Page 76 of The Devoted Husband

Jones rolled his tongue across his cheek. “It is about them. Patrice, Trina, Willow...They deserved justice. And since the Vanzette Police Depa—”

“Cut the shit!” she yelled, mimicking him. “Tell me the truth. Why have you been stalking and harassing me?”

“Fine,” he agreed, “It’s notjustbecause of them, but they were a big part of it.”

“What else?”

“You’re a seed that has come from bad soil. Your parents were evil, just like you and your sister. They might not have been murderers like you, but they were selfish, and they killed something else too.”

“And what did they kill, Terry?” She smiled as her head tilted. “Your marriage? That’s what this is about, right? Tonya?”

It took Jones a while to respond. He wasn’t expecting her to know about his past. He’d put great effort into sealing documents that included his personal information online.

“Yeah, I know about that,” Sade continued. “I know about your daughter too. How she killed herself because of Tonya.” She chuckled. “I have to say, though...if I were stuck with you for a father, I probably would have killed myself too.”

Like lightning, Jones was out of his seat, squeezing her neck until her eyes watered and turned red, and she passed out.

Jones tossed water onto Sade to wake her up. She choked and coughed, almost toppling over in the chair. He drew close to her, leaving them just a few inches apart.

“I want to make you suffer,” he said. “I thought about slicing your throat like you did Trina or strangling you like you did Patrice. What did you do to Willow? How did you kill her?”

Sade remained silent, staring at him with fiery eyes.

“Cat got your tongue now? You were so talkative before.” Jones chuckled as he remained silent. “I’ll make you a deal. If you tell me what happened to Willow, I’ll make your death quick and easy.” He pulled his phone out. “In fact, if you confess to all three murders, I’ll send a bullet into your head and kill you instantly. You won’t feel a thing.”

Jones pressed record and waited for her to speak. He huffed and ran his hand down his face. Placing his Glock on his thigh,Jones told her, “If you’re not going to confess, do you have any final words to share with your family?” Sade kept her silence, further infuriating him. “Fine, have it your way.”

He stopped the recording and looked down to put his phone in his pocket. Then standing, Jones aimed the gun at her.

“You really don’t care about the people you killed . . . do you?”

“Did you care about the people your wife killed? If you did, you wouldn’t be doing this to me. Stop drawing this out and just kill me already.”

He lowered his head as he paced. “This is no fun with you acting like this. You won’t admit to what you did. You don’t seem to be scared. What am I going to do with you?”

Sade chuckled and looked toward the ceiling. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?” he asked, aiming at her again.

“There’s nothing you can say to rattle me. I don’t care.”

“How about this...” He sat back down. “The sixteen-year-old who killed herself...that was yourhalf sister.” Her mouth went slack. Finally...a reaction. “Yeah. Turned out Denawasn’tmy child. She was your father’s. She was the only good thing I had left, and Tonya tried to take her from me because she wasn’t mine.”

Sade licked the corner of her mouth before nibbling her cheek. “I know you didn’t take that lightly.”

“I didn’t. I set her up.”

Her lip twitched as if she were putting the pieces together. “Set her up how?”

“She didn’t cause the accident that killed your parents; I did.” He chuckled. “What? You thought I didn’t make her suffer too? Oh, I did. Trust me.”

Sade’s chest expanded as her breathing escalated. That was it.That’swhat he’d been waiting for.

“You killed my parents?” She shifted in her seat.

Jones stood. “I did. And now, I’m going to kill you too.”

The door burst open just as Jones fired. However, instead of the bullet hitting Sade, it went into the wall. Jones pointed the gun toward Dante, but it was too late. Dante’s bullets ripped through his center. He fell onto the ground, gasping for air as fire surged through his core. Dante stood over him with a smile before firing one last time.

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