Jolene shook her head. “It would be very harmful to her state of mind. What she doesn’t know can’t hurt her.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
“That’s the whole story,” Jolene told him. “We wouldn’t have kept it from you if we thought it was relevant to what was happening right now.”
“Well, I think that it is relevant.” He cut his gaze to Devon. “I don’t think the reason you were kidnapped had anything to do with Asa. I think whoever wanted you used him as a smokescreen.”
Devon’s brow creased. “A smokescreen to hide what?”
“You heard Roth,” he said. “Flanagan—or whoever spoke through him—claimed they knew where Pamela was, and they stated that she needed to pay. Even called her a bitch. Someone targeted you to get at Pamela. Why?”
“It won’t be someone looking to avenge the baby, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Jolene cut in. “The mother killed herself and her older son not long after the baby’s funeral. The father wasn’t in the picture. And there’s nobody in the lair who would feel a need to avenge them or they’d have done it long before now.”
“I wasn’t thinking of the baby’s family,” said Tanner. “Someone heartsore over his death would have used stronger wording than ‘that bitch Pamela.’ That phrase sounds pettily bitter. Resentful. So, who else has Pamela wronged?”
Jolene pursed her lips. “People tended to pity her. She isn’t a bad person. Never was. She’s just weak.”
“Someone didn’t pity her,” Tanner pointed out.
Jolene stood and began to slowly pace. “If this was just about hurting Pamela, why not demand something from me? Why bring Finn into it? He’s not part of our lair.”
“Exactly. It makes me wonder if someone was using Devon to punish them both. The people who’d want to do that? Well, you have four, as I see it. Leticia, Spencer, Reena, and Kaye.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Rocked by his words, Devon stiffened. “I’m not saying they don’t hate Pamela or that they’re not pissed at Finn. But they love him, Tanner. They wouldn’t concoct a scheme like—”
“People betray each other all the time, kitten,” he softly reminded her. “And they’d see it as fitting, considering he betrayed them.”
“Okay, but they could have hurt him in a billion other ways.”
“Yes, they could have, but this isn’t just about him. You, Pamela, and Finn shook their world. I think at least one of them wants you all to pay for that.”
“But whoever’s doing all this made it very clear that the kidnappers weren’t to harm me,” Devon pointed out.
“This is about revenge, kitten. They probably want to be the one who makes you pay. Especially since they can’t physically reach Pamela. They can only hurt her through you. You’re the only thing that matters to her. Take you out of the equation, and she’d have no other reason to live. No other reason to hold on to what semblance of sanity she has. It would wreck her.”
Devon’s stomach bottomed out. He made sense, and she hated that.
“The person behind all this didn’t bank on me marking you; they’d expected to have their hands on you by now. Think of what would have happened if their plan had worked.”
Devon licked her lips, running through the scenario in her head. “If I hadn’t escaped the incantor, then I’d be in the grasp of whatever fucker hired him. They would have asked Finn to make the trade, but he wouldn’t have handed over Asa.”
“That’s right, he wouldn’t have. Primes need to be ruthless. They can’t afford to show weakness. Can’t be seen to give into terrorist actions. Despite understanding that, Knox and Jolene would have pushed him to make the trade. And if he refused …” Tanner trailed off, allowing her to finish.
“They’d have killed Finn,” said Devon.
Tanner nodded. “I think it’s safe to say that our prime suspects are Leticia, Spencer, Reena, and Kaye.”
“Leticia already punished Finn, though,” said Devon. “She left him shortly after Jolene contacted him to tell him about me. Took the kids with her. She then made him grovel for two years. Made him watch her have relationships with other men to give him a taste of how she felt.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s forgiven him,” said Tanner. “And I doubt she’s forgiven Pamela. Did your mother know he had a partner when they had their one-night stand?”
It was Jolene who replied. “She said she didn’t, but her gift would have allowed her to see the darkest parts of him. Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell him about Devon. Maybe she felt guilty and didn’t want to hurt his family.”
Tanner rubbed at his chin. “Reena doesn’t make any secret of how much she dislikes you, kitten.”
“She senses that he’s proud of Devon—that’s her problem,” said Jolene.
Devon made a face. Was the woman high? “Proud of me?”
“He might not approve of your job, but he does respect your determination to rely on yourself,” said Jolene. “Out of all his children, you’re the most like him. Reena only wants Daddy’s approval. Kaye is a free, directionless spirit. Though Spencer works hard, he only does it because he wants to take over the family business one day—he doesn’t want to build anything for himself. But you work hard and go after what you want in life. He can relate better to you than he can to the others.”
Devon blinked, having never looked at things from that angle before. “Well, if he feels pride in me, he has a real funny way of showing it. I really don’t see Reena wanting Finn dead. We shouldn’t point the finger her way just because she doesn’t like me.”
“I agree,” said Jolene. “She isn’t the only one who dislikes you. Don’t forget you had that falling out with Kaye a few years back.”
“Falling out?” echoed Tanner.
Devon sighed. “Like I told you, Kaye’s always been pretty much indifferent to me. But shortly after Harper mated with Knox, Kaye turned up at Urban Ink and asked to take me out to lunch. She said it was time we ‘bonded.’ About an hour into our lunch, she asked me to use my close connection to Harper to get her boyfriend a job interview with Knox; said it was time I did something to help ‘the family.’ I was so pissed. She was pissed that I was pissed. Things got heated. A lot of ugly shit was said—apparently I’m a loser and a slut.”
A growl rumbled out of Tanner before he could stop it.
“I pointed out that everything she owns was either bought by Finn or paid for using the credit card that he gave her, whereas I’ve never accepted a handout from him and have worked for everything I have. She yelled at me, accusing me of thinking I was better than her. I said I knew I was better than her, because I’d never use people the way she did.”
Devon shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t think she has the smarts to come up with such a complicated plot. She’d come up with something much simpler. As for Spencer? I wouldn’t count him as a suspect—he and I don’t clash or anything.”