“It is when someone wants to harm another,” Bobby replied. Then he looked at Chad. “Which way did they go?”
Chad motioned to the elevator. “I don’t know if they went up or down.”
“Down.” Dr. Patel nodded as she glanced at Chad. “They went down. Part of the basement is under construction.”
Jace pulled out his phone and texted Cooper as he and Bobby rushed to the elevator.
Chapter 31
The jarring movement of the wheelchair jolted Taryn awake. She cracked open her eyes and then immediately closed them once more. All she wanted to do was sleep. At least then, the pain wasn’t so bad.
Right before she fell back asleep, Mona’s words registered.
“I have no choice. A mother has to do what a mother has to do.”
Taryn came instantly awake. Something in Mona’s voice sent chills of foreboding racing down her spine. She looked around, only to discover that they weren’t in a brightly lit hallway anymore. The lights were on, but not all of them. And the construction equipment, as well as the plastic sheeting hanging in rooms they passed, made Taryn’s heart race.
“He was such a beautiful baby,” Mona continued. “Always smiling, always happy. Everyone loved him. So many girls.” She chuckled. “My Boyd was never without a woman. He loved them all, and they all loved him. But he never could settle on just one. He had a new woman on his arm every month or so.”
Taryn wiggled her toes, happy to see that they moved better than they had a little while ago. Her hands were in her lap, but she didn’t want to move them and bring Mona’s attention to her.
“Perfect grades,” Mona said. “A head for business. There wasn’t anything my Boyd couldn’t do. The more money he had, the more he made. He kept buying me things. I told him I didn’t need them, but he wouldn’t listen. Kept bringing over presents. Small things at first, but they got bigger. The car was the first one. Came home with a white Mercedes for me. A year later, he walked me into a brand-new house he’d had built for me. Completely paid off. No mother could’ve been prouder.”
Taryn wondered if Mona knew where most of that money had come from. Even if she did, Taryn was sure Mona wouldn’t care. When it came to Boyd, the woman was blinded by her love.
“All those things written about him in the papers infuriate me. He’s a great businessman. Can’t they see that?”
Taryn remained silent, hoping Mona thought she was still asleep. Suddenly, the woman turned the wheelchair and rolled Taryn into an empty room. For a brief moment, Taryn thought she should pretend to be asleep, but she decided at the last minute that she would rather face her killer.
“What do you say to all of that?” Mona asked as she halted the wheelchair and came to stand in front of Taryn. “I know who you are. I know what you’ve done.”
“I don’t think you know as much as you believe you do,” Taryn replied.
Mona laughed and crossed her arms over her chest. Gone was the kind, motherly woman. “My son told me everything.”
“So you know he’s a drug dealer?”
“Dozens of others do the same thing.” Mona shrugged. “Boyd began that way. He had a knack for doubling money in a blink. He used the money he made from the drugs to buy legitimate businesses to make even more.”
Taryn shouldn’t be surprised that Mona was so flippant about Boyd selling drugs, but she was. “I’m not talking marijuana. I’m talking cocaine, heroin. Hard drugs. The kind that kill people.”
“If people are stupid enough to take those drugs, then that’s their problem. Boyd saw a market and made himself millions. What’s wrong with that?”
Taryn moved her fingers, flexing them. They felt pretty good. So did her toes. She wasn’t sure about her arms and legs quite yet. “I’m not going to debate this with you. The simple fact is, there are laws against the distribution of drugs. Boyd broke those laws.”
“So did you,” Mona said with a pleased smile.
“I had no choice.”
“Everyone has a choice. The same ones those who take the drugs have.”
Taryn eyed the older woman, suddenly seeing the similarities between her and Boyd. Same eyes. Same sarcastic sneer. “I was taken against my will.”
“Your sister was a beautiful woman. I knew the minute I saw Payton that she was the one for my son. He was utterly smitten with her. And she, him. They had a bright future. A true power couple. You ruined everything.”
“Me?” Taryn asked with shock. “They killed my father and brother. Payton shot me!”
Mona raked her gaze over her. “You deserve to die. The fact that Payton is lying in the morgue and you’re here makes me sick.”
In that one sentence, Taryn knew that Mona intended to kill her. The dread she’d felt earlier had been real. If only she had realized her savior was actually her would-be killer, Taryn wouldn’t be in this mess.
“I called Boyd. He’s on his way,” Mona said with a grin. “He wants to be the one to kill you for taking Payton from him.”
Taryn’s gut clenched. She had thought Boyd had been caught. If she didn’t get to Jace before Boyd found her, whatever future she and her husband might have together was over. “How about taking Jace from me? Did either of you think about that? Did any of you think about my life?”
“You’re nobody. You gave us some amusement seeing the lengths you would go to in order to keep Payton safe. There was one time we actually thought you’d figured it out, but Payton assured us you hadn’t. Then you tried to bargain with Boyd for your freedom. Payton was the one who told him to accept your offer to prove how stupid you were.”
“Stupid? For wanting to keep my sister safe from a sociopath?” Taryn snorted loudly. “Yeah. You keep thinking whatever you want.”
Mona quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t think I’m a threat to you.”
It was a statement, not a question, so Taryn didn’t bother to answer. The fact was, Mona didn’t have a weapon. She had brought Taryn to some unused part of the hospital so Boyd could find them and kill her. That meant Taryn had some time to get free of Mona.
At that moment, Mona pulled a small pistol from the pocket of her shirt and aimed it at Taryn. “Bet you think I’m a threat now.”
“Your son is the one who broke the law, not you. You kill me, and they will arrest you.”
Mona laughed. “Why? Because the FBI is in the building? Or because your husband and his friends have connections? They don’t have near the connections my son does. Do you have any idea how many times the authorities have arrested Boyd, only to let him go because the charges didn’t stick? Too many to count.”
A sarcastic remark was quick to the tip of Taryn’s tongue, but she decided it would be better not to push Mona. At least, not yet. Taryn grabbed the arms of the wheelchair and tried to get to her feet.
“Nope,” Mona said and waved the gun. “You’re going to stay put.”
“I was shot and had surgery.”
Mona gave her a flat look. “Exactly. Why do you need to move at all?”
“You were in recovery, weren’t you?” Taryn said, hoping to keep Mona talking until she could figure out how to get away from the woman.