Chapter 9

Dalton winced as he rose from the couch. While it had not been life threatening, the gunshot he’d suffered had given him quite a bit of pain. He was a bit surprised that he was released from the hospital after only forty-eight hours. It had been two weeks since that time and still he felt the lingering ache from the wound.

From what he’d gleaned, Alex Manning had not fared so well. She was still listed in critical condition. Jesse Nash had been held under guard in the hospital for a day and then taken into custody and was now sitting in the Mecklenburg County jail awaiting arraignment.

Dalton answered the door. His Aunt Henrietta smiled up at him. “Good morning. I brought fresh baked muffins.”

“Come in. Please.” He stepped aside for her to enter.

She made her way into the kitchen, put the plate of muffins on the table and then busied herself preparing coffee. “You seem to be on the mend nicely,” she commented as he followed her into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.

“Still hurts like the devil but I’m glad to be alive.”

“Unlike that poor Morgan girl,” Henrietta commented and shook her head.

“I hope Jesse Nash gets the needle for what he did,” Dalton said, feeling a little surge of anger inspired strength.

Henrietta turned from her task and took a seat at the table. “Since you brought it up, there is something you need to know about that night.”

“I know all I need to know. He showed up, picked a fight, knocked me out then shot me and Alex.”

“Hardly.”

“Excuse me?”

Henrietta got up and fetched her purse from the kitchen counter. From it she withdrew a computer thumb-drive. “I discovered several weeks ago that Deidre had Alexandra Morgan’s house bugged. “

Dalton felt a jolt of alarm strong enough to straighten his spine. He’d been in Alex’s apartment several times and had discussed things he definitely didn’t want Deidre to know. “She’s been listening to Alex?”

“And watching. She had very sophisticated equipment installed in every room.”

“Jesus.” Dalton sagged in his chair.

“Indeed.”

“We’re screwed.”

“I don’t think so.”

“You would if you knew what Alex and I had talked about while I was at her place.”

“Oh, but I do.” Henrietta smiled and then rose to move across the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder at him after taking two cups from the cupboard and placing them on the counter in front of the coffee maker.

“Thanks to my network, I have been intercepting the data before Deidre. I employed two very skilled technicians to edit the recordings.”

Dalton perked up a little at her words. “Are you serious?”

“Oh yes, quite.” Henrietta carried both cups to the table and placed one in front of Dalton. “Deidre receives very nice edited copies. I, on the other hand, have the originals.”

“So you know.”

“Well, my dear, I already knew, didn’t I? We’d discussed your plan with Alex at length. However, that is not what is important about this particular drive and its contents.”

“What’s on it?”

“Proof that Jesse Nash did not shoot you or Alex.”

“What?” Dalton nearly came out of his chair.

“See for yourself. Where is your laptop?”

“In the bedroom on the nightstand.”

“Shall I get it for you?”

“Yes, please.”

As Henrietta hurried off to get the laptop, Dalton considered the news. If she was correct and Deidre had not learned of his plan with Alex, then he was safe for the moment. But he didn’t quite believe that Jesse Nash was not responsible for the shooting.

“Here.” Henrietta set the laptop on the table and plugged the thumb drive into one of the USB ports.

Dalton called up the file and started the video. “You’ll need to fast forward a bit,” Henrietta said.

Dalton did just that and watched his own arrival and what transpired before Jesse Nash arrived. He continued fast-forwarding to the point where he and Jesse were fighting and Alex was hanging onto Jesse, screaming for them to stop.

He saw Jesse threw a left jab at him and connect with his eye. As he stumbled back from the blow, Jesse pried Alex’s hand off his arm. He had his back turned, trying to keep Alex from latching onto him again when Dalton came at him. Jesse shoved Alex and then threw a roundhouse at Dalton just as Alex rushed behind Dalton and was reaching for his arm. The blow felled Dalton and he took Alex down with him.

Jesse rushed to Alex trying to pull her up at the same time Dalton was trying to scramble to his feet. Jesse’s feet tangled with Dalton’s and Alex’s, and he went down. All three of them were rolling around in a heap.

While Alex screamed and tried to claw her way free. Jesse threw a punch at Dalton at the same moment Alex pushed herself up. His fist caught her in the temple, and she went down like a sack of cement. Dalton shouted in rage and threw himself at Jesse.

For nearly a minute, they rolled around, knocking over furniture, getting in their blows as they could. Dalton broke free, scrambled to his feet, and immediately launched himself at Jesse just as Jesse came at him. Jesse’s fist slammed into Dalton’s face, and he went down, unconscious.

What happened next was a surprise. Jesse turned in Alex’s direction and a man dressed entirely in black appeared in the frame. He held a gun in his hand and swung at the back of Jesse’s head. Jesse went down like a sack of rocks.

“What the hell?” Dalton was in shock.

“Just watch.”

Another man appeared beside the first one, this one also dressed in black, but unlike the first man whose face was covered by a black ski mask, this man had the mask rolled up to his forehead, revealing his identity.

“Son of a bitch.” Dalton recognized the man. He’d worked for Deidre for nearly a decade, doing her dirty work. His name was David Herbert.

“Exactly,” Henrietta agreed and smiled at him.

Herbert pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants, pointed at Dalton, and fired then shot Alex. He and his partner then placed the gun in Jesse’s left hand, pointed it at the wall and fired it.

With that, they left.

“She tried to have me killed?” Dalton looked at his aunt. “That bitch tried to have me killed.”

“Indeed she did. And we have the proof.”

“Proof that also clears Jesse Nash.”

“Exactly. We’re going to take this to the police and get them to search Alex’s apartment so they can find the surveillance equipment. You can identify Herbert.”

“But what about Deidre?”

“Herbert will implicate her.”

“Maybe but what if he doesn’t?”

“He will if he wants the crack legal team we’re going to provide for his defense.”

Dalton smiled. “Is there anything you don’t think of?”

Henrietta returned his smile. “I certainly hope not. Now, let’s have one of these delicious muffins, and then you can get ready, and we’ll take a drive to the police station. I predict this is going to be an exciting day.”