Page 83 of A Deeper Darkness

Someone had murdered Donovan. Someone had tried to kill her tonight. And she didn’t take kindly to being pushed around.

Chapter Forty-One

McLean, Virginia

Susan Donovan

Staring into the barrel of a gun is unnerving at best.

Susan tried to work on her breathing. She didn’t want to panic, not yet. She thought about Eddie, about the things he’d done to calm down when the dreams overtook him and he woke up screaming for cover fire: the square breathing—four beats in, hold for four, out for four, rest for four—putting your mind in a safe, happy place. None of it was working.

The reality of Karen’s last statement wasn’t sinking in properly. Eddie had an affair. Her Eddie. And not just an affair, he’d gotten a woman pregnant.

How was this possible?

Breathe, Susan. Just breathe. Goddamn it, Eddie. Is that what you wrote in your journal? Is that what you’re trying to hide from everyone? When you got called in to work, was it her?

Did Sam know all of this? She’d been on the inside of the investigation practically from the start. She could be holding back, and the thought of that made Susan seethe with anger.

No, no, no. Susan shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. Sam was trying to help. She was one of the good guys. Susan had to believe that. She needed to have one ally she trusted in.

Karen laughed. “You don’t believe me, do you? Well, fine. I’ll show you.”

Karen used her left hand to pull a file from her bag, never letting the weapon drop. She tossed the file to Susan.

“See for yourself.”

Susan opened the file. In it were pictures. A sunny-faced little girl, angelically blond. Running in the grass, looking contemplative over a blue balloon. There were about thirty pictures in all, spread over several years.

“Where did you get these?”

“I took them, of course.”

“This child is local?”

“She lives in Georgetown. Her mother is a lawyer now, but she served in Afghanistan with Eddie and Perry. Perry used to tell me about her, her name is Maggie. She drove one of the supply trucks. They saw her all the time. She was their friend. But she and Eddie were really close. Eddie got her pregnant. Perry disapproved. He thought it was wrong, what Eddie was doing. So he was going to report him. Maggie got sent back to the States, and three days later Perry was dead. Eddie killed him to cover up his affair with Maggie.”

Susan wanted to vomit. This couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t. But that little girl—she looked a lot like Vicky.

Don’t think about that now. Keep her talking.

“Did you kill Eddie, Karen? Did you kill Hal?”

Karen laughed. “Of course not. Why would I do that?”

“You’re the one waving the gun around.”

“No, no. It’s not me. Maggie killed them. Hal and Eddie, they were cutting her off. They couldn’t keep giving her money. And Eddie refused to leave you for Maggie. She was furious. And so she killed them both.”

When Susan found Maggie Lyons, she was going to kill her personally.

The teakettle began to whistle, a sudden piercing shriek. Startled, Karen turned toward the noise. Susan grabbed the empty wine bottle from the counter and swung with all her might.

She connected squarely with the back of Karen’s head. There was an audible crunch, a dull, wet smack, and Karen went down on the floor. Susan could tell the blow had knocked the woman unconscious.

“Thank God.”

She didn’t even feel bad about it. She turned off the stove, grabbed the gun and her keys, and tore out of the kitchen to the garage. She got in the car and locked the doors, sent the garage door up and pulled out of the house.