“How close are you to finding her? Do you have any idea where she is?”
“She was recently spotted in the area where Coal was found.”
“How do you know it was her?”
“She was posing as a federal agent. A witness reported it and positively identified her from a picture. She did have a man with her, but we haven’t been able to identify him yet.”
I wasn’t sure if it was because of my head injury, but I was having a hard time connecting the dots. “What does any of this have to do with me and Coal?”
Luke pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “As a result of her being suspected of murdering her husband and the will being contested, all of her assets have been frozen. In other words, she needs money.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “And what made her think she’d be able to get any money from me?”
“The five-million-dollar life insurance policy she has on you.”
“The what?” I almost shouted.
“She has a life insurance policy on you worth five million dollars,” he repeated.
“That still doesn’t make any sense. She left me for dead on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. There’s no telling how long it would’ve taken someone to find me.”
Luke suddenly sat forward in his seat. “How do you know you were on a dirt road? Did you remember something?”
I shook my head. “No, not really. I get little flashes of things here and there. Me walking on an unpaved road in the dark. Then, me walking on a paved road. I remember my head feeling like it was going to explode. And I remember being cold. At least, I think they’re memories. They could just as easily be something I made up.”
I’d tried numerous times to remember anything about that night, but each time left me frustrated and made my head hurt.
“Hold on a minute,” Coal said. “Let’s say she did try to kill Aspen for the insurance money. How was she going to get it and stay under the radar?”
Luke shrugged. “We haven’t figured that part out yet, but Pamela’s a clever woman. I have no doubt she had a plan in place.”
“I suppose it doesn’t really matter anymore, since I’m clearly not dead,” I pointed out.
“About that,” Luke started but seemed hesitant to continue. “I have an idea that might speed things along and put an end to this whole ordeal if we can pull it off, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“It doesn’t matter if I like it if it gets rid of Pamela once and for all. Let’s hear it.”
“As far as we know, she doesn’t know you’re alive. I think we should fake your death and let her claim the insurance money. We should be able to pick her up when she goes to collect it.”
“You think that will work?”
“I think there’s a good chance it will, as long as I can get the insurance company to work with us. I wanted to talk to you first before I mentioned it to anyone else. If you agree, you’ll have to stay hidden until we catch her.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly understanding why he thought I wouldn’t like his plan. “For how long?”
“Life insurance policies take anywhere from fourteen to thirty days to pay out. Then, we’d have to wait for her to access the money.”
“I’d be gone for a month? Where would I go? And what about my job?” I asked, rattling off questions in quick succession.
“Slow down and take a breath,” Luke instructed. “You don’t have to do this. You can say no, and we’ll find another way. If you agree, you’ll be moved to a safe house with federal agents and other trained staff, so you won’t be alone. I can’t say for sure how long you’d be there, but I promise I’ll move things along as fast as I can. As for your job, you can’t go back to work for a few more weeks anyway, but I’ll make sure your job is waiting for you if this happens to take longer than expected.”
“What about Coal? Will I be able to see him?” I asked.
Luke shook his head. “No, we can’t risk blowing our cover if she somehow spots him frequenting a new location. If she is watching him, Coal needs to be seen around town looking like his girlfriend just died.”
“Do I have to decide right now?”
“Of course not. Take some time to talk about it and think it over, and I’ll check in with you tomorrow.” With that, he placed a kiss on my forehead, said goodbye to Coal, and left the room.