CHAPTER FORTY
If his men thought he was going to sit the dean in his office while he went to confront Amos in the cells, they were mistaken. Even Charly was surprised after he booked a now conscious Malcolm and told her to come with him.
His men were staring at both of them as Boone held Charly’s hand and walked with her down the corridor that led to the cells, and then all the way down to Amos’s cell.
Amos was standing, as if he was expecting them, when they walked in.
“Hello, Miss Johnson,” Amos said cheerfully when Boone unlocked his cell. “Hello, Chief,” he said with less vigor.
But it didn’t matter because, as soon as Boone entered the cell behind Charly, he rushed up to Amos, grabbed him with both hands, and threw him against the wall. Then he kept Amos’s head smushed against that wall. His mouth was almost touching Amos’s wax-filled ears.
“Who’s behind it?” Boone asked Amos.
“I don’t know what you’re--”
“I don’t wanna hear that bull!” Boone yelled angrily. “Who’s behind it?”
“Behind what?”
“You want to play games? Gotdammit,” Boone said, pulling out his gun and forcing it into Amos’s mouth, “let’s play games! Let’s play kill that bastard! Wanna play that game?”
Amos was saying something, but the gun was in his mouth. Boone removed it. “Talk, dammit! Talk! Who wants Charly dead?”
“They were just supposed to scare her,” Amos said. “That’s all it started out as. It was a jealousy thing, you see. You couldn’t be happy, and you were showing interest in her. So they were hired to run her off the road. That’s all that was about. But Rita Mae was the main thing.”
Charly glanced at Boone, and then looked back at Amos. “What do you mean?” she asked him.
“Rita Mae had to die. She wanted Rita Mae dead.”
“Who wanted Rita dead?” Charly asked.
Amos didn’t say.
Boone jacked him up again. “Answer her!” he yelled.
“My niece,” he said. “And what she wants, she gets. She’s been rich and spoiled her whole life. My brother, her father, died an early death trying to give her everything she wanted. And I shielded her too. When I came to Hemingway, nobody even knew I was related to her, because I wasn’t a sort of person with means. She was ashamed of me. And I wouldn’t reveal our relationship either. I’ve always shielded her too.”
“Who’s your niece?” Charly asked.
Amos hesitated. Boone was about to jack him up again, but he spoke. “Monica,” he said.
Boone frowned. “Monica?”
Amos nodded. “Yes. Courtney’s mother. The woman you used to purport to love. That Monica.”
Charly was shocked. Was he talking about the mother of Boone’s deceased child? She looked at him.
But if she was shocked, Boone was stunned. “Monica?” he said to Amos.
“She said Rita Mae had to die.”
“Why would Monica want Rita Mae Brown dead?” Boone asked him.
“Because Rita knew, “ Amos said.
“She knew what?” asked Boone.
“She found out it wasn’t an accident.”
Boone and Charly looked at each other. Had they missed something? Then they both looked at Amos. “That what wasn’t an accident?”
“Courtney’s death,” Amos said.
Charly frowned. Boone’s heart nearly stopped beating. “What?” he asked Amos. “What are you talking about?”
“Monica planned it all,” Amos said. “She knew you’d get angry that night and drive off like you always did. She knew how to push your buttons. But she figured you’d let her get the baby out of the backseat like you always had before. But that night you sped off with the baby still in the backseat. You wouldn’t let her get that child.”
“And?” Boone asked, still barely able to breathe.
“Monica had it all planned out. She would get the baby, you would drive off angry, and that SUV would T-bone you and take you out. That was the plan. The lady driving that SUV was paid to take you out. But you had Courtney in your vehicle. Courtney wasn’t supposed to be in your vehicle!”
Charly could hardly believe it. She looked at Boone. He looked outright ill. “What are you saying?” Boone asked Amos. “Are you saying?”
“It was murder,” said Amos. “Monica had plans to have you killed for all that cheating you did to her. She hated you. If she couldn’t have you, nobody was going to have you. But she killed her own child instead.”
“Oh, God,” Charly said, covering her mouth. She was in agony for Boone!
Boone was still too stunned to feel anything. He was still staring at Amos. “You’re telling me that Monica hired somebody to take me out that night, but instead . . . Instead . . .” Boone couldn’t say it.
“Instead, they took Courtney out. Yes,” said Amos. “Courtney died in that car crash, but you lived. It was Monica’s worse nightmare.”
Boone literally stepped back. Charly moved closer to him, and placed her arm around his waist.
“Where is she now?” Boone asked Amos.
“She’s in hiding,” said Amos. “She’s in the same place she’s been in since Courtney died. She’s in hiding pulling all our strings.”
“Where?”
“A long path off of Beaumont Road. She won’t open the door for anybody but me.”
Boone stared at him. There was only one answer for that. “Let’s go,” he said, “because that bitch will be opening that door.”
He cuffed Amos and then unlocked the cell. Then he looked at Charly. “You come too,” he said.
“I want to, of course,” Charly said. “But are you sure?” It sounded like so much family drama to her. So personal.
But Boone was sure. “She tried to kill me three years ago,” he said. “She tried to harm you three days ago. I’m sure. Besides,” he added with pure anguish in his eyes, “I need you with me when I confront that . . .” He attempted to contain his anger. “I need you with me.”
When he said those words, Charly squeezed his arm and didn’t hesitate. She went with Boone.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Boone’s truck, followed by Morley and Dontay in an unmarked police car, made their way to Monica’s place. It was a long drive down a long, winding pathway even after they turned off of Beaumont. In Boone’s truck, they rode in silence. Boone behind the wheel of his pickup, Amos in the middle handcuffed, and Charly riding shotgun.
Boone didn’t know how to feel. He was angry, mostly, but also sad. Sad for his daughter. Sad for Charly. Sad that he didn’t let Monica take their child that night the way he usually did. But he had had it with her using their daughter as a bargaining chip. He wasn’t allowing that anymore. He wished to God he had allowed it that night.
Charly could feel his anguish. She leaned forward so that she could see him beyond Amos’s body. “You okay?” she asked him.
Boone glanced at her and attempted to smile for her sake. But he wasn’t going to lie to her. “Hell no,” he said.