had to stall, somehow reach Joanna. “Do you think your son would want you to kill innocent people?”
“Leave him out of this,” Joanna growled. She aimed the gun at Peyton with a shaky hand. “I didn’t want to do it, but you made me. Now get in the closet.”
Peyton was tempted to launch herself at Joanna, but if the gun went off, she might get Val killed.
“Please don’t do this, Jo,” she pleaded. “We’ll figure something out. No one else has to get hurt.”
“It’s too late. I have no choice.” Joanna’s voice warbled. With a jerky movement, she jabbed the barrel of the gun in Peyton’s chest. “Go. Now.”
She and Val huddled together and inched into the small room. Before she closed the door, Joanna pulled a hypodermic from her pocket and jabbed Val with it. Val staggered back and slid to the floor in a puddle.
Then she pulled another needle from her pocket to inject Peyton. If Peyton allowed her to drug her, she’d never be able to save her sister. Rage fueled her strength, and she threw her arm up to deflect the injection and sent the hypodermic flying across the room.
Joanna raised the butt of the gun and slammed Peyton in the face so hard her head jerked back. She clawed at the door to remain on her feet so she could fight, but another blow sent her to the floor. Then Joanna slammed the door.
Peyton fought to stay conscious as she heard the door lock into place. But her head swirled, and the darkness claimed her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tension knotted every cell in Liam’s body as he raced toward the address Bennett had sent. Rain slashed the car, making the ground slippery and the curvy roads even more dangerous.
His phone buzzed, and he punched Connect.
“It’s Bennett,” his partner said. “I analyzed those tapes from the Gardens again and ran it through a program to enhance the pixels. There was a woman outside Mrs. Weiss’s cottage in the early morning hours before the gas leak.”
“Yeah, there was a woman.”
“It was that nurse Joanna. She was skulking around, wore all dark clothing and she went in through a back window.”
Liam hissed. “If she and Director Jameson are involved, they could be working together. And no one thought anything about Joanna administering drugs or watching over Mrs. Weiss.” He hesitated. “I’ll call Jacob and ask him to have her picked up.”
He thanked his partner, hung up and called Jacob. “I’m just about to interrogate Jameson,” Jacob said.
Liam relayed his suspicions about Joanna and asked him to send a deputy to bring her in for questioning.
“Copy that. Be careful, Liam.”
“Always.”
He swung his car onto the side road leading into the hills. Finally, the rain dwindled, but fog remained. A half mile from the location, he noticed smoke in the air, and fear mounted inside him. The fire... Peyton?
He pressed the accelerator and sped up, shooting over the graveled, rutted road and taking turns on two wheels. Smoke billowed ahead.
He punched 9-1-1 and reported the fire, barreling closer and closer until he reached the top of the hill. Trees swayed in the wind and leaves fluttered down. Dark clouds shrouded the sky and added an eerie feel to the rotting shanty.
A white sedan was parked to the side by a makeshift carport. Joanna’s? Or Peyton? Had she rented a car to get here?
Pulse hammering, he slammed on the brakes and screeched to a stop. Just as he did, a dark green SUV barreled around the corner from the back of the house. The windows were tinted so he could barely make out who was inside.
But as the SUV shot past, he saw it was Joanna.
Was Peyton inside the house or the SUV?
He couldn’t let her escape. He swung his vehicle sideways to block her path. Her brakes squealed, and she swerved to avoid hitting him, then tried to swing past him. But he backed up, spun around and slammed into the side of her vehicle. Metal crunched, the passenger window shattered and the SUV skidded toward a live oak. It slammed to a stop with a bang. He threw his car into Park, pulled his gun and climbed out.
Holding his gun at the ready, he inched toward the SUV, his breath stalling in his chest. Was the driver armed?
His boots skated over the gravel, and he kept his eyes trained on the vehicle but saw no movement. He aimed his gun inside the shattered window, then peered inside.
Joanna was slumped against the airbag,