Page 59 of Her Baby, Her Badge

“Yes,” Cassie insisted. “When I was putting out feelers for someone to help me set up the fires and such, Andrea volunteered to help. Well, volunteered if I paid her a hundred thousand. If not, she was going to rat me out. So instead, I killed her. I stabbed her and then tied her to the fence post on Dutton’s beloved ranch.”

Grace silently cursed. Apparently, Cassie thought Andrea’s criminal behavior should be punished with a death sentence. But it was entirely possible that Andrea had just been trying to set up a sting operation to stop a killer from getting started.

“And what about Elaine Sneed?” Grace pressed. “Bailey Hannon and Georgia Tate? You can’t convince me they were dirty cops, too.”

“They were necessary kills,” Cassie answered. “Or rather attempted kills since Bailey survived. But Elaine had to die so I could set up Brian. I needed someone to take the blame for this when I went on with my life. Without someone being convicted, your deputies would have kept digging. Loyalty,” she said, spitting out the word as if it was a profanity. “Georgia because she happened to see me when I snatched Elaine.”

“You left her alive?” Grace shook her head in disbelief.

“No. I intended to dump her at your place, but she fought me and got away. If she hadn’t died in the hospital, I would have had to take care of her.”

That caused the bile to rise in Grace’s throat. This woman had no empathy for an innocent woman.

“And as for Bailey, I wanted to fire up Wilson to go after you for not preventing his fiancée’s death,” Cassie added.

“So, Wilson and Brian aren’t part of your revenge plan?” Grace asked.

Cassie laughed. “I wouldn’t trust either of those idiots. And enough of this twenty questions. You’re stalling. Get out here now, or your mother dies where she stands.”

“You know if you kill Dutton and Grace, then I’ll move in to kill you?” Rory called out.

“And me,” Ellie echoed, followed by Bennie’s confirmation to let Cassie know all the deputies were nearby. “We’ll also take care of any thugs you’ve hired.”

“The thug is dead,” Cassie muttered. “Lunsford was trying to blackmail me so I put an end to him. Self-preservation,” she added. “It doesn’t matter now, but when you cops dig, you’ll find payment to Lunsford that looks as if it came from Brian.”

So that explained why the man was dead. Explained, too, how Cassie had planned to get away with murder, literally, while incriminating someone else. Brian wasn’t a stellar guy, but he didn’t deserve to be railroaded for murder. He would have just become another casualty in Cassie’s vendetta.

“Cassie, this is over,” Grace ordered. “Put down the knife.”

Cassie gave a hollow laugh that seemed to turn into a sob. “I know it’s over,” she muttered. No rage this time. Worse. Resignation.

Grace had a bad feeling that Cassie was ready to die. And take them out with her.

“Dutton?” Cassie shouted. “What do you have to say about this? This mess that you started when you used me and discarded me for Grace.”

It hadn’t been that way, and Grace knew that Dutton wouldn’t even attempt to reason with the woman. He would just keep moving until he caught sight of Cassie. Once Grace saw him in position, then she’d have to do more than just stall by talking to Cassie. She’d need to move closer, to make it seem as if she was surrendering.

The sound stopped her.

Not Dutton.

It was nowhere near where he was walking. This was to her right.

Grace shifted position, watching, holding her breath, and a moment later, Wilson stepped into view. Unlike Cassie, he was armed, and he had his gun gripped in his hand. And Grace took aim at him.

“Cassie!” Wilson roared at the top of his lungs.

Oh, mercy. That caused the woman to turn, and Cassie put Aileen in a choke hold with her left arm and kept the knife at her throat with her right.

“Move away from Aileen or I’ll shoot you where you stand,” Wilson snarled.

Wilson certainly sounded enraged and ready to kill. And probably not because of any devotion to his former boss, Aileen, but because Cassie had nearly killed Wilson’s fiancée.

“Come closer, and I’ll kill her,” Cassie said, sounding very panicked now, and Grace knew time was running out. “Grace, get me that vehicle, and you and Dutton show yourselves now. Now,” she repeated in a shout.

With Cassie’s attention now on Wilson, Grace welcomed the fresh shot of adrenaline she got when she bolted toward the woman. But Dutton came out of the woods, sprinting toward Cassie. Cassie heard the movement and turned.

Not fast enough, though.

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