Page 71 of Shane
He was on his cell now, with Sasha Kennedy, aka Mom, who seemed to control every last security camera in the States if the wide scope of her intel was any indicator.
“But you’re feeling better now?” she asked. “Are you sure?”
He nodded, then, because this wasn’t a video chat—Duh—he spoke up and told Sasha, “Yes. Ev and Tuesday are keeping me well fed and hydrated.”
“With what? Trail mix, protein bars, and bottled water?” she scoffed. “Never mind, I don’t care how they take care of you, only that they are. I’ve already sent Heston to your location. He’s bringing emergency supplies. You’ll be better off then. But you were right, Shane. Tuesday has a stalker, a woman named Maeve Astor. She stole Tuesday’s identity after Frederick Lamb died by forging her birth certificate, which allowed Astor to apply for a copy of Tuesday’s Social Security card. Once she had that, she requested a copy of Tuesday’s driver’s license, which gave her all the ID she needed to access Tuesday’s bank accounts and the trust fund Lamb set up for her. Astor can get her hands on, well, everything that belongs to Tuesday.”
Unbelievable.Shane switched his phone to speaker so everyone could hear. “You’re on speaker now. Could you say that last part again?”
“Sure,” Mother replied, then repeated everything and added, “So Tuesday, none of what happened to Atchison Bremmer and his children is your fault. Maeve Astor’s a certifiable nutcase.”
“But she killed her own children,” Tuesday told Mother quietly. “I don’t care about the money she stole or even her stealing my identification. She can have it. But how could anyone hurt a little boy and baby girl?”
“Because she’s a stark raving psycho, girlfriend,” Everlee cut in.
“I know but…” Tuesday’s gaze dropped to her clenched hands in her lap. “Everyone said those little kids wereTuesday Bremmer’schildren, and the press made sure everyone thought I wasTuesday Bremmer, and I kinda feel” —she shrugged— “responsible. Like that little boy and that baby girl were, at least could’ve been, you know. Mine.”
Shane’s heart sank. Here was a woman of exceptional worth, thinking of those poor dead children instead of her diminished financial status, obviously touched and hurt by the cruelty of their deaths at the hands of the woman who should’ve sheltered them. It seemed Tuesday had made the same spiritual or emotional—or whatever—connection with the Bremmer family that Shane had with the Stewart family. Death really was a twisted, sickening bitch—like this Astor woman. They both hurt everyone they touched.
“Honey, of course you feel that way. You’re a decent human being. You’re full of empathy. I can tell.” It was obvious Mother was staunchly in Tuesday’s corner.
“Why didn’t you notice your bank account balances shrinking?” Shane asked Tuesday to get his brain out of the pit of remorse it sank into whenever he dwelled too long on the past. “Sounds like Astor’s been bleeding you dry for years. Didn’t you notice?”
“Not dry, Shane. Not even enough for anyone, except maybe Tuesday’s CPA, to notice,” Mother corrected. “Like I said, Astor’s smart. Smart enough she hasn’t skimmed much off those accounts. Why would she? All she has to do is wait until Tuesday goes to prison. After that, she’ll have free access to the rest of Frederick Lamb’s assets, and she won’t have to worry about being caught. She only marries millionaires, and she was Atchison Bremmer’s sole benefactor. She’s already wealthy. Why take more risk than she has to?”
“But I’m still in her way,” Tuesday added, reaching out for Everlee’s hand. “Else she wouldn’t have targeted Agent Yeager.”
“Yes, but she’s done this before,” Mother told them with authority. “She killed at least three other husbands, all under suspicious circumstances, but nothing as devious as what she’s done to you. As of this morning, those deaths weren’t on any law enforcement radar, but they are now. Like I said, that woman is not stupid, but neither am I.”
“Yes, she is,” Shane said softly. “She traded her children’s lives for money, Mother. She’s a pig.”
Tuesday cocked her head and finally looked at him. Her eyes were wide and glimmering.
“What she is, is a brilliant gold digger,” Mother cut in. “You guys already know it’s very likely she killed Frederick Lamb. Can’t say for sure. Still waiting on the FBI to do their thing. But now that I’ve found this wacko, I’m backtracking her whereabouts for the last ten years. And Tuesday, rest assured, we’re going to prove every last crime she’s committed and nail her butt to the wall.”
“W-w-wait. What?” Tuesday shrieked. Her hand trembled as it covered her mouth. “She killed Freddie?”
Shane winced. How had she not picked up on the fact of Freddie’s death yet?Shit.He reached across the space between them to pull her in close before she fell apart. But he was too late.
“She killed my Freddie?” Tuesday barked. Her gaze pivoted to Shane, then to Everlee, then back to Shane. “But I thought… you guys never said… I thought she was just after me.”
Wisely, Everlee did what Shane couldn’t. She reached over and put a hand around Tuesday’s shoulders. “Sorry, girlfriend. We thought you knew.”
“Tuesday, I am so, so sorry,” Mother added. “It’s been all over the news. I thought you knew, too.”
“How could I? I’ve been out of the country. I only saw the lies about me killing Mr. Bremmer and those babies when I flew home. Does everyone think I killed Freddie, too? Oh, my God! Why me?” Shaking like a leaf Tuesday wrapped an arm around her closest supporter, who, ironically, had just that morning been her snarkiest adversary.
“Good question, people,” Everlee growled possessively, shooting daggers at Shane. “That bitch killed the only man Tuesday ever loved, and now she can get at all her money. Why does she want Tuesday dead?”
“Yeah, what Everlee said,” Tuesday muttered quietly. “What’d I ever do to her?”
“Listen, honey,” Mother replied sternly in what Shane now recognized as hermotherlyvoice. “Astor’s a heartless killer. It might be because Lamb chose you to marry, not her. Psychopaths don’t operate on logic. They’re seriously mentally ill.”
“You can’t take anything Astor did personally,” Shane added. “Yes, she killed Freddie out of spite, probably to hurt you. And yes, she’s also orchestrated identity theft so far-reaching even the FBI believes you’re guilty of the murders she committed. They aren’t even looking at her. But she didn’t kidnap Everlee on purpose. Her hired help did that. Does she sound like a person with normal coping skills? With any sense of right or wrong?”
“He asked me to marry him in the middle of the Hudson River under the Statue of Liberty,” Tuesday whispered. “It was the first Fourth of July we were together. He said it was the best place to watch New York’s fireworks, and he was right. He was wearing his captain’s hat that night, and we were on one of his boats. Freddie owned a shipping company, did you know that? I can still see the sparks in the sky and their reflections on the river. It seemed like stars were everywhere. I was seventeen. Of course, I said yes.”
She almost smiled. “He even got down on one knee. He was such a romantic. But he also wanted to make certain his two sons didn’t run roughshod over me if something were to happen to him. He wanted my future ensured.” She swallowed hard. “But after he died, I did sign over the three skyscrapers he owned in the City to his son, Jeff, and the entire Lamb fleet went to his other son, Henry. It made good business sense to do that, and I trust them. I mean, I didn’t know anything about managing millions of dollars-worth of prime real estate or shipping empires. Still don’t. And Jeff and Henry aren’t mean or greedy. I’ve been to both their homes. I’ve met their wives and children, and I really like them. They almost feel like… my family.” Her voice broke.