“Shut up. Leave Ashley out of this.” He waved the gun and the blue metal caught the light. “Start swimming or I’ll shoot.”

“If I’m going to die, I have a right to know the reason.”

For an instant, his eyes squeezed shut, then opened. He gazed at her as if seeing her for the very first time. “My, ah…friends tried to get rid of you. But you weren’t home when you should have been. All the pipe bomb did was start a fire.”

Her lower lip trembled as his words registered. Oh my God! They’d been after her-not Miranda. Whitney hadn’t quite accepted Adam’s explanation that Calvin Hunter had given the terrorists a fake disc. She assumed that believing they had the real one, they’d tried to kill Miranda. Now she knew why that scenario didn’t make sense. And she realized why she’d been so panicky. Her sixth sense kept warning that she was in danger.

“Why would they want to kill me? I never harmed anyone.”

“No, but you can be very clever when necessary. You climbed that fence in the nick of time, didn’t you?”

His attempt at a laugh raised every hair on her body. A thousand thoughts whirlpooled through her brain as she realized that she’d come close to death twice already. This time might be the end-if she didn’t keep her wits and turn the tables somehow. Don’t panic, don’t freeze up. Not now.

Adam’s face appeared in her mind. Suddenly, she felt silly for putting up such a fuss over things he hadn’t told her. He’d believed her, taken so much on faith even though he’d just met her. If she hadn’t suffered through so many lies with Ryan, she might have been more understanding. Now she might never have the chance to tell Adam she loved him.

“I’ll stay out of your life, Ryan. I swear I will.”

“If you’d signed the property agreement, you would have been history and none of this would have happened.”

Was this about the property settlement? He must owe a lot more money than Rod Babcock had told her. “I’ll sign tomorrow when my lawyer returns. He has the papers.”

“No, you won’t. Babcock already called me. He knows the truth.” Ryan shifted the gun from one hand to the other and back. “There’s no toxic landfill. There never was. That land might as well have oil underneath it.”

“What do you mean?” Stay calm, she reminded herself. And think.

“It’s not far from the Indians’ casino. They’re expanding, putting in a bigger hotel and a second casino that will dwarf every other casino in the state. With you gone, the land belongs to me.”

You’re a fool, she silently raged at herself. Why hadn’t she changed her will? How stupid could she be? “I’ll sign it over to you.”

“Too late. At the end of this week, the proposal comes up for approval by the county commission. The Indians need to have all the deeds in order. Your hotshot lawyer will talk you out of signing unless I promise you a bundle of money.” He pointed the gun directly at her head. “This changes everything.”

“You’ll never get away with it. The police will know-”

“An accidental drowning? I don’t think so.”

“Then I’m not swimming. You’ll have to shoot me.”

“Suit yourself. It’ll look like a burglar killed you.”

“No, it won’t.” The soft voice cracked out of the darkness behind Ryan.

He spun around. “Ashley, what are you doing here?”

Well, this beats all, Whitney decided in frantic amazement. The situation could not become weirder. She watched the two of them stare at each other. Whitney couldn’t just stand in waist-deep water. Already her legs were spongy, ready to give out.

Her first instinct was to bolt, to lunge through the water, legs splashing, arms flailing as she prayed for good luck. She’d read somewhere that even the most highly trained sharpshooter had less than a fifty-fifty chance of hitting someone who was running in an erratic zig-zag pattern. She bet guns were new to Ryan. Except at point-blank range, he probably couldn’t hit her.

Ashley hadn’t responded to Ryan’s question. After a moment’s silence, he asked, “Where have you been?”

There was a desperate note in his voice, Whitney decided, almost a pleading tone. She realized he loved this woman in a way that he’d never loved her. Not that she cared, but she might be able to exploit the situation to save herself. She edged closer to the steps out of the pool, taking care not to disturb the water and call attention to her movements.

“I went to Bakersfield to see my father.” A look of pure anguish washed over Ashley’s face, then vanished so quickly that Whitney wondered if she’d imagined it. “He agreed to give me every cent he had to help us get out of debt. I also personally went to Domenic Coriz, but he didn’t want money. He wants the land.”

“Ashley, honey, get back in your car,” Ryan responded in the unemotional tone of a therapist. “I’ll explain it to you later.”

“Don’t treat me like a child! I’ve been following you. I overheard you threaten Whitney. I know what you’re up to.”

“I just want the best for both of us.” His calm tone unnerved Whitney even more. He’d gone ballistic before; now he was psycho.

“Killing an innocent woman won’t end your problems. You’re addicted to gambling.”

Whitney sidled nearer to the steps. Ryan hadn’t turned away from her, but his attention was focused on Ashley. If only she could get out of the pool.

Ryan cleared his throat, then gave Ashley a small, anxious grin. “I’ll get help tomorrow. I promise I will. Just wait in the car for me. Okay?”

“No.”

Ryan blinked and hesitated before saying, “Look, if you’ll just wait in the car for me, I swear I won’t hurt Whitney. We just need to have a little talk.”

Whitney’s toe bumped the first of two-or was it three?-steps out of the pool. Ryan’s smile expired when Ashley didn’t budge.

“Liar! I’m not letting you hurt Whitney.”

Without warning, Ashley lunged for Ryan’s arm in an attempt to knock the gun out of his hand. Ohmygod! At this close range, Ryan might kill her. Not taking a second to think, Whitney hurtled out of the pool and flung herself at them as they struggled over the gun. She saw her own hand lash out in a desperate grab for the weapon.

Face contorted, Ryan fought them with manic savagery. He was taller than both of them and had them outweighed. He still had control of the gun.

Whitney pounced on him, clinging to him with both arms and legs the way a drowning person would. She had a split second to decide what to do so she bit the exposed part of his neck.

Pop!

Something sounded like a firecracker, she realized. Swirling colored stars burst behind her eyes. Then darkness obliterated the bright lights.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

ADAM WAS READING the note on the front door when he heard a scream. Gathering all his strength, he charged into the door, shoulder first. It hadn’t been properly closed and burst open. He crashed into the entry, off balance, and stumbled sideways. He regained his footing, then raced through the crypt-dark house. He rounded the corner into a large room. Beyond it he saw a pool area.

Another muffled shout echoed through the dark night. He charged out the open sliding glass door and saw Whitney sprawled beside the pool. He sprinted to where Ashley Fordham was standing over Ryan, a gun in her hand.

What in hell was going on here?

“I’ve killed him. I’ve killed him.” Like a robot, Ashley jerkily turned to Adam and offered him the gun.

Adam tugged his shirt out of his pants. Careful not to leave fingerprints, he used the cloth to glove his hand and grabbed the gun. He dropped it on a nearby table. Had Ashley shot both Ryan and Whitney? He yanked off his belt and grabbed Ashley, binding both her wrists.

“No. Stop,” she cried. “I was trying to save Whitney. Honest.”

“Yeah, right.” He shoved her aside. “You expect me to believe that? You stole her dog.” He had a thousand questions for her, but right now all that mattered was Whitney.