After she’d gone back to her office, the only thing she could do was wait for Max and the bank to contact her with the account information.

When she finally got call, she was surprised with what she was told. She printed the email attachment the bank sent giving her the proof she needed.

“Are you sure?” Her gut clenched when she heard the name recited once again on the other end of the line. Oh God. She needed to talk to Max right away.

Right when she hung up the phone, someone walked into her office.

She frowned when she saw Jane Roberts, Max’s stepmother. “Jane. What are you doing in the office? I wasn’t aware there was a board meeting today.”

Younger than Kara’s thirty, Jane seemed to be a quiet wallflower. It wasn’t Kara’s business to ask why Max’s father married a woman that would probably be better off dating someone his son’s age. If they were happy then that’s all that mattered, right? Jane appeared to be upset for some reason.

“Kara, this would be a great time to do coffee. Do you have a moment?” Jane asked.

Kara wondered if this woman had any idea normal people had to work eight plus hours a day and couldn’t just “do coffee” at any time.

“I don’t have a lot of time. I’m waiting on—”

“This will be super quick. I promise. I just need to talk with someone.” And that lucky someone was her. Yee-haw. Kara grabbed her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk and dropped in her new phone.

She put on a totally fake smile. “Let’s go.” God, this should be fun. She’d rather have her nails pulled out than sit with this woman.

“I’ll drive,” she said. “It’s the least I could do to say thank you.” Jane sniffled and glanced away. Maybe something really was wrong.

Jane turned for the elevator and walked along the hall swishing her hips like a kid on a swing. It was almost mesmerizing.

After a silent elevator ride and walk through the lobby, they arrived at Jane’s car, parked outside the front door in a No Parking Zone.

Of course. What did she expect? For Jane to fucking walk on the same concrete everyone else did? She really didn’t like the girl.

And of course, the inside of the Bugatti had every gadget made for a vehicle. The engine roared to life like a lion, and they were off to the races.

After a few more minutes of quietness, she decided she’d start the conversation. Finally, the girl spoke.

“Kara, is it true that Max has lost his mind?” Jane’s voice trembled when she spoke.

Kara turned in her seat. “What? Who said that? Of course not! Max got medical clearance just today. Who is saying those horrible things?”

“He what?”

Kara was taken aback by the shock in the other woman’s face. Like there’d been any doubt that Max wouldn’t be competent to do his job.

“He was given medical clearance just today. The board should hear all about it tomorrow. He’s good to continue being corporate head. Why?” She narrowed her eyes, watching the other woman carefully.

“Have you gotten any closer to finding out about that strange vendor?” Jane asked.

Kara remembered the papers on her desk and then raised her eyes to the petite brunette. How did she know anything about that? She sucked at lying, but she’d give it a shot. “No, not really. Why?”

Jane smiled. Not the soft, hesitant smile Kara was used to. This was a cold, calculating smile Kara had never seen before on the timid woman.

Jane’s phone rang. She picked it up quickly.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked. “Everything is good here.” She paused. “Today. Really?” She paused again. “All right, fine. You owe me one for this.” She hung up and laid the phone in the console between the seats.

“Where were we?” Jane asked.

“Talking about the contracts.”

“That’s right,” the woman said.

No shit, Sherlock, Kara thought, but kept her mouth closed.

“Oh, do you mind if we make a pit stop on the way? I have to pick up drugs for a friend.”

The mention of “drugs” brought back the island memories, like PTSD. She must have paled or looked sickly. “No, honey,” Jane said, “legal drugs. Prescription.”

Kara took a breath and relaxed into the seat. “That’s good. Where are we going, anyway? There are several coffee shops close to the office.”

“This is a special shop. It has quiet corners.” When they stopped at a light, Kara saw water from the bay between buildings.

There weren't many inlets on this side of the city. What little she knew about this waterfront wasn’t good. Most of the trash along the water ended up in there. And most of the crabs stayed in this inlet searching for food from the trash.

She’d also heard that the crabs went after humans because they had gotten a taste of human blood and wanted it now. That was probably BS. One of the guys in the office told her that. Trying to prank her. She wasn’t an idiot.

Next, she knew, Jane pulled into a concrete-crumbled abandoned warehouse. The building used to be a point of distribution for this part of Manhattan. But with the rise of overnight carriers, they couldn’t compete. For being defunct, it had a lot of stuff on the back lot. Disintegrating semi-trucks, tires with grass growing up the middle, and several metal shipping containers.

“What are we doing here?” Kara asked.

From a pocket in her door, Jane pulled out a pink gun. The woman had a pink gun!

“Kara. I expected honesty from you. With the CFO out on leave, we’ve come to depend on you for answers.”

She knew she looked shocked, but there was no stopping it. She’d never seen Jane look anything but scared at being surrounded by people. “Jane? What are you doing with a gun?”

“Kara, I have a problem.” Her voice was strong and clear.

“Jane, whatever it is, we can work it out. Does Dan know you’re here?” Did he know his wife was crazy, was more like it.

