Page 158 of Don't Say a Word

“You need to leave.”

“Angie heard you and Lena entering the building. She heard you tell Lena ‘five minutes.’ Angie left in the opposite direction because she didn’t want to talk to Lena. Lena then called me from her office, and a few minutes later you came in and stabbed her.”

“You are crazy,” Webb said in an übercalm voice.

“Two things. Police reports are public information. And you told the police that you left directly from the volleyball game. Which is a lie, because you came into the building with Lena. You told the police you didn’t see Lena after the volleyball game, but Angie heard you talking to Lena in the corridor.” Slight fib—Angie heard the keys and thought she might have recognized the voice, but I didn’t have to say that.

“You were concerned when you found out that Angie was talking to me, but it wasn’t until you saw Angie and Dwight Parsons talking on Thursday that you feared they would put information together. So you figured you’d kill him, write a fake suicide note, and he’d get the blame for Lena’s murder. What you didn’t factor is that the police generally do a good job investigating homicides. They found Lena’s blood in the administrative bathroom. Dwight didn’t have time to clean up—nor have any reason to clean up because he called 911 from Lena’s office and was found putting pressure on her wounds. He had her blood all over him.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

Webb’s voice was flat, her eyes calculating.

“Good luck with that,” I said. “We have a witness, and the police have evidence.” Some, not enough. I needed her to break.

She sounded calm, but she was shaking.

“You were Manny Ramos’s mole here,” I continued. “Bradford didn’t even know you were part of his own operation. He thought he was the head honcho, working for hisuncle-in-law.He remained silent to protect his wife’s son, the boy raised by his uncle, the boy who was the light of his uncle’s eyes because he never had a son of his own. Manny Ramos didn’t want John to go to prison, and Ben would do anything to stay in Manny’s good graces—and to make his wife happy.”

Webb paled. “You can’t prove anything. Manny Ramos is a pillar of society.”

“Angie will testify that she heard you entering the administration building with Lena Clark. Circumstantial? Sure. But my guess is there is a lot more evidence as soon as the police start looking. And they will, when I turn over all my notes to them.”

“What do you want? Money? I have plenty. I’ll wire you a million dollars today.” She snapped her fingers.

“Tempting, but no. I want Manny Ramos.”

She laughed, but she sounded scared. “You’ll never get him.”

“You’re going to give him to me on a silver platter.”

“I don’t have a death wish.”

“Then you’ll spend the rest of your life in prison.”

“You have no idea who you’re going up against.”

“Manny Ramos thinks he’s a god. He sits in his big house on the mountain and looks down on the city of Phoenix and thinks he owns it. He doesn’t. You recruited teenagers for Ramos, kids with no dad in the picture, kids with a troubled home life.” I remembered then what Eric McMahon told me, that Scott Jimenez spent a lot of time in the vice principal’s office. “You recruited Scott Jimenez, didn’t you?” Webb didn’t respond. “Elijah knew what was going on, but when his friend died of a drug overdose, he needed proof. Maybe he came to you, said something that hadyour instincts humming. And you warned Ramos that Elijah was a problem.”

“No.” But her voice was quiet, too quiet.

“Who killed Elijah? Who poisoned him with fentanyl?”

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Ms. Angelhart.”

“My favorite kind,” I said.

We were at a standoff, and I needed something to knock her over the ledge. And the only thing I could do was show most of my cards. Or lie.

Or a little of both.

“Okay.”

She looked at me quizzically.

“Not talking to you,” I said and put my finger to my ear where there wasn’t an ear bud, but she couldn’t see that with my hair down. “Just got word that the warrant on your house is being executed. They already know about the off-shore account.”

She blanched, reached for her phone.