Waiting on a Cowboy - Jennifer Ryan Page 0,102

because of what he’s holding over you and how much he thinks you love him that you’ll do anything for him. Like bringing me here. But after he kills me, he’ll throw you over that rail just like he did Aubrey and say you were jealous of me, because I made a mistake leaving him for Tate and I wanted him back. You didn’t want me to have him, but he didn’t want you, so you killed yourself.”

“That’s ridiculous.” The surprise in Clint’s eyes said she’d hit the mark. He stared at his assistant adoringly. “I’ve come to realize who is important, who I can count on, and how much you mean to me, Kelly.” He spewed those lies, then turned to Liz. “You’re trying to ruin my life, talking to that reporter, making those women come forward, blaming Aubrey’s tragic death on me.”

“You’ve got the whole wounded party thing down. But I’m not buying your bullshit. No one does. Aubrey warned me away from you. You saw her with me. You forced her up here and you killed her.”

“You can’t prove it. The cops can’t. No one can.”

“I can.”

Kelly’s bold words made Liz and Clint both turn to her.

Kelly pulled a gun from her back and pointed it right at Clint’s chest.

His eyes went wide, but then he dismissed Kelly as a threat with a shake of his head and a sad smile. “Oh, Kelly.”

Her eyes narrowed with fury. “You think I don’t see how you use me, but I do. The day Aubrey died, you came back to the office all sweaty and acting weird. I’d know. We’d been together long enough for me to recognize when something was off. You changed your shirt and threw it at me, ordering me to get it dry-cleaned. I work for you, but I’m not responsible for your fucking laundry. That’s not my job. Neither are the blow jobs you insisted on in your office or making reservations for you to take out some other woman!” Kelly relaxed her rigid frame and gathered herself, then gave Clint an insincere smile. “I didn’t get your shirt cleaned. I kept it, because I noticed the stain on the front. Remember? You said you spilled ketchup on it. Now, I’m no forensic specialist, but the stain looked suspiciously like spit and blood. I’ll just bet Aubrey fought back and you smacked her across the face.” She put her hand on her own cheek, like she knew just how Clint liked to assert his dominance and punish. “I’ve had to clean blood out of my own clothes thanks to you.”

Clint took a menacing step forward. “Where is it?”

“Safe.”

“You know what happens when you don’t do what you’re told,” Clint warned, still dismissing the threat of the gun and Kelly’s resolve.

“You throw me off a bridge,” Kelly suggested, understanding that Liz’s prediction was probably the right one.

“I would never do that to you,” he swore, sounding convincing, but she and Kelly saw past the tricks and manipulations, the cooed words meant to soothe so he got his way.

“You did it to Aubrey. Why?” Kelly asked, genuinely hurt and sympathetic to Clint’s other victim. “Because she didn’t do as she was told and stay out of your business?”

“That’s exactly it. Isn’t it?” Liz asked, stepping next to Kelly, both of them standing against Clint.

Clint leaned in, fury in his eyes. “She got what she deserved for interfering.”

Liz tilted her head. “That sounds like an admission of guilt to me. Coupled with the shirt, I’m sure that’s enough proof to put you behind bars for the rest of your life, you cold-blooded murderer.”

Clint shook his head. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

“You’re going to jail, you bastard.” Tate’s voice rang out from behind her.

Liz turned just as Tate stepped out of the brush and onto the trail right at the bridge. She wanted to run to him, but Clint grabbed her from behind in a choke hold and dragged her back against the railing.

Kelly backed away from Tate as he stepped onto the shadowed bridge, the gun still trained on Clint. And now on her, too. She hoped Clint didn’t get her shot.

Liz pulled at Clint’s arm around her throat with one hand at the same time she pulled the pocketknife from her pocket with the other. Lack of air, or the quickly fading light, dimmed her vision. She didn’t have much time before she passed out, and hit the release to make the blade snap open,

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