“It is not a role I wanted to play. But I didn’t have a choice. You were the reason I did not have a choice.”
“Me?” she said blankly.
“Yes. Do you really think I wanted to become”—he ran a hand over himself—“this?” he added fiercely.
She said slowly, “That must have taken much time, discipline, and. . .motivation. And I supposeIwas the motivation.”
“No, not you. It was this.” He slipped out his wallet, extracted an item, and held up the picture. “Thiswas my motivation.”
Steers stared at the picture of Maggie Nash that he had taken from his wife’s locket and retrieved from a secret hiding place when they had returned to the United States. “A truly beautiful young woman.”
“Not anymore,” replied Nash icily. “Not anymore. Thanks to you.”
His phone buzzed. He took it out and looked at the screen. “It’s Thura. May I answer?”
She nodded.
“Hello, Thura, I’m—”
“F-fuck, D. . .Dillon.”
“Thura, what is it?” exclaimed Nash.
“T-they. . .sh-shot. . .ever-body. B-bad.”
“What? Who, who shot everybody?” Nash glanced at Steers, who was looking panicked.
“M-men. . .all d-dea—”
“All dead! Thura? Thura! What’s happened? Who’s there?”
He heard a gunshot and then another voice came on the line and said, “You give us her, you get to live.”
Nash ended the call, grabbed Steers’s arm, and said, “We’ve got to go. Now!”
They fled back to the car.
CHAPTER
71
STEERS CLIMBED INTO THE FRONTpassenger seat as Nash started the car, shifted it into gear, and punched the gas. A minute later they reached the main road and Nash gunned it.
“What happened? What did Thura say?” exclaimed Steers.
Nash eyed the rearview mirror. “He said men came in and shot everybody. Apparently they’re all dead. I heard a gunshot while I was talking to Thura. I think he was killed by that shot. Then a man came on the line.”
“A man? What did he say?
He eyed her and lied: “He said we’re dead too.” Then he looked up ahead. “We need to get rid of this car. They’ll be able to track it. Do you have your phone with you?”
“No, I left it at the house. Did he say anything about my mother? Is she dead as well?”
“He didn’t mention her. But she was there when we left the house.”
Thirty minutes later Nash stopped the car in a parking lot. Just in case, he took the time to wipe all their fingerprints off the vehicle. Then they rushed over to a nearby rental car agency. Fifteen minutes later they sped off in a Nissan Rogue SUV.
Nash had already taken the SIM card out of his phone and crushed it. He next stopped at a store and bought a new card for his phone, then set it up using his backup identity. He also purchased a throwaway phone for Steers.