Olivia made a fist, tilted it back so that he could see the crescent-white scar on the underside of her wrist. Matt had noticed it before. A lifetime ago, she'd told him it was from a fall off a horse.
"Clyde Rangor did that. He dug his fingernail in so deep that he drew blood. I dropped the gun. He still had me by the hair. He flung me onto the bed and jumped on top of me. He grabbed me by the neck and began to squeeze. He was crying now. That's what I remember. Clyde was squeezing the life out of me and he was crying. Not because he cared or anything like that. He was scared. He was choking me and I could hear him pleading, 'Just tell me where it is. Just tell me... ' "
Olivia gently put her own hand up to her throat now. "I struggled. I kicked, I flailed, but I could feel the power draining out of me. There was nothing behind my blows anymore. I could feel his thumb pushing down on my throat. I was dying. And then I heard the gun go off."
Her hand dropped to the side. The antique clock in the dining room, a wedding gift to Bernie and Marsha, started to chime. Olivia waited, let it finish playing.
"The gun wasn't loud. It was more like the crack of a bat. I guess that's because it was a twenty-two, I don't know. For a second, Clyde's grip somehow tightened. His face looked more surprised than pained. He let go of me. I started gagging, choking. I rolled to the side, gasping for air. Emma Lemay was standing behind him. She pointed the gun at him and it was like all those years of abuse, all those beatings, they just boiled over. She didn't cower. She didn't look down. Clyde spun toward her, enraged, and she fired again, right in his face.
"Then Emma pulled the trigger one more time and Clyde Rangor was dead."
Chapter 38
MOTIVE.
Loren now had motive. If the video was any indication, Charles Talley, a scumbag by anyone's calculations, had not only slept with Matt Hunter's wife- Loren was betting that it was Olivia Hunter in that video with the blonde wig- but he'd gone through the trouble of sending the pictures to Matt.
Mocking him.
Pissing him off.
Calling him out, if you will.
It added up. It made perfect sense.
Except too many things in this case made perfect sense at first. And then, after a few minutes, they didn't anymore. Like Max Darrow being rolled by a prostitute. Like the murder of Charles Talley looking like a common jealous-husband scenario when, if that indeed was the case, how do you explain the connection to Emma Lemay and the Nevada FBI and all the rest of the stuff she'd learned at Joan Thurston's office?
Her cell phone trilled. The number was blocked.
"Hello?"
"So what's up with this APB on Hunter?"
It was Lance Banner.
"Do you ever sleep?" she asked.
"Not in the summer. I prefer winter hibernation. Like a bear. So what's up?"
"We're looking for him."
"Stop with all specifics, Loren. I mean, no, really, I can't handle all that detail."
"It's a long story, Lance, and I've had a long night."
"The APB was mainly on the Newark wire."
"So?"
"So has anyone checked out Hunter's sister-in-law's?"
"I don't think so."
"I live right down the block," Lance Banner said. "Consider me on the way."
Chapter 39
NEITHER MATT NOR OLIVIA MOVED. The story had drained her. He could see that. He almost made a move to come closer, but she put up her hand.
"I saw an old picture of Emma Lemay once," Olivia began. "She was so beautiful. She was smart too. If anyone had the wiles to get out of this life, it was Emma. But you see, no one does. I was eighteen, Matt. And I already felt like my life was over. So there we were, me retching, Emma still holding the gun. She stared down at Clyde for a long time and simply waited for me to catch my breath. It took a few minutes. Then she turns to me, all clear-eyed, and says, 'We need to hide his body.'
"I remember shaking my head. I told her I didn't want any part of that. She didn't get upset or raise her voice. It was so strange. She looked so... serene."
Matt said, "She'd just slain her abuser."
"That was part of it, sure."
"But?"
"It was almost as if she'd been waiting for this moment. Like she