Page 136 of Dead Man's List

Another twitch of Ramsey’s eye, again so fast that Sam nearly missed it.

Kit’s smile grew. “You know about the list. Three of your ninecompatriots said that Hugh Smith mentioned it at your first meeting. I imagine paying blackmail was very hard for you at first. You’re a powerful man. Who was Brooks Munro to demand anything of you? He was some upstart nouveau riche asshole who drove a fancy car and lived off his wife.”

“He’s breathing harder,” Sam murmured.

“He is,” Navarro confirmed. “She’s getting to him.”

“Wilhelmina isn’t even his real wife,” Kit went on. “He was married to his admin, Veronica. I’m sure you met her. You were on Munro’s calendar last year. Nobody got an appointment with Munro unless they went through Veronica. They’ve been married for thirty-some years. Their whole San Diego existence was one big scam.” Kit sighed. “And you fell for it. Too bad. If you’d dug a little, you could have been blackmailing him instead of the other way around.”

Ramsey’s breathing had grown harder and faster, but his expression had gone neutral.

“You do understand how deals work, right, Mr.Ramsey?” Connor said helpfully. “The first to the trough get the best consideration. There are three people ahead of you and our partners in this investigation are speaking to another one of the surviving nine. You could be fourth or fifth if you don’t jump on the bandwagon soon.”

“I don’t need to make a deal,” Ramsey said, clearly seething. “I have done nothing wrong.”

“Well, I guess that’s for a judge and jury to decide,” Kit said. “I can see it now, splashed on every newspaper in the country.” She waved her hand as if seeing the headlines. “ ‘CEO convicted of murder for hire. Sentenced to twenty years.’ You’ll be an old man when you get out, sir. And Munro’s killer will still be out there, walking free. Spendingyourmoney. Your three compatriots are getting deals that grant immunity for whatever theydid to get blackmailed. You can, too.” She pulled another piece of paper from her folder. “This is a list of the people who plotted Munro’s death. The first one we received, actually. But it’s identical to the others.”

It was a slight stretch. There were no “others,” plural. Only Daly and Shoemaker had given them lists. But it was just a small fib.

Kit pushed the list Simon Daly had given them across the table. “Take a look, Mr.Ramsey. Recognize the one namenoton this list?”

Ramsey didn’t look at the page immediately, but after about thirty seconds, his gaze dropped to read it, as if he couldn’t help himself.

His mouth immediately tightened, a muscle in his cheek clenching as he ground his teeth.

Kit’s smile was genuine. “I see you recognize who is not on the list. Your friend gave you up, Mr.Ramsey. Simon Daly got anexcellentdeal from the prosecutor. As my partner said, you know how this works. The quality of your deal is dependent on what you can offer us that we don’t already know. Tick tock, Mr.Ramsey.”

Ramsey’s fist clenched on the tabletop.

“Sir,” his attorney warned, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Not a word.”

Ramsey shook her hand off. “What was myfriend’sexcellent deal?”

“Transactional immunity,” Kit said with a grimace. “As a cop, I hate to see that happen. But sometimes you gotta break eggs to make an omelet, am I right, Detective Robinson?”

“You’re right, Detective McKittrick.”

“Daly won’t have to serve time for his crime?” Ramsey asked. “For whatever got him blackmailed?”

Kit didn’t blink. “That’s what ‘transactional immunity’ means,sir. Now, the question is, are you going to serve time for your crimeandthe murder for hire? Because that’s a lot more years,sir.”

Ramsey’s composure broke at last. “You’re a disrespectful bitch,” he snarled.

Kit shrugged. “I’ve been called so much worse.Sir.This is what’s going to happen next, because I don’t know about my partner, but I’m losing patience with you, and we still have several more interviews to do. Hopefully with people who are more cooperative than you are. We don’t really need you. If you continue to claim your innocence, we’ll arrest you, search youreverythingand then you’ll probably get out on bail, because you’re richer than I’ll ever be on a cop’s salary.”

Ramsey’s smirk was back.

“But I really hope you have good bodyguards,” Kit went on. “Because you’re a loose end. Whoever killed Munro—assuming you didn’t have a hand in stabbing him twenty-five times and cutting off his fingers and toes—seems hell-bent on permanently silencing anyone who could identify him. Eventually,should you survive, you will go to prison for a long time. No bodyguards there, unless you make some friends real quick. And eventually,should you survive, we will find that dead-man’s-switch list and know what you did. I will personally make sure you’re prosecuted to the fullest for that as well. Those are the facts, sir. You can still save yourself.”

Ramsey’s expression went cold as he hesitated. “Who else told you I was involved?”

Kit shook her head. “Can’t tell you that,sir. See, I’m not an expert boardroom negotiator like you are,sir. I’m just a cop, making one one-hundredth of what you make. You talk or you don’t. You get a deal or you don’t. It’s really up to you.”

Ramsey’s eye twitched again, his expression growing darkand thunderous. “I didnotparticipate in the murder-for-hire plot.”

Kit’s expression remained neutral, but Sam could see that her body had subtly tensed. Only those who knew her would even recognize it for what it was—satisfaction. She knew she had him now.

“Who did?”