“You paid him?”
“Yeah. I paid him very well to do all the dirty work. He killed the deer. Trashed the studio. Left the notes. I hired a hacker back in the States to infiltrate the security system on the estate. And everything was going smoothly until Fergus got it in his head to stab Mac.”
I seethed at the reminder.
“Not only was it completely off plan, he pissed you off. Which derailed everything because our darling Lachlan got attached.”
Lachlan’s gaze locked with mine, a silent plea in his eyes. He wanted me to take her out. But I needed her fully distracted, or I could lose my head.
“Lucy …”
“Don’t.” She choked me lightly, pressing the gun muzzle deeper into my temple. Just as I was about to take the chance and wrestle out of her hold, she stopped choking me. “You ruined everything, Robyn. I thought if Fergus attacked you, you might go home, but that night in the trailer, you kicked his ass. I had to pay off a skeevy doctor in Inverness to stitch up the moron’s knife wound. And that fucker is still blackmailing me. Not for long, though.”
I didn’t even want to know what that meant. Then something occurred to me. “You had Fergus put you in that freezer so you could get Lachlan back?”
“Very astute. Yeah, I did. It was a risk that didn’t quite pay off.” She said it like she was talking about wearing a risqué dress to the goddamn Academy Awards that got her slammed on the worst-dressed lists. “And I thought it was working. I thought you”—she spoke directly to Lachlan—“were coming back to me.”
He glowered at her.
“I know.” I could hear the sneer in her voice. “I’m disgusted with myself that I even thought a man could make things better when they have always made it so much worse.”
“And Thane?” Was making me think she had feelings for Lachlan’s brother just a manipulative attempt to keep me off her scent?
Lucy tensed at my side. “I didn’t lie. I’m attracted to Thane, but he doesn’t have Lachlan’s clout. He may be from a good family, but he’s just an architect.”
I heard Lachlan growl beneath the gag.
“Still, it was quite clever of me to use him to make you think I had no interest in Lachlan, wasn’t it?”
Clever? There was no word for what Lucy was. I’d never encountered someone with the ability to become whatever she thought she needed to be to achieve her goals.
“What’s the plan here, Lucy?”
“It was always this. After McHugh’s death—and Lachlan’s defection after I put myself in a goddamn freezer—there was no other choice. Fergus wasn’t the brightest bulb. He didn’t see it, but I knew the trail would lead to him eventually. Everything spiraled out of control, and now I have to fix it. This is the only way. I had Fergus lure you here, knowing that all three of you would have to die to put everything to rights.”
She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. I shivered with disgust. “I’ll be the only one to survive the madman stalking the Adair family. He shot you and Lachlan first, and I managed to get free and wrestle him for the gun. Of course, I’ll shoot myself in the shoulder to make it look more realistic … but I’ll be alive. And I’ll be global news. The person everyone is talking about. Hollywood will be desperate to make movies with me while this is fresh in people’s minds. I’ll be free publicity. There’s nothing Rozette could do to stop me when I’m that bankable.”
She was unhinged.
Completely.
“You’re a damn fine actor, Lucy,” I said, the words breaking with emotion.
She caressed my throat. “If things were different, we would have been best friends. I see what he sees in you, I do. I don’t respect or admire many people as they’re never quite good enough, are they? But you’re an equal. I always wanted a friend like you. I hope you know that.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks.
Not just from fear for Lachlan, for myself … but with utter sadness.
Because I’d cared about her.
And all along, I’d missed that she didn’t think like other people thought. She didn’t feel like other people felt.
All those shadows I’d seen and dismissed in her eyes.
“Don’t cry, Robyn. I’ll make it quick—”
The door to the shack blasted open, and the gun muzzle skidded off my temple when Lucy startled.
I didn’t hesitate.
I grabbed her wrist and twisted it with my right hand and at the same time, I slammed my left elbow back into her nose, feeling it crunch beneath the power of the blow. She shrieked as I broke her wrist, the gun clattering to the ground. Then I spun around and threw my entire weight behind a short, brutal jab to her face.
Her head snapped back on her neck, and her eyes flickered shut before she tumbled to the ground. Assured she was out, I whipped around and scrambled for the gun, bringing it up only to find McCulloch standing in the doorway with his shotgun at his side.
He looked down at Lucy and then Fergus before his gaze met mine. “Looks like my services aren’t needed after all.”
I didn’t lower my gun.
I’d been taken by surprise too many times today already.
McCulloch’s expression hardened, and he threw his shotgun to the ground with a pointed look. He knelt before Lachlan and when he pulled out a penknife, I lurched toward them but was drawn short as McCulloch cut at the bindings around Lachlan’s shins.
“Do you have keys for these handcuffs?” he threw over his shoulder.
Swaying a little with relief, I dropped to my haunches and checked Fergus’s pockets, finding the set of small keys we needed.
I rounded Lachlan’s chair, shaking violently with adrenaline, so much so that McCulloch gently moved me out of the way, took the keys from my hand, and released Lachlan.
The chair scraped back as he soared out of it and turned to me, ripping off the gag. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Lachlan uttered hoarsely, crossing the distance between us to yank me into his arms.
I sank into his embrace, my fingers bunching the back of his shirt into my fists.
We didn’t say anything.
We just held each other as we struggled to breathe.
Men led by my dad streamed into the shack, and Lachlan reluctantly passed me to Mac. Over my dad’s shoulder, I watched Lachlan tentatively move toward an unconscious Lucy. He lowered before her. When he looked back at me, grief and rage mingled in his expression, and I couldn’t stand his pain.
“One second, Dad.” I pulled out of Mac’s relieved embrace and crossed the shack to Lachlan. I crouched beside him and slid a palm across his hunched shoulders. “None of us could have known.”
“I failed her,” he whispered.
“No. Lachlan—”
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” a deep voice intruded. I glanced up in the dim light to see one of the DIs who’d interviewed me several times before standing over us. His expression was grim. “We need to know what happened here.”
What happened here?
Something neither of us saw coming.
I glanced over at Lucy who still hadn’t stirred.
“You might want to put her”—I pointed to Lucy—“in handcuffs before she comes around.”