“I realize this may be a complete shock to you, but I only married Dan for his money.”

“Okaaaay?”

The gun was steady in Jane’s grip, and she pointed straight at Kara’s chest.

Jane’s face creased in a frown. “But I’m sick of his touches, and I feel so disgusted whenever he wants to have sex that I have to plead a headache. Apparently, I’m not really good at handling sex with an old man.” Her voice rose until her anger exploded, and she screeched out the words. “Do you know who Frank Thomas is?”

Kara’s heart raced a sickening gallop in her chest when Jane mentioned the son of one of the board members. The same name the funds to the fake vendor had been transferred to as she’d been informed by the bank.

“Of course. He’s Paul Thomas’s son. Both are on the board.”

Jane smiled in true happiness. Her features turned almost beautiful when she did. “Yes, he is. He is also the man I love.” Jane grinned and waved the hand holding the gun. “I see you’ve realized what this all means.”

“Jane, I get that you and Frank are obviously having an affair. I get that he’s the one getting the money, but what does that all have to do with me?”

The smile died on Jane’s face, and her eyes turned glacial. “You and your stupid efficient operating practices. We could have gone on like we were, but you had to dig your nose into the past accounts.

“I tried to get rid of both you and Max by placing timed bombs on the airplane engines. You should have been over water with no land or rescue for miles. And then there’s the stupid fuck who was supposed to mess with the plane’s dashboard. The damn coordinates led you to Central America. Which really pissed me off when I found out. Just the name ‘Richards’ would’ve brought cartels for miles around.”

The sick sensation in the pit of her stomach grew. Max’s last name had brought the cartels in.

“But you both survived!” Jane looked fit to kill. “Then Paul and I started the rumors requesting Max’s removal for mental incompetence, but it seems that’s failed. And both times, I tried to get rid of you before you dug any deeper, you ended up being saved by some goddamned miracle!

“We cut the brakes in your new car, sent you a nice little acid bomb, and what happens? You’re still here! And I’m sick of it!” She paused, straightened her hair, took a deep breath, and smiled. “But no more. Tonight, we’ll take care of you ourselves,” she singsonged and pointed the gun at Kara.

Jane had stopped in the back lot, beside a rusting container, waving the gun at her. “Now, get out. Nice and slowly.” Kara contemplated escape. The bitch probably couldn’t shoot for shit. Then from the other side of the container, Frank stepped out and was at her door in seconds. So much for escaping.

She stepped out of the car and stood next to the vehicle. “I know it’s you who set up the fake vendor and submitted fake invoices.”

“Oh, goodie,” he replied, then grabbed her head and slammed it against the roof of the car. Talk about an instant headache. Frank yanked her back. Her world spun, and her knees could barely hold her up.

“Frank and I were so close,” Jane spat, coming around the car. “We were so close to being done with taking money. All we needed was several million, and then we’d be able to disappear and live the life we both wanted. And I would have gladly left Dan. But once you started digging, we knew it was a matter of time before you figured out it was us.”

She waved her gun. “Let’s get this done. I have to pack still.”

Frank dragged her to a set of steps that led down to the water. More specifically, the side of a dock about to collapse under its own weight.

At the bottom, he pushed her off the last step and she sank up to her waist. He pushed her against a piling for the dock.

With a rope Jane carried down, Frank wrapped her over and over, finishing with tying her hands together behind her.

“Did you bring a knife?” he asked Jane.

“It’s in the car—”

“Well, go get it, bitch,” he said.

Standing two steps up, Jane was eye level with Frank. “Watch what you say to me, asshole. I can turn you over like this.” She snapped her fingers.

“If I go down, I won’t go alone. And when I’m jacking off in my cell, I’ll think of you having to suck that old man’s dick.”

Jane cringed, saying nothing. She turned and went up the stairs.

“Fucking god,” Frank said, “what was I thinking when I fucked her?”

“That’s easy,” Kara said. “Nothing but getting off.”

Frank stepped down to the last step and put his face in hers. “You got that right, my dear Kara. What will poor Max do when he can’t find you?”

“He will and you’ll be in jail a long time.”

Frank smiled. “Once we leave and close the gate behind us, no one will hear you while you drown.”

Waves rocked higher on her body. The tide was coming in. She gasped.

“Yes, sugar. You’ve figured out how you’re going to die. But wait, there’s more.” He turned to look up the steps and yelled, “Hurry the fuck up!”

“Hold you damn horses,” Jane said, appearing at the top of the incline. They met in the middle, Jane handing a knife to him. She was afraid to ask what he meant to do. She didn’t know what he could do with it. Cut her free? That would be stupid.

Frank reached out and slashed the blade across her arm.

“What the hell? Frank what are you doing?” she asked.

He swiped again, this time on the lower arm. “How do you expect the crabs to find you without your blood flowing to them? You’ll be a very pretty dinner.” He cut a few more place then backed away. The water approached her shoulders.