Page 70 of His Beautiful Revenge
Norah was dead.
George Hubert listened to the message, then put the phone down and went to find Tara. His daughter was in her old bedroom, wearing old sweats, no make-up covering the bruises on her face. He felt no sympathy for her.
“It’s done.” He said to her and she nodded.
“Good.”
George sighed. “No, I mean it’sdone.The girl’s dead and so is our relationship. You destroyed what was left of my patience, Tara. Get your stuff. Hugo will drive you back to the city. I don’t want to see you again.”
He left his daughter staring after him and walked back to his study. It had been a long time that he had known Tara was a liability. So now he’d had enough. She had enough of her own money. She wouldn’t suffer. He just hoped she kept her head and stayed away from Giacomo Conti.
Because George Hubert was one hundred percent sure his daughter would not survive that encounter.
At six a.m. the following morning, Giacomo came to get them, his face blank. “Come with me.”
He led them down into the basement halls of the hospital, passed steam pipes and shadowy closets. He asked them to follow him into a room that was poorly lit, and at first Zulika, her eyes swollen from crying, didn’t see him. When Giacomo flicked the light on, she blinked, then recoiled for a second. “You son of a bitch!”
It was Norah’s killer. Zulika lost her senses and flew at him, her fingers outstretched to scratch his eyes out.
“Zul, stop.”
Zul froze and then turned to see her best friend—her dead but somehow very muchalivebest friend—step out of the shadows.
“What the fuck is going on?” Orlando looked as shocked as Zulika. Norah took Giacomo’s hand and Zulika could see she was trembling.
“I’m sorry we had to put you through last night, but we needed it to look real. For everyone else.” She nodded at the ‘killer.' “This is Grayson Harris. He was hired by Tara’s father to kill me. He chose another path.”
Zulika felt the energy drain out of her and she sank into a chair. “Why? Why not go to the police?”
Grayson Harris half-smiled. “I’m afraid that’s my fault, or rather, my …old occupation’s job.”
Zulika stared at him with cold eyes. “Why should any of us care if you’re arrested, Mr. Harris?”
“Because he could have just taken George Hubert’s money, killed Norah, and gotten clean away.” Giacomo’s voice was calm, but there was a tiny break in it and Zulika softened.
“Right.” She turned back to Norah, who was watching her with a wary look in her eyes. “So …why the charade?”
“We need Tara to think Norah is dead …we need her to show her hand. We think she’s hiding out at her dad’s place, somewhere we can’t get to her. If she thinks Norah is dead, she might try the whole ‘lean on me’ thing. She’ll come out of the woodwork or whatever and then we’ll have her.” Giacomo looked at Orlando. “Lando …Grayson found out something you should hear.”
Orlando blanched, obviously guessing what he was about to say. Carmel’s murder … He faced Grayson, his gaze intent on the other man. “Just tell me …was it you?”
Grayson stood. “No. I don’t kill women. I swear that to you. I’m very sorry for your loss—to be honest, I was somewhat of a fan of your wife’s, as bizarre as that might sound for someone like me. I didn’t kill her.” He looked at Norah and smiled. “I would not have killed you either, Ms. Reddy. But you know that.”
“I do.” Norah gave a nervous laugh. “Excuse me, but this whole thing is just bizarre to me. Still.”
Zulika walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her. “I understand why you did what you did—and great acting, by the way, both of you—but man, when this is all over, I’m opening a can of whoop ass on you, buddy.”
Norah laughed and hugged her. “I don’t blame you …it was pretty grim.”
“Even the surgeon and emergency room staff were in on it?”
“Amazing what funding a new wing of the hospital will get you,” Giacomo smiled and Zulika nodded.
“Right.”
Orlando cleared his throat. “So how is this going to work? I mean, you can’t just walk out of here. The paparazzi are already baying for blood out front.”
Norah nodded. “I’m going to be a master of disguise.”
