Page 77 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets
“Instead of getting him in here, if I can convince him to leave, will you let him go?”
Heather bit her lip, then sighed. “Yes.” She tightened her grip on the gun. “But no funny stuff, Jade. I know you’re scrambling for a way out of this. Trust me, there isn’t one.”
Chills danced up Jade’s spine, and dread curled in the pit of her stomach. “You’d do this to Mia? My parents? You’d take me away from them?”
“I’m sorry, I really am, but I’m not going to prison. Now, either get Tom in here or convince him to leave. You have five minutes. Use the phone in your pocket that keeps buzzing and put it on Speaker.”
Jade removed the device and dialed Tom’s number. “Everything okay?” he asked, his low voice rumbling into the room.
“Everything’s fine,” she said with a glance at Heather’s unrelenting eyes. “Like we discussed in the car, Heather’s going to take over protective duty and drive me home. You can leave.”
“Now, Jade, you know I can’t do that. The captain would have my head.”
Jade closed her eyes for a brief second. When she opened them, Heather’s granite features hadn’t changed. “You know Heather’s been going through a tough time. We’ll be here a while. I don’t want you to miss out on your lunch with your cousin.”Don’t give me away, Tom, please.“Why don’t you do that and come back. It’s going to bug me to death if I’m the reason you miss out.”
For a moment, he didn’t answer, and she wondered if he’d remind her that it was his wife and kids he’d planned to lunch with, not a cousin. Then he sighed. “All right, if you’re sure. You know Darryl should be here any time now. You want me to let him know not to come?”
“Yes, please. Heather can take me home. She’ll have my back while you have a nice steak.”
“Right. Talk to you soon.”
She disconnected and noted the three missed calls.
“Who’s been calling you?” Heather asked.
“Bryce.”
“Gotten chummy with him, haven’t you? I suppose he’s in love with you, too.”
The venom in those words slapped Jade in the face. “I never really knew you at all, did I?” she asked. “It must have been so very hard being my partner and pretending to be my friend all this time, but I have to say, you’ve given an outstanding performance.”
Heather’s expression never changed. “Is he gone?”
Jade glanced out the window. “Yes.”
“Throw your phone over here.”
She tightened her fingers around the device, then tossed it onto the sofa.
“Only you would send away your only hope of rescue,” Heather said. Her finger tightened, and Jade dove behind the kitchen counter, pulling her weapon from her shoulder holster as she rolled. The crack of Heather’s service weapon rang through the house. “I’ve got my gun out,” Jade shouted, “and Iwillshoot you. Put it down!”
“Not a chance.” Another shot. One of anger as there wasn’t any way that she could have hit Jade.
“How could you, Heather? We were friends. All four of us. You killed Frank and now you’re going to kill me? Bryce is going to figure it out once he reads the journal. Are you going to kill him, too?”
“Don’t talk to me about Frank. Do you know he actually said he cared about me and hoped I’d find someone to love me like I deserved to be loved—and that he had to find you and tell you what he’d done and how he felt? And then he was going to ask your forgiveness.” A harsh bark of laughter slipped from Heather, and Jade frowned. “I was the one he should have been begging forgiveness from.”
“So, what now, Heather? How long can we stay like this?”
“As long as it takes. Because whoever comes to the door looking for you is going to get a bullet.”
“Bryce knows I’m here.”
“Then Bryce will die unless we’re gone before he gets here.”
Jade drew in a deep breath and knew she was stuck. She wouldn’t put Bryce at risk. Mia needed at least one of them alive. Anger coursed through her at the lives Heather had already turned upside down—and the lives she’d continue to upend if she managed to kill Jade. Even if she was caught and found guilty, Jade would still be dead.
“Jade? I’m not playing around. Slide your gun out here and walk to the front door.”
