he was involved in a money-laundering scheme. But now he’s dead.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. Hugh Jefferson was dead? “Are you sure all this happened while I was making my way to the cabin?” She hated thinking she’d left Alyssa in danger.
“I’m sure.” Jonah’s tone was terse. “Jefferson’s yacht caught on fire, and while Gage and Alyssa managed to escape, he and his cohorts didn’t. All three of them died—Aaron Crane, the dirty cop, Hugh Jefferson and Eric Holden, the newly elected Milwaukee mayor. Well, technically, Holden died before he could be sworn into office.”
She was disappointed that he hadn’t mentioned
Caruso. Listening to Jonah talk about the Jefferson Project confirmed that everything she’d suspected all along was true. There hadn’t been some horrible mistake. Caruso really had sent that thug to kill her at Alyssa’s town house, hoping to silence her forever. And then Caruso had found her again, at Uncle Henry’s cabin. She licked her suddenly dry lips. “I’m relieved to know Alyssa and Gage escaped. But why were they even on the yacht in the first place? What possessed Gage to put Alyssa in danger?”
“Gage didn’t put her in danger on purpose. In fact, he went to great lengths to keep her safe. But we didn’t know exactly who she was running from, because of her amnesia.”
She rubbed her temples, trying to make sense of what Jonah was saying. “I was the one they wanted to silence.” She felt sick at the thought she’d inadvertently put Alyssa in danger. “They must have thought she was me.”
“No, it wasn’t that,” Jonah said reassuringly. “Alyssa was working in the trauma room the night Councilman Schaefer was brought in with his stab wound. He told Alyssa that Jefferson was responsible. She believed him and reported the crime to Officer Crane, who happened to be working for Jefferson. He tried to kill her. More than once. If not for Gage’s help, he might have succeeded.”
Mallory shook her head, unable to process what he was saying. Wave after wave of regret battered her. She’d been so worried about her own well-being, especially after Wasserman followed her to Alyssa’s town house, that she’d never considered her sister might be in just as much danger. She’d left the urgent message—assuming Alyssa would drop everything to come out to meet her—then ditched her phone, worried that
Caruso had the means to track it. If only she and Alyssa had been able to talk to each other. They could have disappeared together.
“So now, Mallory, it’s your turn. We know why Alyssa was in danger, but we don’t know what happened to you. Did you stumble onto something you shouldn’t have? Did you find out about the money-
laundering scheme?”
“I don’t even know what money laundering is.” She kept her tone even with an effort.
“It’s taking money received from illegal activities and putting it into legal activities,” he explained, not willing to be distracted from his purpose. “You left a lot of blood on the floor of Alyssa’s town house, along with a blood-stained blouse.”
She shivered, remembering that night all too clearly.
“Mallory, are you listening to me? I can’t keep you safe unless you’re honest with me. Tell me the name of the man you’re running from. If you do, I’ll make sure the D.A. knows you cooperated with our investigation.”
She snapped her head up to glare at him. A flash of anger blurred her vision, forcing her to wrestle it back to maintain control.
“What do you mean you’ll convince the D.A. I’ve cooperated with the investigation? I’m not involved in anything illegal. I’m the victim here. Caruso’s thug, a guy named Kent Wasserman, followed me to Alyssa’s town house and tried to kill me!”
“Yeah, maybe,” Jonah said, his calm voice only fueling her annoyance. “But just a few hours ago, I was informed that Wasserman’s body was found in an alley not far from your condo, and your fingerprints are on the knife in his belly. The ME has deemed his death a homicide. As a result, there’s a warrant for your arrest.”
She couldn’t have been more surprised if the car had sprouted wings to fly. How could there possibly be a warrant out for her arrest? He was the one who’d tried to kill her! She’d fought with Wasserman, sure, but only in self-defense. She’d barely escaped. And she didn’t touch the knife.
At least, not that she remembered.
“I didn’t kill him,” she whispered, the images she’d tried to forget crowding in her mind. Somehow, someway, she had to make him believe her. “I swear to you, Jonah, I didn’t kill him. Don’t you see? I’m being framed for murder!”
Jonah’s mouth tightened, but he didn’t say anything. And that was when she realized that Jonah Stewart hadn’t just come to Crystal Lake to help find her. He’d come to take her back to Milwaukee.
To arrest her for a crime she didn’t commit.
TWO
“Jonah, please. You have to believe me. I didn’t kill him!” Mallory fought to control the fear that began to constrict her throat.
“I guess it’s possible you’re being framed,” Jonah said slowly, in a tone laced with doubt. “But we’d have to prove it, which isn’t going to be easy. You have to tell me everything, Mallory, from the very beginning. I can’t help you if you hold back on me.”
For a moment she stared through the darkness at the trees passing in a blur outside her passenger-side window. She didn’t know if she could trust Jonah. What if she told him what she knew and he still arrested her? Caruso was a powerful man—she had no doubt he’d find a way to kill her even if she happened to be in jail. Yet if she didn’t tell him, Jonah would take her back to Milwaukee and arrest her for sure.
A no-win situation, either way.
She
